Student-centered – Page 18

I am in a conference trying to figure out why a child seems less engaged, less into it, and just not all that excited about school. So far the conversation has been rather one-sided, meaning me speaking and being met with lsilence. Finally I ask, “Are you bored?” And the student looks up and says, “Yeah.”

I think that has happened to most teachers, a bored student, but what may not have happened to many is for that student to have the guts to tell you. I know I was incredibly bored throughout many classes in my school days but I never did tell a teacher since I figured nothing good would come of it. And I may have been right because my gut reaction the moment I was told was to get frustrated. How can you be bored in my room? We do so many exciting things! And yet, I bite my tongue, nod, and go home with a head full of questions.

I have a classroom full of noise, ideas, and engagement. It is something I work incredibly hard for and I am very very proud of and yet, it can also be boring. There are times when the base needs to be built for our further exploration and I have to talk. I try to make it engaging, I try to make is student-centered, and yet sometimes I can’t. It gets better every year but still; but yes I can be boring. So these thoughts follow me home and I ask my husband what I should he do since he acutely suffered from school boredom.

His thoughts stopped me; “Maybe it isn’t you? Maybe you do everything you can and that child needs to step up too. Maybe boredom is a two way street and you can only make it so exciting but if the student is not ready or wanting to be engaged then it doesn’t matter what you do.” I immediately started to defend the child and lament that it must be me until I realized he may be on to something; perhaps we as educators can only do so much. Perhaps we can only engage and excite until a certain point and then the student has to invest as well. Perhaps we cannot change every student’s perception of school no matter how many things we pull out to do. Perhaps, we are not the only ones with control in our classroom?

So I turn to you; what do we do when students are bored? After we have changed the curriculum, the approach and the task? What do we do when a student-centered learning environment is not enough? Do we dare tell the student that they too have to invest? That they have to make an effort to be interested or else school will be infinitely boring no matter what we do? Do we dare put some of the responsibility for school engagement back on their shoulders? Or is that taking the easy way out?

being a teacher, being me, smartboards, Student-centered

Stop Telling Me Technology Engages

March 21, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Image from here

Not too long ago when I brought up my dislike for the cost of Smartboards working in a budget crunched district, I was told that there was no way I could dismiss the improvement of student engagement that it has created in my classroom. I met that statement with raised eyebrows and then shook my head. The Smartboard or whatever technology tool I may be using is not what increases engagement in my students; the content is. The tool does not engage; the learning does. Because if the tool is the only thing that engages then I would say we are in serious trouble. If the tool is the only thing we use to keep those kids tuned in and invested then we need to do some serious re-thinking of our curriculum and delivery.

So while districts can flaunt all of the technology tools they so happily purchase with or without teacher input, we cannot tout that our engagement level goes up just because of that purchase. We cannot say we are now 21st century districts, since in all sincerity this is the 21st century no matter what tools we have. Sure kids may be looking at the board or screen more when we have more technology, but how much of that is training or simple politeness; a feigned interest or hope that something engaging will show up on that screen? How much of that is because all of them are facing the board rather than in pods? How many of them long for getting out of their seats and do something rather than watch one person direct the learning?

So don’t tell me that putting a Smartboard in my room increases student engagement, in fact, please run any technology purchase by me so that I can investigate and dissect it. Don’t tell me that my students are eagerly anticipating their turn to click the magic board, that wears off after the first couple of days. Tell me instead that the curriculum we teach is worthwhile, that the learning that we DO is engaging, that my students are engaged because they choose to be and I put enough thought into what I am teaching to realize that. Tell me that and I will agree; the tool does not create the engagement, we do.

being a teacher, Critical thinking, get out of the way, student driven, Student-centered

Some Thoughts on Collaboration and Student Choice

March 8, 2012 Pernille Ripp

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I started out on this student-centered journey knowing that I had to offer my students more time for true collaboration, not just teacher-chosen ones, as well as give them control in the classroom. I started out dreaming not quite sure what it would look like, what the products would be and whether the learning would even be enhanced or would suffer.

Now 19 months into the journey, I have made some humbling realizations:

Not all units lend themselves well to choice but it is doable. It can be a challenge to cover the material you feel you need to cover in a textbook for example, but you can. I have spent many nights thinking up how I could possibly engage my students in this without just lecturing and it takes time. That time is well spent though when you see the students light up at what they will be doing.
It also gets easier. After a while your brain switches from “How will I present this” to “How will the students work with this?” It is a subtle difference and you create a toolbox of ways. Also, if you include students in the planning process you have many more ideas, so that’s leads me to:
Include the students! When I have been stumped over how to make a unit more engaging I have brought it to those it will effect the most; the kids. It does not have to be a long conversation but just a brainstorm. It is amazing to see what they come up with.
Trust the students. There have been combinations of students that I have shuddered at inwardly and in the end they created beautiful projects. There have also been combinations where we needed to have some serious reflection on whether or not it worked. The big thing is including the students that it involves, don’t just make the decision that a partnership doesn’t work. We are too quick to decide what collaboration looks like, let the students in.
Be honest with the students. I have very high expectations for projects and I have called students out on poor work quality. There is a way to do this though without creating a “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” scenario. Ask them to evaluate their own work, it doesn’t even have to be done, and have them take time to reflect. Point out what you see as a possibly gap and help them out. Not all students can just create at the drop of a hat.
Scaffolding at various levels. Some students just need an idea and they fly, others need hand holding and even a cheer or two before they get off the ground, and some are just too boxed in to even know where to start. Get to know your students and their work style, scaffolding at its best simply. Invest the time in relationship building and you will see direct results in their output.
It will not always work. I have had some epic ideas that turned out absolutely ludicrous. Or ideas that got to be so complicated that the students lost interest. There have been times where it hasn’t been a fun , engaging work environment or where a project has taken too long and the interest level is near zero. That happens. And yet I don’t give up, I keep going because I see how invested the students are. I see how excited they get to use their hands and their minds, to explore on their own with guidance from me, to learn from each other.

So to choose and to have a voice are the dreams I have for my students. I see how invested they get in their own education, and that is something lecturing can never do for them in my room. Education no longer is something done to them, it is something they take a part in, they own and manipulate. We always talk about how we are shaping the future but the future doesn’t just include absorbing information froma main source, it means taking that information and using it to bridge new things. To manipulate learning, to shape and form new ideas. And that is what student-centered learning does for me.

being a teacher, classroom management, Student-centered

Surprise; The Biggest Obstacle in The Classroom Isn’t Your Students

February 23, 2012July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Image from here

Nor is it what happens to them outside of the classroom… it is you. Perhaps a simplistic view of the world but think about it for a moment; how much does our mood affect the moods of our students? How much does our body movement, our choice of words and even our inflection affect those we are surrounded by? And that doesn’t even mention the choices we make as far as how the classroom is run and what type of curriculum we teach. So while there are many outside factors that do play a significant role in how a student performs in school, the one consistent factor is you and how you choose to be with your students.

Every day you have control over:

The expression on your face
The tone of your voice
The words you use
Your body language and its hidden signals
Who you give attention to
How you give attention
How do you get attention
How much control you cling to
The respect you give
How you speak to other people in front of your students
How disruptions and unexpected events are handled
How curriculum is taught
How much choice your students have
How you handle students who fail to meet expectations
How you handle students who are distracted
Anything that has to do with the flow of your classroom

And the list could continue. Think about all those choices. Think about the effect each one of them can possibly have on a student and then think of what you can change. We do have a lot of power.

internet safety, student blogging, Student-centered

You Teach a Child to Blog…Common Concerns with Student Blogging Answered

February 16, 2012 Pernille Ripp

You teach a child to blog and the whole world opens up to them. And yet, with that whole wide world comes a whole lot of responsibility. Some of the more frequent questions I receive is how I keep my students safe when they blog, how do I prevent cyber bullying, and how do I convince parents that this is worthwhile. While I may not have all of the answers or any quick fix solutions, I do have a lot of passion for this.

First things first; student safety is paramount. I use Kidblog for this reason. It allows me to control who sees our posts, who comments, and also how open I want our account to be. But I don’t just give students their account information…there is a lot of preparation before then:

We talk at length about blogging, why it is important to us, why it is a privilege.
We visit other student blogs and we discuss whether we agree with their posts, with their etiquette and we decide how we want to represent ourselves.
We discuss what constitutes an actual blog post and what we share with the world. We discuss the difference between Edmodo and Kidblog, and there are many.
I show them scary videos of giving out information on the internet to strangers, we discuss how the Internet is like the mall.
We talk, reflect and then have further discussions before we even do our first mouse click. we create a paper blog to get a feel for commenting and I show my own blog to show them the power of blogging.
And this isn’t an only at the beginning of the year conversation, it is an always conversation. We always discuss safety, we always practice it, and we remind each other whenever need be.

Then there is the ugly reality of cyber bullying, and yes we face it head on and battle it. I have never had another child bully a classmate through blogging. They revere it too much. That is not to say that all of my students love each other, they don’t, they are 10 years olds, but they do respect each other. And I think that is the most important ingredient to prevent cyber-bullying; respect. We respect each other, and the differences we may have. We respect the privilege that it is to have a blog, to have a voice to the world. We discuss how this is a big deal and how we would never want to hurt someone purposely or even shine ourselves in that light. There is no anonymity on our blog, I make sure of that, and the students would have to sign their name to any comment that they leave. While they may not always get a long we still have a sense of community that we work hard on achieving and maintaining from the very first moment we are together. I love my students as if they were my own kids and I think they feel that we are a family. That feeling takes us far.

Finally, the apprehension of parents. I have been incredibly lucky with my parent support but I have also worked hard for that. I have been completely transparent with the purpose and scope of our blogging. I have shown them examples and the direction in which I want to take the students. The communication is paramount to the success. I am not trying to exploit the works or thoughts of their children, and I am not bringing them into danger. They know I work hard to keep them safe and I think many of them appreciate the inherent internet safety message that these students embrace. But there is an opt out; blogging is not mandatory, nor is it part of their trimester report card grades. I have never had anyone take the option, they hear about it before they come to my room, and it is highlight for many. Parents understand that and I think they love seeing their child’s thoughts on so many times, their growth as a writer, and how their child is handling the responsibility.

Student blogging has changed the way I view my students and their voice. It is now an essential part of our classroom, our community, and of our curriculum. We revere, we tame it, and we use it properly; sometimes for fun and sometimes for serious study. There is no one solution to everything but there are several ingredients that have to be present if student blogging should be successful; respect, communication, transparency, and expectations. With those in place you will go far.

being a teacher, classroom expectations, classroom setup, Student-centered

5 Steps to Letting Go and Learning More

February 5, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Yesterday I had the wonderful privilege to give a webinar for SimpleK12 on the topic of student centered learning. I am not an expert on this topic, far from it, but I am someone who has done it by following her own instincts and now can marvel at the classroom I get to be a part of. The webinar was very short and we had a lot of questions, the biggest one being, “How do I get started?” So here are the first 5 steps I took to give my students more control:

Search your heart. Before you let go of certain aspects of the classroom you have to figure out what you can live with. Can you live with more noise? More movement? More conversation? Someone asked me if it was a lot more work to teach in a student-centered classroom to which I answered no, it is the same amount of work as I put in before but now I do it in school rather than outside of it. If you cannot handle more noise you may want to dig a little deeper and try to figure out why, it may be that you fear students will goof off or get off task, which yes that still happens but much less frequently. If they are engaged they will work.
Tell the kids why. Too often we make decisions and never tell students what led us to those decisions. Every year I start out with a discussion of why our classroom is the way it is and how I envision it to run. I set high expectations for my students who are always surprised at the environment and I let them ask questions. One thing that inevitably comes up is whether they can earn rewards (nope) so I politely discuss why they should not expect that from me. That also includes limited homework (if they work hard in school I don’t need to take up their time outside of school), no letter grades except for on report cards (we have conversations and feedback instead), and no punishment (no lost recesses here most of the time).
Then let them talk. I tell the students this is our room and that they need to decide what type of learning environment they want to be a part of. This conversation is totally student-run, they brainstorm in small groups and then share their results. They do not post a list of rules or even vote. We discuss, decide and then move on to bigger things. Throughout the year we re-visit our expectations and tweak them if we have to. The level of responsibility and buy-in to the classroom immediately increases without me having to beg for it.
I challenge them. Every year, I have some sort of team challenge right after they have set the rules to see whether they can figure out how to work together. This year it was the amazing Bloxes challenge that brought my students together and got them excited. Throughout the year we do mini-challenges to continue working on teamwork and expectations for the classroom. Different students step up as leaders, again without my direction, and they share the success of the challenge together. And challenges doesn’t have to be anything crazy, it can be to give them an extra science lesson to explore whatever they want. Teachers think there is no time for this sort of thing but there is, because our engagement level is higher we get through our curriculum quicker which gives us time to explore. The biggest time waster in a classroom is usually the teacher talking at the students – how much do you really need to talk?
I ask the kids. No single thing is more important in our classroom than the voice of the students. How do they want to learn something, how can we improve, what are we missing? All of these questions pop up on a regular basis and they add so much to our curriculum. I know what the goals of learning need to be but the students can certainly work on how we will get there. Even at an elementary level these kids have incredible ideas and methods for covering curriculum thus getting natural buy-in (no carrot and stick needed) and increasing their enthusiasm for school.

This is how I get started in my classroom every year. I didn’t read a book that told me to do these things, instead I asked, “Would I want to be a student in my own classroom?” That answer is now a resounding yes! We do a lot of hands-on learning, student-led exploration, and try to keep school fun no matter what we are doing. I love coming to school, I love my students, and I am proud of what they accomplish every day.