Student-centered – Page 22

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being a teacher, label, Student-centered

Are You Smart?

November 2, 2011 Pernille Ripp

Every day we journal in our classroom, sometimes it relates to our curriculum, sometimes it is to start a discussion. Yesterday I asked my students to answer the question, “Are you smart?” Stunned students looked at me. Then the comments came flodding in…what do you mean…I don’t know….what kind of smart….in fact one student was so flustered by the question that he was unable to journal about it.

Now make no mistake, I knew the question would be difficult and yet we, as teachers, often use the label “smart” to describe students in conferences and on report cards. So can we answer what it means to be smart ourselves?

My students struggled through the journal prompt and today I had the opportunity to read their thoughts. I was blown away by their insight. Many lamented the fact that they did not know which smart I was referring to; was I referring to the school smart or to the logical smart? By smart, who was I comparing them to? They feel smart compared to a 3-year-old but not compared to a teacher. Many kids disucussed that school can make you smarter but one pointed out that it is not the only thing that makes us smart and my heart rejoiced.
Some discussed, again so thankful at their wisdom, that smart is something you grow into, not something you are born with. Some unfortunately compared their smartness to how well they do on tests, and my spirit dropped a little.

In the end, no one student had the same answer but they made me think; how do we define smart? How do we show our students that they are indeed smart? Is their any point in even discussing it with them or should we be focusing instead on the abilities they have; their problem solving skills, their work ethics, their creativity? Do students need to feel smart to succeed? And how do we stop tests from robbing them of their self-esteem and faith in themselves?

I may have asked my students one questions, but they asked many more of me. It was a great day for thinking.

assessment, being a teacher, change, Student-centered

Why Giving Second Chances Should be Second Nature

November 1, 2011 Pernille Ripp

We have all had the phone call, “Tommy studied so hard but didn’t do very well on the test, is there anything we can do?” How many of us have said, “No, sorry…” I know I used to. I used to be the queen of no extra credit, no re-takes, no second chances. That is until then I realized how this didn’t reflect adult life. In my job I get second chances all of the time. If a lesson doesn’t go as planned, I re-do it or teach it again. I don’t get observed only once to have my teaching career decided but instead multiple times by various people. If we have a bad day, we go back, fix it, and then move forward. Every single day I get to learn from my mistakes. So why is it we are so hellbent on not giving our students the same second chance? Yes, I know that standardized tests have inane rules we have to follow, but nothing else does. We decide the rules and for some reason a lot of the time those rules do not involve allowing students to learn from their mistakes mistakes.

Last year, my students got to fix everything they handed in. Stupid mistakes became teaching moments, sloppy work was enhanced, and gaps of knowledge were filled in. It was certainly more work for me, but what it taught the kids was invaluable; perseverance, dedication, and not being afraid to try something. More learning occurred in my room last year than ever before. And this year is no different, my students give me their best and then we figure out how to learn even more. By giving them second chances, they are proving to me how much they really know, outside of the anxiety, the pressure, and the rigidity that can occur. So why not try it? Give your students back that test and tell them to fix it, give them back their work and tell them to enhance it. Give them another chance to learn.

Be the change, being a teacher, believe, failure, Student-centered

Please Don’t Mark It Wrong – How Our Society Raise Children Afraid to Fail

October 27, 2011 Pernille Ripp

Another child stands by me asking for my help, 5 seconds after the assignment has been given, “But I just don’t get it, Mrs. Ripp…” And I ask, because this is the 3rd time today that this child has come up to me immediately into work time, “Well, did you try?” She hasn’t, she is scared, and she admits it readily; “Please don’t circle it. Please don’t mark it wrong.” So upset, she raises her voice, pleads with me as if my circle matters. As if my marker holds the power. And I am stumped because how does a 5th grader get that scared of failing?

The truth is we are doing this to kids, we, this society in pursuit of perfection is doing it to our kids, because it was done to us as well. My daughter, who granted is only a wise two and a half year old is not afraid to fail. She gets frustrated sure, but she tries and tries and then sometimes tries again. We encourage this at home, urging her on, urging her to explore, to pick herself up. Again, again, again. Will she be the child in 8 years that stands petrified in front of me, asking for help because trying seems too daunting?

No teacher or parent tries to make their child afraid of failure. Yet our practices in schools support this notion that failure is the worst thing that can happen. An incorrect answer on a test pulls down your grade, you get enough, and you get an F for failure stamped across it for the world to see. That F means nothing valid, nothing worth reading here, nothing worth. Homework that is meant to be practice is tabulated, calculated, and spit out on our report cards. The child who gets the answer right is heralded as smart, the child who gets it wrong is told to keep trying and maybe they will get it someday.

How we run our classrooms directly affect how students feel about themselves. About how they feel about their own capabilities and their own intelligence. I fail all the time in front my kids, not on purpose, I try stuff and it doesn’t work and we talk about it. And yet, I am not perfect either. I catch myself in using practice problems as assessment, where really they should be viewed just as practice. I praise the kids that get it right and sometimes don’t praise the ones that kept persisting but never reach a correct answer. I don’t alway have enough time to explore all of the options so I guide the kids toward success knowing that some venues will lead them to failure. I shield them from it sometimes because I don’t want to crush their spirits.

We have to stand up for our children and we have to turn this notion around that failure is the worst thing that can happen. Failure is not the worst; not trying is. We have to keep our kids believing in themselves and having enough confidence to try something. If we don’t we are raising kids that follow all of the rules, that never take risks, that never discover something new. And that failure is too big to remedy.

collaboration, connections, projects, skype, Student-centered

So You Want to Do Mystery Skype?

October 25, 2011August 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Mystery Skype is one of those ideas I wish I had thought because it just so fun but instead I was lucky enough to hear about it from Caren MacConnell. The concept is simple: classrooms Skype call each other and try to guess where the other classroom is located either in the United States or in the world. There are many great resources out there but for my own sanity I am creating one list for future reference:Before the call:

Sign up – there are many places to sign up and some are even grade level based. I signed up a couple of places but also tweeted it out; the response was immediate as a lot of people are doing this. If you would like to sign up:
Decide on a date and time – don’t forget to consider in timezones.
Prepare the kids
1. We wanted to know facts about our own state so that we would be ready for any question. We therefore researched the following questions: climate, region, neighboring states, time zone, capital, famous landmarks, geographical location. All of this gave the students a better grip of what they might be asked.
2. We also brainstormed questions to possibly ask. We like the concept of the questions having to have yes or no answers as it makes the game a little harder and has the students work on their questioning skills. Questions we came up with included whether they were in the United States, whether they were east of the Mississippi, Whether they were West of the Rocky Mountains, If they were in a specific region, whether they border other countries, whether they are landlocked etc.
3. Give jobs. I think it is most fun when the kids all have jobs, so this was a list of our jobs:
  1. Greeters – Say hello to the class and some cool facts about the class – without giving away the location.
  2. Inquirers – these kids ask the questions and are the voice of the classroom. They can also be the ones that answer the questions.
  3. Answerers – if you have a lot of kids it is nice to have designated question answerers – they should know their state facts pretty well.
  4. Think tanks – I had students sit ina group and figure out the clues based on the information they knew. Our $2 whiteboards came in handy for this.
  5. Question keepers – these students typed all of the questions and answers for us to review later.
  6. Google mappers – two students were on Google maps studying the terrain and piecing together clues.
  7. Atlas mapper – two students used atlases and our pull down map to also piece together clues.
  8. Clue keepers – worked closely with answerers and inquirers to help guide them in their questioning.
  9. Runners – Students that runs from group to group relaying information.
  10. Photographer – takes pictures during the call
  11. Clue Markers – These students worked with puzzles of the United States and maps to remove any states that didn’t fit into the clues given.
  12. Problem solver – this student helped students with any issues they may encounter during the call.
  13. Closers – End the call in a nice manner after guesses have been given.
4. Note my students have since then tweaked these jobs – here is a link to our new Mystery Skype jobs

During the Call:
During the call you just have to step back and trust the kids. My students were incredible, both with their enthusiasm and their knowledge, I think I was more nervous than they were. I did have to fact check some of their answers so I did stay close by but otherwise it ran pretty smoothly. We decided which class would go first with their first question and then there were two options:

Yes answer: They get to ask another question.
No answer – Other team’s turn to ask a question.

Students were allowed to guess whenever they thought they had a great answer (and it was their turn). In the end, both classes were able to guess each other’s location.
One note; Don’t allow kids to use the Internet to try to google the other class – it spoils the geographical purpose of the challenge.

A list of questions as created by my students to help you start.

Resources:
For our preparation for this, I showed the kids this video on Linda Yollis’ blog – it really gave the students a concrete example of what to expect and they got very excited. Also Mr. Avery has a great discussion of jobs he had students do during the call.
Jerry Blumengarten also has a nice collection of links on one of his many pages that was helpful to me.

Here is a video of our first call with Joan Young’s class

We are already excited to try it again!

being a teacher, classroom setup, Student-centered

Theirs

October 19, 2011 Pernille Ripp

As I look around the classroom I see the piles, the papers, the snack wrappers. I see the posters in progress, some ideas scribbled out, doodles and even a wayward shoe. Computers that have been left on, carpet squares haphazardly stacked, and pencils on the floor. When I started teaching this would have stressed me out. I would have spent a half an hour or more straightening, re-hanging those posters and throwing out whatever I saw fit. I would have wiped, sanitized, and organized. Perhaps I would even have labeled and checked my supplies that nothing was missing. I would have made a note to myself to talk to the kids about how they needed to clean more, how we need a clean and organized classroom to function well. How their stuff shouldn’t be messed in with my stuff.

Now I organize myself, leave their piles, smile as I shut off the lights and think, “This is their room now.”