Category: Student-centered

being a teacher, control, projects, Student-centered

Hello Innovation Day!

Pernille Ripp
When I first started teaching 4th grade, I must admit, I underestimated my students.  I knew that they were capable, but did not realize just how creative, innovative, and eager for a challenge this age of students can be.  (In fact, I would argue that any student really fits that description if we provide them with the opportunity, but that’s another post).  So this year as I re-honed my philosophy and knew that I wanted to create more hands-on, student-led explorations throughout the year, I knew we had to end the year with something magical.  Some sort of project that would show me and my students just how far we have traveled in our road to become independent, creative, problem solvers and thinkers.  Hello Innovation Day!

Innovation Day is one of those projects I wish I had imagined, but instead that honor goes to many corporations before me (Google FedEx Day), in fact, I cannot even take credit for bringing it to a school setting, other teachers I follow on Twitter have already done it.  And yet this will be the first one for me, for my students, and I am more than thrilled.  The idea is simple and can be adapted to any setting.

On May 9th, my students get to work on whatever they choose.  The requirements are simple; they must learn something, they must produce something, and it has to be done in one day.  All year, I ask my students what they would like to learn about and although I have been able to incorporate many of those items into my teaching, there are some I have not gotten to – Irish Castles, Big Ben, and more about animals are some examples.    Here is their chance.  The preparation has been minimal, students had to fill out this sheet (which is created by Josh Stumpenhorst and minimally adapted by me) and they need to think about their product.  In class we have been discussing various ideas and students have sought me out to discuss process.  That’s it.

My job this day will be to document the learning through video and pictures, and also to be of assistance if needed.  The students are supplying most of the materials, and are doing all of the work.  Ideas being floated around are varied such as researching snowflake patters, building a t-rex model, or creating a paper zoo – whatever they can imagine and build.  And me?  Well as my students reminded me on Friday; we don’t really need you Mrs. Ripp.  Ad what a glorious thing that is to hear.

being a teacher, change, choices, education reform, hopes, Student-centered

What Have I Done?

Pernille Ripp

I wish I could say that I run my classroom like a well-oiled machine,after all isn’t that what effective teachers do? In truth, it is more of an adventure as our day unfold. Sure the destination has been determined and even a tentative path, but often my studentts’ questions or wonderings are just too juicy to pass up. So we veer off the path and in the end, end up with more knowledge than I could have planned for.

I teach the way I hope my daughter is taught one day. I teach my students to find their voice, to speak up, to share their ideas. At first this seemed like a trap to them, like if they really spoke their minds about schools, they were going to get into deep, serious trouble. Now, about two thirds of the year has passed and these kids are not afraid to tell me the truth. If I am speaking too long, they ask me to let them work. If a lesson is boring, they tell me so, but even better, often offer up suggestions on how to make it better. The same thing goes for praise; if they love something, the tell me, they blog about it and they tell their friends.

And so I wonder what have I done? What have I set my students up for? I will not be passing on students who are used to sitting in their desks listening to a teacher deliver all of the learning. My students will want a voice, a choice, and a goal presented to them. My students will be demanding, honest, and have high expectations that their input will be valued. What have I done?

As we change our approach in the classroom and get more in tune with how we think education should be, are we instead just harming our students by showing them a different way to learn? Would it be better if we shelved our ideas for more student-centered learning and let our students remain in the mold they have fit into for so many years? When we reform are we really just setting our students up for failure? I would love your thoughts on this.

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

Don’t Worry – There’s a Routine for That

Pernille Ripp
Image taken from ronnestam.com

Routines, one of the big words in  “teacher school” as we call it in my classroom.  You must set up routines, you must establish them, practice them, train them and share your expectations.  We have routines for everything, and it seems the younger the students are – the more routines we have.  So if you need to go to the bathroom, there’s a routine for that, how to hand in homework, there’s a routine for that, how to answer a question – you guessed it, there’s a routine for that.  And yet as I struggle with keeping track of all of my routines, I wonder; when do the routines become suffocating?

I agree that routines must be in place for the students to know the shared expectations.  After all, accountability is one of the great skills we teach along with math, reading, writing.  Students learn to follow routines because it provides familiarity and safety.  It simply makes school and a classroom more manageable, and more effective.  And yet we can over-routine.  We can ponder and prepare routines for almost everything.  My first year, I spent a whole day preparing a sign for my students, very artistic indeed, writing out routines for what to do when you needed to sharpen your pencil or leave the classroom.  I don’t think any student ever read the poster, let alone memorized it. 

So I realized that perhaps routines were needed for the really big things, like morning routine, how to go to specials or lunch routines, and general classroom behavior routine.  But beyond that, I am done.  I am done routining my students to death.  After all, they are equipped with common sense.  I do not think me writing out how and when they should sharpen their pencils is worthy of their memorization or the title of “routine.”  I think I am going to stop “ruling” them to pieces and let them develop their inner sense of proper behavior.  Do we trust our students enough to pull back some of our rules masqueraded as routines?  I do.

attention, being a teacher, new teacher, Student-centered, talking

Your Lips May be Moving But I Stopped Listening a Long Time Ago

Pernille Ripp
A question I kept asking myself last summer was, “Would I like being my own student?”  Beside bringing back a flood of unfortunate memories of my own schooling, it also stopped me in my prep tracks.  The answer was a resounding “No.”  I would have been that kid rolling their eyes at the teacher (yes, that happened daily), groaning every time a new group project was introduced (I hated group work),  and refusing to do homework out of sheer principle of boredom (and then argue with the teacher as to why it was pointless). Yikes, I am still that kid.  And so when a tweet by Jeremy MacDonald asked

“How do we get teachers past the teacher-centric use of tech? Modeling? Should I make them let me teach 30 mins in their classroom?” 

my mind started to spin.  Would simply asking teachers to sit through their own type of teaching, stop them in their tracks?  Or would the response be a more nuanced reflection discussing the need for various learning styles and types?  Or would we hear the stagnant adult claiming that, “they went through it so that is just how things are and to suck it up?”  I love that “suck it up” like school is just meant to be survived and not lived.

So how do we get teachers to rethink the traditional classroom setting?  Why is it we tend to forget our own school experience and then repeat it as teachers?  Why do most teachers come to teach prepared to speak most of the time?  I have been actively trying to stop talking and let me tell you, it is hard! Our curriculum is not set up for a lot of exploration, but rather mini activities packaged with a lot of careful monologue.  What is it about our way of educating that makes question-answer seem like the best fit?

So I start my own quiet revolution, using less words and still getting to the point.  Using less teacher-focused and more student-directed learning.  I even started thinking about it all as a learning process rather than how I am going to teach something.  In the end, we have to realize that if we want just test-taking students, then yes, talking at students will get us there.  If we want independent thinkers who are also creative and confident, then we have to stop talking.  So how do we stop talking?

authentic learning, being a teacher, discussion, Student-centered

An Opportunity for Discussion

Pernille Ripp

Friday is Op.Ed. day in my room and I savor this chance to ask my students some of the questions I discuss with fellow teachers. Yesterday’s was “Should students have a say in what they have to learn about.” To see all of their answers, head over to our kidblog. After 15 minutes of writing I asked students to share and this is where the magic happened. Several students shared and then someone blurted out a question. Nervously, they glanced at me to see if I would stop or reprimand them. I kept quiet. Question was answered by another student, and a new one came. Again glances were shot my way; I remained quiet. Well, that really got them going.

For ten minutes I sat back and let my students discuss. The kids got out of their seats, used arm gestures to underscore points, and formed smaller clusters of talking groups. Their enthusiasm was contagious and a huge smile spread across my face. This is what we try to teach our students; how to discuss, how to form opinions, and how to respond properly in a conversation. I did not teach them this, I only gave them the opportunity to engage one another.

As a teacher, I have to equip my students with life skills and those include how to have a proper discussion. I stopped the class only because they went back into kid territory of getting upset with each other. This, though, was also a learning opportunity; how do you politely disagree? How do you carry on a large group discussion? My students quickly realized that one major rule was to not interrupt each other, something I have asked for all year. And yet now they got it. They figured out the why themselves and that will always be my favorite way for them to learn.

Sometimes it is not about what we teach but the opportunities we provide. The opportunities are what matter.

being a teacher, inspiration, Student-centered

Some Concrete Changes

Pernille Ripp
Every day, I catch myself.  I catch myself before I say “stop,” or “quiet,” or “teacher point.”  Those old habits dies hard, but every day I fight them and I renew my commitment to my students.  It is because of them I stop myself, it is because of them I am changing my ways every single day, ever lesson, every minute.  They deserve more, better, and sometimes even less.

So what have I changed, my big things I have documented, but there are so many little things as well, and they add up:

  • No more stay in your desk.  I used to have designated work time where students could leave their desk, now they can get up and move somewhere closer while I am speaking or while something else is happening.  I have a lot less squinting and fiddling going on now.
  • No more sending kids to the office.  I used to send kids to the office sometimes, feeling frustrated and not quite sure how to handle situations.  While this may also be because of my incredible class, I have had to send one 2 students all year for situations that were bigger than just my classroom.  Now I ask students to take a break, think about their actions and we find the time to talk.  So far so good.
  • No more set projects (well almost anyway).  Now when students ask if they can do a different type of project I always think “Why not?”  Often their ideas are much stronger than what I am coming up with anyway.
  • No more silent in the hallways.  As adults we converse quietly as we walk in the hallways, my students get to do the same.  This doesn’t mean loud voices or out of control behavior.  They use whisper voices and are getting adept at walking like adults do.
  • No more assuming I know why.  I used to assume all of the time, why a student didn’t do something, know something, or did something.  Now I ask instead; their explanations are way better than my assumptions.
  • No more “My classroom and you are just visiting.”  The students take care of the classroom because it is theirs.  Granted my level of orderliness may be a little higher than theirs but they stp up when they need to.
  • No more “My Goal.”  We are learning together and so the goals are all of ours.  We discuss our goals of learning, why they are set and how we can achieve them.  I may be the that knows the direction but we can all steer.