Student-centered – Page 9

being me, reflection, Student-centered, students, Uncategorized

How Blogging Has Enhanced My Parent Connection

April 28, 2014 Pernille Ripp

I didn’t think parents of my students would ever read my blog. Why would they? And yet, now that I have been blogging for four years I am often amazed at how often the parents of my students actually read what I write. Not just on our classroom blog, but also on this blog; my personal one. While there are many small benefits to this, it has also brought on a sense of responsibility to them. I blog about my thoughts on their children, it is their children who inspire me, it is their children that urge me to change, reflect, and grow. That heightened responsibility of how I represent our classroom and myself is only one of the things that has urged me to continue blogging and sharing. With each of the blogs, there have been many other benefits.

Benefits of a Classroom Blog:

Parents know what is going on. This is huge! I update regularly with what we are doing, showcasing work through text, photos or video. it gives parents (and the world) a direct view into our classroom.
Parents know where to find information. Having a child in school can mean a lot of different papers coming home. Now I post everything on our blog for easy reference (even for myself) so it is easy to find.
Parents know what is coming up. I have a calendar embedded on the side of our blog, this is always updated with deadlines, event information, and if I am out of the room. All parents need to do is look at our calendar to see what is happening.
Parents can easily ask questions. No longer reliant on a sometimes vague recollection of what actually happened through a tired child, they can see what is happening and then ask about it. Thea, my 5 year old, sometimes has a hazy memory of what she did at school so I love that I know what is happening in her classroom to help me facilitate a conversation.
Parents know us as a community. Because I get to highlight all of the amazing things we do, parents get a feel for what type of classroom we are. They don’t have to trust me, they can draw their own conclusion.
Parents can comment. I love when our parents, or others, comment on our classroom website. It makes us excited to see that people are paying attention to the wonderful things happening.
New parents know what we are about before their children become part of our class. When they google me, my classroom website comes up, what greater peace of mind to a nervous new student(and parents) than seeing some cool things that are happening in the classroom?
Finally, it becomes one more portal for my students to connect with the world. My students use our blog to post surveys, show off their learning, and connect with others.

Benefit of a Professional Blog:

Parents know my values. I try to stay nuanced but this blog is my platform for trying to abolish grades, homework, and punishment in the classroom. Parents can read my thoughts behind it and know that they can always start a conversation about it as well. They don’t have to ask my educational philosophy, it is all right here.
Parents know me personally. I blog very personal stories, such as the premature birth of our daughter or the passing of my grandfather. I put it all out there because it affects the way I teach, parents get to know me in more personal manner than just being a classroom teacher would allow me too.
Parents feel respected (I hope!). I blog extensively on the importance of bringing parents into the decision making process, as well as listening to them as experts. I hope this gives parents the courage (sometimes) needed to broach even difficult subjects with me.
Parents see how I represent their children. I try my hardest to represent my students in the most meaningful and real way as possible. When I mess up, I blog about it. When we fail as a class, I blog about it. When we have incredible moments, I blog about it. Parents don’t have to wonder how I feel about their kids or my job, I write about it extensively.

I didn’t set out to blog to create deeper connections, but it happened. When we let parents, and the world in, we show we are unafraid of showing what is happening in our worlds. We show that the time we spend teaching and the time we spend learning is worthwhile. We show the world that what we think and do matters. We give a voice to our students, but also to ourselves. but most importantly, we let parents know that what they think matters too.

I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” can be pre-bought now from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

ideas, Student-centered, Uncategorized

Some Small Ideas That Make a Difference

April 11, 2014April 11, 2014 Pernille Ripp

I love this time of year because my students really hit their stride. They are confident, they are disciplined, and they love the ownership they have over the rooms. It allows me to really push their thinking and introduce new things into the room that I think will keep them engaged.

The Video Newsletter – Thanks to Tony Sinanis for this awesome idea! For the past five weeks my students have been creating video newsletter showcasing what is happening in our room, rather than me writing one. Students decide what to put in it and how and then film it during class time. All I do is make sure they didn’t leave something important out and then upload it for them.

The Wall of Thinking. My students have been furiously researching the Revolutionary War in groups and will create something within the next few weeks to show off their knowledge. Until then, they have been adding post -its to a cabinet door with something amazing they learned. I have noticed the students reading each other’s post-its and commenting on them as well. It has been a blast to see their thinking grow.

Resurgence of the “I have noticed…” Post-its. I did these earlier in the year and then promptly forgot all about them. This week I am back on track. The kids need to know we notice how they have grown all through the year.

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The Bully Discussions. If you have not taken the 3 minutes to watch Will Wheaton’s eloquent response to a girl’s question on what to do when people call you a nerd, please watch it. We read the book “Bully” and then watched the video. Then students silently reflected on what bullying means to them, how it affects their lives and any other thoughts they had. I was surprised at how many of them reported having been a bully without even realizing it.

Students Teaching the World. My students have been skyping into classrooms teaching kids and teachers how to do either Mystery Skype or blogging. I cannot tell you how proud I am of them. So think of what your students could etach another class and then put it out there. I love the maturity, discipline, and presentation skills my students have had to showcase while presenting their knowledge. (If you would like us to teach you, please let me know!).

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Planting the Seed for Summer Reading. It is not too early to think about what incredible books the students will devour during summer, so this week we did the “Mrs. Ripp recommends” book piles on each table. I pull out as many books as my arms can carry from our library, new and old, place them on the tables and then give students time to peruse. They have an “I can’t wait to read…” list in their notebooks which they then add to . This 30 minute book extravaganze leade to each students adding at least one new book to their list.

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Be the change, Student-centered, Uncategorized

So My Students Cheered for Spelling

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014 Pernille Ripp

“But Mrs. Ripp, we missed spelling!” Not said with a smile, not said with excitement, but rather with disappointment laced in their voice. I smiled, that was the first time a student had ever been upset that we hadn’t done spelling.

On my mission to bring more joy into our classroom, I knew I had to drastically change our spelling program. When my students blog, many times spelling is brought up as the ultimate boredom introducer. A hassle that they don’t see the need for, or at least not in the format that I teach it. Every year I have changed the way I do spelling, every year I have tried to make it more relevant, more transferable, more exciting for the students. Yet my attempts have fallen flat. Students just did not like spelling. So over break I decided to throw it all out and rethink how to do it. This is what I came up with:

Make it a team challenge, students are in teams of 4 or 5 that will change every week so no team has an advantage.
Rather than make spelling about normal memorization, make it about word understanding instead, focusing on root words and opening up language discussions in the classroom.

Weekly Breakdown:

Make sense Monday – this is the day to discover the meaning, the origin, and come up with examples for the 10 root words posted in the classroom. Student teams are given one device to look up their words and can then decide how they want to memorize it.
Try it Out Tuesday – 5 minutes for team charades and then classroom charades for another 5 minutes where students have to guess the root word.
Word Jeopardy Wednesday – I created a Jeopardy game for the teams to do, they keep their own score if they want.
Test Your Knowledge Thursday – Teams concoct their own quizzes to test each other’s knowledge of the 10 root words.
Flaunt it Friday – Each student is tested on their knowledge. Students are asked to write down the root word, its origin, its meaning and then give me 2 examples of words with that root word. Scores will be added up for the team and then averaged, this becomes the score for the test for the team.

So why the team approach? Because I needed students to get excited and this group of kids love a good challenge where they work together.

Why the team grade? Because I wanted the students to push each other for a deeper understanding. Because I don’t use grades in my room much the students don’t care much about their grade but they still like knowing how they fared on the quiz.

Why the competition? Because this group of kids likes competition and I knew it would light a fire under them.

If you walked into my room during our spelling time, you wouldn’t guess that is what we are doing. The students are so excited, animated, and kind of loud getting the words down. And the conversations are a thrill to hear, so many lightbulb moments making word connections. And those kids that never did their spelling, yup, they are into it too.

I should have done this a long time ago.

Here is a video from our Try it out Tuesday

Be the change, being me, Student-centered

Pre-Buy Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom back to Our Students

March 31, 2014April 3, 2014 Pernille Ripp

The day has finally arrived! My first book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom back to Our Students” is available for pre-buy starting today! This book has been wonderful to write and I am so excited to finally have it ready. I hope you will consider reading it if you like reading my blog. Here is a little more information about it:

From Powerful Learning Press – my incredible publisher

Breaking the rules is scary within the public school system, no matter how few or many years you have taught. We are indoctrinated about how a traditional classroom should look, starting with our own school days and then on through college classes and early professional careers. When we bring new ideas, or even just trust our instincts, we often think that what we want to try will never really work.

Pressure from schools and districts to conform — from the government and the tests — and sometimes even from colleagues who want us all to just stay the same — none of that helps as we think about changing our practice. Sometimes we give up before we even make the attempt, because we are pretty sure the barriers and pushback will be insurmountable.

In Pernille Ripp’s own teaching practice, what she discovered was this: Even the smallest changes can make monumental differences. And then you keep on until you create something new. Trusting yourself and your students and sharing the power of the classroom with them can lead to great teaching and learning even within the boundaries of our confining standards, testing obsessions and mandatory curriculums.

In Passionate Learners: Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students, Pernille shares what and how she changed—and how her students changed with her. We learn about the little and not-so-little things she did over the course of a transformational year, so that she could shift the responsibility for learning – the joy and wonder of it – to the kids themselves.

“I believed that I knew exactly what the students needed, if only they would listen. Now I know that a classroom has to be vibrant for students to invest their time and effort. We cannot force children to learn. They have to discover things and be teachers too.” -Pernille Ripp

Whether you are just beginning or well on your way in your teaching career, this book can inspire you to break rules, take risks, and eagerly pursue your journey toward a classroom filled with passionate learners.

At the very least, it will let you know that you are not alone when you think your secret thoughts—that there really are better ways to teach, and that others who believe the same thing want to connect with you to make it happen.

Save with this coupon code

To celebrate the pre-launch of this exciting book for educators, Powerful Learning Press is offering a $3 discount through April 7. Use our coupon code PREBUY at checkout to save $3. One week only, beginning March 31! Go to the PLPress online store to buy now.

Be the change, being me, happiness, reflection, Student-centered

How I Brought Back Joy in My Classroom

March 28, 2014April 1, 2014 Pernille Ripp

I continue to ponder the concept of joy in schools and more so the seeming lack of it. Yet, I look at my own classroom and I know that we have a lot of joy. Not all the time, not in everything we do, but there is a lot of joy in what we do. It wasn’t always like that, when I taught traditionally, joy was not on my priority list when I planned. If something happened to be fun I felt rather guilty since it probably meant I wasn’t getting the educational value across to my students. Now I know better.

Joy is something I try to create, as funny as that sounds. Yet by now I know what makes my students happy and I try to incorporate it as much as possible. So what are some of the things that bring us joy?

Picture books. Many 5th graders think picture books are for little kids but not in this room. We cherish the arrival of new ones and laugh outloud whenever we can. Taking 5 minutes to share a great one can boost us all.
Making mistakes. I make the stupidest mistakes at times but I laugh outloud about it too and make sure the kids know. We have to be able to giggle about ourselves for others to realize it is okay to laugh with us.
Challenges. I try to concoct bi-weekly challenges for my students that focus on community and perseverance. Often they are inane and I make them hard, not to test my kids but to push them further. Our latest boat challenge was a blast and I am already rummaging through my closets trying to think up the next one.
Meditation. After being inspired to bring back more mindfulness we have been doing 3 minute meditation sessions after math to center us for the rest of the day. I know it is supposed to be quiet breathing but we have hard time not cracking up at some of the instructions. Why shush them when laughter also centers them?
Dance breaks. Singing and dancing are something I relish as an adult so if we are feeling down or extra restless I know what we need.

These things may seem like extra things and you are right, what about my core instruction, what’s so joyful about that?

The one thing that has brought more joy into our classroom is simply giving shared control to the students. These few changes have had an incredible impact in our room:

Student voice. Meaning that students have the right to an opinion in everything we do.
Student choice. Whether it is what they are creating, how they are creating it, or who they are creating it with – student choice is essential in my room.
No punishment. My students don’t get punished, I tend not to take things away such as recess, field trips or special moments. It’s not that they are angels, we just figure out a way to work through bad moments.
No grades. My students don’t work for grades, they work for understanding. There is a big difference and it is something we cultivate throughout the year.
Lack of knowledge. I don’t know everything and I tell my students that so we have to figure it out together.
Curiosity. I am very curios as are my students so we have to take time to explore some of the things we are curious about. Whether it is through genius hour, project time or simply stopping what we are doing to veer off the path, we allow it and we embrace it.
Global connections. My students reaching out to teach others or ask others is a big part of our room and something that brings us happiness. We try to incorporate some sort of global connection in most things we do, as long as it makes sense.

Yet I am not there yet. There are still moments of dreadfulness in my classroom. Spelling used to be one of them, and because of that I have completely revamped the program starting Monday, I will let you know if it makes a difference. So while not everything is joyful yet, I feel like we are on the right path. Are you? Is there room for joy in your classroom? How do you teach for it?

The student who memorized the most numbers of pi got to throw a pie in my face on my birthday

Be the change, happiness, reflection, Student-centered

Are You a Joy Remover?

March 25, 2014 Pernille Ripp

Dean Shareski asked me (and many others) yesterday, “Whatever happened to joy?” A simple question really that should be easy to answer if you are a teacher – it’s right in our classrooms – but then again, one that requires more thought. Is joy really prevalent in our classrooms? Or is it reserved for special occasions or for those students who earn it?

Joy is often associated with special events in a classroom. We earn our joy and happiness through parties. When I gave up punishment and rewards, I didn’t get rid of joy, I just tried to make sure it was always present rather than something we marked on the calendar. And yet, in today’s learning environment we seem to reserve joy not just to special occasions but also to those who we find deserving of it. If a child is behind academically, joy is often one of the things we unintentionally remove from their day. We pull them out of specials for interventions. We take away their independent reading time to give more instruction. We take away recess and field trips due to poor behavior or more instruction. We have them work on missed homework rather than the challenge the other students are doing. Their joy in the classroom deemed unnecessary because joy does not lead to academic achievement.

And yet, these kids that struggle are exactly the kids that need more joy in school. They are the ones that we need to stay invested and engaged, not just the kid that is already mastering everything we present them with. They are the ones that need to realize the worth of school, that need to believe that school is worth their time and effort, and that they will get to do the exact same things as everyone else around them. That they will not be singled out once again for their supposed shortcomings, but rather treated as an equal that deserves to have as much fun learning as everyone else.

We know that students who struggle often act out to hide their deficit, so why is it we continue to punish rather than help? Why is it we continue to believe that if we just give them stricter consequences we will finally break their will and they will work better, hand in their homework, or try harder? These kids are the ones that need to find the joy in school, these kids are the ones who need it the most. So what are we doing to provide it?

I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released April 23rd from Powerful Learning Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.