student choice – Page 15

assessment, attention, authentic learning, being a teacher, Literacy, MIEExpert15, student choice, student voice, technology

What About the “P” In Your B.Y.O.D.?

July 20, 2015 Pernille Ripp

The final quarter of last year, our classroom was a limited B.Y.O.D. zone, meaning yes, bring your own device but check it at the door unless we had a purpose for it. I instituted this because I felt we were getting distracted, myself included, we were having a hard time resisting the instant temptations that our smartphones seem to provide for us. So we left them out of the room and the students were just fine with it. I was too. In fact, there were times where I knew that our conversations, our reflections, our thinking traveled to deeper levels because we did not have a device nearby to distract.

Yet, I felt like I had taking the easy way out. That declaring our room a device free zone was limiting the students. So I have been thinking a lot about meaningful purpose lately, because much like I would not take a pencil away from my students unless I had to, I don’t think we should be taking devices either. What we need instead is purpose, and purpose starts with us. Especially in our literacy classroom where we have such an opportunity to use the devices to further a love of reading.

The beauty of students with devices is not just the instant access to information, but the ability to give them a voice even if we are not discussing. To give them a further purpose than just the immediate one in the classroom. To create a digital platform for them to share their voices with the world. Therefore, this coming year, we will not be device-free but rather device-purposeful. Together we will be deciding how to use, when to use, and what to do with our devices. There will be clear student-set expectations and they will be a natural part of our classroom, not something to always leave at the door.

A few ideas so far for the purpose part are: (For students with no devices we will have access to Chromebooks to do some of these things. )
An ongoing TodaysMeet backchannel. This idea, shared by Ira Socol at ISTE, means that I am creating a TodaysMeet room for each class and having that as a place for students to discuss, ask questions, and also to take the pulse of my classroom. Because, of course, students will probably veer off the prompted conversation, but will they do it all of the time? This will allow my shyer students a way to speak up, allow students to help each other, and also a way to leave me questions that perhaps they don’t feel they need the answer to right away. This backchannel will also allow me a way to assess to see engagement, interest, and confusion. All useful tools as I prepare and plan.

A Goodreads community. I plan on using Goodreads with my students this year as a way to log their books, share recommendations, and explore new books. It is the same tool I use for myself and so adding it will be a natural extension of what adult readers use. For those who teach younger students, you could use Biblionasium to do this as well.

A Padlet Wonder wall. I really want us to start being more curious and wondering more, so having a Padlet with things we wonder about will be another tool for the students to access. I plan on sharing a daily wonder as well, and may use Wonderopolis if we have time.

A Padlet book share wall. This idea shared by the inspiring Kristin Ziemke at ILA is having a place for students to post “Book shelfies” plus a recommendation of the book. I loved Kristin’s idea especially of opening this up to the world and having students around the world sharing their books as well.

Those are just a few ideas, but I am sure more will come soon. I cannot wait to discuss these ideas with my students and see what else they have to offer. What ideas would you add?

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA but originally from Denmark, who has taught 4th, 5th, and 7th grade. 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. The second edition of my first book “Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students” is available for pre-order now. Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press. Join our Passionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

being a teacher, being me, MIEExpert15, Passion, Reading, student choice, student voice

Enough…

June 17, 2015 Pernille Ripp

My love of reading never had to survive my childhood. My love of reading never had to survive well-meaning teachers, at least not when I was young. When I grew up, teachers weren’t really that bothered with what we read, or how much we read every night, just that we read. That we grew. That we became better. They didn’t ask us to keep logs, to record minutes, to stick post-it notes whenever we had a thought. They didn’t tell us which box to pick from or give us a label. Instead, they gave us a book, pointed to a chair, and they told us to read. Come up for air when you are done.

Some may shudder at the lack of instruction that I was put through as a young child, after all, where was all of the teaching? And yet within this brutally simplistic approach; read, read, read and then please read some more, was an immense amount of wisdom. Kids need time to read. Kids need choice. Kids need to be allowed to self-select books and then when they are done reading they should be asked to get another book. So if we hold these truths to be self-evident, I wonder, how has so much of our reading instruction gotten so far off track?

I think we teachers are part of the problem. I think our silence while we seethe inside at the new initiatives being dictated to us means that we are now complicit in the killing of the love of reading. I think we have sat idly by for too long as others have told us that students will love reading more if we limit them further and guide them more. We have held our tongue while practices have been marched into our classrooms disguised by words like research-based, rigorous, and common-core aligned. We have held our tight smiles as so called experts sold our districts more curriculum, more things to do, more interventions, more repetitions. We have stayed silent because we were afraid of how our words would be met, and I cannot blame any of us. Standing up and speaking out is terrifying, especially if you are speaking out against something within your own district. But we cannot afford to stay silent any more. With the onslaught of more levels, more logs, more things to do with what they read all in the name of deeper understanding, we have to speak up. Reading is about time to read first. Not all of the other things. And if we are sacrificing time to read to instead teach children more strategies,, then we are truly missing the point of what we we should be doing.

So I declare myself a reading warrior, and I believe you should as well. No more reading logs to check whether kids are reading. No more levels used to stop children from self-selecting books they actually want to read. No more timed standardized tests to check for comprehension. Being a fast reader does not mean you comprehend more. No more reading projects that have nothing to do with reading. No more reading packets to produce a grade that stops students from talking about books. No more rewards; prizes, stickers, lunches with the principal. We cannot measure a great reader by how many pages a school has read, so stop publishing it. Don’t publish your test scores. Don’t publish your AR levels. Publish instead how many children have fallen in love with a book. How many recommendations have been made from student to student. Publish how many books have needed to be replaced because of worn pages. Publish that, and be proud of the teachers that dare to speak up to protect the very thing we say we hold sacred.

Be a reading warrior, because for too long we have hoped that the decisions being made are always in the best interest of a child when we know at times they are not. No child is helped when we protest in silence, when we protest in the teacher lounge, or in our homes. We have to find the courage to speak up for the very students we serve. We have to practice being brave. We have to allow students to read books that they choose, to give them time to talk about their books rather than fill out a packet, and to allow them to self-monitor how much reading they are doing and then believing them when they tell us their truth. It is time for us to stand up and speak up. It is time to take back our reading instruction and truly make it about what the kids need and not what others tell us that they need. One voice can be a whisper or a protest, we make the choice when we decide to make a difference. Are you with me?

being me, learning, student choice, student voice

Calling All Educators in the Midwest

June 4, 2015June 4, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I tend to not self-promote much on this blog, it feels awkward and weird when I do. And yet, it is not every day that you get to learn along with the amazing Diana Laufenberg and so this time I am making an exception. Calling all educators in the Midwest, if you want to explore how to create student-driven, passion-filled classrooms, this two-day workshop is for you on June 25th and 26th outside of Chicago, IL. Join Diana and I at The Midwest Principal Canter as we explore how to construct 21st century learning experiences. I promise this workshop with its hands-on approach will be worth your time, after all, this is Diana Laufenberg facilitating.

Here is the more formal description if you are interested, as well as the link to register.

The age of information surplus is upon us and the information is everywhere. Understanding and shifting to that reality in our schools is both daunting and exciting. Join us for two days of exploration into the strategies, tools and resources that yield teaching and learning agile enough to evolve with the shifting information and standards landscape we all navigate in the profession. It is time to move beyond asking what our students know and asking what they can create, innovate and imagine from that knowledge. Many resources are widely available to modernize our classrooms and schools. It’s time for our classrooms to meet the exciting realities of a modern educational approach. Specific teaching units, resources and strategies will be shared. Participants are encouraged to bring units, lessons or objectives that they are currently using in the classrooms and/or schools.

Attendees will:

Explore the core values of modern learning
Experience and participate in activities to expose teachers to a wide range of model projects and methods that can be used to design their own lessons and units.
Explore the systems and structures that must change so that the greatest number of students, teachers and principals can thrive, learn and feel valued.
Participate in break-out sessions designed specifically for both elementary and secondary levels.
Create and/or revise a unit or series of lessons throughout the two-day workshop that meet the demands of the standards, while also valuing the role of the student as an active learner
Explore a wide range of digital tools and resources that can open up a world of possibilities for an inquiry-driven and/or project based learning environment
Investigate the role of global collaboration and how it can complement your existing curriculum

So if you are interested, make sure you get registered. This promises to be an incredible experience for all of those attending, myself included.

assumptions, being a teacher, being me, student choice, student voice

Today I Chose Not to Share – When Is It Our Right to Share the Work of Our Students?

June 2, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I am spent. Exhausted and drained as I type this. My mind is swirling with thoughts that I cannot quite get a grasp on and yet, I feel compelled to share some words with the world. My students started sharing their This I Believe speeches today, a project I was told would be powerful but that I had never done before. I threw my faith into it, dedicated the last 3 weeks to write with them, borrowed ideas from amazing teachers like Brianna Crowley and held my breath just a little; would they really get what this assignment was about? Would they believe in something bigger than them?

When I read their rough drafts I had to take a break. Hurriedly written were stories of unexpected death, racism, bullying, and other anguishes that you don’t think any child, let alone a 7th grader should experience. It took me three days to read through them, not because it was hard work, but because it was hard. Hard to read their words and know that these are not just their stories, but their lives. And so I knew I had to protect those stories, not share them with the world like we so often do. That these stories belonged to us and no one else. Which surprised me a little bit as I have always been an advocate for students sharing their stories to change the world.

Yet, more than a month ago, Rafranz Davis got me thinking about the things we share from our classrooms. How we often share student work with their permission, but sometimes do not think of the larger consequences of sharing it. How we view the internet as a vast land where no one will know the students whose work we magnify, and yet, this isn’t true. We share and our students see us sharing. We ask for permission from parents in blanket forms and they give it to us because they trust we will use their child’s work in a trustworthy way. Yet, we sometimes share without thinking of how a child may be recognized in the work, or how something we don’t give importance can harm a family. We simply don’t know what the unintended consequences may be when we let the world in.

Today, the stories intertwined with their beliefs came from shaky hands and downward glances. Yes, this was a speech assignment but the hush at the end of each speech proved just how powerful silence could be. These kids with their heartbreak. These kids with their dreams. Who had decided to give us the ultimate gift; their words. Whose dedication to the community we have built this year told them it was safe for them to share. Who believed in us and in this assignment and allowed others to see a side of them they don’t always show. I have to protect that.

Sometimes the most amazing experiences we have with our students are those that no one but us know about. Those that no one would be able to be a part of because they are not part of our community. I asked my students to go as deep with this assignment as they were comfortable with, and their journey today showed me just how much trust we have built. I wish I could share it. I wish others could have been here to witness the courage of my students, to see the emotional reactions from their peers, but they couldn’t. And they won’t. And I am grateful because today happened and the rest of the world will just have to take my word on it.

So stop and think before you share your students work. Think before you post. Did the child mean for the whole world to see it or just for you? Who did they write it for? Would their parents or guardians want the whole world or even just the school to know? If you are not sure, stop, don’t, there will be other things for the world to see.

aha moment, authentic learning, being a teacher, being me, life choices, Reading, student choice

When Your Child Hates Reading- Some Advice From Those of Us Who Try

June 1, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Note with content: When your child hates reading

One of the top questions I work through with friends, family, parents of my students, and even my own children is what to do when a child doesn’t want to read. Or I am asked for ideas for how to increase a child’s desire to read. This is not a question I take lightly, nor one that I have a magical solution to. I wish. But I do have a few ideas that may help a reluctant reader get more interested in reading taken from my own experience as a teacher and parent.

First of all; be a reader yourself. Nothing speaks louder to a child than having reading role models. Read as much as you can, discuss your reading, share your reading, and read widely. Switch it up to showcase that reading is not just one thing to you, but can consists of many types of books and genres. I always have a book in my purse, backpack, and in my house. I read when I am waiting for people, when we sit a traffic lights, whenever we have an errand to run and I stay back in the car. Be a reader yourself so that the children in your life can see the value of it, not just hear about it. Also pass books on in front of your children, I often hand books to others and discuss why they might love it. My children and students have started doing the same.

Secondly, keep reading aloud. We read aloud to all four of our children every single night. They pick the books and we gladly comply. It is a perfect way to end the day and allows a moment to create a shared experience. This goes for older children as well. Several of my students have reported sharing a book with a parent and I can tell you; it makes a huge difference to them. I also cherish the read aloud time we have in class, much too little of it unfortunately, but again it allows us to have a shared experience that will shape future conversations about books. (One tip: Read the first book in a series aloud to ensure students get hooked and have more books to read). Create a shared read aloud experience with the world by joining The Global Read Aloud or other shared read aloud projects. This helps students connect with the world and also gets them excited about incredible books.

Third, take them to the book store. Yes, I love a great library but there seems to be a stigma to some kids about “those old books” that they can find in the library versus the new and shiny ones they can see in a book store. My trick, so that I don’t go bankrupt is to take my own children to the book store first , let them select all of the amazing books they cannot wait to read, write them all down, and then head straight to the library to get them from there. Once in a while they get to select a book to purchase from the book store and we make a big deal out of it.

Fourth, keep handing them books. Be specific with why you are handing it to them. “I read this book and think you might like it because…” and keep doing it every chance you have. Don’t be offended when they don’t want to read it. I tell my students all of the time that even if I think a book is great they may hate it, which always turns into a great discussion of taste. Children need chances to develop their own taste and in order to do that they need to be presented with a lot of books to choose from. (This is also why I have a large classroom library and many books at my house). And don’t just hand them the Classics, or whatever you think they should read, if they express interest in something hand that to them. My mother never limited what I read even if she felt something was too hard or outside of my interest, she just let me read. When we micromanage we stop children from discovering themselves as readers.

Fifth, don’t let your own ideas of what great reading looks like ruin great readings for others. I think we are all super guilty of thinking we know what great reading looks like. Whether it is reading a certain book or genre, whether it is reading in a certain type of environment or noise level, whatever we prefer is what we assume must be best for all. Just don’t. I have had students get deep into the reading zone while listening to soft music. I have had students only want to read one certain genre and nothing else no matter what I presented them with. I have had students swear that the best reading they can do is when they walk around the room. Yes, really! And guess what? They were right. Their best reading is their best reading, not the silent lying on the couch method I prefer. But you should have the conversation with them, ask them what it looks like and then have them cultivate that. Discuss your own reading preference so they can find their style as well.

Sixth, don’t do rewards. Ever. Reading is its own reward. The minute we start to tie reading with a tangible reward, we remove the intrinsic pleasure we hope our readers discover. Although reading for a reward can offer a short-term solution to get a child reading, it will set a long-term precedent of what reading is for. It is not worth it. It will almost never lead to some sort of revelation of how pleasurable reading is and instead you have created a new bad habit; the “give-me” monster whose outstretched hand will only read when there is a tangible prize at the end. So don’t start, even if it seem like it might help a little, the damage it will do will not be worth it in the end.

Seven, give it a break. I can be a high-strung reading parent, particularly because reading has not come super easy for one of my own children. When we saw her struggle, my immediate reaction was to want her to read for longer periods of time in order to practice more. My husband intervened, thankfully, and reminded me that when she does read it is hard, concentrated work and so we want to keep it short and sweet. Make it a pleasurable experience, not a drill sergeant moment. So if your child is really fighting you on reading, or struggling, don’t force them to read for a long period of time every day, keep it short, pleasant, and predictable. Let them browse books, read a bit and support them throughout. They will get there, it may just take time and that one great book, but making something already difficult or hated into a long battle is not going to change their mind or help them love reading.

Eight, talk about reading but in a non-threatening way. My daughter and I invent stories a lot on our drive home, sometimes based off of read alouds we have done. My students and I discuss movies all of the time, particularly if they are based on a book and we need to compare it. I show book trailers, I do impromptu picture book read alouds, and I get very, very excited about new books that I am reading. Books are a constant undercurrent of my life and I do my best to bring it to the attention of the children I am surrounded by, but in a non-obvious way. So go to author talks and signings, do read alouds, go to movies based on books, leave books out, listen to audio books on road trips, be excited about being a reader and don’t give up. You never know at what moment a child will start to love reading.

Nine, realize it’s ok if they don’t love reading. I can’t believe I just write that but it is true. Yes, we should make opportunities for all children to love reading but we also need to be ok with a child if they don’t. My mother raised my 4 siblings and I to love reading (I really have 11 siblings but these were the ones at my mom’s house) and 4 out of the 5 kids love it more than anything. My one brother… not so much. He is a great reader and once in a while will fall in love with a book series, but most of the time he is busy doing other things. His life is not less full or less pleasurable than mine. So we need to be ok with having a child that doesn’t love reading as much as we do…That doesn’t mean we stop, but it means we stop judging them on it.

What did I miss? What ideas do you have to share? I know many of us struggle with this.

aha moment, student blogging, student choice, student voice, writing

In Which We Change the Way We Write

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 Pernille Ripp

For a while, I have been struggling with how to teach writing well. Sure, we write every single day almost, sure we blog, we write by hand, and we type. We have authentic purposes and authentic audiences. The kids write, we discuss, we create. And yet, something has been missing and for the longest time I couldn’t put a finger on what it was.

Then I watched this video from Brad Wilson – please stop and watch it right now, it is 6 minutes, and it is so powerful.

Brad is right, “…the containers have hijacked the concept.” I have compartmentalized everything we do in writing rather than just teach the craft of writing. I have created barriers for my students so they think that writing is a completely different thing depending on the purpose. The ideas of writing, the craft has been lost, and students are going through the motion of writing as drones, even if we are blogging, even if we are doing something “fun” with our writing.

We need to get back to the core of story-telling. We need to focus on the journey we are on as writers and celebrate how we develop our stories. We need to see that in all of the writing we do, we are working on becoming better writers, not better bloggers, not better editors, not better persuaders, but writers and that being a great writer is an essential skill to all. Not just those that gravitate toward it. The conversation within English has to change. The language I use has to change. Enough with the self-invented purposes and barriers, back to the core of writing we go.