student driven – Page 7

aha moment, being a teacher, student choice, student driven, students teach me

Planning for Flow in the Classroom

December 11, 2015December 10, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Our classroom has been silent the last few days. A stillness surrounding the students as they sit in thought, only interrupted by the occasional whisper. I have felt rather useless, not teaching, barely speaking, and yet. That stillness has been a sight to behold. The stillness has been profound as students have sunk deeper and deeper into the work asking me to not interrupt. Asking me to let them work. And I have listen, and I have watched, in awe of what has unfolded.

My students have reached a state of flow. That mental state where you are fully immersed in what you are doing and your brain is working optimally. That zone that we teachers hope to develop every day so that students can learn deeply. Yet ask most teachers whether their students reach flow daily or even weekly and they will tell you no. Their days are too disjointed, we have too much to cover, too many things to do. It seems as if we don’t have time for deep thinking these days.

So what changed in our room these past few days? What changed for it to become this way?

I stopped doing an all class mini-lesson. Instead, I have been pulling kids one-on-one as we work on their specific need. The children that need extra support sit close by every day so that I can support them whenever they need, others come to me for help or I come to them. That doesn’t mean there is no need for mini-lessons, just not right now for this unit.

We brought in music. I always marvel at the students that can work intently while listening to music, yet year after year, I see it happen. So some students listen to music as they work, submerged into their own world the music allows them to shut everything else off. It heightens their focus, even though I will never understand how myself. Music allows works wonders for those that tend to interrupt, they focus on their music rather than others.

They sit where they want and work how they want. Some students are inn bean bags, others move tables. I have a students that goes to the team area every day to work. Some type, others write. Choice surrounds us as students figure out how they work best and it allows them to get comfortable.

I spoke more quietly. I can be rather loud as a teacher, so lowering my voice was not something that I often remember to do, but in doing so I have modeled it for my students. They know to whisper, they know to not disturb others.

We speak for a few minutes before we start. As students get ready, as students get settled, instructions and reminders are given. And then I say, “Settle in, settle down.” I repeat as necessary, almost like a mantra, as the quiet slowly takes over the room.

The lights are off or low. I have the most amazing window that allows a lot of natural light in. Most days we have no overhead lights on and the simple dimness of the room signals to the students that we are in a quiet work zone. The feel of the room from the moment they enter allows them to transition into the quiet, into the deeper thinking zone.

I don’t interrupt. If a child is deep in thought, I think before I conference with them. Perhaps today is not the day to check in, perhaps a glance over their shoulder is enough? Too often our helpfulness interrupts flow rather than enhances it. I leave a note for myself of who I need to meet with and keep track with check-marks. I confer with every child every few days, sometimes just not on the day I had intended.

The first day we reached the state of flow, I was giddy, and yet also filled with trepidation, would we be able to reach it again? When it happened again the following day, I started to pay attention. The words of my students continue to surround me; let us work, give us time, teach us individually if you can. and I try, and we work, and every day I marvel at the quiet, thankful of the thinking that is happening around me.

Note: I’m co-writing a book with John Spencer about flow in the classroom and student engagement. Go read his blog for great ideas on how to create environments where students are engaged. Then go and check out any of his projects to be inspired further.

If you are looking for a great book club to join to re-energize you in January, consider the Passionate Learners book club on Facebook. We kick off January 10th.

assessment, authentic learning, being a teacher, collaboration, No grades, student choice, Student dreams, student driven, student voice

Ready to Re-Ignite Your Passion? Join the Passionate Learners Book Club

December 9, 2015December 29, 2015 Pernille Ripp

With the bustle of December and all of the year-end blog posts starting to be released, the end of the year is fast approaching. But with that end also comes an inevitable beginning; a January that calls for re-invention, renewed commitment, and also the energy to try new things. I do so adore January for all of its passion and courage.

It is therefore that I am pretty excited to share that the first ever official book club for Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students will kick off on January 10th.

Join this private Facebook group for a casual and fun exploration of the book, find a community of your own that is trying some of the ideas, or have already implemented them into their classrooms. There will be reflective questions, helpful resources, as well as ideas shared in the hopes to make this January the best one yet.

In the book club we will discuss how to

Build a working relationship with your students based on mutual trust, respect, and appreciation.
Be attentive to your students’ needs and share ownership of the classroom with them.
Break out of the vicious cycle of punishment and reward to control student behaviour.
Use innovative and creative lesson plans to get your students to become more engaged and intellectually-invested learners, while still meeting your state standards.
Limit homework and abandon traditional grading so that your students can make the most of their learning experiences without unnecessary stress.

So if you are looking for a way to re-ignite your passion, to meet new amazing educators, and find great ideas for how to engage and empower your students, join this book club. There is no commitment once you join, pop in when you can and share when you want.

When: January 10th – February 7th

Where: Online via a private, closed Facebook group

Cost: Free

Click here to join the Passionate Learners book club on Facebook. You will receive a notification from Facebook once you have been added to the group and you can then start posting. Please contact me with any questions. You can get your print or e-book copy of Passionate Learners here.

Be the change, Passion, Personalized Learning, student driven, student voice

Some Ideas for Personalizing Learning in the Younger Grades

October 28, 2015 Pernille Ripp

“Mom, you have to see this…?”

Thea hands me her science project, her very first in in 1st grade, and she is so excited she has a hard time standing still.

“I have to do this thing and I get to choose and I know I want to do coyotes and a video so we need to learn stuff…”

I grab the paper from her hand and once again marvel at the ingenuity of her teacher and the district we both are in.

Personalizing learning in the younger grades has always been something I felt slightly clueless about. After all, most of the kids I have taught have been older than 9. Yet, by watching what Thea is experiencing in her 1st grade classroom, I have a few ideas for how learning can become more personalized in the younger grades in order to create more passionate learners.

Give scaffolded topic choice. While this seems like a no-brainer, I think giving choice looks a lot different in a 1st grade classroom versus a 4th grade. I know that 6 year olds often have many ideas, which can either lead to brilliance or indecisiveness, so I have seen how a limited amount of choice in specific areas can really help them get engaged. In Thea’s science project she was told to study a Wisconsin animal and was then given a suggested list to select from. She knew right away when we read the words “Coyotes” that they would be her choice, however, her teacher also left it wide open for any animals not on the list as long as they were found natively in our state. Having choice, but with limitations helped Thea get straight to work, and helped her get excited about her topic.

Have many ways to access information. Her teacher did not place a limit on how she should access the information but gave us ideas instead. We therefore watched real coyote videos on YouTube, checked out books, found a PBS kids show, and also found pictures online. Not being limited to one method of finding information meant that we could adapt it to what we had access to, as well as what would work for Thea in the moment.

Have various ways to show learning. While all the students had to do a fill-in-the-blank written report they also had to come up with a way to present their knowledge to the class. A few choices were given; diorama, poster, or a video, but again you could also come up with your own idea. Thea immediately wanted to do a video because she thought it would be fun. As we discussed it more in detail, she decided to act like a teacher because she wants to be one when she grows up. Again, having this choice in how she would present her information made the assignment even more meaningful to her because she got to express her knowledge in a way that made sense to her.

Have selective goal setting. The students all have several goals in each subject area, but the teacher lets them choose which one they want to pay special attention to. That goal gets a star next to it. When they have centers, one of their stations is for working on their selected goal, a clever way of tapping into what they think they need themselves.

Let them pick partners. Even if you think it is a bad idea. We assume more often than not that students will make a bad choice rather than a good one. Yet, Thea tells me proudly how often she selects a new partner for math because she wants to try working with them. This experience not only offers her a way to learn alongside someone else, she also gets to explore more kids who might be a great friend for her. What an awesome skill to work on.

Have them self-asses with smiley faces. Thea is just learning how to read and write, so having them self reflect through writing would take a very long time. A quick and easy way to self reflect is by using smiley/frowney faces as you go through their learning. Again, this allows students to take control of what they felt successful in and set goals for upcoming learning. Another idea is to have students do a video or voxer message where they self-reflect. This can then also be shared with parents to see how a child thinks.

Discourage parent over-involvement. When I first saw the science project, my heart sank a little because I thought of how much work this might be for Brandon and I. Yet, in the rubric itself, it said that to get a “4” or a “3” the work should not be parent produced but rather originate from the child with only minimal parent support. So that is exactly what we did. While we discussed with Thea what she wanted to do, we really wanted the ideas to come from her and then helped her as she needed. The end result; a kind of messy but pretty funny video (who knows if there is a king coyote anywhere?) that clearly shows her enthusiasm for the topic, as well as her knowledge.

I am amazed at the trust Thea’s teacher puts in her little learners and am also reminded in how often we underestimate kids. Personalizing learning is not something we should start when we think kids are old enough, they are never old enough. It is something we should start right away because that is what will create classrooms filled with curious students. That is what will create passionate learners.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

assumptions, being a teacher, books, Literacy, student choice, student driven

How We Can Help Our Book Abandoners

October 15, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have watched her every day, picking up a book, reading, kind of, and then at the end of class casually placing it into the return bin of our classroom. Another book abandoned. Another story given up. In the past, I would have grabbed that book and handed it back to her. ” Give it another day or so. This one you’re sticking with.” But not now. Not anymore.

I used to think that when a child abandoned a book, they simple had not given it enough of a chance. That the act of abandonment was a badge of honor; look at how I am not reading! That they abandoned books because it was a way to not read, after all, you cannot read when you do not have a book.

So I helped them by creating rules… You cannot abandon a book until you are 50 pages in. You can only abandon one book, then the next one you have to read. You must tell me when you abandon a book so we can discuss why. The rules were meant to discourage it, to make abandoning a book a hassle, to inspire students to give the book a proper chance. And they kind of followed them, or I thought they did, until I noticed that the students were no longer abandoning books, instead they were fake reading, getting the timing just right of their meticulous page turns, yet their eyes were not on the page. My helpful rules had thus created a bigger problem; children who would rather sit and do nothing but turn a page rather than read a boring book.

Yet, I now know that book abandonment is a sign of a larger problem. That it is not something most students pride themselves on but instead becomes yet another sign that reading is seemingly not for them. That book abandonment becomes proof of their failures as readers. And the students seem to not know what to do about it. So if teaching 7th graders (and 5th graders, and 4th graders) has taught me anything it is that we have to face it head on. So I had to find a new approach, we had to bring book abandonment into the limelight and embrace it for the reading beast it is. Therefore, in our classroom, we…

Share our own abondenments. I celebrate my book abandoning because it tells the students that I am reader who knows herself. That I am tuned in to my own reading needs to find a book that works for me at that moment. And that those needs change depending on what is going on in my life. Students need an abandonment role model so that the stigma can be removed and the conversations can begin. Because that is what we need; more discussion. More reflection. I never tear a book apart, I instead explain why it is not a great fit for me right now, and then offer it up to others. Most of the time someone grabs it and proves me wrong.

Log it. No, not a reading log, I don’t need to know minutes or pages read, but instead a list of books they have finished and books they have abandoned. They have a readers notebook in our classroom that has a section for this so they can easily do it in class. Students need to have a way to examine their own actions, and so the simple sheet with the title on it helps them do just, which leads to the next thing.

Ask why. Assume that all students abandon books, not just the “bad” readers and then ask them why they abandoned that book specifically. Have them examine their own habits so that they can figure out who they are as a reader. My students reflect on their reading habits several times a quarter so that they can see patterns. They look at their list of books they loved and books they didn’t so they can get clues to what they like to read, and then start to pay attention to it. They need to study themselves, and be given the time to do so, so they can learn from this rather than just view it as an inevitable part of their reading habits.

Ask “Now what?” Too often our students expect us to come up with the answer, to hand them the next book. I have learned that while we should support their book browsing, we also need to pull back to let them become “Wild readers” as Donalyn Miller says. Readers who know who they are and what they like. So when a child abandons a book and ask me for another recommendation, I ask them to look at their To-Be-Read list, to think for a moment about what they need right now, what their life looks like, and how much energy they have. They then have to find a stack of books to browse through so they can find their next read. They usually let me know at the end what they pick, not because they have to, but because they want to share their find.

Practice total honesty. I ask my students to be completely honest in their reading habits, whether when we speak or when they reflect, because if they are not I cannot help them. They have to trust me to not punish them or somehow degrade their answers. And I don’t. Total honesty is paramount to how we work in our classroom. And that starts with me; I do not sugarcoat my own habits. If I did not read the night before they know. If I am dragging in a book, they know. And they also know my reading goals because I set them right alongside them.

Ask probing questions. I will ask a child the harder questions, I will ask them if they are just giving up because they are in a pattern of giving up. I will ask them if they think they should try a few more pages or if they have given it careful thought. That does not mean there are rules for when you abandon, but I do want to make sure that the decision to abandon is one that they know should be carefully considered. That yes, sometimes we know after 1 page that we do not want to read a book, and that is perfectly fine, as long as we know why we don’t want to read anymore.

Have an enticing library. Many researchers have solidified the need for incredible classroom libraries, and yes, I know that means that we probably pay for the books out-of-pocket. But it is worth it. Having students be able to immediately try to find another book can be both a blessing and a curse, but in the end, I would rather have a child that is faced with many choices than one who has to wait for a pass or our scheduled time to go to the library to get one.

Creating classrooms where students are passionate about reading, requires many things; a great classroom library, time to read, choice, and also the courage to break some of the rules that surround traditional reading instruction. That includes facing book abandonment head on. What have you tried that has worked?

PS: For ideas on how to get reluctant readers to read, read this.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) just came out!

advice, being a teacher, being me, Passion, student driven, students

These Three Areas May Be the Root of Student Disengagement

September 7, 2015September 6, 2015 Pernille Ripp

tumblr_nu3wgu161v1qzr04eo1_1280 — image from icanread

Yesterday, I shared my students’ reasons for why they become disengaged, yet sometimes it is hard to figure out the why for longterm change. It is easy for us to blame curriculum or things outside of our control, yet often, disengagement is happening because of a few simple things in our classrooms. Therefore, I offer you up the three areas to evaluate as you try to engage your students.

Evaluate yourself. Are you the reason they are off-task? Did you speak too long or did you not make sense? Do they like you? This is huge. If students do not like you, they are much more likely to be off task and the more we hammer down our authority, the more they will battle us. So if you are not creating real relationships with students, then off task behavior will often turn into disruptive behavior.

Evaluate the content. Does it make sense? Is it engaging? If it is something that you need to “get through” then students will treat it as such. I often tell students that we are working on creating a foundation of knowledge that we can use to try new things, I try to steer clear of saying we have to just “get through” anything. Also, does the content allow for them to speak to others, to move around, to use the information or are they listening to you deliver the content and then working silently with it? Try to think about how much we ask students to work in silence all day, and then we wonder why students lose their voice? Student choice and voice is a huge part of this.

Evaluate the time and place. My third hour class (after study hall) and my sixth hour class (after lunch) are loud and take a lot more to become engaged. They are wired with energy and need ways to work that off. Their work often looks different that that of other classes because I need to tap into their energy. I may play soft music when they come in, speak in a calm tone, and also have them reflect quietly for a few minutes after their independent reading time, all so they can get back in the zone of what we need to do. My first class and my last class of the day needs energy. They are tired. They have either just woken up or have been sitting most of the day. So I play fast music, get very animated and I create opportunities for them to get up and move around the room focusing more on group learning to get their energy up. Are you adapting your teaching style to the time and place of the day?

While there are many sub areas we should also be evaluating, I have found that most of the time the answers lies within one of these. And if in doubt, ask your students. I know I sound like a broken record but sometimes I spend hours thinking about why something is happening where I should have just asked the people it involved. Yes, some times students will tell us things that are hard to hear, but I would rather hear the truth so that I may change, than pretend that I have it all figured out.

PS: Stay tuned for part 3 of this series, the final part is all about the small changes we can make.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. The 2nd edition and actual book-book (not just e-book!) comes out September 22nd from Routledge, but rumor has it that it is out on Kindle already!

MIEExpert15, student driven, technology

How About a Mystery Vox?

July 24, 2015 Pernille Ripp

The power of Skype never ceases to amaze me and I have loved doing Mystery Skypes for many years now. So as I started to plan for back to school I knew I wanted to participate once more in as many Mystery Skypes as possible, but I also wanted to try a different approach; the mystery Vox.

What is Voxer? It is a free walkie-talkie app that allows you to leave messages asynchronously or even a 15 second video if you would like to other users around the world. For more information or to download it, go here.

What is a Mystery Vox? Using the power of Voxer, students would take turn leaving clues throughout the day, checking in when they could in order to try to guess the geographical location of the other classroom. The questions still have to be in a yes or no format and students may still not google each other.

Why do this rather than Skype? For me it allows multiple classes to collaborate throughout the day trying to piece together where a class is. It also works around the timezone issues that can limit where we do a Mystery Skype with. Students will not have designated roles like they do in a Mystery Skype; anyone can guess, anyone can ask a question. I also love that students can digest the clues before they ask the next question. However, I still plan on doing lots of Mystery Skypes too!

How will this work? Sign up below on the form and then go to the form responses to find a match. Reach out and set up the day or week you would like to do this in.

To see the form responses and find someone, go here.

To see more about Mystery Skype, go here

What will this look like in my classroom? I will have a running list of clues and answers on the board, as well as questions asked. I will probably have students do this for me. I may even put it in a Google doc. I will alert kids to it throughout the day and ask them to come up with a question and an answer. I will use my own voxer account as I do not feel like setting up another one, right now anyway, and my students will be the ones leaving the messages. We will try to have it guessed within a day. I think that is really it.

Any further ideas?