student driven – Page 8

As connected educators, we do a lot of sharing what our days look like and in extension the day of our students, yet how much of what we share truly gives an entire picture of what it means to be a student these days? After reading Grant Wiggins’ blog that detailed what an ed-coach found after she followed two high school students around, I cannot help but wonder if we really know what it feels like for our students? If we really understand what a full day looks like for them? And more importantly what we possibly can change to make their days better. So inspired by the hashtag #principalsday that occurred on Twitter, I think it is time we do the same for the students.

Details

On February 5th, I invite students across the world to share pictures from their regular day using the hashtag #studentlife. Students (or teachers if students are too young) can use Twitter, Instagram, or whatever social network site they choose to share these slices of their life. What I hope for is a wide variety of images with or without commentary that will allow us educators to see what happens in our students’ days, not just what we think happens. If you feel like it, you can also have students do this before February 5th and compile their answers into something that can be shared. This is what I will do using our blogs.

How can you participate?

Share this challenge with your students and invite them to join, remind them to use the hashtag #studentlife.

Add your information in the form below or in a comment so that I can share your students’ slices with the rest of the world.

Tune in on February 5th through Twitter or Instagram to hopefully see what our students’ days look like.

Help me spread the word on this please, I think it could be really powerful for all of us to see what students really go through in a day in our schools.

classroom expectations, classroom management, community, discipline, punishment, student choice, student driven, Student-centered

Don’t Act Like An Idiot – My 5th Graders Make Our Rules

January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 Pernille Ripp

Silence…not something that happens in a room full of 27 students.

Then one hand cautiously rises, then another, but still mostly silence…

A minute ago I had asked my students, “What do we do in this classroom when you don’t behave well?”

This was now the reaction I faced; confused looks and silence. 4 years ago, my students would have prattled off a list: we write our name on the boards, you give us a checkmark, we lose recess, we lose free time, we call home, we go to the principal’s office. All very common consequences in classrooms. But now, 4 years later, I have unintentionally stumped my students.

One student finally says, “Well, you expect us to not act like idiots, so we don’t.”

Another student jumps in, “Yeah, and if we do something stupid then you tell us to fix it.”

And a third, “So we just talk about it and figure it out.”

Aha! We discuss their behavior and then we fix it in whichever way it needs to be fixed.

I threw away punishment because I always punished the same students. It also never solved the problem but just added a grudge between the student and myself. Today, some question whether students can truly act well when you don’t punish. When they don’t know the consequences of their behavior. Some think that no punishment equals no rules, no perimeters, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

No punishment means no public shaming, no loss of privileges, no loss of recess unless we need private time to talk. It doesn’t mean no structure, no expectations, or a free for all of student chosen behavior. It means I expect my students to make the classroom rules. I expect them to behave well. I expect them to make good choices. I don’t have a perfect classroom, but I have kids that try. I have kids that know what the expectation is. I have kids that make a choice everyday, whether to be active participants in our learning journey, or whether to act like idiots. They don’t always make the right choice, but if they don’t, then we deal with it on a situational basis.

So no, I don’t need to punish my students into behaving, and not because they are all angels (ha, far from it) but because as a classroom we have decided to learn, to share, to behave like a typical 5th grader.

Don’t act like idiots, in true 5th grade language, and represent. Those are some of the rules for our classroom. I din’t make them but I do give them to grow and become part of our culture. Most kids know how to act in school, it is time we gave them our trust and a chance to prove it.

Edit: As you can see from a comment, the word idiot can be taken to something much deeper than is its intention here. When my students and I use the word “idiot” it is meant to convey a 5th grader that deliberately chooses to do something they shouldn’t, not someone with an intellectual disability. I never mean to offend but here I chose to let the word stand since it portrays the conversation we had.

questions, student driven

Why "I Don’t Know" is Powerful

April 15, 2012July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Image form icanread

That first year of teaching when a child asked a questions I did not have the answer for I stalled. I hemmed, I hummed, I did a little dance and then either hoped they would forget their question, that another child would know the answer or that class would be over so that I could quickly figure out what the answer was.

I didn’t think I could say, “I don’t know…”

Go to my second year of teaching and another question from another child, again; stalling, nervous glances, some vague reply hoping to satiate curious minds, but otherwise, same approach. Glance at bell, dismiss the question, hope for a lifeline, wish that my principal or a parent wouldn’t see me in this position. Anything but to admit my own inadequacy of not being the master teacher and simply not knowing something.

I never thought to say, “I don’t know…”

Third year of teaching and I realized I wasn’t the only expert in the room. One child knew more about wars at 10 years old than I would ever be able to cram into my head. Another was an expert on poetry. The questions kept coming but my approach to them changed; I stopped being afraid of them and realized that not knowing something was powerful. Not knowing something and admitting it was a sign of strength, a learning opportunity to model how I would find out. Now instead of nervous glances at the door, hoping no one would ever discover that I didn’t have all of the answers, I asked the students for help. How would we find out, why was this a great question, did anyone else know?

This year, I am fully aware that I am not the only expert, I embrace it daily. That I am not supposed to know everything. That I am not supposed to pretend I do. Instead, I am there to show what happens when we don’t know. To show that even though I did my preparations for class I couldn’t put everything into my head but I have ways to help me through any question. Now my students know to try to find the answer first using a multitude of sources instead of just asking me. Now I ask my students questions that make them say, “I don’t know…”

I now know the power of “I don’t know…”

being a teacher, being me, student driven

Some Celebrate Test Scores – I Celebrate the Students

March 20, 2012July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Once in a while the celebratory emails go out detailing how we are beating our districts’ average in test scores, how our school has grown as measured by these tests, how our students are progressing. And sure, those are reasons to celebrate but I prefer to celebrate for other reasons.

I celebrate that student that raises their hand with a differing opinion because more participation is their goal.

The child that steps back and lets other take on a leadership role even though they know just how they would do it.

The kids that know when to laugh, when to care, when to try, and when to do it all at the same time.

I celebrate the shy boy that becomes a leader with a new tool and stands behind his discovery, eager to show others how to do things.

I celebrate the class that continues to work, unfazed, even if I step out of the classroom to take care of something.

Those kids that groan when school is over and cheer when they hear the plans for the next day.

The student that asks if they can pose a blogging challenge because they know they have a really good one.

I celebrate those kids that look their parents in the eyes and tell them how much they have grown but that they are not there yet but they have a plan to reach their goal.

Those kids that tell me when they mess because they would rather tell me the truth even if they get into trouble over it.

The students that notice when someone is absent and wonder where they are.

I celebrate the community, the challenges, and the growth that I see every day, every week, and every year. As middle school sneaks into our futures, I celebrate these kids that have so much to give, so much to offer, and so much courage to keep trying.

being a teacher, Critical thinking, get out of the way, student driven, Student-centered

Some Thoughts on Collaboration and Student Choice

March 8, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Image via Wikipedia

I started out on this student-centered journey knowing that I had to offer my students more time for true collaboration, not just teacher-chosen ones, as well as give them control in the classroom. I started out dreaming not quite sure what it would look like, what the products would be and whether the learning would even be enhanced or would suffer.

Now 19 months into the journey, I have made some humbling realizations:

Not all units lend themselves well to choice but it is doable. It can be a challenge to cover the material you feel you need to cover in a textbook for example, but you can. I have spent many nights thinking up how I could possibly engage my students in this without just lecturing and it takes time. That time is well spent though when you see the students light up at what they will be doing.
It also gets easier. After a while your brain switches from “How will I present this” to “How will the students work with this?” It is a subtle difference and you create a toolbox of ways. Also, if you include students in the planning process you have many more ideas, so that’s leads me to:
Include the students! When I have been stumped over how to make a unit more engaging I have brought it to those it will effect the most; the kids. It does not have to be a long conversation but just a brainstorm. It is amazing to see what they come up with.
Trust the students. There have been combinations of students that I have shuddered at inwardly and in the end they created beautiful projects. There have also been combinations where we needed to have some serious reflection on whether or not it worked. The big thing is including the students that it involves, don’t just make the decision that a partnership doesn’t work. We are too quick to decide what collaboration looks like, let the students in.
Be honest with the students. I have very high expectations for projects and I have called students out on poor work quality. There is a way to do this though without creating a “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” scenario. Ask them to evaluate their own work, it doesn’t even have to be done, and have them take time to reflect. Point out what you see as a possibly gap and help them out. Not all students can just create at the drop of a hat.
Scaffolding at various levels. Some students just need an idea and they fly, others need hand holding and even a cheer or two before they get off the ground, and some are just too boxed in to even know where to start. Get to know your students and their work style, scaffolding at its best simply. Invest the time in relationship building and you will see direct results in their output.
It will not always work. I have had some epic ideas that turned out absolutely ludicrous. Or ideas that got to be so complicated that the students lost interest. There have been times where it hasn’t been a fun , engaging work environment or where a project has taken too long and the interest level is near zero. That happens. And yet I don’t give up, I keep going because I see how invested the students are. I see how excited they get to use their hands and their minds, to explore on their own with guidance from me, to learn from each other.

So to choose and to have a voice are the dreams I have for my students. I see how invested they get in their own education, and that is something lecturing can never do for them in my room. Education no longer is something done to them, it is something they take a part in, they own and manipulate. We always talk about how we are shaping the future but the future doesn’t just include absorbing information froma main source, it means taking that information and using it to bridge new things. To manipulate learning, to shape and form new ideas. And that is what student-centered learning does for me.

being a teacher, student driven, Student-centered

Keep the Focus as the Break Nears

December 15, 2011 Pernille Ripp

We are all a little antsy and just a little busy as the holidays draw nearer. To keep the focus in school and still have some fun here are some things we have been doing in my room.

Start a lunch time book club. All three 5th grade teachers did this so that the students had some choice in book. We meet once a week to eat and discuss the latest chapters. I love the extra connections being created between classes.
Get up and move. We have increased our dance breaks as the break gets closer. Except now we tend to listen to holiday music from around the world, nothing like “Julebal i Nisseland” to get their bodies moving.
Participate in something global. we are doing the holiday card exchange this year and the students are so excited to see the mail we are getting. They are also learning about other parts of the country and world through the letters. The cost: 30 stamps!
Take the time to appreciate. We don’t have a lot of time but I try to tell the kids either face-to-face or via post it note how much I appreciate specific things about them. It starts a wave of appreciation which boosts morale.
Keep busy. The less we have to do, the more we can focus on the upcming break. So we keep working to reach our deadlines and the reward is no homework over break.
Mix it up. Our schedule has been a little more flexible to fit our moods more these weeks. So if the kids are super antsy we get out of our seats and learn in a different way. This is not the time to force them them to sit still and listen (is it ever?).
Have some fun. I love to show educational videos when we have minutes left at the end of the day or during transitions. This week we started watching crack us up videos as well to get us in the spirit. George Couros shared this video to my students’ delight.
Relax – it might not all get done. Teachers seem to get more controlling and more frantic the closer break gets. The exact opposite should happen. get excited with the kids, set the tempo and then have some fun. Learning is meant to be fun, so do your part.
Let them choose. Buy in is much larger when the students get choice. I scrapped my original social studies project this week so that the kids could work on something of their choice. They get to work right away and stay focused through the whole period.