student voice – Page 11

Being a teacher who presents, which is a very new adventure for me, has been quite interesting to say the least. I didn’t know just how few of us there are that actually are able to go out and talk about the things that we do with our students and still stay in the classroom. In fact, I have been to a few places where there were less than a handful of teachers presenting and yet the entire conference was geared toward teachers. Hmmm… But I get it. It is hard to leave my classroom. It is hard to leave my family. Presenting and sharing the words of my students is an incredible opportunity that I am honored to get, but it is like having two full-time jobs at times. Yet, I can’t help but wish that more teacher’s voices were heard at all of the conferences that surround us.

Well, that is exactly what the founders of the Teachers Leading Teachers Conference, John T. Spencer and A.J. Juliani thought so too. But instead of wondering about it, they decided to do something about it. So what are the details of this awesome totally online conference?

The Teachers Leading Teachers Conference (from July 16th-20th) is bringing the best teacher leaders from around the world together to present and share their failures, wins, and practical strategies for teaching today’s student.

Here Is The Best Part

The entire conference in online (no travel or paying for accommodations)! Each session is available live, and as a digital copy. This format allows you to bring back the learning to your colleagues and school leaders at anytime.

It’s often difficult to explain the experience of an Edcamp or conference when someone wasn’t there, but the TLT Conference gives you access to that learning at any time. Sign-up now and take part in this first of it’s kind, online conference for teachers.

What You’ll Get As An Attendee

Over 20 Live Presentations From Top Teachers Around the World – Mine is all about empowering students, one of my very favorite things to discuss and share about.
Digital Recordings and Access to the ALL Presentations Forever – think of the wealth of knowledge you will have access to!
Certificates for work completed and each session – I love this because my district gives me PD Hour credit for conferences like this.
20+ Hours of How-To Sessions from Teachers Still Working in Schools
Bonus Resources From Our Presenters That You Can Use Right Away
Free eBooks from the Presenters and Conference Leaders
The Best Online Experience with Cisco WebX Platform
Live Q&A Before, During, and After Each Session
Sessions on STEM, Design-Thinking, Project-Based Learning, Student Blogging
Classroom Design, Robotics, 21st Century Literacy, Genius Hour, 20% Time, and Global Projects

Schools, Group Packages, and Early Bird Pricing

We are currently offering Early Bird Pricing from now till June 16th. You’ll save $50 on each conference ticket with the early bird price. And if you use the coupon code “Pernille” you will save an additional 10%!!!!!

We are also offering group packages for schools and districts. If you are a school district leader who is interested in purchasing a school/group package please contact me at ajjuliani[at]gmail[dot]com.

Learn more about this conference at TLTconference.com – and we’d also love for you to send in a proposal to speak (on the website we have a Call for Proposals).

So I hope you consider being a part of the conference or even presenting at it. I did my very first presentation 5 years ago at an online conference and I can tell you; it is an incredible experience to share the work of your students with others!

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 me, hopes, Passion, Reading, student voice

My Students Still Hate Book Clubs, So Now What?

June 6, 2015June 7, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I knew I was up against some pretty deep-seated negative notions, but I guess I didn’t know how deep they really ran until yesterday when I started to read my end-of-year surveys. One questions asked, “What is the one thing Mrs. Ripp should never have 7th graders do?” Usually answers are varied, spread across an entire year of trying to meet every child’s need and invariably always upsetting someone else. But not this year; this year there was a clear winner; book clubs. This awesome way to create a reading community was one of the most hated things by far we did all year. And I am stumped

You see, we didn’t do book clubs the traditional way. Students self-selected their books from more than 50 choices (we even involved the library for some groups that didn’t like the 50 presented to them). Students set their own rules, reading pace, and expectations. They were given 3 weeks to read the books and ample time to do so in class, so that it wouldn’t become another homework assignment. I asked them to try to speak about the books for no more than 10 minutes, keeping their conversations focused and to the point. I encouraged them to write down things they wanted to discuss and we also brainstormed guiding questions that they were then given on bookmarks to help start their conversations. Their final product was a book talk with a small 5 slide presentation to use a backdrop for their conversation; and again, they were given time in class. Yet, they hated it.

They hated having to read at the pace of someone else. They hated the stilted conversations. They hated that I was even asking them to have a shared reading conversation, often carrying resentment that I had shaped their groups. We had discussed why I had made the groups, and some ended up loving theirs, and yet, others said it was the worst experience I could have forced them to do. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to talk about books, they just didn’t want to go deeper with them, not in that way, not with those people.

So as I sit and dream of next year, because isn’t that what we do over the summer, I cannot help but think what else I can do to make book clubs an enjoyable part? Should I abandon them altogether? We do read aloud where we discuss text, so we still have a shared reading conversation where we interpret, experience, and try to figure out the book together. Should I make it book partnerships where they interview three potential partners, one recommended by me, and they pick another person or two to read the same book with but perhaps with final approval from me?

Is there even a purpose for book clubs or are they a left over notion from when we were doing literature circles and felt we had to be in more control? How do we rescue something that most of my students hated, but I still see value in? Do I continue to just force it on them, trying to listen, or do we change our ways? Are book clubs even necessary for developing readers? I would love to hear your thoughts…

For more behind the scenes information on ideas for book clubs, both good and bad, please go here

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.

advice, aha moment, assumptions, being a teacher, being me, Passion, student voice

What My Students Want to Know

May 27, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I asked my 7th graders to tell me the truth and for 170 days they haven’t stopped. Sometimes their truth was harsh, angry reactions to the perceived faults that school and teachers have. Sometimes their truths weighed heavily on me as I drove home contemplating how to be a better teacher. Sometimes their truth spoke of challenges I knew nothing of and had no idea how to solve. Their truths became my truths as they shared, and shared, and shared.

My students have had opinions on everything, from the way teachers speak to them, to where they sit, to what we do. Their words have shaped me more as a teacher than any other professional development opportunity, any other teacher, any other book I have read. They have offered up their opinions even when I didn’t ask. Showing me the trust they have in our community, the implicit trust they have in me to carry their words forward. And so I have shared their words with anyone who crosses my path; placing them in my book, into my presentations, and into any conversation I have had. I have made it my mission to share their words because for some reason students have little voice in today’s education debate. And with their words behind me, I continue to change the way I teach, hoping to become than I am today.

So as I turned to my blog today to reflect on something completely different, their words encouraged me to write this instead. They told me to ask a simple question to anyone who reads this; have you asked your students about your teaching? And if you haven’t, why not?

That’s it.

being me, global, MIEExpert15, mystery skype, student voice

A Few Ideas for Using Skype in the Classroom

May 19, 2015 Pernille Ripp

There are technology tools that come along and make your day easier, that make your day better. There are technology tools that integrate themselves so seamlessly into your lessons that you soon forget what life was like before. There are tools that you know you can rely on whenever you need them. And then there are tools that encompass all that and oh so much more. Tools that elevate your teaching ideas to places you never thought they could have gone. That’s how I feel about Skype. Skype and I have been faithful friends for the past 16 years, ever since I moved to America, but our relationship really deepened 5 years ago when I brought it into the classroom.

So why has Skype been such a central piece of my classroom? Because it is free, efficient, easy to use, and opens up a world of possibility that I never could physically bring into my classroom, yet through its power and immense network I can. Skype simply makes what we are doing better. It gives us audiences, authors, experts. It connects us with places around the world and gives my students a way to change the world.

So what are some of our best ideas?

How about using Skype to do market research? We did just that in our epic nonfiction picture book project where the students had to write a book catered to a K and 1st grade audience. So voila, through the magic of Skype we spoke to several classrooms throughout North America and learned what we need to learn to make our books so much better.

How about speaking with an author? This has always been one of my favorite ways to use Skype since so many authors speak to classrooms either completely free or for very cheap. It is powerful for students to see the genius behind their most favorite books and only heightens their experience with the book. Did you know that the incredible Kate Messner has a list of authors who Skype for free?

How about working on geography skills while building community? That is exactly what playing Mystery Skype has done for my students. If you have never tried this simple guessing game, please make sure you plan one this year. They are so easy to plan and incredible to be a part of. This is always one of the most favorite things my students do throughout the year.

How about having students teach others how to do something? My students have used Skype to teach others how to blog and how to play Mystery Skype. They have been teachers for other classes and other teachers. Think of the power in that!

How about using it to share book recommendations? As summer nears, my students are adding books to their “Plan to read” lists and a great way to get more suggestions is by scheduling Skype calls with other students eager to recommend great books. This is a great way to get new suggestions both for my students and for my own classroom library and it seems to hold more power when it is a student-to-student recommendation rather than just me book-talking.

How about bringing an audience to you? It would cost a lot of money for my students to visit an elementary school to perform or speak, but via Skype our audience can come to us. So whenever the chance exists, I try to bring in a live audience through the camera. Having the live audience ups my students’ performance and gives us a way to connect with others.

How about learning about other cultures? I think we often think that every call has to be planned out and structured but sometimes just giving students tim e to speak to other students can be exciting within itself. One of my classes spoke to a school in inner-city New York, something I did not think would mean much to them because it was not out of the country, but the experience rattled them. They could not believe how different their school and community was from theirs. That call cemented something that I had been telling them all year but that they didn’t quite believe; America is a very diverse nation indeed.

How about to raise awareness? My students have used Skype calls to raise awareness about the “R” words, bullying, and other issues near and dear to their heart. Again, by providing them with a platform to spread their message that extends beyond our classroom walls, they see the significance that their words may carry.

And finally, how about to learn something more? With the massive network of experts that Skype In the Classroom provides it has never been easier to bring in someone who knows more than me to help the students learn. All I have to do is search for what I need and I can almost always find someone who matches that. I love showcasing new fields of information to the students, and they love getting to ask even the weirdest questions.

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 ourPassionate Learners community on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.