Category: student voice

assessment, being a teacher, grades, MIEExpert15, Personalized Learning, student voice

“What Are You Proud Of?” – Using Letter Grades For Good

Pernille Ripp

I was exhausted to say the least.  Voice raw, thoughts muddled, and a lead brain.  I felt like I had worked days without sleep as I dragged myself home.  All day Thursday, I conferred with almost all of my students.  100+ kids and I sat down, one on one, and spoke about scores, grades,  goals, growth and most importantly what they are proud of.  And I was exhausted.

I hadn’t intended to have a day of conferring.  I had thought we would have a read-in party, I would hand them back their grade slips with my grades for them, the ones they had first decided and I then had added my input to.  After all, most of us agreed on the letter grade that somehow would define their progress in English.  Yet, as I looked at the slips of paper in my hand, I realized that this was not a paper conversation.  That every child deserved to have a moment, even if only for a few minutes, to discuss why that grade somehow represented them and more importantly a moment to carve their own path forward.

So one by one I called them up, showed them their slip of paper and then we talked.  What did I notice, what did they know?  How had they been doing?  How had they felt about being in English?  What could change?  What were my hopes as we moved forward?  What did they hope for?  What did they need?  The conversations changed depending on the student, yet every single one ended with; what are you proud of?

What came from them were almost never their scores.  Nor the grade they were getting.  Instead, child upon child told me how they were actually reading now.  How they had become better readers.  How some didn’t hate writing as much.  How English was getting easier for them.  How they felt they had something to say.  They spoke of insecurities.  They spoke of being unsure.  They spoke of trying.  Of growing.  Of wanting to become better people.  Every child opened up and spke of their journey and together we spoke of the future.

One child summed up the day perfectly for me when he said; “I am not sure what I am most proud of.  I have grown, I don’t know how, but I am now better.”  And I thought, so am I.  I am better teacher because I know my students better.  I am a better teacher because I cannot wait to see what they do next.  I am a better teacher because the students are starting to really trust me.  I am a better teacher because my students push me forward every day, and I let them.

I did not intend to spend a day speaking to my students and doing nothing else, but now I know; it was the best way I could have spent a day.  It was the best way to help my students know that they are more than a grade. More than a score.  More than a letter.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA,  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. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

being a teacher, being me, books, MIEExpert15, Passion, Personalized Learning, Reading, student choice, student voice

Why Book Clubs Suck And We Need to Talk About It

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I had meticulously made my lists.  I had thoughts of habits, tastes, personalities, reading preferences, pace and yes, even their assessment data.  I had scoured the book room, gone book shopping spending my own money and used most of my Scholastic points.  More than 50 choices awaited my students, I couldn’t wait to start book clubs.

So when I announced that today was the day they would know their book club groups, I had not planned for the groan of disapproval that met me.  The disgusted stares and the change in body language; slumped shoulders, heads down.  Clearly, they were not as excited as I was.  And so I did what I always do; I asked why.  Or more specifically, I mimicked what a student said, which was that book clubs suck, and I asked “Tell me all of the reason why book clubs suck…”

And boy did they ever.

“We hate being forced to read certain books.  Sometimes we have read them before, sometimes they are boring, sometimes we cannot relate to them no matter how hard we try.  We want choice, we want things that we want to read, we can decide by ourselves.

We hate being told when to read, how many pages, and what we should discuss.  Sometimes we want to read only a few pages because we know we are busy, other times we want to read a lot.  We want to come up with our own questions and we don’t want a teacher to facilitate.  Let us try to navigate it ourselves.  Let us try to lead the conversations.  Help us when we need it but don’t assume we need it all of the time.

We hate having a book take weeks and weeks to finish.  Sometimes we just want to read because it is so good, and what is wrong with that.  When it drags on we lose interest.  When it drags on we forget what is happening.

We hate being stuck with a book even if we chose it.  We hate being placed in groups with students we have nothing in common with.  We hate having to keep logs, write reports, and do group work when all we want to do is read and discuss.  Don’t you see, we hate book clubs.”

So I listened, and I answered their questions whether they wanted me to or not.  Carefully explained my vision for the next few weeks and why.  Would there be writing – no, just the thoughts they felt they needed to jot down to facilitate a discussion.  Would there be choice – of course, the books were waiting patiently for them and if they found none here then we have a library to go to.  They kept asking and I kept explaining, and as we went on their faces changed and the shoulders came back up.

Every class I taught that day went through the same process.  I didn’t expect to have those conversation 5 times in a row but that is exactly what happened.  Every time I mentioned book clubs, the groan came at me like a wave.  And yet, as we discussed I once again learned more about my students and their reading habits.  I learned how they want to be independent readers and thinkers, how they want to be able to have choice in everything so that they can invest themselves fully.  How it is okay that I put them into groups as long as I explain why those groups were made and that it wasn’t just based on one thing.

I could have ignored their groans, a few years ago I would have, I would have told them to “Suck it up, deal with it and make the best of it.”  Yet, I know from experience that if we want book clubs or anything that has to do with reading to work then we have to have these hard conversations.  We have to discuss, tear apart, and work through the demons that students carry, those preconceived notions of what is going to happen in the next few weeks, before we ever get an authentic buy-in; a reading experience that matters.

The day after the conversation, I had them book shop.  Every group went from choice to choice and debated the merits of the books laid out before them.  Every group weighed their options, and only one group  out of about 30 needed my guidance in book choice.  Yesterday, as I revealed the books they were going to read, most groups cheered.  Some kids asked if they could start right away?  Please, because the book looks really good and we are so excited.

Had I not stopped and listened to my students.  Had I not stopped the plan of what I was going to do.  Had I forged ahead, gone on with our day, there would have been few cheers and instead the next few weeks would have been filled with the passive resignation that middle schoolers do so well.  Yeah book clubs suck, but they don’t have to.  We have to find a way to talk about it and change the way they are done. And the first place we start is by asking out students why they suck or any other word that may describe their feelings toward them.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA,  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. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

grades, Personalized Learning, student choice, student voice

What Does An “A” Mean – Thoughts From My Students

Pernille Ripp

We have been deep in grade discussion today as throughout the day I have asked students to define the letter grades that I have to give this semester.  I wasn’t surprised at the in-depth discussions this prompted, but more at the harshness with which the students defined certain grades.  Each class got a letter to define and then the other classes added their input.  Tomorrow, students will select their grade and then provide reasoning on a sheet for why they belong in that category.  I will then meet with each student to debate the grade with them and we will set goals for the future.

So how did the students define their letter grades?  Behavior seemed to play a large role which lead to many interesting conversations, since we grade behavior separate from part of understanding. These are their thoughts….

To get an “A” in English, a student is:

  • Participating on topic (large group, small group) even if not called upon
  • An active listener (engaged, awake, doing what they are supposed to be doing)
  • Consistently trying to go above and beyond and shows interest in topics
  • Getting consistent 3’s or 4’s (even with re-takes)
  • Turning work in on time and completed (95%)
  • Consistently puts in effort
  • (Works well with others/respects others/teacher/classroom/materials – nice attitude)
  • Reads at least 6 out of 7 days 20 minutes or more outside of English
  • Furthers the understanding in the classroom through written or spoken work
  • Showing a deep level of understanding of content covered

To get a “B” in English, a student is:

  • Getting scores that are consistently 3’s with a few 2.5’s mixed in
  • Reading 5 out of the 7 nights outside of English class
  • Interested most days, as well as engaged in class
  • Putting in best effort
  • Doing required work but not always going for 4
  • Most of the time working well with others/showing respect and helping the class move forward in learning
  • Participating
  • Completing almost all work, as well as handing it in on time
  • Showing a thorough understanding of content covered

To get a “C” in English, a student is:

  • Getting mostly 2’s or 2.5’s
  • Reading 3-4 days a week outside of English class
  • Mostly turning in work on time and work is mostly completed
  • Mostly engaged but only some participation (large/small group)
  • Homework is almost always complete and mostly turned in on time (2 or more lates)
  • Group effort may depend on students in group
  • Effort depends on topic/subject
  • Mostly prepared for class but does forget items at times (book, pencil, notebook etc) leading to inability to complete tasks
  • Not always spending time in a in productive manner

To get a “D” in English, a student is:

  • Getting mostly 2’s
  • Reading 2-3 times a week outside of English class
  • Not always on topic and often distracts others
  • Not always prepared for class
  • Shows little engagement/time not spent productively
  • Has little participation even in small group
  • More than 3 missing assignments
  • Students shows little effort
  • Does few re-takes
  • Shows little understanding and does little to improve it
  • Choices made can harm the learning environment of others

To get a “F” in English, a student is:

  • Missing more than 5 assignments (summative and formative)
  • Getting 1.5’s or IE’s
  • Only reading one night or none outside of English class
  • Putting in little to no effort in class
  • Distracting students and teacher resulting in wasted learning time for self and others
  • Often not on topic
  • Has little to no participation
  • Does not do any re-takes
  • Is never prepared
  • Has selective listening that results in many misunderstandings

Have you asked your students to define their grades before they are given?  If yes, how did it go?  If no, why not?

assessment, education reform, grades, Personalized Learning, student voice

Before You Give Letter Grades, Please Ask Your Students

Pernille Ripp

I have had a problem with letters grades for a few years now.  I used to write about it all of the time, and then stopped because I felt like all of the words had been written.  But now, I am back facing having to give letter grades for the semester as my district transitions from them to standards based grades.  All of those old thoughts of why letter grades say so little about a students knowledge, effort, and accomplishment have been hounding me throughout my days as the deadline for giving them nears.  But then I remembered; I need to ask the students what grades they should get.

It is rather simple process.  As a class we discuss what makes an “A?” What should a child be able to do in class and out of it to get that elusive top grade?  What does “A” thinking, writing, reading, discussion, and doing overall look and sound like?  We go through each letter grade this way as a class and determine our definitions.  We publish them to our website so parents can see.  The standards based scores they have received are also part of it but they are not averaged and they are not the only component.

Once the students have created a group definition, they evaluate themselves.  On a small sheet of paper they are asked which grade they feel they deserve and why.  The why is important here as I need to see their thinking.

Once they have completed the sheet, we meet.  We have to have a face to face discussion of what grade they think they should receive, what my thoughts are, as well as the path forward.   Often I find I agree with a child, but if there is disagreement whether the grade should be lower or higher, it is of utmost importance to have a face to face discussion.

For too long students have felt they have little say over how they are assessed.  They feel that grades are done to them, rather than something they determine.  While we as teachers may think that students understand that their grade is a reflection of their effort, time and time again students have told me they don’t understand the relationship.

So if you have to give letter grades, or even just scores, I implore you to please involve your students.  Don’t just rely on an average.  Don’t just rely on your gut feeling.  Don’t just rely on tests, homework, or whatever other assignment that you have given.  Bring the students in.  Give them power over their learning, give them voice in how they are assessed.  They will thank you for it, or at the very least start to understand how they ended up with that B….

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA,  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. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

advice, being me, MIEExpert15, new year, Passion, student voice

If You Could Change Just One Thing

Pernille Ripp

“So if you have one piece of advice for anyone looking to change the way they teach, what would it be?”

I cannot count how many times I have been asked this important question or the myriad of ways.  In podcasts, webinars, face to face, workshops, and even in lunch time conversations.  What would you change?  What would you do?  What should we do?

It makes sense really.  There is so much we could change, there is so much we could do. Yet, in the end if you only have energy for one change.  If you only have space for one thing.  Make it this…

Ask the students.

There you have it.  The one thing I say every time I am asked.  The one thing I wish we all did more of.

Ask the students what they want changed.

Ask the students what they love.

Ask the students how they want to learn.

Ask the students about your room set up.

Ask the students what their grade should be.

Ask the students if they have a voice, and if not, give them one.

Ask the students what they want to learn.

Ask the students why they stopped loving something.

Ask the students about their lives.

Ask the students what they hate.

Ask the students how they feel about you.

Ask the students and then listen to their answers.

Ask them and change your teaching.

If you do one thing in the new year, let this be it.  One question is all it takes.  One moment is all you need.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA,  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. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now from Powerful Learning Press.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

being a teacher, student blogging, student voice

How is Student Blogging Different in the Middle School Grades

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

One of my biggest “crazy ideas” I knew I wanted to try when I switched from the elementary classroom to the middle school was to continue blogging with students.  Nowhere else had I seen the same impact of just what empowering my students to find a voice to the world could do for them than student blogging.  At first, I didn’t think it would be a crazy idea, just a natural extension of my classroom as always, but then I thought about it a little bit more.

You would think that blogging with students would look the same no matter the age.  In fact, I used to think that it probably wouldn’t look that much different between 4th grade and 7th grade.  That is until I woke up in the night, realizing just what my constraints would be with my new position and wondering if it was even worth trying.  After all, I was already wondering how in the world I would get through the curriculum let alone add on anything else.  Thankfully, I realized that blogging with students and giving them a voice to the world is one thing that I cannot cut from my curriculum, and neither should you.  Yes, just because it looks different than what I had tried with elementary students, does not mean it is not worth your time, or not worth exploring.  In this case, different simply means different, not wrong, bad, or worthless.

So while blogging in elementary classrooms can be cross curricular and deeply embedded within the classroom culture, blogging in the middle school has to look different solely based on the time constraint.  It also has to look different based on how most middle schools are set up, with one teacher teaching one or a few subjects, and often being the steward of more than 100 students.   After 3 months of blogging with my 113 students, this is what I discovered.

Before:  We blogged every week, with blogging challenges assigned Friday and due the following Friday.  Everyone got them done, few problems.

Now:  We blog every other week on a set schedule.  The students know and look forward to it and few ask for the blogging challenge until that day.

 

Before:  We used our 8 computers to blog in the classroom and students would rotate throughout the week thus ensuring everyone got it done.

Now:  We go to the lab every class period in one day so that each child gets it done.  If they do not finish it within 45 minutes, it becomes homework and they have 2 weeks to finish it.  I have to remind them a lot that it needs to get done.

 

Before:  I would approve posts whenever they would pop up, checking every night.

Now:  I approve posts the day they blog, thus getting most read and posted the day of, and then check in every 3 or 4 days when I know more have blogged.  This allows me to save my check-in energy and focus to a few days a week.

 

Before:  I would try to leave comments on every post or every other at the least.

Now:  I gave up.  There are too many posts but I do try to make sure that every single post gets a comment from either me or someone else from our school.  I didn’t want to just leave short comments, and leave many of them so now my students know that if they get a comment from me, I really thought about it.

 

Before:  All blogs were public, except for very rare circumstances.

Now:  Almost all blogs are public but some are private between the student and I.  I ask at the beginning of the year and set up their privacy settings as needed.  Why the change?  7th graders are more aware of their place in the world and thus experience blogging on a perhaps more emotional level than my younger students.  They really want to be viewed positively by the world and not have more things that they feel can be used to judge them.

Before:  We talked how to stay safe on the internet and how we needed to represent ourselves once or twice a trimester.

Now:  We not only discuss safety every single time we blog, but also how we present ourselves to the world.  In 7th grade the students are much more fearless when it comes to putting themselves out there, which can be a double edged sword.  It is a wonder to see them embrace the mode of communication so readily, but also terrifying when they don’t always think things through before they post.

Before:  Their blog posts were meant to start a global conversation so they were never graded,

Now:  This remains true.  I will not grade my students blogs ever.  It flies in the face of what I am asking them to do; start a global conversation baring their deep thoughts.  If I ever wanted to squelch their voice all I have to do is slap a grade on it.

While there are many other small things that have remained the same, these are a few of the big differences.  In the end, blogging with middle school students is definitely a must do, one just has to find the time.

PS:  If you want to visit my incredible students’ blogs, please leave them a comment here and here.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA,  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. 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 Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now from Powerful Learning Press.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.