students – Page 14 – Pernille Ripp

being me, new year, reflection, students

May I Gush a Little Bit?

October 2, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I got home today with a feeling of just sheer contentment. Sometimes I feel like the luckiest woman in the world and not just because of what I get to come home to, but what I get to leave my home for every day. When I saw my class list and then saw it grow, when I kept thinking through all of the things I wanted to do with these 27 students, when I thought about all the things I hoped they would accomplish, I just didn’t know if we could do it all.

As anyone who has taught bigger rooms with big personalities can attest to, it is a completely different challenge. Not only are you pushing the kids to try and to sometimes work through failure, but you are also dealing with sheer numbers. And with high numbers can come such a broad gamut of needs and wants that it sometimes just overwhelms you. Kids that range from needing a person to support them through most things to kids that are so ready to set off and soar, all they need is a push. You have students who want to try and students who are afraid to try. You have students that already find school pretty boring and students that still love learning. With 27 students it seems like you have them all, the whole gamut of personalities. and so I just didn’t know how we would work together and strive together.

But these kids. With their crazy ideas, their enthusiasm for my ideas, and their support of each other as they each try every day, is blowing me away. These kids with their stories, their dreams, and their hang ups, who share them with me every day, trusting me to get to know them, trusting me to push them in the right direction, these kids are proving me wrong.

I should not have doubted for one single moment that we could do all of our 5th grade challenges. I should not have doubted for a single moment that even though there were so many of us, we would still build a community. These kids with their loud voices, their big personalities, and their eagerness to just prove me wrong every single day, those kids are making this year one of those years I can’t wait to tell others about.

I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, 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 Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

building community, new year, Student-centered, students

Building Community Activities Just for You

August 30, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Every year I try to have various community building activities for the kids to do on those first few days of school. And while I detest ice breakers, in 5th grade, we do like the occasional get to know me activity. Though the years I have used various scavenger hunts, time capsules, and bingo games to get to know them a bit better, to get them to know each other, and also for me to keep until the end of the year. Then when summer beckons and we cannot believe that the year is over, I pull out the forgotten letters, the time capsules, the about me’s, and we reminisce and we laugh and we shake our heads at the answers we gave so long ago.

As I shared some of this with my teammates yesterday, I realized I should share it here as well. Some of this is me created, some of it is adapted from others a long time ago. Either way, I hope you have a phenomenal back to school and that some of these may be useful to you.

Around the Room Scavenger Hunt – customize to fit your room, helps the kids notice the things they need to find or know.
Human Treasure Hunt – great for when you have a lot of new kids so they can discover things about each other
A Letter to Me – I use this to peek into the kids’ thoughts and then save it until the end of the year to see how they have changed
Me Collage – a secret collage where the kids have to guess who made it
3 minute time test – there are so many variations of this one but it is used to discuss the importance of following directions
Group Bingo – Instead of numbers they have to find kids that match the description
Time Capsule – Students fill in the blanks (this one always cracks me up)
How We Started – All of their favorites are listed here

Other Ideas for Community Building:

The Bloxes Challenge
– a favorite of mine the past few years and this year the whole grade level will do it.
Create a flag pennant: Cut a white piece of 12”X18” construction paper diagonally to create two pennants. Students write their name in large letters with color and then fill in the pennant with things about them. Laminate and display above their lockers.
Writing sample to see how they grow, a great prompt is; “What color is (blank) grade?”
Every year I have the outgoing class write “Dear Future Student” letters so we read these in the first couple of days.
Using Animoto.com the students create a classroom vision video. Educators can get a free account and then use that for student work. We use the stock pictures and add out own sentences to show what we want to get out of the year.
Random pictures of you slideshow. Create a slideshow with pictures that are meaningful to you and have students guess what they mean – this can be a lot of fun as students guess their meaning.
The firs test of the year! Surprise them with a pop quiz that is all about their teacher, true/false questions work best.
Connect the students – this is a great activity that only requires a large sheet of paper and sharpies. Students all write their name on the border of the paper and then one person makes a statement about something they like or do such as, “I play soccer.“ Anyone else that plays soccer gets to draw a line from his or her name to the name of the person who made the statement. Then the next person states something and so on until everyone has had a turn. Great way to visualize all the things we have in common.
Name your table and create a banner for it.
Toilet paper introduction. Pass a roll of toilet paper around and instruct students to take as many squares as they want. Once everyone has taken their squares, tell them they need to share as many things about themselves as they haven taken squares.
Guess the like. Every student writes down something they do or like on a piece of paper (no name on it!) then crumble it up. Have a paper toss battle for a few minutes and then everyone grabs one “ball. Try to guess whose paper it is.”

Some of these I use, some I don’t but either way, feel free to use.

I am a passionate 5th grade teacher in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA, 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 Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this fall from PLPress. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

new year, students

It’s Not the First Day That Is the Most Important – It is All the Others

August 1, 2013 Pernille Ripp

August is upon us and I cannot help but giddily count down the days until the very first day of school. Call it the curse of the teachers: we are still on vacation but our minds are drifting back to school weeks before we actually have to be there. I cannot wait to see what this year will hold. I cannot wait to figure out what we will do the first day of school. I cannot wait to see what the students will think of me.

As much as I worry about that very first day of school and what we should do, I have started to realize that although the first day is important – first impressions always are – it is really what comes after that very first day that sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Students expect an exciting first day. They, themselves, are often nervous and filled with energy, ready to see their friends, ready to hear what the year will hold, ready to meet their teacher. That energy bubbles into a classroom and sustains it for the day. That energy is contagious. We do fun things, we set the tone, we explain and explore, and I always end with a challenge. At the end of the day, I am exhausted and exhilarated, ready for an amazing year. And I hope my students go home and tell their parents that 5th grade will be an incredible year.

Yet for me it is the next day that the true tone is set for the year and the days after that. When the energy is diminished, students are starting to realize that summer is over and school is back. Some have realized that they are more nervous than they thought and some may have even realized that their teacher is not what they thought they would be. That is when we start to make our true impression. When we no longer have time to do the fun beginning of the year activities, when we start to feel the pressure of everything we have to get done, when students start to show their true personalities, that is when the tone is set for the year. That is when the students start to see who we really are and how we really will be as a teacher.

Anyone can fool kids for a day. But no one can fool kids for a whole year. So I ask you not what you are doing on the very first day but instead, what are you doing the rest of the week? The rest of the month? The rest of the year to set the tone? That is where we should be focusing our efforts.

Be the change, reflection, students

We Must Be the First to Stop the Labels

July 11, 2013August 18, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Right after birth

Brandon was the first to notice it. Moments after delivery, he asked the nurse, “What’s that on his face?” and he pointed to my newborn perfect little baby boy’s face and then waited. The nurse looked at it and said “Probably a port-wine stain…” At the moment I didn’t think much of it, perhaps it was a bruise like the doctor said, perhaps it was a strawberry birthmark that would go away, but a port-wine – probably not.

The next day we had the verdict, yes, that nurse was right and he would need to go see a dermatologist quickly because of its placement. (For those that do not know what a port-wine stain is, it is is birthmark that continues to grow as it fills with blood leaving the skin disfigured and dark purple as a person ages.) Later we were told that because of the placement on his face, we had to get treatment or the further growth of the birthmark would pull his skin up into his nose and away from his teeth, meaning he would have a harder time breathing and eating.

But that night in the hospital, all I could see were two little babies who needed me.

Yet, now 3 years, I realize how often I stare at that birthmark. How often I wonder what his face would be without it? I know that in the scheme of things this is incredibly minor, a mark that treatment will hopefully help (so far it has helped very little). And yet, it catches my eye too often and I realize that I have to be able to look past it. That his face is still beautiful, that he is still perfect, that I did not do something wrong during my pregnancy. That the world may judge him based on this mark, and that I therefore need to be the first champion of him, his rock if he ever needs it.

I think to the children in our classrooms that come to us with labels, whether physical or emotional ones. That come to us with people’s eyes already upon them, expectations different somehow because of either choices made or things out of their control. I think of those children and how I have to be their biggest champion at school, how I have to be the one that looks past everything and sees them for the whole kid they are. Not whatever the world would rather categorize them as. I have to be their rock if they ever need it. I owe it to them and I owe it to Oskar.

For a long time, I didn’t post pictures to Facebook of Oskar right after treatment, he looks much like a prize fighter after the laser has done its work. I didn’t want people to see how bad he looked, how much pain he had gone through. I didn’t want him to be judged. Now, though, I know that he does not care. That he still has a life to explore whether I can see past this birthmark or not. That he will not be stopped by something out of his control and neither should I be. My little boy is perfect, this is the way he was made, and no, I didn’t do anything wrong in my pregnancy to cause it. He bears no label as long as I do not create one for him. And neither should any of our students.

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.

Be the change, first week, Reading, reflection, students

So You Want a Reading Classroom – 12 Ideas to Help You

June 17, 2013July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I have always been a passionate reader and this year was no different, what was different though was that I finally unveiled this to my students. I don’t quite know what took me so long. So as I go into my second year as a reading classroom – and by that I mean, a room where reading takes center stage, students cannot wait to read, and there are books being passed around every single day – I am thinking of how to create that. Here are some of my ideas:

Showcase your reading – this year through the inspiration of Jillian Heise I did a Mrs. Ripp reading display. I cannot tell you how many book discussions this sparked with not just my students, but many students who just walked by the room.

Get rid of books – I know this seems so simple but in honesty my classroom library had plenty of books but not a lot of great books. So I weeded more than 100 books last year and then started replenishing as I saw fit.
Invest in great books – I lost count of how much money I poured into books this year and while I wish teachers didn’t have to pay so much out of pocket for things, it seems to be just the way it is. One great thing that happened was that my students would give the classroom giftcards for more books when they saw my passion – now that was awesome.
Give your library space – I have always had a decent sized library but it was more tucked in a corner and not fully getting the attention it deserved. While it is still in a corner, it is nice and open with short shelves and all of the books in labeled bins. I label them by genre, author, or interest, it just depends on the book. Books are easy to find and put back, which I think is a must as well and students take ownership over it. They want it to work well for them so they can spend more time reading.
Give choice – nothing will kill reading faster than constantly requiring students to read certain books. I hate it, my students hate it, so I had to find a way around doing small group instruction without using chapter books. I now use short high-interest articles instead to accomplish the same thing with my students and when they are done they get to read whatever they want.
Challenge them – I love the concept of some sort of a book challenge and am contemplating doing the 40 book challenge by Donalyn Miller. I love the idea that it is not about succeeding or failing but rather pushing yourself as a reader.
Give reading priority– the first thing I would sacrifice in our busy schedule was always independent reading time. Now it is the last thing to go; students crave uninterrupted reading time and many of them need it as a way to work on their skills. All students get this every day, after all, to become a better reader you need to read!
Read great picture books – I have always loved a great picture book but I had never really used them jus to hook kids. Now we start many days with a picture book and then cherish the story-telling. What I discovered is that every picture book can teach us something about reading or writing, thus making them both entertaining and purposeful.
Make it authentic – ask adults; when we read a great book we cannot wait to tell others about it so that they may read it as well. Students are no different, so many of them cannot wait to recommend a book to a classmate or me but you have to give them the time to do it. We did through blog writing, speed book dating – 1 minute book recommendations – and informal conversations. Students always had a to-read list going which made their next book selection so much easier.
Read the books yourself – this is a must for any teacher that want a great reading classroom. You have to read the books! Students need to know whether the book is a great book or not and the person they trust is you. So take the time and read the books; I have and I love discovering all of these incredible books that I need to get into the hands of students.
Talk about it – I book-talk books all the time, I show students my to-read list, I rush in excited about a new book I cannot wait to read and I created the Global Read Aloud. I even created a book review blog so my students can see what I am reading after they leave my classroom. I live the life of a passionate reader! Be a role model for the students and show them that it is okay to really love reading.
Don’t diminish reading – I ask students to read 30 minutes every day outside of school but what they read is completely up to them: magazines, books, websites, or whatever they think. I do not check whether they do it, I assume they do. I do not want them to think that they can only get better at reading by reading what I think is worthy, they need to see the power of any kind of reading (and we need to honor that).
Plant the seed early – I had my students create book bins with favorite books for the incoming 5th graders. These bins will be sitting on their desk the very first day of school and that is what we will start with; a discussion of why reading is the most incredible thing in the world – I cannot wait!

global read aloud, Reading, students, technology

Get Connected! How One Project Can Set You Up for The Year #GRA13

June 14, 2013July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I am sure it will come as no surprise but I am passionate about bringing the world into my classroom. I think global collaboration and interconnectedness is vital in any child’s education. I also happen to be passionate about reading and reading aloud. All of this led to the creation of the Global Read Aloud 4 years ago and what started as a simple idea has grown into a massive world wide connection and collaboration event. And you should be a part of it!

Who is this for? Any educator who teaches K-12, homeschoolers, librarians or whomever wants to read and share one of our amazing three books with the world.

So what is it? The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible.

Why should you care? Because it promotes reading and global connections. Because your kids will love the idea that kids around the globe are listening to the same story as they are. Because the 3 authors, Sharon Draper, Geoff Herbach, and Kate Messner cannot wait to interact with the kids.

So how does it help me connect? Since the whole project is about connecting there is a network of teachers eager to connect and work with you in whichever fashion you feel comfortable with. Don’t believe me? Check out our Edmodo groups! The project doesn’t start until September 30th and they are already busy reaching out. (Here is a post on how to get to our Edmodo groups).

But what about the technology? Every year I use the GRA to introduce my students to various technological tools we will use throughout the year; Skype, Kidblog, Twitter, Edmodo and Google docs. Other people use other things as well – it is up to you. Because you decide how invested you want to be, you also decide which tools you would like to use. And the best part? You don’t have to know how to use the tools, we can help you!

What about after it ends? This is the brilliance of it, many people continue to use their same connections to collaborate and interact throughout the year. We have people set up smaller book clubs, some choose to do units together, and others become blogging buddies. Because the network is already set up it is easy to keep using it and you can use it for whatever you wish, it doesn’t even have to be reading related.

What are the book choices? 3 books this year for the first time: Marty McGuire by Kate Messner, Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, and Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach. All meant to be a great read aloud that will make the kids think.

Where do I sign up? Right here!

What are the dates? The read aloud starts September 30th and ends November 11th. It is 6 weeks for the first time to give people more time to enjoy the text.

I am still not sure…go here, poke around, Google the project, and ask me questions. I would love to help you get connected for the year.