students – Page 3 – Pernille Ripp

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!

being a teacher, building community, community, new year, students

They Are Not Mine…Yet

September 4, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I almost know all of their names. All 118 of them. Not because I have some magical brain penchant for memorizing names and faces. Not because they all wear name tags. No. Every night I have pored over their faces, trying to remember each one, trying to figure out who they are. Because I still teach strangers. Strangers that I am trying to establish a community with, strangers I am trying to get to trust me.

So this week has been about them. About why they love or hate reading. About how they see themselves. About how they react to picture book upon picture book as we try to weave a common thread. And it seems to be working. Slowly. The stories are gently coming, the nervous laughter disappearing. The hand raised a little faster. We have a long way to go but ever so slowly the seeds have been planted, the foundation is being laid.

So today I will do my name competition; do I really know all of their names after just 3 days? I will read another picture book as I rock in my chair and they share the tattered bean bags. I will thank them for the few days we have spent together and wish them a happy long weekend. I will hope for a smile, a high five, and a farewell, knowing that hopefully some day I will get to take these things for granted. I will hope for a hallway greeting, a quick goodbye before the bus comes. Little things that show the relationship we have built. Those things that I miss so much.

I don’t know my students. Not yet. But it will happen. Even if it feels like they will never be our kids. They will. They just don’t know it yet.

aha moment, Be the change, being a teacher, new year, students

The Small Changes I Can Make

August 16, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Sometimes our students come to us with stories that we could never imagine. Sometimes we are their refuge. Sometimes, we don’t even know what part we play until years later, and sometimes we will never know. The barriers that sometimes surround our students can be brutal, and yet, the students show up. They try to learn. They try to do their very best. And we need to be the ones that welcome them.

So this will be the year that I try not to create more barriers for my students. This will be the year where I try to make it as easy as possible for them to access the learning . While I cannot control everything, particularly what goes on outside of our classroom, there are so many small things I can control that will make their day easier.

I can hand them pencils. I used to be a tentative pencil-hander-outer. There was usually a lecture involved, a smirk, and some sort of thinly veiled threat as to what would happen if they didn’t get more pencils by the very next day. And I get it. Pencils cost money and we don’t have a lot of that in education. But still, a pencil is the most basic tool that our students need. And yes, they need to bring their supplies. Yes, they need to be responsible. Yes, they need to come prepared. But we all have days where we need a pencil. Not a lecture, not a glare. Just a pencil so we can get to work. If you want it back, write your name on a piece of paper and tape it to it.

I can withhold judgment. Yes, I know better than most of my students. I better, after all, I am more than 20 years older than them. So when they make “stupid” mistakes, when they make a poor decision, I can withhold my own judgment. I can help them find a solution, help them find the light, or even find the humor in a situation. Most students face enough judgment in day, they don’t need more from me.

I can let them leave. There are days when all we need is a walk. A quick two minutes to resettle, to find room to breathe, to calm down even if we seem very calm on the outside. Teaching students to recognize when they need a break is something we should all be doing. If we teach younger students then finding a way for them to take a break safely is also important, even if they cannot leave the classroom on their own.

I can make it easy for them. I can write the date, I can write out homework, I can post my email address on the wall. I can make as many visual reminders as I can fit onto a board so that they can access it without asking. I can also create a website with all of the handouts, resources, and information they need to stay organized outside of school. That doesn’t mean they won’t pay attention in class.

I can welcome them. Even when it is inconvenient, even when I am busy. Just because a child seeks us out does not mean they need us to speak with them. On our team we often have students ask if they can simply work in our room. Yes! Please do, let me know if you need anything. Sometimes all a child needs to be successful is a safe place to work. If we cannot offer up our rooms, we often find another place.

I can ask a follow up question. On our team, we teach more than 120 students. Every day, we stand outside our doors and ask students how they are, how their evening was, how they are feeling. When a child answers, we ask a follow up question because it’s the second question that matters. That’s the one that shows we care, that’s the one that shows we are paying attention. Anyone can ask “How are you?,” but it takes time to say more.

The barriers we create in our rooms are often ones that we don’t even notice, yet it is within the smallest details of our days that students learn the most about us as people. It is when we take time to do the little things that we can make a huge difference. What are the small changes you will make?

being me, books, Literacy, Reading, students

My 10 Favorite Nonfiction Picture Books Right Now

August 8, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I don’t remember reading much nonfiction as a child, perhaps I was too caught up in being a kid to notice. I read biographies for a long time, but nonfiction picture books were not on my playlist. Not so anymore. The nonfiction picture books that are available to our students now are amazing and every year a few more settle into our library and hearts. Here are the top ten favorites in our classroom library.

When Donalyn Miller recommends a picture book, I pay attention. Tricky Vic – the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli is a masterpiece. A page-turning read that makes you shake your head in wonder. This is a picture book for all ages.

Kelly Milner Halls can do no wrong in my eyes and her book In Search of Sasquatch is a favorite read in our classroom library. The reporting style of the book, the pictures, and the flow of the text makes this a book that students come back to again and again. Check out all of her other nonfiction texts too, you will be glad you did.

Loved by many, any of Elise Gravel’s Disgusting Creatures series such as The Worm is sure to suck readers in. With its whimsical illustrations surrounded by the facts about these animals, readers don’t even know how much they are learning as they devour the pages.

I don’t think it is possible to have a top 10 nonfiction picture book list without Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate. This beautiful book and story makes me cry every time I read it, but it is worth every sniveled tears. This is also one of the most lost picture books in my classroom, I hope it finds much love in its new homes.

Anything by Seymour Simon deserves to be on this list, but Gorillas is one of our favorites. With its stunning photography and accessible text, it provides my students with enough information to make them feel knowledgeable, as well as the desire to keep reading more. Seymour Simon is a legend within the nonfiction universe, rightfully so.

I have mentioned Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall by Micheaux Nelson on many picture book lists and there is definitely a reason for that. This book provides students with a different historical narrative about the 1800’s than most. Students cannot believe the story is true and it is often discussed for a long time after.

I remember reading the newspaper articles about George, and yet when Galapagos George by Jean Craighead George showed up at my house I still read it aloud to Thea not putting two and two together. George does not have a happy ending, which I knew, but had forgotten about. The shocked look on Thea’s face as I got to the end told me I should have probably prepped her, however, the tale itself is hauntingly beautiful and completely worth the shock.

Every time I receive one of these Did You Know books by Laura Lyn DiSiena and Hannah Eliot I cannot wait to read them aloud to my own kids and then get them into the classrooms. these whimsical fact-bursting books are for kids of all ages and is sure to leave even the most knowledgeable reader in awe.

Manfish by Jennifer Berne tells the childhood story of Jacques Costeau. I love filling my students in on this ocean explorer, and the illustrations are gorgeous. A simple tale told about one of the great explorers of our time.

And for spot number 10, I can’t pick, so here are a few more of my favorite reads.

On A Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne.

Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell

The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Helligman

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant.

The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock

And finally, I just added these to my wish list

The Pilot and the Little Prince by Peter Sis.

Odd Boy Out by Don Brown

Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs David

assumptions, being me, books, Literacy, Reading, students

Can We Find A Better Term Than Struggling Readers?

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015 Pernille Ripp

To struggle means to contend with an adversary or opposing force. To struggle means to advance with violent effort. To struggle means to cope with an inability to perform well. Despite its relationship with these definitions, the term “struggling reader” has become one of the favored way to label our learners as we discuss their needs. A term that means to advance with violent effort is somehow now associated with developing as a reader, and I cringe every time I hear it.

It is not that I don’t see children fighting with words when they are learning to read. I see the tremendous effort. I see the hard work that goes into becoming a reader. And I see my older students still fight, sometimes word for word, as they process the text. They are in a struggle at times, yes. But they are not struggling readers. They are not battling an epic foe that will take them down somehow, because I can’t allow them to identify that way. I can’t allow that definition to define them in my own eyes. they are so much more than struggling readers.

When we allow a term like this to permeate our instruction, to permeate the conversations we have about students, we are viewing the children we teach only through one lens. We allow this term to overtake any other information we have on the child and the effort that they put into learning. When we label someone as struggling, we have, in essence, given them a box to place themselves in and for the rest of their lives they can choose to stay within that box knowing that no matter what they do, they will never stop struggling. That label becomes part of their identity. In our own minds as teachers, we also create a neat box to put them in as we plan our lessons and our own assumptions about what they can or cannot do taints their future path.

When we tell a child they are developing rather than struggling, then there is hope. Then there is a chance for them to think that some day whatever they struggle with will not be as hard for them. That they are developing their skills and working through the process. And yes, that process may take years and years, but that there will be success, however small, and that this learning journey is one they will be on for the rest of their lives. We don’t give them that chance for hope when we call them struggling readers.

In fact, why label them at all? Why not just call all of our readers just that; readers? Almost every child reads in some way. I see it in my own children when they pick up a book and point to the pictures, too young to process that there are words on the page as well. I see it in Thea, my 6 year-old, who is reading from memory and developing systems to figure out words. I see it in my 7th graders that slowly work through a page of text, exhausted by the end of it. They are readers. And yet, their path toward becoming better readers may be one that has obstacles, may be one filled with struggles, but that does not mean that they are the ones struggling at all times. That does not mean that one label will define who they are human beings, and nor should we let it. But that change starts with the very language we use to speak about our students. That change starts with us.

What do you think?

being me, new year, students, technology

Before We Periscope From Our Schools, Let’s Think For a Moment

August 1, 2015August 1, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I fell in love with Periscope, the free live-streaming app created by Twitter, this summer while at ISTE. Free, instant access to events happening around the world – finally! The myriad of ways I could see implementing it in my classroom overwhelmed me in a good way. Kids could periscope our class at any time to bring the world in. Students could interact with other students around the world. Students could have a real-time audience at any time we needed. We could explore every day moments in cultures around the world. On and on, the ideas went.

Yet, when I thought about it some more, I started to second-guess my love for it a little bit. I didn’t fall out of love, but I did start to question my own ideas, as well as the professional responsibility that I carry not just as a teacher, but also as an active conference goer/speaker. So what has made me slow down?

The need for privacy. Student privacy and protecting it is at the forefront of my mind as a teacher who shares the work of their students. Some of my students cannot be shown on the internet for a variety of reasons and that is something I respect. What if that child walks by in the background? What if their voice is heard? What if students start filming from our classroom and do not know who can or cannot be shown on the internet? This by itself is enough to stop me from using Periscope in the classroom, but there is more.

The need for respect. When I videotape something I have editing abilities. That means that anything silly, stupid, weird, or somehow embarrassing does not have to be seen by anyone but us. The “live” part of the live-streaming means there is no delay, no editing, no take back. What if a child says something mortifying, screws up, fails in some way and the whole world potentially sees it? One thing is failing in front of your peers and embracing it, another thing is failing in front of strangers.

The need for attention. My first job is to teach the students in front of me. Not the world, not the parents, not other colleagues. So whenever a tool is brought into the classroom, I have to make sure it is not creating a barrier between me and students. Being focused on live-streaming something means that I am not working with students but instead acting as a cameraman. Even if I am live-streaming something that I am taking part in, I am still not giving them 100% of my attention because that would be multi-tasking, which we know decreases our focus.

The need for intimacy. Some of the biggest moments that have happened in our classroom has been when students have let their guards down and trusted us all inherently. When the door was closed and just we were present. That intimacy is gone the minute I start videotaping anything. So often we end up capturing the not quite as great moments because that is all we can get.

The need for purpose. If live-streaming something will add value to the purpose of what we are doing than I will consider doing it, but if it really only boosts me as someone who shares, or in some other way becomes more about me than my students then I am not for it. I worry that some will use Periscope to boost their own popularity and lose sight of why we are all doing this; for the kids.

The need for permission from parents. While most districts have technology policies and permission slips in place that include sharing the work, name, and image of students, Periscope, I feel, is a new level of sharing. So as a parent I would very much like the right to know about its use, the purpose of it, and also have the right to think about it. When we don’t ask, we take that right away from parents.

The need for permission from speakers. I had a wonderful discussion on Twitter on what the protocol is for periscoping professional development/keynotes and such. It seems there is none, but there probably should be. After all, if a conference has spent a lot of money bringing a speaker in and I have registered for it that does not mean we get to share that conference with the world. What we paid for is our own experience. So bottom line is to ask before you periscope and respect if someone says no.

So what Periscope might be great for?

Professional development where you interview other great thinkers or interact in some way and make it about the sharing of thought.

Students sharing knowledge in a pre-determined way. It would be a great idea to have students run a small talk or demonstration purposefully sharing their knowledge with the world.

Showcasing environment or other non-student immersed ideas. I love the idea of being able to send someone a live stream showcasing my classroom set up, library organization or something like that. Again, purpose, control, and meaningfulness is at the forefront of my thinking here.

Tuning into a specific part of the world to see what daily life is like there. This fits nicely with the tag line of “Explore the world through someone else’s eyes.”

So while there are definite great uses to Periscope, I am hesitant to bring it into my classroom when the students are there. Perhaps I am too scared? Perhaps I don’t know enough? I would love to get your opinion on this.

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.