aha moment, being a teacher, being me, end of year, teachers

To All the Teachers Who Cared This Year

Pernille Ripp

5 days into kindergarten, my oldest daughter declared that she hated school.  With all of the anger she could muster, which was remarkably quite a bit, she stomped her foot, scrunched up her face and told me that school was not for her after all because her teacher hated her and she was done.  I chalked it up to her being tired.  When on the 6th day, and the 7th, and the 8th, she told me that she still didn’t like school, and on the 9th she told me she had a stomach ache, I knew we had a problem.

It wasn’t that I thought that her school was bad.  It was not that her teacher did hate her but in her mind, her reality, this was the truth she lived.  And once that idea had set in, she was done.  So 3 weeks into the school year of her very first year we open enrolled her in my district and Thea started kindergarten once again.  I swear I have held my breath since then.  Yesterday, she proudly showed me her kindergarten memory book and my breath caught for a moment when I saw what she had written.  Under her most favorite thing she had written “Going to school.”  And then I knew that I had to give thanks.

So to the teacher that loved my little girl so much that she cried on the night before the last day; thank you.  I know how much you tried, I know much you cared.  I know how many hours you worked, and how much time you spent thinking about all of those kids you taught.  I know that there were days where I am sure you wanted to pull your hair out, we all have those days, but I also know that Thea told me that you were always happy.  That no matter what you were happy to see her and she loved you for it.

You may not know, but that smile you put on your face, those little conversations that you had, the stories you told of your own adventures; those are what she told us about every single day.  Those times you got silly, those times you held them to high expectations, she told us about that too.  Every day a new story, every day a new memory.  And so when she told me that she didn’t want any other teacher ever again, I knew that I would never have enough words to tell you how grateful we are.  She hated school.  You changed that.  She faked stomach aches, threw fits, and cried those big fat tears, but you changed that.  That is why great teachers matter.  That is why people like you are so important for all of our kids.

So to all you teachers who cared this year.  From this parent, who happens to be a fellow teacher, thank you.  Thank you for putting in the time.  Thank you for caring.  Thank you for dedicating all of your emotional energy because you cared so very deeply for all of our kids.  Thank you for inventing, for making, for creating.  For giving students voices.  For not giving up.  For hugging.   For listening and for seeing all of the kids for who they are.  For giving hope, and for giving consequences.  For making kids believe that they could achieve, even when the world was against them.

They say it takes a village to raise a kid, but honestly, sometimes it just takes one person.  A person who sees your crazy amazing kid exactly for who they are and doesn’t think that something is wrong with them but instead tells them to be proud of who they are.  So to Mrs. Huenink; the world needs more teachers like you so that more kids like mine can feel that they matter and that school is actually a place for them.  Thank you.

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 a teacher, being me, inspiration, review

A Must Read Book for Educators

Pernille Ripp

Several years ago, I read the book Awakened by Angela Watson and her words changed who I was as a teacher (and person).  I did not know Angela much at that time, I admired her from afar, but was so profoundly moved by how her book helped me move away from negative thoughts, that I contacted  her to express my deep gratitude.  A few years later, I am lucky to call Angela a mentor and inspiration.  I still keep my Awakened mindset and recommend the book to any teachers I meet.  Well, Angela has done it again with her new book Unshakeable – 20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day…No Matter What.

Even as a somewhat veteran teacher, I found so many great ideas within the pages of this book.  Angela is a no nonsense writer who crams inspiration into every single page.  She isn’t just trying to inspire us to change, she is giving us ideas of how to do it, and the best part is that many of the ideas are so ingeniously simple, yet powerful, that I implemented some on the very first day of reading.  From redefining my vision to many minor changes I can do to re-energize myself and my classroom, I am so grateful I got to read this book.  So while I do not use this blog to recommend many books, I typically do that on another blog, I knew that I had to highlight this book to all of you who follow on here.

So if you know a new teacher who needs some inspiration.  If you know a fellow teacher who could use some great new ideas.  If you know that this is the summer you need to be inspired and re-energized; read this book.  And then recommend it to others.  You will be glad you did.

From Amazon:

Don’t wait for teaching to become fun again: plan for it! Unshakeable is a collection of inspiring mindset shifts and practical, teacher-tested ideas for getting more satisfaction from your job. It’s an approach that guides you to find your inner drive and intrinsic motivation which no one can take away.  Unshakeable will help you incorporate a love of life into your teaching, and a love of teaching into your life. Learn how to tap into what makes your work inherently rewarding and enjoy teaching every day…no matter what.

being me, hopes, Passion, Reading, student voice

My Students Still Hate Book Clubs, So Now What?

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 

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, learning, student choice, student voice

Calling All Educators in the Midwest

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.

being a teacher, being me, classroom management, end of year, life choices

It’s the Very Least We Can Do

Pernille Ripp

The comment keeps showing up on my end of year surveys, slipped in between suggestions, hard truths, and great advice.  It makes me smile every time.  It has been a comment I have heard throughout the year from students in blog posts, in small conversations, and even from parents.  “Mrs. Ripp smiles a lot…” “You always have a smile on your face…” “You smile every day.”  And while it is not true, I don’t think I smile every single day for every minute, this little comment means the world to me because every day I make a choice to smile.  Every day, when I pull up to the parking lot, when I open the days, when the crazy noise of the students coming up our stairs reaches my door, I make sure I have a smile ready to greet them because it is the very least I can do.

As educators, we spend so much time planning meticulous lessons.  We do professional development to continue to be lifelong learners.  We lay awake worrying about kids, about parents, about what we said, what we asked our students to do that day.  We spend so much energy on the big picture stuff that we forget about the easiest thing we can do; smile.  Show all the kids of your school that you really want to be there.  That it matters to you that they are there.  That you are happy to see them.  That their very existence makes your life better.  Even if you don’t totally feel it.  Even if you don’t feel like it.  If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for the kids.

Our actions speak louder than our words and you wouldn’t believe how much the sight of a smile in a busy hallway can change the mood of a day.  But don’t take my word for it; try it.  Make it a habit.  Smile as if your life depended on it, who knows, whose life it will change?

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.

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?

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.

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.