Pernille Ripp

being a teacher, conferences, ideas, parents

3 Ideas For More Meaningful 5 Minute Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 15, 2014 Pernille Ripp

This week I had my first experience with the 5 minute drive-by conference. You know the one; all the teachers in the lunchroom at their own table, parents waiting in line, and once the timer starts, off we go for non-stop talking, the only caveat being you only get 5 minutes. Not exactly my cozy student-led conferences that I love so much. Why the change? Besides that this is how we do it at my new school, I also have 113 students. I don’t even know how I could possibly give them a longer student-led conference at the moment without spending weeks on it. And still, I wanted my students to be a part of it. I still wanted it to be worth the time for the parents, I wanted it to be meaningful. I therefore did this:

The students reflected beforehand. As always I had my students reflect on what their grades should be, what they were proud of and what they accomplished. I invited all of my students to come to their conference but knew that few of them would, but their voice needs to be present. This sheet allowed me to have the conference focus on their learning journey, not just what my thoughts were.

I reflected and wrote down beforehand. I knew it would take a long time for me to write strengths and goals for all of my students, but I knew it was worth it. In the week preceding conferences I spent every evening thinking about each child, writing down what I knew I wanted to share (beside their grades). I didn’t want the conference to be focused on the grades, I wanted it to be focused on the child. I was then able to share what my thoughts were after we looked at the student’s reflection.

I asked the parents how they felt and what they thought. My gut reaction was to not ask any questions and just run it as a fast monologue. After all, with only 5 minutes I have a lot to cover, but that is not the point of these conferences. No matter the time limit, parents/guardians/students should always have the time to speak, even if you feel like it may eat up too much valuable time.

Always find something good and end with that. Ok, so this is the fourth idea which I wrote about yesterday. In every conference I made sure to end with something good. I remember how it was as a kid to have your parents go to conferences without you; that nervous feeling, that growing sense of dread. As a teacher I want to make sure my students know that I am in their corner, even if there are things to work on. Often the last thing we say is the one that leaves the freshest impression, so make it something good.

Other small ideas include:

Be wiling to set up separate conferences. I knew that some of my students needed more time for discussion so rater than wait for parents to contact me, I sent out a blanket email offering every child a longer conference at a different time in our classroom. A few responded and there were even a few surprises of who wanted a longer one. You never know until you ask.

Bring out the picture books. I send all student work home so instead of having their to display, I will have some awesome picture books out. That way, parents can at least read some awesome stories while they wait.

Just listening. Often parents know exactly what their child needs to work on or they have simply heard it before, so stop talking and listen. Ask them questions and see how much they cover that you would have covered as well. Parents know their kids, sometimes we seem to forget that (myself included).

Treat ever conference as if it is your first of the day. Every parent deserves the best of you, so keep smiling, keep the energy up. Yes, I know it is like running a marathon to be your very best self for 4 or more hours, but that is what you should be. I had water and peppermints to help me keep up the spirit. We owe it those waiting to meet with us.

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, conferences, Student

There Is Always Something Good

November 14, 2014November 14, 2014 Pernille Ripp

I am exhausted. Eyes feel like cotton balls, my head is spinning. The boots on my feet feel like they weigh 20 pounds each. Welcome to the day after parent-teacher conferences; a marathon of 5 minute conferences in a 4 hour span that leaves me feeling like I am not quite sure who I am or what I said. And still…

I may have rushed through every conversation. I may have not said everything I wanted to say. I may not have fulfilled every hope, that happens when you are held to a 5 minute time limit (middle school conferences at their best). I am not sure I was enough , the time definitely wasn’t, but I kn I know one thing for sure. I know that in every conference I brought up something good. I brought up something unique. Something that the child brings to our classroom, brings to my life. Every single child had something good mentioned. Every single child was worth celebrating.

Yes, there are goals and challenges, ups and downs that need to be discussed. Those pesky habits we are trying to break, those strong skills we are trying to teach. The strides we have to make, the plans we have to lay. But there is also good. And goodness in every child. Every child has something positive worth sharing. Every child is worth us smiling about. So even if the academics are in shambles, and who knew where those behaviors are coming from, look for the good, perhaps dig really deep, but remember, that these are children we get to talk about. Children who are learning what it means to be successful. Children who are learning from their mistakes. Children whose parents send us their very best child every day. Parents who need to hear that we see something worth believing in.

There is always something good to share, it is our job to uncover it. Just like our students uncover it in us every day. Just like parents believe in us every day. So dig deep if you must, but don’t give up. Uncover the goodness in each child. Uncover your belief that they can be good.

PS: I cannot wait to do student-led conferences in the spring…

aha moment, assumptions, Be the change, being me, Passion

5 Things I Learned to Say That Changed the Way I Taught

November 11, 2014 Pernille Ripp

There are many things that we can change as educators. We can all embark on major journeys toward bettering our lives, the lives of our students, and the effect we have on others. Often those big journeys start when we hit frustration, mine certainly did. And yet those big journey of change are not the only journeys we can take. Every day we make a choice as to how we effect those that surround us. We make a choice as to how we will teach, how we will react. There are many changes that will change our lives, these are some of my simplest and most important.

I learned to say, “I’m sorry.” Apologizing to students, and not just for the big things changed my relationship with them. Now when I accidentally call out a wrong kid, I apologize rather than make an excuse. When I screw up, I admit it. When I inadvertently hurt a child’s feeling, which does happen, I apologize. I don’t try to explain my way out of it, a quick statement is all it takes, but the power of “I’m sorry” cannot be underestimated. Those words share the story of how we view our students. They are human beings that deserve respect.

I learned to say, “Let me check.” I used to know I was right. I used to know that whatever a child said about already turned in homework, sent emails, or other obligations was a lie. Until I realized that I was in the wrong and that even if I think I am right, it is better to check first. Check the pile of paper. Check my email. Check my file. Whatever it may, they check and I check, no lost pride, no hurt relationship.

I learned to laugh at myself. When you teach you will make stupid mistakes that make you look like a fool. You are bound to trip and fall, you are bound to say things that can be misunderstood, you are bound to do something that you would giggle at if it happened to others. Laughing at yourself with the students is powerful. Showing students my inner dork, which I tried to suppress at all cost for so many years, has allowed them to fly their flags. They know when I am serious, but they also know how much I love to laugh, even at myself.

I learned to say, “Ok.” Ok to sit there, ok to turn it in that way, ok to explore this, ok to read that book, ok to have that conversation. OK to try, ok to fail. I learned to say ok to new adventures and epic attempts. I learned to say when I realized I couldn’t say yes to anything more, and ok when I could. I learned to say ok when a lesson failed, I learned to say ok when a child told me they tried. This simple word, these two letters, have allowed me to let go of so much. I no longer strive for perfection, but for authenticity. The latter is so much more interesting. “Ok” taught me that.

I learned to say, “You matter,” but more importantly I learned to show it. I learned to look at my students when they speak to me, to stop what I am doing and listen. I learned to read between the lines, to dig a little deeper. I learned to say yes to lunch, to stop and talk, I learned to tell stupid jokes to break the ice. I learned the language of my students, whether spoken or unspoken, and I learned to teach with my whole heart, with all of me.

What have you learned to say that changed you?

aha moment, assessment, assumptions, Be the change, being a teacher

You Can’t Just Do It To Them

November 8, 2014 Pernille Ripp

“Remember, whatever I ask you to do, I ask myself to do too.”

This is how almost any assignment is handed out in my classes. Not to make the students feel better. Not to make them embrace the assignment more quickly. No, it is really quite simple; I have done the assignment already. I have spent time doing the exact same thing, following the same directions, looked at the assessment and pondered how I would do. Not when I was their age, not when I was in college, not even last year. No the assignment I am asking them to do, I have done in the past few days as well as I prepared.

Why is this important? Because every day we ask students to spend their time, whether in class or after school, doing work for us to show their mastery, to practice their skills, to help them grow. Yet often these assignments are ones that we have never experienced ourselves. Ones that we may have used to much success before. Or ones that we got from an amazing source. Yet, we don’t know what it feels to actually do it. And that creates a problem based on assumptions. We assume we know how much time it will take. We assume we know how hard it is. We assume our directions are clear. We assume the assessment is fair. All of those assumptions add up to nothing good.

I started doing my own assignments a few years back. I didn’t get why my students groaned so much when a new project was handed out. I didn’t get why I would get emails from parents stating how many hours their children had spent. Whether it was book report dioramas, grammar packets, or even just outside reading, I assumed I knew what it was like to do them because I had gone to school once too. On a whim one night, after a particular groan-filled day, I did one of my grammar packets. 9 pages, front to back copied, neatly stapled to teach me all about proper nouns versus common nouns. 45 minutes later, I threw it in the trash. How many times could I write the same answer over and over or be asked the same thing? Yikes. The next day I apologized to my students and we found other ways to do grammar.

So now, I live by a simple rule. Whatever I ask my students to do I have to do as well. So if they have to write an assignment, I write it too. If they have to read outside of school every night, I do too. I discuss my struggles and problems that I encounter hoping they will feel more confident to try something new. I tell them when I stop reading and I recommit in front of them, I tell them when I don’t feel like doing any work but now I have to. My students will not learn from having a perfect teacher, they need someone that they can relate to, even if our years push us apart.

I know that I am not 12 years old and that I have an easier time doing their work. That only cements my resolve to do every assignment. If it takes me 30 minutes to write a great constructed response, then imagine how long it can take for a student?

We cannot keep forcing our ideas on kids without experiencing them ourselves. So commit; whatever your students have to do, make yourself go through it. Trust me, the things you will change will surprise you. Be a learner, just like them, and tell them that you know what it feels like. But don’t just say it, do it and mean it.

grades

How Do You Assess Without Grades – 5 Tips to Ease the Transition

November 6, 2014 Pernille Ripp

When I transferred my blog from Blogger to WordPress, not only did I run into domain name problems but I also had posts that didn’t transfer. This post is an oldie but still speaks to me.

Two great questions came my way yesterday in regard to assessing without grades and then communicating that information. We are so used to the ease of a letter grade that gets recorded in a book, averaged out and then translated into a letter, that moving away from that can be daunting and just a bit overwhelming. So two years into my process I thought I would share some tips I learned the hard way.

Discover your goal.

Whether they are based on district standards, common core, school outcomes, or even those listed in the curriculum, figure out what the goal is for each thing you teach. These can be large or small (don’t do too many small ones though, trust me) and then figure out what the outcome should be. Everything you do should have a learning goal because without that there is no point to the lesson.

Determine the product. What does it look like when students have accomplished the goal? What is finished? What is just another stepping stone? How will students show that they have mastered the goal? I love to have this discussion with my students, they have amazing ideas for this.
Determine assessment. Will it be written feedback? Will it be a rubric? Will it be a conversation – great tip; record these with a Livescribe pen and you have it for later! Or use Voxer to send it straight to the stduents if they are over 13. Once again, ask the students, what type of assessment will help them? How do they learn best?
Keep a record. This has been my biggest hurdle. I have had charts, Google Docs, grade book notes, relied on my faulty brain, and yikes. This year I am bringing my iPad in and using Evernote to keep track of it all. Students will each have a portfolio in Evernote with conversations, pictures of work, links to blog posts, as well as videotaped events. This way, everything will be at my fingertips when needed.
Communicate! Assessment is not helpful if kept to yourself so have the conversations with students, take the time, write things down, communicate with parents. All of these things need to be taken care of for this to work. The allure of letter grades is just that; the ease of communication, nevermind that they can mean a million different things. So when you step away from those make sure you replace that with communication. Give students ownership of their goals and have them write a status report home, send an email, make a phone call. Something. Everybody should know where they are at and where they are headed throughout the year.

My 5 biggest tips for today and something I continue to work on. Whatever your system is, take the time to reflect upon it, refine it, and make it work for you. Ultimately stepping away from letter grades should lead to a deeper form of assessment, not a larger headache, but for that you have to have systems in place.

Be the change

Take One and Pass It On

November 5, 2014December 29, 2014 Pernille Ripp

In the staff bathroom at my school something like this hung on the wall. I should have taken a picture but I was too caught up in it to think that far ahead. It kind of looked like this except a couple of strips had already been ripped off. So I followed the direction, ripped it off, and passed it on. Perhaps these should be plastered all over our schools