Pernille Ripp

How to Combat The Negative

December 10, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

I don’t think anyone becomes an educator to spread negativity. At least not anyone I have ever met. And yet, there are some that seem to thrive on negativity, that cannot wait to spread the latest bad news, or relive someone else’s failure. Sometimes you can spot them a mile away, it is like a cloud of negativity surrounds them, but other times they sneak into your life and you don’t even realize the conversation you are engaged in until it is over and you are left with a stone in your stomach or your smile gone.

I used to get sucked into negativity all of the time. It makes for juicy conversations and it creates an instant bond between those who are commiserating. It wasn’t until Brandon, my much smarter husband, pointed out how I brought it all home that I realized what I was being sucked into. I was so eager to share the failures that I didn’t leave room for all of the happy that happened every day. I had become the negative myself.

So what can you do if you find yourself surrounded by negativity, big or small? My aha moment was realizing that you don’t need to be a part of it. You are allowed to leave the conversation or steer it in a different direction. Now, when a negative conversation starts up around me I try to find the positive in it or crack a joke. Of course, I am never perfect but this works a lot of the time.

But an even bigger aha moment? Don’t give the person spreading negativity any power. When you give your time to someone, you are offering them a part of you. If you listen to someone, you are giving them power in an audience. Remove the audience and all they will be left with is their negativity.

In the end, we have to find out own happiness. We don’t go to school to bring students down so why should the words we pick bring others down? I laugh more now because I choose to. Happiness is a choice, as is negativity, don’t be the one others try to steer clear of.

being me

Don’t Vote For Me #Eddies13

December 8, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

The shortlists of the 2013 EduBlog Awards have been released and I certainly was humbled by my nomination in most influential blog post as well as best individual blog. But please don’t vote for me. There are so many others that have have done more for education as a whole than me. I am not at my peak yet, nor do I wish to be, so instead perhaps vote for the ones I nominated or whomever has touched you or made you change something.

Most Influential Blog Post: John T.Spencer’s “Be Present” blog post. I read this before I started this year and this has been my mantra for the year. Not just in the classroom but in my life. I turn off my computer, leave my phone somewhere and focus on those incredible kids in front of me. Be present indeed has influenced me in so many ways, I hope it will do the same for you.

Best free webtool for me continues to be Kidblog (although Edmodo is close behind). This blogging tool created by teachers allows me to peek into the minds of my 5th graders every week and brings the world in for us in a meaningful way. Thank you Kidblog for creating such an incredible product.

Best Group Blog for me has to be The Nerdy Book Club – this daily blog brings together some of the most passionate and inspired educators, authors, and writers that share their ideas, opinions and passion for all things reading. Thank you to all of those who continue to contribute and inspire me every day to be a better reading teacher.

Best individual blog: I found myself once again thinking of a post John T. Spencer wrote again today, he is a must read for any educator that cares about anything. So not only does one of his posts get my nomination for most influential post, but his blog also gets a nod for best individual blog. Please add it your daily read.

Best edtech resource/sharing site. While I turn to many of these throughout my week, Larry Ferlazzo’s is sheer insanity. The breadth of what he shares on a daily basis makes me suspect that he is not just a teache rbut actually a robot churnin gout useful information. whatever he is, I appreciate all that he does and all that he shares.

Best Librarian/Library Blog. Not only is Shannon Miller one of the most inspiring and kind women I know, she shares so freely on her library blog that anyone would be a fool to not want to be one of her students. You want to see students doing crazy cool things with books and tech, head over to Shannon’s blog for her Van Meter Library.

Best Twitter Hashtag. While I love many hashtags: #Edchat, #Wischat, #GRA13, there is one that has helped my classroom year after year and that is #comments4kids created by Bill Chamberlain. This hashtag is meant to get students’ comments on their blog posts, to bring the world in, and boy does it ever. It is partly thanks to this hashtag that my students’ blogs have had more than 300,000 visitors!

being a teacher, being me, reflection

Feels Like Home

December 6, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

I was a lonely child. Not quite a loner, but definitely always the awkward not quite sure where she fit in kid hovering in the background. I had friends, in fact, I had many friends, but I had few that got me, few that wanted to get me, and I wasn’t really sure how to make people want to be my friend. I switched schools several times throughout my childhood and every time I kept thinking that maybe this time was the time I would feel like I belonged. That maybe this move would make my personality change and I wouldn’t be quite as dorky, quite as needy, quite as intense. It never happened but my hopes kept my heart aflutter. I made friends along the way, some I still keep as parts of my life, but each friend was one I battled for, one I really tried for, not one that came easy.

When I moved to Wisconsin permanently at the age of 18, I felt truly lost. My parents and little brothers were here, but I had no one. Not a person to call, to meet for coffee, to go to a movie with. And I had no idea where to start. For my first 3 years here I stumbled along a path, meeting people but not quite making friends besides one. Then I met Brandon and I felt like I was found. For the first time, I didn’t feel so lonely. I didn’t feel that dorky, or needy, or intense. I just felt like I was home. And every day I cannot believe that he chooses me to be his wife. That he chooses me to be there for him. That he chooses me. How this lost kid ever found her soulmate, I am not sure but somehow my heart found where I belonged.

I feel that way when I am in my classroom. When I am among my students and some of my colleagues, I feel home. Like I am with my tribe of people that get me and that I get. I know the rules of friendship, community, and how to build trust. I am needed and wanted. I have a purpose and I fulfill it with all of my heart every day. So as I struggle with whether or not I should continue teaching due to finances, I feel as if my heart is breaking.

I would have never said that I was born to teach. I think I was born to understand, to connect, and to try to help. Teaching lets me do all of that. teaching lets me be a part of someone’s life and make a difference every single day. I never don’t want to go to work, even if I have slept little, am sick, or there is a snowstorm. My work is my home as well and those kids I get to teach are parts of my family. Those people I get to work with are parts of my family. And yet, the state of teaching as a job that pays the bills is abysmal and I don’t know if can keep letting my heart rule how my family is supported.

So I wonder if my path now leads to a new home? Will this teacher find a new place to belong? Or will I leave teaching and be lost like I was so many years of my childhood? Will I leave my tribe only to be without one or is there another one waiting for me somewhere? I know I am not the only one searching for answers, can we find home again, outside of teaching?

Be the change, being me, reflection

How the #Nerdlution is Already Making a Difference

December 4, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

I woke up grumpy yesterday. Not just fleetingly mad, but kind of a bone deep anger at the world. Not that there was much a of a reason for it. I have a pretty fantastic life if I may say so. But I had slept terribly, the baby had kicked me most of the night, I had nightmares, two of my 3 kids had been up several times. I didn’t have a good lunch planned, I am in the awkward stage of pregnancy where clothing looks weird, and it was so foggy out I could hardly see my ugly min-van. You get the drift, everything was not good because that was my dominating mood.

But then I remembered the promise I had made to myself and to the #Nerdlution – to focus on the small happy moments and take pictures of them. To stop and smell the happy rather than rush through the day. So I took a deep breath and tried to look for the happy. Maybe not as serendipitous as just finding it but I had promised myself I would be happy so I was going to find my happy. At first it seemed super forced, like a fake smile, but then I felt the tension start to leave my shoulders. Sure Ida was making the stuffed puppy play it’s annoying Christmas jingle for the 10th time, but every time she hit that button, Oskar wiggled his butt. Sure, Thea was being wild and crazy, but she was playing with her younger siblings the best way she knew how. Sure, my classroom was filled with piles of work to be done but it meant that almost all of the students had done their work. And sure, I stuffed myself into a skirt and tried to look decent, but this 4th baby of ours is a miracle baby and this will be the last time I ever get to be pregnant. Stop and smell the happy.

Could I have snapped out of my mood by myself? Sure, but it was the knowing of the promise I had made publicly to #Nerdlution that made me do it more forcefully. I couldn’t already break my promise after 2 days after all. So today, when I woke up even more tired, even more sore, even more stressed, I knew I had to find my happy again, and I am ok with that. I know I will because I promised it to myself.

Won’t you join the revolution? (It is not too late to make yourself a promise…)

being me, Reading, reflection

What My Students Taught Me About Reading

December 3, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

I used to think a child would love reading if I could just find the right book and place it in my library.

I used to think a child would love reading if I could just give them the time to read and the space to do it in.

I used to think a child would love reading if I was passionate about it and always shared what I was reading.

I used to think a lot of things.

Now I know that we cannot just have the right books in our library but they must be placed into the hands of children. Sometimes repeatedly. Sometimes by more than one person. Sometimes cleverly disguised with new covers or exciting book trailers. And sometimes we must accept that our favorite book will never be a favorite book of a certain child and so we must place another, and another, and another into their hands. Sometimes we must get them first to trust us to even open up their hands or hearts to us. Sometimes a book does that for us.

Now I know that it is not just about giving children time or space to read but choice in how to read and what to read. Even if that means that they hate the books we suggest, even if that means that they try on 10 books before settling, or 20, or 30. Even if that means that they sit on their desk to read, or lie under a table, or hide behind the door, or fling themselves on the floor. Reading does not have to happen at a desk, in a chair or sitting up. It just has to happen.

Now I know it is not just about me being a passionate reader but also giving students time to share their passion. It is about them finding their voice as readers and discovering the joy of having another child pick up a suggested book. About having a conversation about a book with someone who loved it as much as you, cried as much as you, yelled as much as you. I can share all I want but it is the students that need to discover their inner passion. They must have time to talk about books. They must have ways to share their favorites, their worst, their “I can’t wait to reads!” They must feel that their opinion matters, that their passion shapes our library. They must feel that reading time is sacred and not just another chore. They must know that reading matters and not just because the curriculum says so but because it shapes us as human beings.

I used to think reading was about going through books as fast as possible just so I could show how many I read. Now I know it is about savoring every one, experiencing it, and letting it change me. I try to give that moment to my students too. They taught me to slow down, to give more reading time, to talk more about the books I read. They taught me what it means to be a passionate reader by being passionate themselves, and for that I am forever grateful.

Uncategorized

My 50 Days of Happy #Nerdlution

December 1, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

For the past several days I have been lurking on conversations regarding the #nerdlution that starts tomorrow. What started as a wonderful Twitter chat has spiraled into a mini movement for people to do something great or as Colby Sharp put it “to do something you would like to develop into a habit.” Right away I knew I wanted to take part, and not so much because I have that many things I want to do, well I do, who am I kidding, but more so because I need a kick in the pants to change some things and I love so many of the people that are part of this.

While many ideas came to mind: laugh more, cook better dinners, read more (yes really!), I finally realized that I wanted my #nerdlution to be something simple yet meaningful. Something I get too caught up in life to focus on. I want to focus on being happy. So for the next 50 days I will be savoring every little moment that makes me happy. I will probably Instagram the moments, maybe not, but I will focus on the incredible little things that make my life so full of love.

So tomorrow the #nerdlution officially starts. It runs until January 20th and by then I will be so heavily pregnant that I better be slowing down and focusing on the happy. I hope you join me and so many others in focusing on something you want to do for the next 50 days. Then share it with all of us using the hashtag #nerdlution. Don’t be afraid, just pick something and be proud of it.