principals, reflection

Can A School Be Great If the Principal Isn’t?

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I have been thinking a lot about principals lately, and not because I am here to say they are not needed, but more considering just how important the role can be to a school.  In fact it seems that so much depends on the principal.

The principal is the natural face of the school, they serve as the filter for district administration, the state, media, and anxious new parents.  They serve as the mouthpiece highlighting hopefully all of the amazing things that are happening.  They are the ones that praise and share all the great work that is done at their school.  They are also the ones that add new team members and try to guide teachers to become more effective.  They are in a sense the connecting point of the school; a steady presence with ever evolving teachers and new students.  They can unify a school or tear it apart.  They can lift a school up or bring it further down.  They can highlight or they can forget to mention.  They can advocate and practice unity or they can cause true separation.  And while they are not the only parts of the school that make it run or function, they are unique in their singularity; no one else carries as much overall responsibility as they do.  No one else is looked to as the point that connects everyone else.  No one else seems to have so much say, so much weight to their words, so much power behind their decisions.  At least not anyone that I can think of within a single school.

So it leads me to wonder; a school can be filled with all the best teachers, but can it truly be great if the principal isn’t amazing as well?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Related articles

end of year, reflection, students

What My Students Taught Me This Year

Pernille Ripp
This year was one of those years that I will always smile about.  This year with these kids is one of those years that went just a little too fast.  Where the kids grew a little too quick and our final days together came a little too soon (9 days left).  Being out the first two months with the twins didn’t help this year either.  I learned so many lessons this year all because of these kids.  So what these kids taught me was

That to create passionate readers you must be a passionate reader yourself.

That to get kids to read you have to give them time to read.

That to get kids to open up in their writing you have to do the piece yourself and then share it when it is your turn.

That poetry is best done without thinking about rules or rhyming, at least most of the time.

That it is ok to cry in front of the kids when you read that part in “Love that Dog” or that part in “The One and Only Ivan” or that part in “Wonder.”

That when the world stands still because your read aloud is so good that you should really just keep reading.

That when an author tweets you back it is something to scream aloud about.

That when a kid thrusts a book into your hands urging you to read it, you should read it as soon as possible.

That when a kid asks you a question you cannot answer take the time to try to figure it out.

That when a kid asks for a break right after recess they really need a break.

That when a really good song comes on your ipod during math it is ok to turn it up and have a little dance break.

That is ok to admit when you bungled a math concept and then figure it out together.

That it is never too late to ask why, never too late to change your plans, never too late to ask the kids what they think.

That often silence is the best way to start a conversation.

What did your kids teach you this year?

Related articles

Be the change, Innovation Day

Innovation Day From a Student’s Perspective

Pernille Ripp
I love Innovation Day – it is one of my absolute favorite days of the year.  So after we had our 5th grade Innovation Day two weeks ago I asked my students to blog about.  I don’t think I have ever had a more eloquent response than the one Megan posted.

The Best Day of My Whole School Career

The best day of my whole school career would be, without a doubt, Innovation Day.  Innovation Day is a day that you get to learn about and create anything.  Sounds like a lot of fun right?  It is, trust me.  But you can’t just have recess for the whole day, or read for the whole day, you have to do something that you will be able to learn about. And you can’t just research the whole, entire day.  You have to create something to show your learning.  
Now that we have gone over the rules, I will tell you what I did.

I interviewed the librarian of our school, music teacher, gym teacher, four regular teachers, five kids, and one 4-K classroom.  Those interviews took up most of the morning.  My mom put my hair up in a bun to make it professional, and I wore business woman looking clothes.  To make it even more professional looking I offered them  a Gatorade or water.  I also made business cards.  After I was done interviewing the subjects, I gave them a king sized Hersey’s bar.  That took up most of the morning. So then I had 2 hours and 45 minutes.  So I put my learning into graphs for the regular teaches, and for the specials teachers and 4-K classroom  I made a poster saying what I learned from them.  Then I made the posters all pretty with highlighters and things like that.  If I was an actual school designer the next thing that I would have done is take that information and incorporated it into my school design, so that I could make the optimal school.  
THAT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY WHOLE SCHOOL CAREER!!!!!!!!!!! If you do not have Innovation Day at school, and you are a teacher or princapal or student or somebody that has some kind of relationship with school, please make sure that your school has that day.  Because THAT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY WHOLE SCHOOL CAREER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And I guarantee that a lot of the kids will feel the same way.        
reflection

My Students and Blogging

Pernille Ripp
Sunday I was lucky enough to receive a grant for an iPad for the students to use in the classroom.  here is what I said at the acceptance:

270,490
That’s the number of unique visitors my students and their blog has had since they started letting the world in 3 years ago.  From discussing field trips with students in Egypt, explaining Thanksgiving to students in London, England, to sharing book recommendations with students in Singapore, my students personify what we mean when we say we want to create global citizens.  

With the addition of this iPad they can continue on their quest to bring the world into to our little learning universe while further exploring the world.  They often take these connections for granted, which means I have done my job.  Global connections are no longer the exception to the rule, but the rule under which they live.  I am grateful that I get to be a part of their global collaboration every day.

Reading

Creating Great Summer Reading Plans

Pernille Ripp
I have never before cared about what my students read over the summer, sure, I cared whether they were reading or not but I figured it was no longer my duty to ensure they had great books to read.  I certainly never assigned reading over the summer and would never do that.  This year though with our  increased passion for reading, my students have been telling me they just are not sure what to read and asked for my help.  So behold; what we will be doing in the final weeks of school to create massive reading lists with awesome book suggestions for each student.

First of all; this is by choice.  I am not dictating what students should read but simply creating opportunities for them to get as many recommendations as possible.  Second of all; they will be making a list of possible books they would love to read and this list will be passed to parents, but I will not be checking up on them.  There is no incentive, no punishment, no have to.  Just hopefully a way for them to continue to stay passionate about reading.

So in the next few weeks, we will:

  • Start out with our initial reading plan survey.  This gave me an idea of where students are at with their ideas for what they will read and also gives me something to compare to at the end.
  • Continue our speed book dating – 1 minute per partner as students recommend books to each other.
  • Try the teacher book dating as detailed by this awesome post by Colby Sharp.  In fact, I brought in my stack of to read books from home so that they can add those to the mix as well.
  • Edit:  Here is what my classroom looked like while we did the teacher book dating 
  • Skype with other classrooms to get book recommendations.  Short, simple Skype calls where 5 students each get to do a short book recommendation of either a favorite book from this year or a book they are currently reading.  I have asked students to think of the audience as we may be skyping with other grade levels than 5th.  If you want to Skype with us please fill out the contact form located on the right!
  • Collect all ideas in our note book so that we can create a master list that can be typed up and emailed/printed.
  • Continue tweeting out our book recommendation survey on Twitter and checking in to see which books people are recommending there.  If you haven’t taken it – please do!
  • Watch the Scholastic fall preview trailer – it may be for the fall but some of these books come out in August.
  • Interview teachers around the school for their favorite young adult books.
  • Read several book recommending blogs connected through our Kidblog account.
  • Create an Animoto sharing our reading plan with the word and posting it on our blog.  Thanks for the great idea Shannon from Van Meter – here is the post she wrote!

mystery skype

Great Mystery Skype Questions to Get You Started

Pernille Ripp
My students have grown into being quite good Mystery Skypers but it has taken them most of the year and many practice calls.  One thing they have really worked on has been the act of asking great questions so we thought it would be nice to offer up some great sample questions for when you get started with Mystery Skype.  However, the best way to grow is to not follow a list but instead discuss throughout the year what the best questions are for your class.

For the USA

  • Are you in North America?
  • Are you in the United States?
  • Are you east of the Mississippi?

Depending on the answer to that, you can go in different directions:

If east of Mississippi:
  • Are you one of the original 13 colonies?
  • Do you border a Great Lake?
  • Do you border an ocean?
  • Do the Appalachians run through your state?
  • Do you border Canada?
  • Are you Northeast/Midwest/Southeast region?
  • Do you border the Gulf of Mexico?

If west of the Mississippi:

  • Are you in the West/Southwest region?
  • Do you border the Pacific?
  • Do the Rocky Mountains run through your state?
  • Do you border Canada?
  • Is your state landlocked?
  • Are you one of the contiguous states?

For Canada:
  • Are you in North America?
  • Are you in Canada?
  • Do you border a ocean?
  • Do you border Alaska?
  • Do you border the Hudson Bay?
  • Are you landlocked?
  • Does your province have a NHL team?
  • Do you border the United States?
  • Do the Rocky Mountains touch your province?
  • Are you north of British Columbia?

These are suggestions only!  Depending on your answers you have to adapt your questions.  We play in a yes/no format where students get to continue guessing until they get a no answer.  Then it becomes the other teams turn.
Things we do not recommend doing:
  • Vague questions such as weather related ones unless they are specific.
  • Guessing states too quickly.
  • Not having a student write down the questions and answers.
  • The teacher having their location on their Skype profile.
  • Wearing a shirt that represents or is a clue to your location.

Things we do recommend doing:

  • Paying attention to the questions that the other team asks – often it gives away clues.
  • Paying attention in general.
  • Having a sign signaling thinking or someone telling jokes/stories.
  • Staying calm and don’t be rude to each other.
  • Assigning jobs and sticking to them.
  • Having a student-led discussion after the call to discuss success/failures and figure out how to improve.