Pernille Ripp

Those who know me know that I struggle with nominations, badges, and awards. I have no problem nominating others, I believe great people and initiatives should receive as much recognition as possible, but I tend to shy away from highlighting myself. That is not what I am here for.

In the past few weeks, tweets and Facebook posts have been propping up about the Bammy awards 2013. I know of the Bammys and have found myself conflicted with the self-nomination portion but at the same time excited that at least some people are trying to elevate people within education because my goodness someone has to.

This morning, in a week that has been nothing but tiring, I received news that I had been nominated for a Bammy by the academy behind it. At first, I was shocked, then very surprised. However, when I read the nomination and saw why they had nominated me I wanted to scream with joy. This nomination is now about me, but about the Global Read Aloud and that I can promote any day.

Here is an excerpt from the nomination, and yes, you can vote for me, but you don’t have to. But do join us in the Global Read Aloud 2013, because that is where the real magic will happen.

Amazed almost every day by the extraordinary initiatives launched by educators in the trenches that remain largely unknown despite the impact they are having. The work of Pernille Ripp under scores why it’s so important to broadcast whatis right in American education. Pernille is the creator of the Global Read Aloud. From her site:

The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. Now with three years under our belt and more than 30,000 connections made, we realize we are on to something larger than us so we look forward to continuing the global connections.

The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. In the past we have used Twitter, Skype, Edmodo, our wiki, email, regular mail, Kidblog, and any other tools we can think of to make these connections. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year.

How do you measure the instructional value of Pernille’s initiative? How is her level of passion and commitment captured in a standard teacher evaluation? Clearly, any teacher who manages to touch 30,000 lives is extraordinary. We are honored to nominate Pernille Ripp.

education reform, students, testing

So I Asked My Students Their Thoughts on Standardized Testing

April 10, 2013 Pernille Ripp

I seem to keep opening Pandora’s infamous box when it comes to the thoughts of my students. Spurred on by discussion in my every day about the ever increasing role standardized testing plays in our lives, I finally had the aha moment of asking my students how they felt about it. Armed with an article from Time For Kids that discusses the new wave of computerized testing, I asked my students how they felt. First they discussed and then they blogged, and boy, am I glad I asked.

We think we know how testing effects kids, and we do know part of it, but some of their answers surprised even me. Many of my students don’t get what it is they are being tested for. Many of my students, who otherwise love technology, hate being tested on the computer. They hate the strain on their eyes. They hate feeling that everyone can see their screen. They hate knowing that others have finished while they lumber on. They hate not being able to go back and check their answers. They kept asking me what will be on the test and when I said that I wasn’t quite sure because we are not privy to that information, they thought I was lying. Why would I not be able to tell them what they would be tested on? That didn’t make any sense to them or to me.

But here are their words for you to read, and if you feel like it, please leave them a comment on our Kidblog. It would mean the world to them.

I asked, “What Are your thoughts on testing?”

Buddy wrote:

I actually have mixed feelings about this, and here they are. Doing tests on the computer is better because technology makes learning easier for me. I’m not happy about doing tests because it takes too long. Sometimes if I answer enough questions correctly, I have to answer questions about what a passage from something means. Yes, answering what a certain passage means is easy. Would it be that easy if it were in French or Spanish? I like doing tests on paper because everyone gets the same test. It doesn’t bring you up to a level where it’s in a foreign language. In 2014 tests will all be on the computer. If the class doesn’t get good scores on the test, then the teacher could get fired. If your class dislikes you and they always go home every day and say to their parents “My teacher was so unfair today” then you could get fired for no reason. If your class just does a bad job on the tests because they don’t like you you could get fired. When you will do your test, it might affect your teacher’s job. I like doing tests on paper because it doesn’t hurt my eyes after a while, unlike when I do tests on the computer for an hour and a half. Usually I get headaches and my eyes hurt. The thing that bothers me is that someday everything will be replaced by technology. Someday your written tests that you do today could be valuable and put in museums someday. How do you feel about that?

Cecilie wrote:

They think when they test us that is all we know wrong we know things that they are not testing us. So they think that we don’t know anything when they are the ones having us test stuff we do not know. It is there fault we are getting bad scores.

Amber wrote:

I don’t and it makes me kind of nervous. My class read a article about we having to do more tests in middle school for next year. They will be harder as the year goes along. Also, the computer can glitch, but paper can’t. I feel like I can do more on paper.

Megan wrote:

I am not a fan of computer tests, like, at all. I get so nervous taking tests on computers, I am always shivering before them. In my opinion they don’t show what you know, because the tests don’t have everything. So pretend that somebody is like a genius in pan balances, it might not be on it and they got a low score, they might of gotten a higher score if it was on the test. We have had MAP test (on the computer) and WKCE tests (on paper) I feel like I can take my time on the WKCE because I don’t know who is finished or not. Also I really like the privacy folders on the WKCE, they make me feel less panicked and it seems like a regular test. Now in the MAP test a totally feel panicked! I am usually one of the last people taking it, and I can see who is done and who isn’t. The people that are done are reading books or playing on the computer, and there is no privacy folders for me to not see that. When I am one of the last people taking the test I feel panicked and rushed. I also hate the MAP test because I can’t go back to check my answers. I bet that the new computerized test would be a ton like the MAP, school in the 2014 would be horrifying!

Graham wrote:

1. Sometimes they don’t ask you the things that you are learning in school

2. People sometimes get tired or worried so they just guess

3. They can get really, really boring for most people, so they don’t pay attention

Standardized testing is one of the things I look forward not to doing.

Please go to their blogs and read their thoughts, as always, I am baffled that we leave students out of this debate. Ask you students how they feel and give them their voice back.

Be the change, connections, reflection

Do You Have to Be Connected to Be A Great Teacher?

April 8, 2013 Pernille Ripp

This morning I read the great post Excuses, Excuses…Will a Child’s Future Wait written by Tom Whitford, a man I am lucky enough to call friend. As I read it and nodded all the way through it, I kept thinking how right Tom was, and yet, when we discuss people not telling us they have time for social media, or time to learn about new technology, we also have to look at how many people don’t see these things as a necessity to being a great teacher.

In fact, the whole notion of being a great teacher, administrator, or whichever role one plays in education seems to be split between two large camps. There are those that believe that as long as they deliver relevant content every day, cover the standards, get through what they need (even artfully so) that then they are doing their job. That is what makes them a great educator. Then there are those that believe that to be a great educator, one must be connected through something (social media, local group whatever), should be researching new ideas, and should definitely be implementing those. Then one can be a great educator.

Those are two very different camps to be in. One sees no need for outside connections and the other sees the creative urgency in having them. One does not find the time necessary to make connections because it is not deemed essential to being a great teacher. Whereas the other wholeheartedly believes in the necessity of these connections and thus takes the time to do so. I wonder if the unconnected educator can be just as great as the connected one, I tend to lean toward a resounding yes because of what I see on a daily basis; plenty of “unconnected” educators that are still phenomenal teachers. And yet, I wish they were connected because so many of them have great things to share.

So when I come across people that do not understand why I tweet, blog, or connect with other that I may never meet, I often wonder how they get inspired. I know where I draw my inspiration from; my students, my family, and my PLN. Where do those that do not have a PLN get theirs? I know I cannot convince them of the power of dedicating time to connecting, sharing, reflecting in a an open forum until they deem it important enough to dedicate their time. And that is an entirely different mindset to cultivate, so how do we do that?

reflection, Student-centered

Explain to Me Again How the Flipped Classroom Is "Revolutionary?"

April 6, 2013 Pernille Ripp

The heading says it all. I get the giggles whenever another article or post or conversation or conference write up talks about the revolution of the Flipped Classroom. Depending on the information in the article, post, conversation etc sometimes I even start to roll my eyes. This is big time annoyance for someone who doesn’t like to criticize. So how come so many people, the public included, find the flipped learning model to be so revolutionary and game changing for schools? Can we tear it apart for just a second and then think about it?

I get that flipped learning isn’t just video outside of the classroom or not meant to be anyway, but it seems much of it is. Students watch a lecture taped outside of class time (homework) and then come to class ready to learn and discuss. Genius, except for the whole watching a lecture outside of class. At a high school level I can only imagine how many hours of video we could assign students as homework so that they finally were ready to learn in school. And don’t even get me started on the students that have no access to said videos

Some teachers then don’t assign the video outside of school time but instead show the video as the first part of their class time. Umm, isn’t that just the same as lecturing in front of the students for the first ten minutes? How is that revolutionary? What am I missing here? I would have a hard time telling my students, “Watch this video of me explaining the concept to you while I stand right here watching it with you.” My 5th graders would think I had gone off the deep end. Sure creating a video for access later to study or revisit, yeah, that’s great, but showing it during class time when you are standing right there? WHat am I missing as far as the point?

Yet, perhaps it is the discussion and exploration that is revolutionary and not the video part of the flipped learning. I already do that with my students, it is called project-based learning. It is called genius hour. It is called student choice. And I don’t need a video to facilitate that. In fact, most people who believe in student-led, project based, don’t lecture very much. We provide the framework the destination and then students get there somehow through research, collaboration, and creation. Yes, this is what I feel learning should always be, but it is not a flipped model.

Student engagement does go up whenever I turn to project-based, of course, it does. When we give students choice, and a voice, and a place where they can freely explore, they will invest their dedication. That has nothing to do with flipping the classroom.

So If we want to talk revolution, let’s hail the teachers that believe in student choice. Let’s hail the teachers that somehow manage to fit in their curriculum in the time they have the students in front of them and don’t see the need to also add homework, or video, or lecture time out side of class. Let’s hail those who time manage, who figure out how to fit it all in, and who get out of the way of their students.

Flipped classroom if done correctly is just another way to say student exploration and student led and thank goodness for the resurgence of that. But could we also agree that the flipped classroom model using video outside of school is another way to infringe on students’ private time. Another example how we, as teachers, sometimes end up overstepping our boundaries of how much time we make school take up. And I don’t find that to be revolutionary at all, just sad. Creating a video library of explanations, sure, great idea, but forcing students to watch you lecture outside of school, not so much. There are other ways to give the students time.

Reading, reflection

Should We Force Students to Read Certain Books?

April 3, 2013July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

There I went and did it again, tripped myself up and got lost. Once again forgot what my students had told me, thinking I knew best. Thinking I was doing the teacher thing to do, whatever that is. And yet, that nagging feeling of something not being right just wouldn’t go away. So last night I tweeted

And soon, my own fear was confirmed. Many agreed; when we dictate genres it is almost the same as dictating books. What we want is for kids to read widely (Thanks Donalyn!), not selectively and whenever we mess with choice we may end up turning kids away from reading completely.

Yet, my reasoning remains; I want to expose students to new genres. As one student told me yesterday, if she had not been “forced” to read a historical fiction book she would have never known how much fun they would be. And yet, it is the whole “force” I have such a problem with. I was forced to read certain books in school and I hardly ever enjoyed them. I would read them as fast as I could, slowing down only enough to answer the mandatory question sheet and then resume the book I really wanted to read. Just the act of “having to” read a certain book ensured that it never made my top ten list of best books read that year. I don’t want to do the same to my students.

Yet, as teachers, there seems to be times when we have to “force” things on students. Otherwise we worry they will not be well-rounded learners. They might not be ready for the next step in their education, they might not be ready for the adult world. Or will they? Can we let students choose their own education and still become successful adults within a public school setting? I don’t have the answer.

So I will call a morning huddle today, lay my fears on the line, my dilemma and see what the kids come up with. Perhaps we will just read whatever we want. Perhaps we will have 4 free choice books and 2 from new genres. Perhaps, I will ask them to just read as much as they can in the limited time we have left. I don’t know what will happen but I know my students will have ideas if I only listen. I know they will set me back on track, they always do.

difference, reflection

When We Assume Sameness

March 31, 2013 Pernille Ripp

We look the same, well kind of, my husband and I. Both caucasian, both tall, early to mid-thirties, quick to smile and seemingly always taking care of a child. Our values are pretty much the same, our hopes and dreams. We aspire to be the best parents we can be. We aspire to be secure, in love, and involved adults. We dream much the same. And yet, even with all of our similarities, we are quite different. We come from different cultures and backgrounds that permeate every decision we make. Yet, to an untrained eye one would never assume that I hail from a country other than the USA. To an untrained eye I look as American as apple pie.

But those differences linger and they erupt from time to time. Our norms are slightly different, our expectations widely so at times. The way we treat friends, what we consider the norms of social behavior are different. Small tiffs can erupt based on this, moments where we do not see eye to eye and have a hard time doing so because our background dictates a different world view. The expectations we have for our children and their behavior vary, much of it based on what is deemed appropriate and respectful in our differing nations. And yet we look the same so you would never know but those differences linger just below the surface, ready to show themselves whenever a situation arises.

How often do we do that to students who look like us? We assume they must have been raised in a society and culture much like our own and thus set our expectations accordingly. We speak so much about recognizing students from other cultures and embracing them and our differences but often only apply it to those that look markedly different than us. If a child speaks another language, well then we expect differences in norms and behaviors But when a white kid, blonde, blue eyed like myself doesn’t act like a “typical” white, blonde blue-eyed kid, then we get confused. We might have to do a little digging to find out that child is not from the same background as ours. And then we realize, oh, they are different, not quite what I had expected.

And as for me? I get assumed American all the time and yet Denmark raises its children markedly different than the typical American ways. The differences are subtle, but they are there, and they explain many parts of my personality. So perhaps our assumptions of likeness need to just stop. Yes, it is nice to assume that w all come from the same background, but we don’t. Perhaps when we embrace children from other cultures we need to move past the skin color and language they speak and truly see the whole gamut of differences we may have. I know my life would be slightly easier if we did.

Related articles