students, technology

My Students Are Not Digital Natives

Pernille Ripp
My students are not digital natives.  There I said it.  They are digital consumers, much like the rest of us, but natives, not so much.  I used to believe in the whole digital native myth and that if I just gave them a device they would be able to make it work and adapt it to their needs.  Make it work; sure, adapt it; not really.  Push themselves beyond their comfort level; very rarely unless they have an interest in all things technology.  Yes, most of them are afraid of technology just like many adults.   Most of them don’t want to just figure things out even when I encourage them to, they would rather just be told how to use it and then use it for that specific purpose only.  So even though I tell them to just figure it out, my 5th graders would laugh if anyone called them digital natives, and then they would ask what that term even meant.  So why do we persist with the pushing of the digital native persona?

Tonight I asked that question on Twitter, or rather I made a statement:

As always Twitter did not disappoint…

 

 

So what are our students?  Do we really need to label them?  I like to think of my students as kids who like technology a lot, but I have never called them that.  Should I?  Should anyone?

principals, reflection

Can We Have Courageous Conversations With Our Principals?

Pernille Ripp
I am always struck by passion of the principals I meet in my travels and this weekend, at EdCamp MadWI, was no different.  I was in many frank conversations with principals who had questions for me or just had really amazing ideas.  Their passion for their staff and the betterment of their school poured out of them.  As I returned to school today, I wondered; where are those conversations between teachers and principals in our buildings?  What holds us back as teachers in starting frank and honest discussions with our very own principals on a regular basis?  Fear?  Apprehension of misunderstanding?  Past poor experiences?  Or is it simply time and a strictness of protocol?  Do our home schools have a power hierarchy that we cannot bridge in the same way we do at EdCamps?  Do we walk around our schools afraid of having courageous conversations with those closest to us?

I think it is time we start those courageous conversations with our administrators.  It is time for us to realize and acknowledge that our principals were teachers once as well, and that they too functioned under a principal, with every self doubt that implies.  It is time for us to not be afraid and to speak to our principals and administrators the way they deserve to be spoken to; as human beings rather than just our bosses.

I know I fall victim to stereotypes myself;  assuming that someone in a principal job does not want feedback, does not want ideas, does not want honest discussion.  I am not sure where this idea started from but it seems to permeate many schools.  Perhaps the very role of principal means there is a glass wall between us.  Perhaps it is their sheer busyness that creates a natural distance.  I am not sure but we must discuss, we must reflect, and we must have conversations that push the boundaries much like we would with our colleagues because even though principals are in leadership positions they are still our colleagues as well.

While I know many principals tread water all day, floating from one fire to another, there are still many moments for us to discuss and reflect together.  I think we need to bridge that unspoken gap that exists between teachers and principals and somehow find a way to grow together, rather than the more typical path of us versus them.  We must approach our every day as we would an edcamp; there to learn, there to think, there to connect.  It is time we give our principals a fair chance.

Be the change, edcamp

So We Ran an EdCamp and What Did We Learn?

Pernille Ripp
Yesterday was one of the “Oh my gosh I can’t believe it is finally here” kind of days with the coming of EdcampMadWI – or EdCamp Madison as we preferred to call it.  After many months of thinking, hard work, and definitely team work, the day came and passed in such a blur, it felt as if it was my wedding day.  The same nerves of anticipation and then a blur of people to speak to, thank, and even a presentation or two and then it was over and with just great memories to look back upon.  So while there are many posts out there on how to plan your Edcamp, I thought I would offer up a few smaller lessons we learned along the way.

  • Think small.  This idea started out with Jess having a lunch time conversation and then grew from there.  Our core team was 4 people; Jess (@jhenze44), Kaye (@MiddleLevelEd), Emily (@MsDittmar) and myself.  That was it, and it was nice.  Because we knew it was just us 4 people taking care of most things, we also knew explicitly who was going to take care of what and when.  Accountability was there and that to me was half the battle.
  • Create a Google group just for the organizers.  This way all emails get archived and it is easy to find.  Saved us so much time.
  • Tell sponsors specifically what they should sponsor.  We started out soliciting sponsors by just asking for something, toward the end, we were asking for specific items to be covered.  This worked much better than just crossing your fingers and hoping for something good.
  • Ask other edcamp planners for help.  I was lucky enough to be able to ask many great people for advice; @mbteach – one of the original founders of edcamp and @TamL17, one of the edcamp Milwaukee planners.  They have done it before and thus know exactly what to do or not do.
  • Think outside of education.  We had many local sponsors like Market Street Diner that wanted to help even though they have nothing to do with education, so don’t be afraid to ask.
  • Trust your volunteers.  Kaye was phenomenal at recruiting volunteers and then overseeing them, but truth is, many of our volunteers knew exactly what needed to get done without being told.  So get quality people and then trust them to do their thing.
  • Make goodybags.  We had a lot of stickers, pens, app codes etc to hand out to people but rather than raffle it all off which would have taken a long time, we instead created 49 goodybags.  20 were handed out to the first 20 people that proposed a session and then 29 were raffled off during lunch.  At the end of the day we then only had some major prizes to give away rather than tons of stuff.
  • Set an example.  I proposed a session on blogging, Jess did one on Evernote, and Emily did one on 20% projects.  We found the time to do it and were still able to run the edcamp, it can be done.
  • Don’t marry your schedule.  We had set a preliminary schedule but our opening took a lot less time than we anticipated so we had 1 1/2 hours for our first session instead of waiting for it to began.  You run the edcamp; you can change the rules.
  • Meet people.  I purposely tried to meet as many people as possible this time around rather than just stick to the few I know.  I have never had so many great discussions about a variety of topics.  Because you are an organizer you will be busier but also more visible  take that opportunity to reach out to others and engage them in conversations.
  • Wear sensible shoes.  I wore my teaching shoes which happened to have a higher heel and then I rolled my ankle before the day began.  Ouch.  So next time, yup, I will be the one in sneakers.

Being an organizer of this EdCamp really deepened my love for this type of professional development even more.  I now know exactly how much work goes into this “easy” day of learning and also how much its success depends on the excitement of its organizers and attendants.  So in the end, we are happy to say that there will be a second annual #EdCampMadWI.

personal

Introducing The Style Teacher

Pernille Ripp
As some of you may know, and others may have an idea; I love fashion.  But I am teacher so that in itself presents quite the conundrum   I cannot dress like someone out of a magazine because I have to be able to get on the floor and get kind of messy.  I also have to stay warm because I live in Wisconsin which to this Danish girl feels like Antarctica at times.

Having 3 kids and being sleep deprived most of the time thanks to the 4 year old also means that it would be really easy to just not care about what I wear, but I do, so I started a fashion blog a couple of years ago.  Because why not show the world how huge I get while pregnant with twins or chalk up some of my more adventurous outfits?

Not that fashion blog; poor og rich, has to move to WordPress and with it comes a new name and a new look, The Style Teacher.

So while my main goal will always be teaching, I have decided that it is ok to try to look good while doing it.    Judge for yourself at The Style Teacher. 

reflection, students

Should Teachers Ever Apologize for the Damage We Do?

Pernille Ripp
“…Peter*…What am I?  Chopped liver?”  And with these words the boy that changed me turns around and gives me a smile.  It is the annual PTO carnival at my school and he has come back with a friend to see his old stomping grounds.

I stand there not quite knowing what to say, feeling like I should apologize and tell him how much having him in my classroom changed the way I teach.  How I am sorry for not changing sooner, for realizing that punishment and rewards was not going to help motivate.  For not giving up on homework he was not in a state of mind to complete  For not treating him as a child and more like a product.  I don’t know where to start and so I don’t.

“How are you?”  I say
“Good…” and he smiles again.
“How is school?”
“Really good…”
And I smile.
“I am proud of you, do you know that?”I stammer out.
He smiles, shrugs and nods.
“Good to see you…” and I release him back to his friend.

The words left unspoken rattle me and I turn to a colleague, “If he only knew how much he means to me.  How much having him changed everything for me.”  Perhaps it is just not something you tell a middle school boy.

When do we as teachers apologize for the way we teach?  When do we apologize to the students we failed to reach?  Do we ever or is it part of the nature of teaching, that we wont be able to reach them all?  Do we ever own up to our previous ways or do we just carry it with us hoping it will push us forward and never teach that way again?

Would Peter have cared if I apologized or simply shrugged and nodded as must middle school boys do? I don’t know.

*Name changed for obvious reasons

image from icanread

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reflection, students

Do Kids Really Want an Intervention? Do We Care to Ask Them?

Pernille Ripp
I think I may have interventioned some kids to death.  Not an easy thing to admit but it needs admitting.  In the trend for differentiated instruction and a test to discover every shortcoming a child could possibly have, my students know and dread the word intervention.  I dose them, specialists double dose them, and sometimes when things get really rough, they even get a triple dose.  Call it reading help, call it math support, call it what you will, but I wonder if some of these kids don’t need a break from all of our help?

Imagine being a child who comes in with certain knowledge lacking.  Perhaps they have moved many times.  Perhaps they have a learning disability.  Perhaps they just hate reading.  Or perhaps they can’t help what they don’t know.  We test and discover the holes, we meet and discuss the gaps, we then plan and set up all of the things we now shall do to the child.  Often without ever asking them or wondering how they will feel when they get pulled out.  We teach them strategies, we fill their brains with more methods, more knowledge, more understanding, hoping to find the one that makes it all make sense.  They lose class time but we know we have to sacrifice something.  They lose reading time because they are in the group we meet with as much as possible.  We hover and constantly ask, “Does it make sense?”  All in the hope to help them.

I don’t mean to suggest we shouldn’t intervene but perhaps we should ask them how they feel about all of the things we do to them.  How do they feel about their labels that we are not supposed to have put on them?  How do they feel about the pull out?  The extra attention?  The extra people that they get to work with?  Most kids just go along, but perhaps we should ask them.  Perhaps they need a break t ojust be a kid, like all the other kids in the classroom, and perhaps they just need some time.

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