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Parents Are Not Our Enemies

Pernille Ripp
Something I am often asked is how my parents react to all of the “weird” things I do in my classroom, such as limited homework, no grades, no punishment/no rewards.  I am often found without an answer to this question because most parents don’t have a reaction, or at least not an adverse one.  While this may stem from all of the upfront communication I do at the beginning fo the year, it may also be that parents actually like the changes I have incorporated.  (And sure, some don’t, I am not perfect, but 99% will start a conversation then).

Often parents seem to be cast as our enemies or adversaries   Those poeple who think they know but really don’t.  Those people who may think they have the best interest of their child in mind but really are terribly outdated in their notion of school.  I ave found that my reality couldn’t be further from the truth.  The parents I work with are educated on their child and their needs, they are the ones that know them best.  They also know that school has changed since they went themselves, and many welcome the changes that they see.  Many are glad that their child is not subjected to the same drill and kill as they were in their youths.  Many have questions, rightfully so, and start real dialogue with me about why I do the things I do.  Often I walk away with great ideas from these conversations.

It is too easy to cast parents as the bad guys when we are afraid of changing our classrooms.  It is too easy to think that they will be opposed.  We truly wont know until we try, and we truly wont be able to try until we get parents aboard.  It is not as hard as it can look to be, but it does take courage and placing faith in your parents.  Are you willing to do that?

reflection

Should Principals Have Term Limits?

Pernille Ripp
Note:  This post is me starting a conversation coming from a teacher’s perspective, hoping teachers and administrators will share their thoughts.  This is not a solid opinion of mine but a question.  This is also not in relation to my own principal, I hope that clarifies.

I was asked once where I thought this whole blogging thing was going, what was my destination?  I had no answer so the questioner asked me whether I would ever become a principal.  I quickly answered no and when pressed to explain I told them I was worried about losing my relevance after a few years, that I would not be able to stay current and soon my ideas would be as outdated as my outfits.  See teaching every day keeps me in the know, in the moment with these kids, so every day I have to adapt, every day I have to figure out new situations.  And even now just 5 years into my teaching career some of my original ideas are already outdated and have definitely lost their relevance to anyone but myself.

I bring this up because I cannot help but wonder whether principalships should have term limits of sort?    

Should principals only be allowed to be one for 4 or 5 years before they are automatically kicked back to the classroom for a year?  Then when the year has passed they can reapply for another principalship. And yes, this idea is completely cumbersome and a little bit crazy and I am not even saying it is the right idea, but how do we make sure principals stay relevant in their knowledge when sought out by teachers?  After all, there are only so many conferences, articles, discussions you can experience and even those will never add up to more classroom experience.  And perhaps it is not needed, perhaps principals stay current through their teachers but don’t they also need to rely on their own teaching experiences to help them guide kids and teachers alike?  I don’t have the answer.

Since I am not a principal and I am genuinely curious, I would love your comments on this:

  • Can principals give relevant advice after they have been out of the classroom for many years?
  • Does it matter how many years they taught?  Or does it only matter how they are as a leader?
  • How do we feel as teachers when our principal has not been in the classroom for more than 10 years and still uses their own old experiences as their measuring stock for every question?  Does it work?

I don’t have the answer, only this huge question that I cannot answer.  I would love to hear your opinions on this.

Be the change, reflection

I Get So Sick Of Being the Change

Pernille Ripp
Sometimes I get sick of being the change, of leading the charge, of paving the way.  I get sick of all the bumps and bruises from trying something new, from being honest and sharing it with whomever will read.  I get sick of having to defend Twitter as something more than conceitedness or hobnobbing with people “that aren’t really my friends ”  I get tired of explaining again why I don’t take recess, why I have a hard time bribing kids, and why grades – whether A’s or 4’s – really don’t belong in education.

I get so tired that I make myself believe that perhaps if I shut my mouth the path would get easier.  That if I stopped blogging about it all perhaps no one would notice and I could just do my things, my way.  That perhaps if I just swallowed a big dose of reality and learned that what is happening now in education is what will be for years to come and I better just get used to it, then my life would be easier.

But then I am told to share my story.  A friendly stranger ask me why.  Schools ask me to help them out as they struggle with the same things I do and I regain my faith in the change and being the change.  I knew this path wouldn’t be easy.  I knew this path would sometimes double back, twist and turn on itself, and lose me.  Yet, I follow it because I see where the path leads; to change, the right kind.  The kind many are hoping will come.  I have to keep believing and I have to share my stories so that others will know it is ok to share theirs.

Clarification:  This post is more a comment on trying to change how education is done in general, rather than people around me.  I think it is tough for anyone out there trying to change the massive politically motivated education policy machine and that is what I was trying to address here.

image from icanread

Be the change, No grades

My Best Advice on Going No Grades

Pernille Ripp


Yesterday I had the great pleasure of sharing my de-grading story with the wonderful teachers at
CISVA.  Before I spoke to them (and lost my voice subsequently) I thought about what I would tell
them if I could only share five things.  So why not share that with everyone else as well.
Find your purpose.
      It is important for you to know the “why” of what you are doing, so take time to soul search to come up with your own words for why moving away from grades is important and then continue to reflect as you go.  Coming up with your own narrative for the “why” will help you refine your process.
Stay true to you.
There are many ways to do no grades and you have to find the one that works best for you.  Perhaps that means creating other types of rubrics or feedback forms, perhaps that means having students self assess with set guidelines.  Whatever will work for you to make this process easier and manageable is great in my book.
Make it work for you.
Keep it simple; after all, you are the one that has to do all of the work.  You know how your brain works for gathering feedback and artifacts to support student learning, so incorporate those methods into your process.
Involve students.
Students, even at an elementary level, know how to set up evaluations and are surprisingly tough on themselves.  I love the rich discussions that come from asking what a finished product should look like and how we can decide whether we met those goals.
Explain, explain, and explain!
You will inevitably run into people who think you are nuts so have your facts and reasons ready.  One way to involve parents is to be very honest in your reasoning as well as your methodology and engage in a meaningful conversation with them.  I always am open to discuss all of my philosophies and actively solicit feedback about them throughout the year; this tends to diffuse any negative situations or misunderstandings that otherwise may occur.
And finally; reach out!  Help each other, find someone who is working through it as well whether in your building or not.  Ask questions of those who have gone before you and continue to reflect and refine to make the process work for you.  I will gladly help as much as I can.
reflection, students

I Don’t Feel Inspired – Admitting the Truth to Students

Pernille Ripp
I am in the middle of a writing unit asking my students to be inspired   Yup, just like that.  Unfortunately it seems that most of the kids left their “I am inspired right in this moment” juice at home and I am struggling to get them to “live like writers” like Lucy is telling them to do.  Oh Lucy Calkins, I love your ideas but sometimes you are just a little bit crazy.

So I take a deep breath and pull back a little.  I tell them sometimes I get inspired when I am driving or falling asleep.  Sometimes I get inspired walking down the hallway or gently rocking a child.  Sometimes inspiration hits me and I don’t even realize it until a blogpost  has written itself.  But if I tell myself I have to blog and be inspired at that very moment I can almost guarantee it is not going to happen.  Stunned silence and 20 pairs of eyes looking at me.  A kid nervously blurts out, “You mean, you don’t just write when you have to?”  I am at cross road; do I pretend I do or do I admit the truth?

I clear my throat…”Umm, no I don’t.  In fact, sometimes writing is very hard for me too.”  Two kids start to whisper and the silence pervades the room.  “But that doesn’t mean I don’t try…”

So I tell the kids to take a deep breath and allow their thoughts to wander.  They can write down whatever pops into their heads.  They can go off on a tangent or just write statements.  They can sit there and just think.  They can wait for inspiration to strike but just promise me to notice when it does and capture those ideas.  They can write naturally for once.

I don’t know if they will remember me admitting that I can’t always write but that isn’t the important part.  The important part is me telling them that it is ok to think before they write.  That I get it.  That inspiration is not just something turned on even though we wish it were.  It’s not so much that I hope THEY remember as that I remember.  I have to remember what it feels like for my students.  I have to remember that as much as I want them to be producers and super students, they are indeed humans with inspiration that strike sand inspiration that fades, and that is not a bad thing.

image from icanread