reflection

How Not to Build Community

Pernille Schmidt Ripp
I haven’t been able to put my finger on it, just this general sense of unease, of discomfort, lingering in my classroom.  I just returned, or really just started, the school year after my maternity leave and while I was gone I triumphantly planned just how I would build community.  I was going to get us all to like each other so fast, after all, I am pro at this by now.  Except, I didn’t, and I don’t know if I have anyone but me to blame.  Sure, I could blame the pace of school, after all, I didn’t get a first week with these kids.  I could blame the expectations of the students, the high hopes we all have for how great 5th grade will be, but that’s not it.  I think it was my own pace, my own need to push a sense of belonging on these kids and totally forgetting to praise them along the way.  Totally forgetting to slow down and get to know them, thinking I knew them already.

I have been quick to point out what we need to work on, flaws within our system.  I have been quick to come down, to set expectations, to point out those things we need to get rid of, get better at, get on top of.  I have not been quick to point out the great.  Those moments where these kids blow me away with their answers.  Those moments where they rally around each other, around me, around us, even though no one asked them to.  Those moments have slipped by unnoticed.

So if you walk past my room, sure, we are productive.  We are getting things done, but we are not a community just yet.  Tomorrow, I will slow down, I will notice, I will point out the good.  I will laugh a little more at our imperfections and remind my hurried mind that community was not built in a day, a week, or even a month.  That community was built slowly so that it is strong when we need to stick together.  I owe it those kids to start again.

Related articles

Uncategorized

My Nominations for Edublog Awards

Pernille Schmidt Ripp
Last year I didn’t nominate but just highlighted, the year before that I nominated a lot, and this year, well there are just a few that I want to highlight.  It is not so much that they need an award but I want them to know that what they have written in the past year or however long I have been reading has mattered to me, oftentimes it has moved me, many times it has directly transfereed into my classroom or school.  So here are my year’s select Edublog Nominations

Most Influential Blog Post – “The Luckiest People” by Miss Night on her blog Miss Night’s Marbles.  This post finally made me realize that I needed to blog about loneliness and how we may miss the lonely kids in our rooms.  It was one of the hardest posts for me to write this year but definitely worth it.

Best Librarian Blog – Mr Schu Reads – I don’t know where I was all of these years but I feel stupid for not having discovered John’s blog until now.  His passion for books and everything reading is contagious and there has been many times I have purchased books just because of his recommendation.

Best free web tool – I am starting to feel a little biased but  have to stick with Kidblog.  The fact that this blogging platform continues to be free and such a great venue for student blogging, blows my mind.

And as for the rest of the categories I just cannot pick.  I am continuously blown away by the many incredible people I follow on Twitter and in my RSS feed.  Many have inspired me, helped me, or just been there for me in the last year.  Thank you all for all of your inspiration.

student blogging

My Favorite New Things on KidBlog

Pernille Schmidt Ripp
Since I started blogging with my students I have used KidBlog and I must say this product gets better and better!  It is hard to believe that it is free at times, go Kidblog!  So recently they unveiled a whole slew of updates and changes to the otherwise static website and I must say I am impresed and my students are very, very excited.  here are some of our favorite new features:

  1. The visitor stats!  Yeah!!!  We can finally see how many people are visiting and where they are coming from. This little feature truly enlightened my students just how many people read their writing and helped them elevate their blogging.
  2. The new themes.  We are not here to look pretty but it sure is nice that there are more options as we try to draw visitors to our blog.
  3. The student control.  Each student can now choose their own theme, as well as create their own title for their blog.  This gives them bigger ownership and helps them showcase themselves to the world.  I love that they can truly set up their own blog while still being “protected” by me.
  4. The tagging.  What a great way to have students be organized as well as keeping track of who is doing what  Now that we can tag posts I can quickly see who is blogging about what and whether we tend to focus on one area more than another.
  5. Blog roll!  Under the new widgets you can add other classes that will show up right on our blog for my students to connect with.  No more trying to get them to type in the right address, just click on the name and go to the site.  fantastic for us as we try to connect with as many classrooms as possible and boraden our horizons.

And so much more, these are just my favorite of the new things you can do.  If you ever need any help setting up your Kidblog please feel free to contact me.

Related articles

student blogging

Creating Global Citizens with Meaningful Blogging

Pernille Schmidt Ripp
This Tuesday, I am lucky enough to get to present on something I hold very dear to my heart; student blogging.  Best of all, this webinar is free for anyone that want to register and it is only 30 minutes!  What follows is the official description from SimpleK12:

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 @ 4:30:00 PM EST
How would you like to invite the world into your classroom and expose your students’ writing to an authentic audience? Do you want your students to be global citizens who are connected with other children around the world? If so, then student blogging is for you! In this webinar we will show you how to get started with student blogging, as well as how to connect with others throughout the world. We will explore some examples of how global blogging can be used in the classroom and share some tips to make it easier.

If you would like to join me in this webinar, please register here

I will be discussing how to get started with blogs, as well as how to get connected with others.  This is also a great tie to ask me any questions you may have on student blogging.  I hope to “see” you on Tuesday!

reflection

Twitter Is What Twitter Does

Pernille Schmidt Ripp

Last week, I unfollowed everyone on my Twitter list.  I was stuck in a twitter rut feeling like I wasn’t making connections, like all of these people and ideas were whizzing by and I wasn’t engaging.  After explaining this to a person I admire (John, don’t get a big head) he suggested to unfollow everyone and rebuild my PLN.  So I did.  And I am thrilled I did.

And I am not the only one.  Tony Baldasaro and Joe Bower did it as well this week.  Others probably have too.  And not because we think we are better than others, or because we don’t want to follow people, but because we are each making Twitter work for us.  And that’s the beauty of Twitter; we personalize it and use it the way we want to, not how others tell  us we should use it, and we need to get more accepting and forgiving of that.

I use Twitter to get inspired yes, but also to connect with people.  I have friendships now that are solely based on Twitter interactions and there are many people that I follow that are on my bucketlist to meet.  I use Twitter to unslump myself, to ask for advice, to try new things, and just like in real life where I don’t have a lot of friends, I don’t follow a lot of people on Twitter.  This is not because I don’t like people, I do like people very much, but I need to know a little bit about you to follow you.  And I need to have time to connect with you and give you attention.  So if I follow several thousand people which I did a year or two ago, I am not able to keep up.  I have no idea who most people are then and Twitter makes me feel like a superflous friend, like someone that doesn’t take the time to get to know people.  That is not what I want Twitter to do to me.

So in the last week or so I have been rebuilding my connections.  I have added many old friends, many new people, and I am exploring people to follow.  Being sleep deprived means I cannot remember all of the amazing people I follow so once in a while I realize (usually in the middle of the night) that I forgot to follow someone.  If that is you, I apologize, please reach out.  And if you would love to connect, please do, spark a conversation with me so that I can get to know you, I know there are many other wonderful people out there to follow.

Twitter, in the end, for me is about connections.  Yes, there is inspiration to be had, yes, there is learning to be gained, and yes, almost every educator on Twitter has something to offer.  However the strength of Twitter as a tool is that it is yours to use in whichever way you see fit.  There is no right answer to how many people you should follow or how you should interact  don’t be fooled by people who say there is.  Just like Twitter is ever-changing so are our relationships with it.  Make it your own, make it work for you, and don’t let others make you feel bad.