student blogging

My Favorite New Things on KidBlog

Pernille 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 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 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.  

Be the change, reflection

When You Are Stuck in A Slump

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

The hunched shoulders, the heavy feet, weary smiles, and that aura of never getting it done.  The rushed conversations, the walk straight to your room and back, the eating in your classroom just so you can get it done, except done never seems to come. Whether you are haunted by the common core, the state report card, your upcoming evaluation, or even just the every day;  “Unslumping yourself is not easily done.”Thank you, Dr. Seuss.

So what do you do when you are stuck in more than a rut, when the school year seems to be crushing you and your desire to teach.  When the outsides figure in as much as the insides and teaching just isn’t what it used to be.  How about you

  • Find the right people and get it off your chest.  A conversation about what is happening can sometimes push you in the right direction.
  • Surround yourself with positive people.  I don’t mean unrealistic people, but ones who want to discuss solutions rather than just settle with the problems.  Ones that will listen when you need it and offer advice when they can.
  • Step away.  Don’t come in on the weekend, sometimes a break is needed more than that extra prep.
  • Realize you are good enough.  Teaching is never done and there is always something more to do but sometimes what we do has to be good enough.  We cannot sacrifice every moment of our lives just to teach.  Sure, we are shaping lives but don’t forget about the shape of your own.
  • Get connected.  My network of educators have unslumped me more times than I can count, whether it be my incredible colleague down the hall or people whom I have only met on Twitter.  Reach out, listen up, and try some new things.
  • Re-evaluate your style.  Sometimes it is our own expectations and way we teach that add so much extra to our days.  Once I re-evaluated worksheets my load got a lot lighter.  Ask yourself what is needed at the core of your teaching and then follow that.
  • Partner up.  Why is our reaction to stress and munting pressure to withdraw, it should be the exact opposite.  Partner up as a grade level and use each other’s lesson plans and materials.  Trust your team to make quality lessons.
  • Forgive yourself.  Sometimes we are our worst enemies and we constantly pick out our own flaws in our teaching, we constantly see only the child that did not get it.  Forgive yourself for the things that you cannot change, forgive yourself for having an outside life.  Forgive yourself for not being able to reach everyone at all times, even though you will keep on trying.
Be the change, reflection

Random Lessons That Could Be Blog Posts But Aren’t

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

You never know when you will have one of those weeks that is worth looking back upon, they mostly sneak up on you.  This was one of those weeks and although I should blog about every single one of these things, well most of them anyway, I won’t.  I would, for once, rather just get to the point so you can too.

  • Ask someone what they are really into right now and see what happens.  I have been asking colleagues virtually and face to face what they are really digging and cannot believe what I have been learning.  From great new picture books to awesome doodads (who doesn’t love doodads) and all it took was asking them.
  • Get yourself into an intimidating situation.  I am an extroverted introvert so when John Pederson asked me to join him, Will Richardson, Diana Laufenberg, Curt Rees and Stuart Ciske for dinner my immediate thought was, “No way!”  I tend to shy away from meeting people I admire on Twitter because they are just way out of my coolness range.  With some pushing from my husband, who even set up a sitter so I could go, I took the plunge and had a very interesting evening.  I didn’t add much to the conversation but I was there just listening and that in itself was enlightening.
  • Unfollow everyone.  I thank John Pederson for this idea after I explained I felt like I was in a Twitter rut not really following new people or making new connections.  He told me to unfollow everyone and start over, so I did, and was he ever right.  I am already making new connections and branching out into more conversations.  And by the way if I unfollowed you and haven’t yet followed you, reach out, I am sleep deprived and can only recall so many Twitter names.
  • Toot your horn.  Today wraps up The Global Read Aloud which this year boasted more than 30,000 students participating on 6 continents.  No one from my district would know that if I didn’t speak up, so I did, and it’s ok.  Because this project is my passion and gosh darn it others like it too.
  • Toot the horn’s of others.  Professional development in my district has been a mixed bag of failures, lameness and all around insanely boring times, except for the one this week.  My district finally nailed it when they had teachers present and allowed us to sign up for what we wanted to go to.  So I took to Facebook and Twitter to share the love for the presenters who finally gave us something worthwhile to do.
  • Trust your gut.  My kids started a new daycare this week and although the provider is full of love, it is just not the right fit for us.  So instead of sucking it up, I have spent the last two days frantically trying to find new care for them, not an easy task in Madison if you want quality care. However, I cannot with a good conscience send my kids somewhere where they don’t have a great learning environment, right now I can control that, so I will.
  • Celebrate but realize what you are celebrating. With the Wisconsin report cards being released for all schools, I was thrilled to see my school, West Middleton Elementary  ranked 31st in the state.  Ironic since my school is also a Title 1 focus school for our achievement gap.  So at first I thought of how great an accomplishment this was, until I realized that most of that ranking are based on things I have nothing to do with;  student financial situation, housing, food, sleep, and just being a school in a suburban district.  We are still failing to reach all student but do a good job with most, I can take credit for the most but I have to focus on the few.
  • Take a risk even if it is small.  I was approached to be a monthly contributor to a big blog this week and at first I was really excited, but then decided against it.  When you let your self-doubt control your actions that is often what happens.  Upon further consideration, I realized that perhaps I could do this after all, and that my voice matters.  So take a chance, believe in yourself, like we believe in our students, and do something just a little bit out of your comfort zone.  (And look for my upcoming monthly guest blog on TeachHub.com starting in November).

being a teacher, testing

The Real Crisis in Education

Pernille Ripp
You can’t miss it, the headlines, the politicians, the self-proclaimed experts all screaming from the rooftops, “There is a crisis in education!”  So they answer it with more testing, more cuts, more rigor, more strenuous measures.  Out with the old, in with the new.  The crisis is the civil rights issue of our time some say.  This crisis will determine America’s future say others.  This crisis of education can be our undoing, and yes they are right, the crisis is here, it is now, and we must take action.

image from icanread

But wait, their crisis is not what is the problem.  Their crisis of low test scores and America’s ranking in the world is not really what will be our undoing.  The real crisis is how we are losing veteran teachers, how people with years of experience are quitting the field they love because they no longer can teach in a creative manner.  In every district across the United States veteran teachers are being blamed for the education crisis.  They are being told their methods are outdated, their methods are not teaching to the test, and by the way, they are also much too expensive.

The travesty that is losing all of these knowledge experts is what will be our educational undoing.  All of those years of experience, of knowing what works, of being able to reach children, is walking out the door with our veterans.  Those people that teachers like me reach out to when we are stumped, they are quitting in droves, sick of the testing, sick of beng the bad guy, sick of being told how to teach so that test scores can’t improve.  And I can’t say I don’t blame them.

The state of education is indeed one of crisis and I wonder when will we as a society realize that being knowledgeable is an asset, not a detriment.  That teaching in a manner that encourages creative problem-solving, hands-on learning, and that is influenced by the teacher is a great thing.  That assessing students in a way that reflects how they will be assessed in their future lives makes more sense.  That teacher worth cannot be measured by a multiple choice test taken by a tired ten year old.  And that having an experienced teacher who still loves what they do is one of the best educational investments we can make.