Pernille Ripp

Take Your Moment

August 18, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Tonight I had to get out of the house. Leave with no children needing things. Just me, alone, caring for my own whims, doing nothing and everything, whatever I needed right at that moment. Being a new mom of 18 day old twins and a very active 3 year old, I am not surprised that I hit this point, indeed, it was nothing dramatic, just a realization that a break was needed so that I could continue to function optimally. And so I left when the opportunity arose, went to the mall of all places, to surf from store to store, aimlessly, yet breathing and thinking of nothing except for putting one foot infront of the other.

This has happened to me as a teacher as well, that moment snuck up on me on an ordinary day where things just were not working and I knew a break was needed. For me, for the students, for the room to clear the air so we could all start over again. How many of us haven’t had that time where our tricks didn’t work? Where our glorious lesson fall apart? Where there is nothing going right and we know we either start to get angry with the students or we just take a moment. A moment to breathe, a moment to step out if possible, a moment is all we need.

So this school year, I will take those moments if needed. I have found that with the way I teach they are very far and few in between, however, now with the addition of sleep deprivation who knows what will happen. I hope you allow yourself to take those moments as well, to realize that you are human, that you cannot solve, soothe, or fix everything all by yourself. That it is ok to call in the troops, that it is ok to step away. As long as you return, after all, it should just be a moment you need.

guest blog, student blogging, technology

Tangled in the Web 2.0

August 17, 2012 Pernille Ripp

With the arrival of our twins, I asked for guest bloggers and was excited to share this post with all of you by Melanie Samson-Cormier…

Though I teach in a French first language school, the fact that we are such a tiny minority in our area means that most of our students actually learn French as a second language and speak English most of the time. Because of this, I am always searching for authentic situations where students can express themselves in French. I’d been hearing so much about student blogging and Twitter in the classroom that I decided to give it a shot, figuring it could be an excellent way to have students reach out and make contact with other French-speaking students their own age.

This past year, I worked as a support teacher for students who are having difficulty with the language. I had three students at the junior high level and I decided to start tweeting with them. I wanted to start small. I created a collective Twitter account (@elevesNL) for them and I coached them on how to use it. I also scoped out some student blogs for them to read and discuss.

Unfortunately, my students were not invested in the project. They didn’t seek out new blogs or Twitter accounts. They had little or no interest in reading or commenting, composing their tweets and comments only out of obligation. Finding little use in the project, I was preparing to wrap it up when I had a Eureka moment. While cruising the Twitter feed with a student, I asked if there were any tweets that piqued his interest, hoping to get him to @reply. He answered “Unless someone is talking about Pokémon, then no.” AHA! Most of my students have a learning disability or are considered at-risk. Yet the majority of the student blogs and Twitter accounts I had found discussed what was going on in their classroom, projects they were working on and general school-related activities. School is not easy for my students. Why did I think that reading blogs and tweets about school would interest them? Taking my student’s comments to heart, I helped him search for Pokémon blogs in French. He found one and immediately started reading (reading!), with great interest (wow!) He seemed to know the subject matter so well that I asked if he’d be interested in writing his own Pokémon blog. He responded with a resounding “YES!” and I was finally able to see firsthand what social media and blogging can accomplish in the classroom. My student who used to pout when I arrived began to stop me in the hallway to ask me if we have a session.

The moral of the story: As always, technology in the classroom only engages students if it’s used for meaningful communication that takes students’ interests into account. It’s not what you use, but how you use it.

Bio:

Melanie Samson-Cormier has taught in minority francophone schools in rural Newfoundland, Canada for 7 years and is now beginning a new life as a cognitive strategies instructor at the University of Alberta. She blogs in French at www.entrelesbranches.org.

being me, classroom expectations, new year

About Those Little Things

August 15, 2012 Pernille Ripp

image from icanread

I say it is about those little things, those things that make the biggest impressions, and yet even I forget just how little those little things can be.

Is there a smile on my face?

Do I greet people I see in the hallways?

Did I dress appropriately, take the time to dress with care to show that I care about what I do?

Is my classroom neat and picked up or cluttered and crammed with stuff?

When someone speaks do I turn and listen or give them my back, or half of an ear?

Is there a choice or two or the kids already on orientation day or do I show a path of rigidity and control?

Do parents get a firm handshake if they want and do I remember their names and their faces?

Do I show people they are welcome in our room or do I merely say it?

Am I prepared, can I answer questions or admit when the answer escapes me?

Am I present or is my mind cluttered with things that need to get done?

Those little things make the difference, those little things set the tone. What did I forget?

being a teacher

Have You Been Using Adobe at School?

August 10, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Adobe’s annual contest for educators that use their products was just launched this week. So why not submit your best projects, lesson plans, curricula and tutorials to the 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards.

The 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards will honor and reward Adobe Education Exchangehttp://edexchange.adobe.com/pages/home members who submit the most innovative teaching and learning materials. The Adobe Educators’ Choice Awards feature distinguished judges who will select the finalists, voting by members (who will select the winners), and amazing prizes, including laptops, iPads, and Adobe Creative Suite 6 software for you and your classroom. The contest began this week and the submission period ends October 5, 2012. Educators in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are eligible to submit entries in three categories including:

Primary/Secondary Education
Higher Education
Creative Suite 6

Enter or get additional information on the 2012 Educators’ Choice Awards here. For inspiration, view last year winners. Follow @AdobeEDU, #AdobeEDUAwards for the latest updates about the awards. Get creative and win big!

Uncategorized

Go Ahead, Start a Learning Revolution

August 9, 2012 Pernille Ripp

image from icanread

Why don’t we start a learning revolution this year? It doesn’t have to be grand, it doesn’t have to be huge, but a step toward a revolution, a step toward bigger changes. They say every journey starts about with one step so why not start today?

Perhaps we don’t put away all of our supplies and leave some out for the students?

Or our desk faces the wall rather than the class so we are not tempted to teach from behind it.

How about not making the copies of those work sheets?

How about leaving walls blank in our rooms or not writing the rules out?

How about sharing an idea with a colleague, maybe even someone who is not in the same grade as us?

Perhaps share a success, something that made you really proud without trying to hide the fact that you did that.

Perhaps this will be the year students will be allowed to move freely or not sign out to go to the bathroom?

Perhaps this will be the year where you don’t grade everything but instead talk to students about their goals and their path, giving them ownership of their learning.

How about letting go of our complicated punishment systems?

Throw out the gold stickers.

Throw out our preconceived notions of the students we will teach and how to teach them best.

Throw out those ideas that we so want to work but that perhaps just don’t.

Throw away old hatred, misconceptions, and bitterness toward colleagues.

Throw away the fear of change but stand up for what we believe in.

Don’t be afraid, let’s start today.

classroom setup, new year

It’s Not How Your Classroom Looks, It’s About How It Feels

August 4, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Image from icanread

Last week, before the arrival of Ida and Oskar, I was able to sneak in some work time in my new room. As I stood there trying to envision what the room would look like, I realized that it didn’t much matter for two reasons. One; what it looks like empty is vastly different from when it is filled with 20+ 5th graders. Two; more importantly the emphasis should not be on what it looks like but what it FEELS like. So some questions I pondered as I set it up:

Which way does your desk face?
Or do you even have a desk? I don’t anymore but rather a workspace with my computer and planner on it. And it faces the wall in the corner. No more hiding behind my desk, no more defined my teacher space where the kids are not allowed to go In fact, my super comfy office chair often gets snagged by the students because they know I don’t use it much when they are in the room. I faced it toward the wall so that I am not tempted to sit behind it, no distance between the students and I, and it works.

What is on your bulletin boards?

I used to be the master of fancy bulletin boards and I was very obsessive over my border and letter placement. Unfortunately, that meant that I had nowhere to showcase student work or things we needed throughout the year. I will tell you right now, my bulletin boards look super sad at the moment; empty, scratched and not cute at all – very un-elementary like – an d I am fine with that, soon the students will take over.

How much space does your teacher stuff take up?

Is every space yours or is it open for student use? Do you have so many things out that you may need more bins to keep it all contained? I try to keep my stuff in cabinets, leaving impromptu work areas for the kids. It sends the message that I am not the most important person, but rather that this is our space, and they have as much claim to the counter tops and shelves as I do.

What do people see from the hallway?

When people walk by what do they see? Tables? Your desk? Nothing? At the moment, when people walk by they will see our tables, empty spaces, ad framed pictures and quotes. This will obviously change once the students come in but what visitors see does influence how a classroom is viewed as well as lend itself to the overall feel of the school.

What is the movement flow like?

Can students move or will they constantly have to ask someone else to push their chair out of the way? This is out of many of our hands but we can work uot the best overall flow before the students get there. Can kids access the high-frequency areas such as cabinets, supplies, reading corner, or will they have to squeeze by, take a strange route or get stuck in random places? Can the students “breathe” in the room or is it filled to the brim with all of your treasures?” And do ask the students and watch their patterns those first few weeks of school, I don’t think a year has gone by where we haven’t changed something within the first few weeks.

Do they need permission?

My first year I was very obsessed with keeping things in their place. So if that particular reading chair belonged in the reading corner then that is where it belonged, no permissions to move granted. Now students take the movable furniture wherever they need it and at the end of the day we put it out of the way. I even did this with their desk supplies; I told them exactly what they had to have in their pencil cups (no seriously I did) and then patrolled them to see if they followed my order. Talk about control freak! SO now, no permissions needed, just put it out of the way at the end of the day.
Is there room for the students?