grades, no homework, rewards

I Need to Let Go, But Not of Everything

Pernille Ripp
With the babies arriving any day now according to the doctor I have been mentally preparing to let go of my classroom, at least for the first two months of school.  This task is proving much harder than I ever envisioned.  Don’t get me wrong, trying to mentally prepare for twins is strenuous, but letting go of how I set up my room and community, yikes.

Those first two months are vital, ask any teacher and they will tell you just how much they matter, and yet I have to forget about that.  I have to trust my sub, who by the way is brilliant, but still…how will they know how fantastic 5th grade will be?  How will they know what my expectations are?  How will they know the kind of classroom I envision?  I swallow my fears and focus on the positive; the babies, the new life awaiting all of us and I realize I have had to let go.  I have had to let go of how the curriculum is taught, how their day to day lives will be, how the sub will treat them and build community with them.  I have to let go.

Yet, there are three things I cannot let go of, 3 things that I refuse to lose control over, as I reiterate to my sub just how important these are.

  1. Limited homework.
  2. No rewards/no punishment.
  3. No grades.

Is there more, well of course, but these 3 things are deal breakers, pillars of my philosophy, the things that cannot be sacrificed whoever is teaching.  And I need the students and parents to know that from day one, not day 40 as I venture into the room.  I need the parents to feel comfortable with the why behind these decisions and I need the students to know what is expected of them.  I need them to know that they set the rules, that we work together, not that learning will be forced with a carrot and stick method.  I need them them to know that work will be at school and they should see very little outside work if they spend their time wisely.  I need to get them ready to set goals, think about their learning and take control of it.  So those 3 things, those I am not letting go of.

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Be the change

We Cannot All Be the Best

Pernille Ripp
Be the example!  Set the bar high so others will rise to it!  We want to be a beacon school!  How often do we hear all of these statements in education.  Be the best teacher you can be…Be the one others want to emulate…Be the best school…the best team…the best everything.  And yet, we cannot all be the best. The whole notion of the term “best” automatically excludes most of us.

So instead of striving to be THE best, how about we strive to be better?  To change things?  To inspire others?  To motivate? To set grand examples while still learning from others?  The truth is if we were all beacon schools no one would be able to see us from the glare.  So shine bright yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to shine the brightest because then all you do is blind others.  

being me, help

It Is Those Little Things

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I wake up and spot it right away; my phone plugged in charging next to the bed.  Not a big thing, just one of those little things.  I get downstairs, which takes a while this pregnant, and again; a cup of tea sitting there.  My husband may have left for the day but the reminders of his presence stays.  It’s those little things that make me smile.  Those things that take maybe 30 seconds or a few minutes but that carry me through the day; I am loved.

At school, I fill the copier with paper.  I sort the recycled paper and bring scraps back for the kids.  I clean the sink, turn off the lights, change a dried out printer cartridge.  None of it is in my job description but it is those little things that make others have an easier day.  I greet everyone I meet with a smile, I stand and listen while looking someone in the eye.  I email out a website that another grade may be able to use.  Those little things that help, those little things that show others concern.  I don’t make it a priority, I have enough of those, but I make it a part of my day, i take the time, invest it and move on.

Imagine if we all did little things every day.  If instead of hurrying through the day, concerned only about the happenings within our walls, within our brain, we took those seconds and did a little thing?  Imagine the example it would set for the kids, for each other, imagine what school would feel like?  

being me, new teacher, new year

Have You Found Your Soul? My Advice to a New Teacher

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

The new year may be coming or it may be far away from you, but I sit here and ponder, what would I tell someone starting school?  What “wisdom” would I share with a brand new teacher or a teacher that has been around for a long time, not quite sure that they are ready to go back?  I think i would ask them this; have you found your soul of teaching?  Your essence?

I’m not talking mantras, although Angela Maiers’ “You Matter” hangs proudly above my door.  I am not speaking of teaching style or tips, classroom management ideas, or even your teaching philosophy.  I am talking the inner core, the you that you bring into the classroom.  Have you found it?  Have you listened to it?  And what does it look like?  Yes, we can get caught up in seating charts, grand ideas, and new programs to be implemented, but all those fall away if you don’t have you in the classroom.   If you’re not ready to bare yourself, invest yourself, and give those kids all of you.

What does it mean to be you in a classroom?  To truly put yourself out there, invest fully, wholeheartedly, some would even say foolishly.  What will you give to the students, because teaching is about giving and not just knowledge, but giving the essence of you?  Kids spot phonies from miles away, they see those that are there for the paycheck, those that bring in the baggage, those that cannot wait to leave once the day is done.  And they react, swiftly, without mercy, and we stand there wondering what went wrong?

So I hope you find your essence before the new year arrives, or if it is in the middle of the year for you then I hope you still have it.  I hope you take the time to figure out what you are and who you are and how that will play out with the kids whose lives you touch.  Think of the impact you can have and then use it for good.

Find your soul, find your essence, and then have enough faith in yourself to go in there and share it.

being me, followers

Introducing www.pernilleripp.com

Pernille Ripp
This morning I got up way to early and decided I was sick of my web site address.  Such things happen when you are very pregnant, in full nesting mode, but unable to do anything in your house.  So what happened?  Well, this blog is now housed at http://www.pernilleripp.com

I feel so grown up.

Now what does that mean for anyone who reads it?  I am pretty sure absolutely nothing.  The old address still works, but hopefully this will streamline things a bit.  Am I now a brand?  Well no, because I have nothing to sell.  But I do have a much shorter blog address and that makes me feel accomplished.

So the ideas will still keep coming, just on a sleeker website name.  And now I am off to tackle something in my house.

Oh, and I couldn’t just leave it at that.  The Global Read Aloud also now has a much shorter name:  www.globalreadaloud.com and that is something I am very proud of.

classroom expectations, future, hopes

Will School Rob My Daughter of Her Voice?

Pernille Ripp

There she is, my daughter, not caring one bit who hears her or whether they approve of her actions.  She saw a piano, saw an opportunity and knew she had to sing.  I sit there, slightly mortified at first and then slowly relishing this moment.  She doesn’t care, she is performing, doing what she loves, making up songs that take their truth from the pictures.  She is just being her…

I worry what will happen to this part of her personality as she grows up.  will she continue to do what feels right at that very moment?  Will she have opportunities to create when she has that urge?  To sing and play and do what makes her her?

Will school allow her to stay herself or will the rules of the classroom tell her to be quiet, to sit down, to do what is prescribed and follow the program.  Will her only chance of individuality be choosing what color pen to write in or the picture on her binder?  Will she be lucky enough to have teachers that will continue to offer her opportunities to explore herself, to continue to build her confidence while teaching her the rules of society?

I do not expect for her to be given a free pass to perform like the kids in Fame, but I hope someone recognizes that this little girl is not afraid to share.  Not afraid to express herself.  Not afraid to raise her voice, and that they will celebrate it rather than roll their eyes and tell her to sit down and listen.  I hope school doesn’t take my little girl out of her.  I hope school becomes a place for growth and not for reigning in and quieting down.  I hope she gets an opportunity to create and express herself in some way.