Pernille Ripp

Recently, and no I am not making this up, we were asked kindly to confiscate all permanent markers from the students. It wasn’t that there had been a huge problem with students using these to write on things, but there had been a couple of incidents and it was therefore deemed necessary to ban permanent markers in the 5th grade totally. After all, it is much easier for us to ban things rather than teach appropriate usage. To say I was perplexed at the approach is an understatement.

So this got me thinking, if we remove the permanent markers, what else should we remove from the students?

Paper – not only can this create dangerous paper cuts but it can also be used to communicate secret messages or ideas. Highly subversive stuff if left in the wrong hands, and let’s face it, all students hands are wrong.
Pencils – this master weapon can be used to write these aforementioned dangerous messages, and also if you sharpen it really really well it is a dangerous weapon in itself. (For more bad usage of pencils duo check out #pencilchat on Twitter – there is some scary stuff there)
Rulers – ever see a kid spin a ruler on their pencil – ’nuff said.
Compass – sharp points and the ability to poke things, no more of these.
Scissors – who allowed this stabbing and scratching tools into the classroom in the first place? Gigantic bad idea.
Erasers – these things can be thrown at other people and also used to erase things we want to see such as notes being passed and wrong answers.
Textbooks – these mammoths of knowledge create backaches for kids, they can be torn apart by devious students and dropped on someone’s foot.

The more I think about this more I see the problem here. These kids are not equipped to handle any of these tools maturely and I am sure there are more out there that need to be banned. Think of how wonderful this will be; then all the students will have to do in a classroom is listen tot he teacher filling them with knowledge. Win!

video

Merry Christmas from Us

December 3, 2011 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

being a teacher, choices, new teacher

Some Questions to Ask Yourself as You Prep for the Week Ahead…

December 3, 2011 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

Ah the weekend, and for most educators that means lots of prep getting ready for the week ahead. As I prep this weekend, these are the questions I ask myself…

What is the goal of the lesson?

This essential question was one I learned the hard way when I student-taught. My principal observed a lesson that just fell apart, a big horrendous mess, something that could not be salvaged. After the lesson he asked me what the goal was for that hour? Met with a blank stare and no answer, I swore I would always know what the goal was of something I subjected my students to. We owe it to them.

How will the kids be involved?

I moved from sage on the stage to student-driven last year so this question is huge in my prep. In fact, I often ponder assignments for a while before I write anything down just so I can figure out what my students’ roles are in it.

How much talking will I do?

We know there is essential information in each lesson that needs to be communicated but do I have to be the one communicating it or can it be discovered or explored? This changes widely from the concept being taught, but I do try to limit my lecturing as much as possible. Teacher talk goes down = student engagement goes up.

How will I change it up?

I need change as much as my students, so how can I make this concept fresh again. The students have been taught many of these concepts before (we work a lot on a spiral) so how will it look and feel different this time? This questions also leads to how many different activities can we do within the time?

What will they work on?

What will the students be doing during this lesson? Are they note-taking, creating something, researching etc? What supplies do I need and how much time do they need to be successful?

Will there be a product?

Does this tie in with something they are creating? Is this a longer-term thing or very short? I realized this week with the Hour of Wonder that students do not need that much time to create something meaningful, what they do need is for the teacher to stop talking and let them explore.

Where can the students decide?

This questions drives all of my instruction decisions. How can the students take ownership of whatever we are doing? After all, I already have a successful education, now it is their turn; school has to be about the students and not about the teacher. Often they have better ideas than I do!

A peak into the mind of Pernille as I prepare for next week’s lessons. What types of questions do you ask yourself as you prepare?

Student-centered, Wonder

An Hour of Wonder

December 2, 2011July 24, 2013 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

Innovation Day is something my students have already started asking me about. This fantastic day, also known as FedEx Day, is a day set aside for the students to explore whatever they choose, create something and then deliver a presentation. However, Innovation Day will not be until the end of the year. So welcome Hour of Wonder instead.

Hour of wonder is rather simple; the students get one whole hour to explore whatever they have been wondering about tied to a certain unit, within that hour they must create something and then present it the following day.. We were studying the European explorers and they had quite the list of questions, this therefore wrapped up our unit much better than any test could.

So how did it go? Brilliantly. The students were engaged and teaching each other new information. Two boys discovered that James Cooke was the first European in Australia and in Antarctica and they thought that was really neat. Others built ship models, created posters about other people and whatever else they had wondered about. I had supplied construction paper, anything else the students had to figure out themselves.

Innovation Day can be harder to fit into your schedule but Hour of Wonder is not. Think of all those hours leading up to vacations or disrupted blocks because of assemblies or something else. Why not turn those over to the students? Have them explore what they are curious about and then share it with the class; you will not be disappointed.

PS: Little prep went into this. I revealed the project Wednesday, they brainstormed and then did it on Thursday. They didn’t need approval or anything like that.

Pete decided to create a stop motion video

being a teacher, self, students

What’s so Bad about "Smart?"

November 30, 2011 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

I once had a student tell me they were not smart. They would never get good grades, that they would never be a success. This 4th grader, already beaten down by the school system and themselves, thought they would never be successful. That school was for kids that got it, for kids that already understood, for kids that were born smart. Smart was not something you became, it was something you already were, and it was completely outside of their reach.

How many of these kids walk our hallways? Those kids that no one ever told they were smart? Those students that come into our classrooms thinking that they are not smart, have never been, and will never be. Beaten down by lack of success in an overly rigid school system, having few academic successes and little curiosity left. Those students need to hear the word “smart.”

Research tells us that we shouldn’t use the word “smart,” that students instead should be heralded for their work ethic, their creative problem-solving skills and their perseverance. The evidence shows (simply stated) that if you tell a child repeatedly that they are smart they will take the easy way out, give up more easily and not like challenges. But those students that already have given up? Those students need to hear it over and over when they do have successes so that they can start believing it. So for those I make an exception.

I tell them they are smart when they conquer a math problem, when they raise their hand timidly at first but then more and more confidently. I tell them that they can do it, that they too know things when they grow, when they share. So that they can believe that they are worth something, that they are capable, that they are smart. And I don’t regret it, no matter what the research says, because later on we can work on the creative problem-solving skills and never giving up, but for now; they need to believe they are smart.

grades, students

Students Define Letter Grades

November 29, 2011 Pernille Schmidt Ripp

My students took some time today to discuss what the different letter grades mean to them in preparation for their determination of their own grades. I was absolutely captivated by what they thought and to me it once again speaks clearly as to why letter grades are not the solution to reporting progress. (Note: F’s are not attainable in my class since I have yet to meet a kid that isn’t learning something).

So an “A” means: