Teacher. Author. Creator. Speaker. Mom.
You can also see my slides below, I am not sure they will make much sense though without the audio. I tend to not do a lot of text.
Except most of the time it is not. Because when were the children ever asked? We say it is for the children and yet they never enter the actual decision-making or even discussion. If you asked a child if they wanted more “rigor” in their education, I can almost guarantee that most of them would look at you like you were crazy. If you ask them if they needed more grades or more tests, their answer might surprise you. When teachers are asked to take pay cuts because otherwise our children will get hurt, most children would be sad to hear it.
So let’s cut the crap, sorry. Most decisions in education is not for the children, but for the test company, for the district to look good, or for someone’s life to be easier. It is not for the benefit of the children. And yes, of course, we know more than the children but the fact that their voices are left out of the education debate and reform should be frightening to us all. So start small; ask the children in your room and then tell me it is for the children.
Are You Ever Going to Stop, Nope There’s Another: This goes to Matthew Ray who really picked up steam this year with his 60 days or something like that of blogging every day. While you would expect that your posts would get diluted after writing so many days in a row, his instead seemed to reach deeper as he started to question his own beliefs. Keep writing Matt, and keep challenging yourself (and me!)
The Coolest Cat Around: John T. Spencer blows my mind weekly at least. The humble ramblings of an inspired teacher who realizes that being human is one of his biggest strengths calls us all to action. I cannot count how many times I have tweeted one of his posts and I am just a little bit excited that I get to call him friend as well.
I Can’t Believe They Wrote That and Why Didn’t I: This has to go to the mind of Joe Bower who’s eloquence and passion for getting rid of gradesandtests, and other insanity in education pushes my own thinking. Thought provoking, always interesting, and definitely worthy of your time.
You Mean This Can Actually Work? Has to go to Chris Wejr and his blog where he brings on parents and students to discuss how to make a school a community while getting rid of rewards. His leadership leads more than just his school.
Dude, I am So Stealing that Idea: Goes to Josh Stumpenhorst who recently won Illinois State Teacher of the Year, (whoa), the coolest thing about Josh is that he runs an insanely successful classroom. No homework, focus on learning and students rather than your basic social studies curriculum is what makes him stand out among the rest. And I cannot count how many ideas I have stolen from him.
I Can’t Believe I Get To Be a Part of This: Has to go to both the funky Cooperative Catalyst where I once in a while post my rants and the whole #Elemchat group. Both of these groups push my thinking while still taking care of me. The work that both groups do is invaluable to my world and the world of many others.
I Can’t Believe How Much Your Top Ten Made Me Think: This goes to Edna Sackson, who with her top ten lists impacts me and my students regularly. Not only is she insightful and focused; she really thinks about the process of teaching and pushes us all to change, all with the power of the top ten.
Man, You Must Not Need Any Sleep Because You Just Keep On Sharing: Has to go to 3 people who share, share, and then share some more: Kelly Tenkely, Larry Ferlazzo, and Richard Byrne. How they manage to have day jobs and still share as many resources as they do is a puzzle to me, but I am grateful for what they do.
Your Words Keep Running Through My Mind and That is a Good Thing: Goes to Angela Watson and her book “Awakened” as well as her blog. I read that book and just nodded the whole way through. Banish those thoughts of negativity and steer yourself toward positivity, I am not one for messages, but this one stuck.
Oh Dear There’s a Person in that Sub: Mike writes this blog set in Michigan, but it chronicles the life of a substitute teacher and is one of the best new blogs I have read this year. Many blog ideas and how I work with my own subs have been spurred from these posts.
Of course that is not all and I could keep on going, but that isn’t the point really. I just wanted to share some of my favorites. I have many more so my deep apologies if yours is one of my favorites and I missed it; I am only human. And to all of those who do want to be nominated for the EduBlogs; I am sorry I wasn’t the one to do it.
Yet I feared what I knew had to be the opposite of my contrived systems; chaos. I feared what would happen if I just let a kid check out a book without having them sign it out and leave it in their desk at the end of the day. I feared what would happen if I didn’t know who had which manipulative, or how many pencils someone had borrowed from me. Add that fear drove those systems forward until they got me so lost that I didn’t know the teacher I was anymore.
So I stopped the endless control. I “let” students borrow books from my library and take them home. After all, the worst that could happen if a book was lost was that another child might read it. I showed the students where I kept all of the supplies and let them grab what they wanted. I had them unpack and come in from the hallway in the way that suited them best; some need one trip, some need more. I stopped obsessing over our systems and gave the room to the students instead.
And the result? Not chaos as I had feared, but ownership. It turned out that these students knew exactly how to take care of our space and actually were a lot more invested when they felt it was theirs. They no longer come into my room, but into our room. They no longer ask permission to use a stapler or use some tape, they just do it. They fight me over my chair, and take pencils when they need. They now welcome others to our room, answer the phone with their name, and take over the space every day. I don’t manage them, but instead focus on our learning. Giving back the classroom to my students righted a wrong I didn’t know I had committed; I had taken their space from them. I often remind myself that teaching is not about me but all about them, and now our room reflects that. Does yours?
I need help; Some of my students struggle so with division. They get that division means to divide into equal parts, they get the concept, and we practice, practice, and practice long division until our eyes are weary. And yet,I can see their despair, they do not understand why we are doing the steps we do. So I need a different approach before we move on and put them further behind.
What can I do to make them see the light? I have them explain it to each other but even doing that doesn’t seem to change their understanding. We practice but that is not enough either. There are many smarter people out there, please lend me your ideas.
And those we give to our students…smart, lazy, underachiever, confused, creative
And I wonder how often we miss the mark altogether?
How often does the label describe the whole person? How often do we truly know the whole person?
I do not do well with labels, and I laugh when others give them to me, but there are some I carry with me always, in awe that that I have them; mother, wife, teacher.
Those are the labels that matter
Pernille Ripp 