Awards

But How Do I Pick – EduBlog Awards

Pernille Ripp
The year is waning and that means we are getting ready for all of the best of lists and with that also the 2011 EduBlog Awards.  And while I had the honor of being nominated last year as best new blog, and I even nominated my own choices, I just can’t pick this year.  There are so many blogs that uplift me, provoke me, inspire me, and there are so many blogs deserving of attention that I do not even know about.  So I thought instead of an official EduBlog nomination – sorry folks – I would just share some of my favorites…  If you have a moment, visit them and add them to your reader, they are worth it

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.

being a teacher, classroom expectations, classroom management, student driven, Student-centered

This is My Room – How Controlling Ones Classroom Can Send the Wrong Message

Pernille Ripp
I used to be the ruler of my universe; my classroom, the queen of the systems.  You need to sharpen your pencil?  There’s a system for that.  You need to leave the classroom?  Here is the system for that.  How we walk down the hallway, how we get our jackets and backpacks.  How we act when others come into the classroom, how we borrow books from the library, how we borrow supplies.  Don’t answer the phone, don’t sit in my chair, don’t eat your food now, don’t, don’t don’t…Everything had a protocol, rules to be followed, always designated by me, and I was exhausted.  I was so busy keeping track of all my check out sheets and reminders that I forgot to just enjoy what I was doing with the students.  I was so wrapped up in managing my space that I lost focus on what was important and instead wasted time getting upset when my system wasn’t followed.  It was time-consuming, overcomplicated, and downright ridiculous.

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?

help, students

For the Kids Who Struggle with Division

Pernille Ripp

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.

being me, label

Those that Matter

Pernille Ripp
I often think of the labels we bestow upon each other…hero, leader, expert, inspiration

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

being a teacher, education reform, power

Every Day I Make a Choice

Pernille Ripp
Every morning I choose how I see the day.  I could view it through the lens of most that I will not do enough to help my students, I will not be able to get them where I need them to be because the system is against us.

I could view the students as obstacles that need to be conquered and my colleagues as people who take up too much time or none at all.  I could view my administration as the enemy, and my standards as chokeholds around my teaching.  I could blame the system for my lack of progress and I could feel good that at least I tried.  But I don’t.

I choose every morning to believe in my own abilities as a teacher and as a human being.  I choose to be positive, thinking that today will be the best day I could ever make.  Today my students will conquer mountains and guide me on new paths.  My colleagues will inspire me if I reach out, and then will support me through my journey.   My administration will hold me to high standards because they believe I will soar.  The standards are simply guides and they can be worked with much easier than worked against.  The standards do no tell me that I have to prep my students for tests, or even how I should teach, but only what our goals should be and those can be reached in many ways.  I choose to fight the system from within and change it the way I can.  I do it for my own sanity and for the curiosity of my students.

Every day I have a choice in how I will view the world, and although I wake up grumpy (just ask my husband), and bogged down by all of the forces working against me, I slip on my teacher super power suit and I stay positive.  The last thing schools need is another person bringing it down.  The world is already trying to do that.  So what do you choose?

being a teacher, conferences, Student-centered

A Student-Led Conference

Pernille Ripp
There they sit, hands clutching the paper, eyes shifting a little back and forth; the responsibility clearly weighing on them and yet…If you look a little closer, you will also notice poise, presence, and a sneaking calm.  The students are ready to state their goals, to own their learning; welcome to student-led conferences.

Most of these students have never been given the control of their conference so they are more nervous than they need to be, in fact, I think they get a little glimpse of how many teachers feel.  They want to do well, they want to be able to answer the questions, they want to offer their parents hope and positivity.  Yet they are not afraid to bare their shortcomings, they are not afraid to discuss what the path ahead looks like.  They own their education.

I leave the meetings exhilarated and proud, we shared our journey and we previewed our path.  Parents had tough questions but the students were honest in their answers.  Parents leave feeling satisfied, proud of their children, and part of the process.

As educators, we wonder how we lose the engagement of our students and then do conferences to them.  We do education to our students acting as if they have nothing at stake, pretending to be the one true expert that will fill the empty vessels.  Even if we do student-centered learning, we then forget to shape our conferences on the same model; less me, more them.  I could never go back to the old conferences.