This is the video I made for my integrating tech class.
Recipe for My School Year
It is easy to create disaster, a horrendous start to the school year that haunts us the rest of year. It is easy to make our students feel unappreciated and undervalued, in fact, we can often ensure this within the first day. I wrote about this in my post “Recipe for an Awful School Year” and many asked what then would be my recipe for an amazing school year, and to this I say…I don’t know.
It would be easy for me to give you a long list of the things that I must do to ensure a good start but the truth is, I think most teachers do these things already. I think most great teachers do many things that I have no idea about and that I have yet to learn. And then I realize too that for all of the planning that I can do to set up the year there is one ingredient I cannot control; the students. Yet, for my own sanity and to get my own ideas flowing there are things I have to do for this to be my room, our room, the kind of room I would want my daughter in, the kind of room I would want to be a student in. These things are simple and they do not cost any money. So here is what I will do.
I will greet my students with a smile and a laugh, probably a joke even though all of my jokes tend to be corny and yet they make them laugh. I will let them know that I am excited and nervous too and that we are on this journey together and if they fail then I fail and that is alright by me. We will talk about our vision, how do we want this classroom to feel? Do we like noise or do we work better quiet? How can I get their attention and how can they get mine? We always need to figure this out before misunderstandings and hurt feelings occur.
The classroom will be bare because it is not mine to decorate, it is theirs and they can take over as soon as they would like. There will be no rules poster because we set those together and then we discuss and change them when needed. There will be tables, finally, this year so that students can work together whenever they need to and always have someone to reach out to. There are also pillows and comfy chairs, carpet squares and corners for retreat – we all need our quiet space. There are boxes of books to be explored and pictures to take. We need to document this journey together. There will be things to teach each other as I have had some of these kids before and they seem to know me better than I do. My daughter and husband will have made a welcome video because they become a huge part of our classroom since they are a huge part of me. There will be sharing but there will also be work that first day because kids tend to want to get started. After all, they are older now and wondering what this class is all about. Their voices will do most of the talking because I should not be the center of attention. And so goes my first day.
I cannot tell you how my first week will go because we haven’t decided. Of course there are plans to follow, lessons to be taught, school routines to conquer but how these will shape out I am not sure of yet. I have to get to know my students before I can think that far. I have to adapt my teaching style to them. I have to meet them before I decide how the school year will unfold, hear their ideas, their hopes, their fears, and then together we will plan. Together we will make this a journey we all want to be on. Not just my journey or theirs, but ours. It is always about the ours.
Recipe for An Awful School Year
To have an awful school year is actually quite easy – you can cement it already within the first week. After that it is just maintenance, nothing to worry, it should take care of itself.
You want to start with the first meeting, lay down the law, make sure the kids know you are the boss and that they will follow you blindly because you are indeed the teacher and have the degree to prove it. Make sure they know where their place is in the classroom. Give them designated areas where they can spread out – their desk will be just fine and then mark off your own territory, labels and masking tape seem to work well. Tell them that if they run out of school supplies it is their job to get more, you are after all not a store. When they ask to go to the bathroom tell them no that they will have to wait until your designated bathroom time. After all, adults have to learn how to hold it. They may not have water because it tends to interfere with the bathroom time. Snacks are for recess, you do not need crumbs on your floor. Books will be selected by you and will only be a reflection of their reading level. You do not have the time to discuss interests with 20 some kids, after all, you are busy teaching.
Homework will be handed in before the first bell, no exceptions, and if not handed in, it will be given a zero when it does. There are no chances for re-dos. After all, life doesn’t give you second chances. Don’t even bother to ask for extra credit, opportunities for that will be decided by the teacher and will usually involve around an errand or task that the teacher needs done. Parents should only come in when invited, which means the first day of school, conferences and the last day of school. They really have no place in your room. Speaking of conferences, this will be your chance to tell the parents about the awfulness of their child so make sure to tell the children that if they don’t behave you will be telling their parents and hoping they get punished. In fact, punishment and the discussion of all of your rules will take up a good portion of that first day. After all we have to get our routines down, our limitations set. So that means no talking in the halls, whispering at lunch, all eyes on the teacher after I shut off the lights. You may not sharpen your pencil except for when it is on the schedule and there will absolutely never ever be any gum in the room. Make no mistake, those kids are merely guests passing through.
You will get started that first day with a test, after all, you need to know where these children have deficits. Then you can place them into your groups that will not change for the year because who has time to reevaluate. In fact, that first test will be part of their grade so that it reflects their journey. You have heard it is good to show growth, even if they had no idea there would be a test. Surprise! You like surprises so those pop quizzes you pull out is sure to keep them on their toes. They have to be alert when they never know what is going to happen and creates an aura around you of mystery. In fact, the less they know about you, the better. We are not there to build relationships, we are there to teach, to get them ready for the test. Think of stories and how longwinded students can be, why would you want to spend time on that? The children will address you properly, they should not even know your first name if you do it right or any other identifying information; after all, you don’t want them to be able to find you outside of school.
So there you go, the recipe for an awful school year. I promise you if you do all or most of these things you will see immediate results. The kids will fear you, hate your classroom and be terrified of school in general – mission accomplished.
Creating the Anxious Child
I never saw a multiple choice test until I decided to become a teacher in America. Having gone through the Danish school system, of course, there were tests but they happened at the end of the year and were written and oral exams, not just fill in the bubble and the machine will take care of the rest. The first time I took a multiple choice test was for placement exams for my education degree, at first I thought it was fun, after all, all you had to do was fill in a bubble? I didn’t have to explain or even comprehend, I could just guess? Breeze through and forget about it all afterwards. Throughout college I studied, after all, I am an overachiever and yet whenever I came across the multiple choice test my spirit instantly died. I was glad that it didn’t affect my teacher, only myself and my grade, because I would doubt myself so much on some of the answers, meant to be tricky, that often I wouldn’t even know what to put down even though I knew the material.
We forget to think about how it must feel for kids to be solely responsible for teacher’s pay and jobs. How must it feel for students that if they do poorly on a test it will directly affect the teacher that they love? Kids are not stupid, they are aware of what is happening around us, how politicians and “reformers” are asking their test scores be part of something bigger. For this text-anxious child that knowledge would have been the nail in the coffin. People say that with this knowledge students will do even better because they will want to protect their teacher, to show off what they know. No child goes into a test trying to deliberately fail, at least not most, and yet placing that pressure of someone else’s livelihood and dream is just too much for children to bear.
What are we doing to the children of America? What pressure are we placing them under? How can we force them through more rigorous assessment to get them ready for the future when that could mean that their teachers no longer get to teach. We worry that America is too anxious, too many kids are being diagnosed with anxiety and panic attacks, depression, and other pill-needing maladies. And then we wonder what happened? Why are all these children feeling so pressured? Why can they not cope with “kid stuff” – well look at our schools and what we do to them. Education is no longer for the kids, it is for the politicians.
We are Part of Something Bigger
We are part of something bigger. Those of us who choose to ask the hard questions, those of us who dare to raise our voice in the face of testing, rewards, and sanctions.
We are part of something larger than us, something that is taking root in America, in the world, and educators are standing up and saying “No more.” Our children are the ones who suffer under politicians latest ideas. Our children are the ones we experiment with, hoping that someday we will get it right. Our children deserve something better than having school done to them.
It is time to listen to the passionate teachers that actually have ideas for change. It is time for us to raise up and join together, reclaim what is ours, education, and let our voices be heard. It is time.
So join the discussion, write your editor, blog, speak up, discuss with anyone you can. We are not failing as educators, changes need to be made but they need to come from us, not from the politicians.
Meaningful Student Blogging – My RSCON Presentation
Last night, I had the privilege of presenting at the Reform Symposium on something I am very passionate about – giving students a voice through blogging. In fact, I find whenever you can give students a voice in your classroom leads to a much more engaged learning environment. While the archives will not be up for another week or so I did want to share the slides I used for my message.
Pernille Ripp 