connect, PLN, twitter

A Not So Delusional Guide to Twitter

Pernille Ripp
I have read so many posts on how to get on Twitter and get connected, many of them offer fantastic advice and yet some of them keep reiterating how it is all about following.  Follow one person, and then see who they follow, and then follow them, and soon you will be following so many people you will feel like the most popular kid in the school.  Except you don’t.  Instead you feel like the kid who came to prom only to take pictures of all the cool people there.  So I offer up these tips instead for those trying to figure out Twitter.

  1. Follow one person, or even 10 but then stop.  Let yourself process what Twitter is and how these people are using the tool.  Don’t mass follow, you will find enough people to follow, just take your time.
  2. Connect.  Once you have a couple of people you follow, reach out to them.  Tell them you are new, tell them your story, and comment on their blogs.  Open up about yourself, start a conversation, and give them a reason to connect back.
  3. Don’t give up.  Sometimes I felt like the biggest loser when it came to Twitter; no one thought I was witty, no one rt’ed my posts, until I realized that this is not what Twitter is about.  Twitter is about the connections (I know, I sound like a broken record) so it is not about the retweets or single comments but the dialogue you get involved in and the people you meet.
  4. Who cares about Klout?  I didn’t realize I had a klout number until my husband asked me what it was.  Then I had to look it up because that little number meant nothing to me; it still doesn’t.  If you are asking whether Twitter is worth your time you probably haven’t connected with the right people, so keep connecting.
  5. Don’t worry about the popular kids.  One thing for ongoing discussion has been the grades of popularity Twitter educators seem to have.  Sure there are people with massive followings, but guess what?  They are normal people and they probably have that many followers because they say some really great things and they are good at connecting with others.  It is okay to reach out to them as well, no one is off limits.

So there you have it, my small piece of advice on how to get something out of Twitter.  Of course, you can follow as many people as you want, but think about what your true goal is: numbers or connections?  I for one count my connections just as much as I count my blessings.

being a teacher, edcamp

So I Survived My First EdCamp

Pernille Ripp
There I sat in the corner, carefully checking my Twitter, had I been discovered?  Was I going to speak to anyone or just spend the day lurking in the corners, learning and tweeting away but with no human contact, shouldn’t be so hard.  This was already looking like any other conference I have ever been to; I would learn by myself and then go home and blog about it.  And then something happened; after about 1 minute of sitting there,  I get a message from Josh @Stumpteacher asking me if I am sitting in the corner.  Two minutes pass and a woman comes up and asks me if I am 4thgrdteach, yes…  Turns out to be my friend Katie @TheTeachingGame who I give an impromptu hug to.  Now I am a hugger, but I have never hugged someone who should be a stranger before and yet with Katie I was like a reunion.  Welcome to EdCamp Chicago, my very first unconference and my first conference after getting on Twitter.

What followed was a day of stimulating conversation, a lot of laughs, and a lot of connections.  So what were my biggest take away’s?  Well, the connections were incredible. Every day I pour my heart on on this blog and on Twitter, so to have people come up and tell me that they know who I am and like what I write, really was mind-blowing for this small town girl.  Also, to get a chance to sit down and speak to some of the educators I learn from myself was incredible.  The different experiences, stories, and perspectives really offered me a jolt of knowledge.

I also learned a lot about myself.  I can speak in front of peers that I respect even if I have not met them before.  I can also voice my opinion without being too bullheaded about it.  I learned that somehow I am making meaningful connections with people that I have met through Twitter.  It was also amazing to hear other non-present people’s names being brought into the conversation and others recognizing the names.  It truly showed just how connected one can be on Twitter.

And finally, the idea of regular people setting the agenda, offering choice, and impromptu conversations, really played into my belief that we must offer our students choice.  I chose to leave one session because I was not adding anything useful to it, instead we created a smack down which was incredible.  I chose to be part of a session on grading, because it is something I am passionate about.  I chose what I wanted to learn, how I wanted to be challenged, so my stake was personal and I was more engaged.  That is what we should offer our students as well.

So did I get inspired, sure, but mostly I had my spirit renewed.  There are passionate educators out there who have no problem with spending an entire Saturday discussing how we best can reach students.  That is incredible.  There are people out there who have no qualms of telling you exactly how they feel even if they disagree with you, but also this sense of not being alone.  I often reach to Twitter to be inspired, but I often walk away with new energy and new passion.  EdCampChicago did that for me as well.  I am sad that I will not be at ISTE this year, but hopeful that next year will be my year for truly making the face-to-face connections.  I will be there in spirit.

alfie kohn, exploration, Passion, questions, Student-centered

School: The Killer of Curiosity

Pernille Ripp
“What is that?”  “Where does this go?”  “Can I do this?”  All questions overheard during my school’s recent kindergarten visitation day.  There they were: fresh, eager, curious, asking questions about everything; where does this go, what does this do?  I marvel at their spirit.  And then I think of later years of students, despondent, going through the motions, routine focused and mostly okay, but not asking all of the questions.  Where did the questions go?

As teachers we do not set out to kill the joy of learning, at least , not anyone I know does.  We state in our missions that we want to change students’ lives, motivate them, inspire them, and keep them eager to learn.  And yet our mission seems to be at odds with our school system.  Classrooms are set up all facing the teacher so that the “sage on the stage” can be the center of attention.  The whole day is rigidly structured so that subjects do not overlap, routines are taught and mastered and hardly ever broken.  Punishment goes hand in hand with rewards and grades become the ultimate reward in the end.  An A will always be better than a B no matter what the teacher says.  We divide our students into winners and losers and hope they all have a nice journey through school. And then we wonder why students lose interest, lose relevance.  By the time we get to high school, the eyes are on the prize; graduation, where they will break free of the rigidity of school  Students count down until summer vacation so that they can be free.  Free.

As Alfie Kohn has stated, “School is not an institution of learning, it is an institution of listening and memorization.” (Said in in a LeanBlog Podcast 2/24/09).   And this I believe is killing our school system.  Test-obsessed and score driven, we no longer let children develop their curiosity to provide them with a real stake in learning.  We no longer offer them choice because we have too much curriculum to cover.  Our homework is not set up for meaningful exploration but rather to teach time management and study skills.  Time management?   Like our over-scheduled students need more time management?  When students fail to hand in their homework we assume that it is either because they are too lazy or because they didn’t feel like it.  We do not assume that perhaps it was uninteresting, irrelevant or perhaps even too hard or meaningless.  We almost always assume we know best.  And even if we know within our hearts that the piece of homework assigned probably wasn’t all that engaging, we assign it anyway, because we have to assign something and we were forced to do inane homework when we went to school so why should our students be exempt.  But the system is broken, we know it, and we have to change it.

There are exceptions, of course, thankfully.  There are pockets of teachers and schools that are taking a different approach. That are actively combating this curiosity-killing school system.  Those that let their students explore, those that weigh their options, assign meaningful homework, that question their practices rather than go with the status quo.  They provide inspiration for some and shudders for other.  Perhaps they are just too different for some to even recognize them as schools.  Yet they are part of the answer.  We must bring back exploration, we must give teachers time to fully engage their students.  We must spark teachers’ curiosity as well so that we all can love learning again.  They say that curiosity killed the cat, let’s not have the lack of curiosity kill our schools.

being a teacher, difference, making a difference, Passion

What Type of Difference Do You Make?

Pernille Ripp
I have been accused of being a good teacher, something I carry with me when the days are long.  I say accused because I am still looking for the proof, the evidence that indeed whatever it is I have chosen to do makes a positive difference in the lives of my students.  We know we make a difference every day, however, we do not always know whether it is a good or a bad one.  And as teachers we make the choice of what type of difference to make.

When I was child I was bullied by my classroom teacher.  For 3 years she hated me with a passion so deep that I ended up switching schools and leaving everything behind.  I was different, having been taught English at a young age, and she did not like anything about me.  She stopped friendships, singled me out whenever anything went wrong, and once kept me in a closet. It was extreme, and not something many students thankfully ever have to experience, but she made a difference in my life.  She taught me how exactly not to treat a child.  How exactly to make a child feel unwanted, unloved, and like an overall outcast.  She taught me many things.

Another teacher thought that I just wasn’t trying hard enough.  Every conference, he would tell my mother that I was smart, but…obviously, I thought school was a joke.  He thought my essays were too dark, too long, too sappy.  He thought my witty comments in class were not so funny.  No matter how hard I tried to emulate the students he did like, he did not like me much.  I never got the good jokes or the extra remarks.  He taught me to believe in myself even if someone didn’t get it.  He taught me it it is ok to be too sappy or too dark as long as it is not all the time.  He taught me that my mother believed in me no matter what he said.

And then there was my music teacher.  Oh, for two years she thought I was a musical idiot.  Although I asked her for help when it came time to compose, she offered me the same explanation over and over again, hoping that this time it would make sense.  It didn’t and what I composed sounded crazy, yet, I had no idea, because I didn’t know how to play it.  I scored high on performance but crashed in music theory and composing, leading me to abandon being a music teacher.  She taught me to explain things properly to my students, and not in the same way but in a different way.  She taught me to listen when someone explains why they do not get it and not just jump to conclusions and move on.  She taught me that I am supposed to believe in the abilities of my students and not box them in.

There were others.  Others who didn’t get me, didn’t believe in me, or lost me as a student.  Thankfully there were many as well that liked me, supported me, and nourished me.  All of of my teachers shaped me into the teacher I am today, however, those that harmed me somehow shaped me more.  They taught me what not to be, provided the example of how not to teach, how to shut out and disillusion.  So when we speak of making a difference in our students lives think of what type of difference we want to make.  Do we want it to be of negative consequences or positive?  Either way, we make a difference, but it is up to us to decide which type.  I hope you choose wisely, after all, these are just children.

authentic learning, being a teacher, creativity, Innovation Day, Student-centered

4th Grade do Innovation Day

Pernille Ripp
Once again my students astounded me.  Given the opportunity for a full day to just create and inovate, they showed me that if we truly trust our students, they will be able to manage their time, create an exciting product, and have fun while doing it.  On Monday we did our very first Innovation Day, an idea being integrated in other schools around the globe but originating from companies who call it FedEx Day.

The idea is simple: the students get to pick a project to work on for a full day and it has to be done within that day.  the requirements were minimal:  They have to learn something, they have to produce something, and they have to be able to present it the following day.  We decided as a class too that it would be best if no more than 2 students worked together.

Two weeks prior to the day students were given a brainstorming sheet, supplied by Josh Stumpenhorst and modified for 4th grade.  Immediately the excitement grew.  “A whole day where we get to decide?  That’s not what you do in school!”  Some students knew right away what they wanted to study such as Aidan and Erik who were keen to build and research a Celtic castle due to their heritage.  Other students changed their minds almost overcome with the idea that they could do anything they wanted to.  After some conversation even the most excited were able to choose.  They had to outline their process more detailed as the day grew closer and we spoke of how they would proceed Monday morning, finally,  they were ready.

Monday morning I was as excited as my students: would they be able to pull it off? Watching them walking super fast down the hallway told me they were as anxious to get started as I was.  Indeed, right after announcements we jumped into it.  The room quickly erupted in noise and paper, which can be seen right away in our video.  I stepped out of the way and let them work.  As the teacher, the hardest bit of this day was to truly get out of their way!  Instead of me solving problems, they were solving their own, using all of the resources that we have discussed throughout the year.  It was incredible to watch them work together and other own.  Throughout the day students would show me their progress, parents would pop in as well as other teachers.  I live tweeted the event and even some videos.  The kids were so into it they asked to skip recess and lunch.  As the clock wound down and students started mellowing out; I knew that this was a must do event!

So what did we learn, well, students created:

  • A huge cardboard model of Big Ben
  • A painting of the Golden Gate Bridge
  • Scrapbooks from kindergarten to 4th grade
  • Snowflakes and their patterns
  • A Celtic Fortress
  • A board Game called Advance
  • A dream house out of Lego’
  • A model of the Washington Monument
  • A model of the The Pentagon
  • A model of the The Capitol
  • A T-Rex
  • A commercial for Fleels (flats that can be converted into high heels)
  • A model of D-Day
  • A model of Apollo 11
  • A clay model of Big Ben
  • Glogsters on favorite basketball players
  • A paper zoo
  • And many research papers

And what did I learn?

  • That staying out of the way is a great thing.
  • That trusting your students to create will result in magical things happening.
  • That students will use the resources they are taught to use.
  • That innovation and creativity is alive and thriving, the problem solving that occurred in my room that day was just incredible.
  • And that some students do need help when picking a project to ensure it is enough for the whole day, although that was remedied by adding research components to it.

As the year comes to a close and these incredible 4th graders look more and more like 5th graders, I am thankful that we had this opportunity to learn together.  The students showed me how much they are capable of, how much learning can transform them, and how school should indeed be fun.

My students made a video trying to convince other teachers to do Innovation Day, I think they say it best.

life choices

Rain Puddles

Pernille Ripp
Today, freshly picked up from daycare, my two year old Thea ran out out of the car and into the nearest puddle.  Free from inhibitions, my husband blames this on me, she jumped and jumped until her pants were soaked.  Thinking nothing of this minor obstacle, she quickly sat down in the puddle, took her sandals off, then her pants, and then her diaper for good measure.  As I stood there watching her so uninhibited enjoying the freshly made rain puddles, I quieted the voice in my head that told me to get her inside.  That voice that warned me of germs, and colds, and what will the neighbors think.  And so there she sat in her puddle, by then eating a popsicle she had begged for and she said “swimming mommy, I swimming.”  In her head this puddle was the biggest swimming pool she could have ever asked for.  In her head life at that very moment offered her everything that she wanted; no clothes, water, and a delicious treat.

So I let her play and was once again reminded that it is okay to back off.  It is ok to not reprimand or remind of the rules. It is even okay to sit with your butt in a rain puddle if it happens to be the perfect day for that.  Thea will be just fine.