Pernille Ripp

Perceptions abound when you come out as a blogger. Particularly if you happen to blog about education like I do. Some people embrace what you do and find it fascinating, while others shy away from you afraid that they somehow will end up in your blog. Others just condemn, perhaps not to your face, but in conversations or comments, either way, perceptions about blogging and the people who do it are plenty.

Today, Lyn Hilt wrote an amazing piece regarding why she blogs as a principal. If you haven’t read it you should, in fact, it is much better than this piece. A comment in it though started my wheels spinning, Dwight Carter wrote, “Excellent post and a wonderful defense of blogging as a reflective practice.” That statement really struck me, “defense” indeed, how often do we defend the act of blogging itself, as if you are not supposed to reflect, or at the very least not in public? This perception then of bloggers taking something private, the inner-workings of a classroom, and publicizing it can therefore not always be understood by others who do not blog. In fact, often, it is viewed as a sheer act of self promotion. And yet, I find that hard to believe being a blogger myself. I don’t do it to promote what I do, in fact, if I had taken my mother’s advice I would have still made the changes in my classroom but kept my mouth shut about it. Instead I chose to reflect openly and honestly abut my decision, my journey, my mistakes and my successes. Put it all out there for others to judge, to inquire, and perhaps to inspire.

So I think it is time we stop tearing down others for decisions that they make that perhaps we do not understand. I think it is time we view blogging as another way to reflect upon educational practices and not see it as a tool to get attention, or even a tool used for condemnation. The bloggers I follow don’t set out to divide educators but rather start a conversation about what is happening in classrooms across the world. Why this is not only viewed as an asset is hard to fathom.

So I guess I am done defending my blogging, instead I want to celebrate all that it has provided me with in the last year. And I am also done negatively viewing those that don’t blog. I know many exceptional teachers that reflect in other ways than blogging, who would never think to put their thoughts into cyberspace. This does not make them bad teachers, perhaps just more private. I also know some teachers who blog whose teaching style scares me a little, yet I applaud their effort in bringing it all out there.

So once again, we can be the change we want to see: Blogging shouldn’t be the thing that divides educators, it should be viewed as yet another way educators work and reflect. What makes one person stronger will in the end strengthen us all. Isn’t that what we want; a strong group of educators?

being a teacher, control, projects, Student-centered

Hello Innovation Day!

April 24, 2011 Pernille Ripp

When I first started teaching 4th grade, I must admit, I underestimated my students. I knew that they were capable, but did not realize just how creative, innovative, and eager for a challenge this age of students can be. (In fact, I would argue that any student really fits that description if we provide them with the opportunity, but that’s another post). So this year as I re-honed my philosophy and knew that I wanted to create more hands-on, student-led explorations throughout the year, I knew we had to end the year with something magical. Some sort of project that would show me and my students just how far we have traveled in our road to become independent, creative, problem solvers and thinkers. Hello Innovation Day!

Innovation Day is one of those projects I wish I had imagined, but instead that honor goes to many corporations before me (Google FedEx Day), in fact, I cannot even take credit for bringing it to a school setting, other teachers I follow on Twitter have already done it. And yet this will be the first one for me, for my students, and I am more than thrilled. The idea is simple and can be adapted to any setting.

On May 9th, my students get to work on whatever they choose. The requirements are simple; they must learn something, they must produce something, and it has to be done in one day. All year, I ask my students what they would like to learn about and although I have been able to incorporate many of those items into my teaching, there are some I have not gotten to – Irish Castles, Big Ben, and more about animals are some examples. Here is their chance. The preparation has been minimal, students had to fill out this sheet (which is created by Josh Stumpenhorst and minimally adapted by me) and they need to think about their product. In class we have been discussing various ideas and students have sought me out to discuss process. That’s it.

My job this day will be to document the learning through video and pictures, and also to be of assistance if needed. The students are supplying most of the materials, and are doing all of the work. Ideas being floated around are varied such as researching snowflake patters, building a t-rex model, or creating a paper zoo – whatever they can imagine and build. And me? Well as my students reminded me on Friday; we don’t really need you Mrs. Ripp. Ad what a glorious thing that is to hear.

Diary of, video, writing

Diary of Project

April 22, 2011 Pernille Ripp

For the past two years, my phenomenal tech teacher, Myrna Heilman, has spearheaded the Diary of project in the 4th grade. The students get to research an animal of their choosing, write down 10 facts at least and then create a movie pretending to be their animal. This is based on the books in the “Diary of a Fly” series and this lesson plan.

This lesson not only lets students incorporate tech in a meaningful way, not just for tech’s sake, but lets them truly adapt a different voice and unique perspective. While most of my students’ work can be found here, below is just a sample of the finished product.

collaboration, community, connections

A Connection is Made

April 22, 2011 Pernille Ripp

It all started with a question, a small idea really, and one word “Community.” Take two sets of children, happy in school, each faced with their own busy lives, full plates, and small victories. What if we turned them loose with a camera, with their own creativity and asked them to show off their community? That is exactly what my friend and inspiration Matt and I did for our classes. What started as just a way to connect two seemingly very different classes morphed into something bigger than just a simple hello via Skype. Instead our students were asked to really think about what sets their community apart from others, and how do you showcase that to others that may have no idea where you are?

What followed after that initial conversation of idea was a lot of hard work and so much enthusiasm. Neither one of us have the luxury to suspend curriculum but had to find a way to fit it in, not just because it was fun, but because it was worthwhile. So I told the kids cautiously, would they get excited as well or would they roll their eyes at yet another harebrained Mrs. Ripp idea? Their excited chatter told me once again this was going to be great.

For 3 weeks the kids worked both in class and outside of class creating their video. They knew that Matt’s students spoke Spanish so they wanted our sometimes shy Spanish speaking students to take a leadership role in each group. I was also told that i was not needed, after all, they had Google translate if they needed to figure something out and they knew how to shoot the video. Donations came in for the care package we were sending out their with some real Wisconsin stuff, and then finally; the last shot was filmed, the movie pieced together, the package dropped off.

So I am excited to present “Our Community” – a video inspired, created, and carefully edited by the students in my classroom for our friends in Mr. Foteah’s class. In the end it wasn’t really about the video, it was about the community we shared making it and the community we reached out to.

attention, being a teacher, choices, power

A Thought on Shutting Doors

April 20, 2011 Pernille Ripp

When that door shuts, I come alive, not because I am afraid to show my true colors with an open door, or because I am worried what strangers might think, but instead because then I can truly focus on what is the most important; the here, the now, the kids. So when I lose my focus and worry too much about what others think it shows up in my teaching, sneaks right in and settles in the back of my mind. I must forget to take my own advice at times; choose who you give your attention to. Choose who you give power to. Choose who you let lift you up or bring you down. Because those choices also influence your students, those choices we seemingly make separately from our classrooms are never quite separate. We carry it all with us, whether we want to or not. Or at least I do.

So I choose happiness. I choose to focus on everything that is astounding in my life. The incredible deep love from my husband, the unmistakable faith from my mother, and my daughter’s incredible joy for life. The student who finally gets it, or cracks me up with a new joke. The coworker that shares yet another success in their teaching or brings up a new idea. I choose to focus on my own mistakes and weaknesses because those I can do something about. And I choose my own words more carefully so to not bring others down.

So now when I shut that door I also make a conscious effort to make myself open it again. To let the world back in, to show those kids that I am there wholeheartedly no matter what passes by our door. To remind myself that my choices are their choices, and that’s the way it should be.

answers, assumptions, balance, being a teacher, twitter

Is Twitter a Cop Out?

April 18, 2011 Pernille Ripp

I am a Twitter fanatic, if you ask anyone, in particular my husband, they will tell you how often I quote something that I learned abut from this social media or how this or that idea came from there. Twitter has enriched my life in ways that I would never imagined when I first signed on a few years ago. In fact, Twitter has radically changed the way I teach and the way I think. Not bad for 140 characters.

As I get more involved with Twitter and the people that I connect with though, I am starting to wonder whether Twitter to me has become the ultimate cop out? By reaching out through the internet, limiting myself mostly to blog posts (which are pretty one-sided) and 140 character tweets, am I shutting off real face-to-face collaboration? You see Twitter doesn’t talk back all that much or go to the teacher’s lounge and roll its eyes. Twitter doesn’t go to your principal laughing at the new hare-brained idea that was just presented. In short, Twitter doesn’t make me take a risk. If I offer up an idea I seldom get negative feedback, instead some people take the time to praise it and often comment. I do the same for others, in fact, I hardly ever discuss something in negative terms unless everyone else is. So Twitter becomes the ultimate safety net where we are not forced out of our comfort zones but instead selectively choose who we care to share with and listen to. But I wonder whether that is “real life?” Or does it even need to be?

It struck me today as I read one of my student’s blog posts about what was missing in 4th grade. Her comment was that she wished we did more with the other 4th grade classes. And she is so right; that is missing from this year. And not because we don’t want to, the initiative just never gets taken. Instead we create global connections which have been incredible parts of our school year, yet perhaps we forgot about our local connection in the bigger picture. bAnd yet it is those local connections that radically determine our day, it is those local connections that see all our flaws and strengths, that see us grow without a lens. Those people that can have the most profound effect on us.

At school when I have an idea I have to find people willing to participate in it, someone whom I trust enough to listen to me and who will then weigh their options. I have to make my case and put myself out there for possible rejection, and it hurts when something gets shot down. Yet it is through these awkward moments of self-selling that we become bigger people and a tighter knit school community. Let’s face it, it takes real courage to speak up at a staff meeting surrounded by your everyday peers. Does it take courage to speak up on Twitter?

So I guess I leave you with this question; has Twitter strengthened your local relationships as well or has it made it easier for you to forget about them? Are we all, in fact, just hiding behind our computers waiting for someone like-minded to come and find us? I am not sure anymore.