Science, Student-Led

Crayfish You Say?

Pernille Ripp

We do Foss curriculum and for 4th grade one of our units is Structures of Life.  So imagine the excitement and chaos that ensued when upon returning from winter break, crayfish had arrived in our room.  You think you have seen excited kids before?  Add some crustaceans, and the noise-level will go up about 50 decibels.  So as any good teacher would do, I squealed along with them and inside groaned in repulsion at the critters.

Foss is a great science curriculum for new teachers like myself because it gives you a great spring board for actual hands-on science.  However, this unit is a bit lackluster.  So instead of pushing the students through all of the investigations, we did the first one, and then I asked, “So what do you want to know?”
Those hands shot up and here is a partial list of things they wanted to learn:

  • Why do we have to transfer them to feed them?
  • How will they grab the food?
  • Do they like to be alone?
  • Why are they so aggressive?
  • How long does it take for them to regenerate a limb?
  • Do they have ears?
  • Can they see us if we sneak up behind them?
  • How do they fight?
  • Do they sleep?
  • Do they swim?
  • If the water is above their heads, do they die?
  • Can we get them to mate?
Once again, my students showed me that their questions are much better than the ones posed by the curriculum.  This unit will now become a student-led exploration for the next couple of weeks, where we will pose new questions as well as revisit our original list to see what we have learned.  This project will then culminate in a class research report about crayfish.  That way, I can sneak in how to write a research report while we do something super fun.  Letting go of the set curriculum is proving to be even more worthwhile than I had hoped.
We have also done a crayfish scavenger hunt to get more information for our research papers, so here is link to that.
being a teacher, blogging, reflecting

You Know You Are a Blogger When…

Pernille Ripp

Being a blogger has nothing to do with how many people read your blog, so you know you are a blogger when….

While having a conversation with a colleague, you keep getting inspired to write another post about what they say.

When someone tells you a new idea, you think of the comment you would leave if it were a blog post.

You cannot help getting ideas for new post whenever you read anything.

You base your new technology purchases on whether or not your blog platform will be supported.
When signing things you almost sign your blogging name.

You constantly tell others about the incredible comments you have received or made on your blog.

Your students know the names of the top people that you interact with.

Your professional reflection has never been better.

Your PLN is a vital and important part of your life.

You are pretty sure your mother knows everything there is to know about your daily life through your blog.

What did I miss?

assumptions, hopes, inspiration, personality, students, teaching, vision

Which Lens Do You View the World With?

Pernille Ripp

We choose how we view the world, a line taken from an excellent post recounting a mother whose daughter has autism speaking to a group of MIT professors. Think about it for a moment, it is a quite deep sentence, we choose how we view to world…

Now flip that to your classroom, your school, your community; we also choose how we view these. Do we come to school with dark colored lenses where no matter what our students do, it is simply not good enough? Are our lenses wonky where we end up treating our students unequally? Is one eye closed to the world so we only see one side of the story? Or do we wear rose-colored lenses so that the world always seems bright and cheerful?

My lenses are clear, therein lies no fog. I view the world every day with a slight rosy tint to it but clear nonetheless. And more importantly, my lenses work both ways; they view the world and they view myself. I am always checking, readjusting and cleaning off my lens, so that whomever I encounter gets a clear view and not one tinted by perception. Is it time you clean your lenses?

being a teacher, community, difference, hopes, self

We are Not Born Selfish

Pernille Ripp

As I watch my daughter interact, I realize that we are not born selfish. Instead we become it as our lives turn into one long competition for more, bigger, better. This can be seen in school where many teachers suffer under constant business or stress, and if they are not suffering from it, they are a rarity. I used to be one of those teachers, too busy to even think some time, until I realized that by projecting this frantic persona, I was being selfish.

When you are constantly busy, or claiming to be, you shut yourself off to others. People realize that you will not be able to help, because you are too busy; you will not give them that precious time they may need, because you have too much to do. This is detrimental to furthering personal connections. When people stay out of your way because you are frantic, they often do not come back.

So when you return to school, make a conscious effort to turn off your busyness. Instead open yourself up to others. When someone approaches you for help or an extra hand, give it to them, even if it interferes with prep time. This small gesture of giving time fosters goodwill in your environment. When we actively help others, they notice and they in turn may help others as well. We all know that helping breeds helping, so why not live it? I know we are busy, all people are, but it is how we choose to deal with that busyness that makes the difference. So remember that doing something that may seem inconvenient to you may make a huge difference to someone else. Don’t be selfless but be less selfish.

balance, being a teacher, hopes, inspiration

Have You Balanced Your Account?

Pernille Ripp

This year it will be all about balance for me.   The accounts of our life have to be balanced and mine seem a bit unbalanced at the moment.  I have started this incredible blogging adventure, well-knowing that I then chose to give some of my precious time to this investment.  And it has certainly paid off in big ways.  However, whenever I choose to give my time somewhere, I am taking it away from somewhere else.

So as I continue this learning journey, I am resetting my calculations, deciding how big of a percentage of time each big category will have.  These categories are the thread of our lives, the love, the drive, the inspiration.  Those memories we carry with us, the ones that us feel like we have lived.  So I look forward to taking stock, reinvesting where I need to, and diminishing where I must.  It has to add up to 100% since there is only so much of me, so much of time, so much of life to be lived.

Are your accounts balanced?

being a teacher, inspiration, lessons learned, students

Not More Resolutions but Renewals Instead

Pernille Ripp

It is indeed a new year, resolutions abound, and people fell eager, excited, rejuvenated, and ready to change their lives.  I am one of these people as well that truly views a new year as a time for transformation, a time to renew vows made to oneself, to reflect, and to reevaluate.

I, too, made a resolution, a small one to save more money for traveling, but that is it.  Professionally, I have quite a few resolutions going on already, as my husband reminds me, such as limiting homework, throwing out grades, student blogging, and my fun new blog for sharing lesson and.  So yes, I have a full load, but a fun one.

So instead of a resolution, I decided to remember the goals I have already made for the year.  We get so busy with piling new ones on, that we can forget about the awesomeness of the old ones.  So the goals I renew to myself are, in no particular order:

– Remember they are all of our children. There is no such thing as just “your” students anymore, make yourself visible to all, and treat them all as if they did indeed belong to you, because they really do.

– Question yourself. Why do you do the things that you do in your classroom? Why do you teach this way?

– Take time to discover your passion. Your passion may be apparent to you but to some people it isn’t, however, if you don’t give yourself the gift of time to really reflect, how will you ever discover that you love zombies, technology, and Neil Gaiman?

– Give the gift of now. Be present wherever you are, whether it be in your classroom, with your family, or in the car. Give that moment in time the honor of being there fully, even though that may be hard, it is worth it in the long run.

– Reach out to others. Whether it be through Twitter, your PLN, or staff members, use them, reflect with them, and praise them. These are the people that will support, encourage, and challenge you on a regular basis, these are the people that will raise you up.

– And finally, don’t survive it – live it!