aha moment, kids, memories, Nancy, special, students

Each Day is Special – Nancy’s Aha Moment

Pernille Ripp

This week’s aha moment is shared by Nancy Ehrlich @NancyTeaches, a passionate teachers who’s blog is a must read. Nancy and her writing about reading and teaching has inspired me on more than one occasion, so do follow her on Twitter and add her blog to your feed. She says about herself, “I have been a teacher all of my life.  I can’t remember when I wasn’t a teacher.  I started my own school in my backyard when I was in fourth grade.  I showed up at the neighbors’ houses for parent-teacher conferences!  Currently I am a reading specialist and former head of school who returned to the classroom. My class and I looped and stayed together for fourth grade.  This is my 29th year in the field of education.”


When asked to describe my “aha” moment in teaching, I was flooded with a plethora of images.  Imagine a montage of every day in your teaching life. My memories are a swirling mist of faces smiling at me as I remember the different children, classrooms and settings that filled the years.  Each day as a teacher was special.  Every child that crept into my heart defines my career.  I could never choose just one!

Of course, there have been bumps along the way.  There were days that I wanted to pull my hair out and run screaming from the classroom.  However, when I look back, a child was never the catalyst.  They were my soft-spot to land even on the worst of days.  Once engaged with a student, the rest of the world faded away.  They were all that mattered.

I remember Josh who came to me as a third grader and couldn’t read.  His parents and I put our heads together and came up with a plan.  We worked as a team and built his skills as well as his confidence.  By the way, he is doing well in college now.  I remember Taylor who was the perfect little angel in the classroom, but I knew she wasn’t learning.  Through testing, we discovered she had severe ADD and with the right plan, began to flourish.  I was so grateful I trusted my instinct.

I remember on September 11th the world changed for everyone, but for one of my students, it was intimately personal.  When this student’s parents called me to let me know what was happening and people were scrambling to get to school and chaos was everywhere, this child and I went for a long walk.  (I was a head of school at this point and could do this.) Throughout the next month as she grieved for her lost family member, she and I talked and read books together.  I hope I was a place for her to heal.  I will never forget her showing me the dust from the collapsed towers.

Then there was Izzy!  She and I bonded the moment she put her hand in mine as I guided her to the classroom.  She came to me significantly below grade level and was raw from the experiences she had in a former school.  Together we taught each other so much.  She is on grade level now and I learned to be a better teacher through working with her.

I walk into a classroom each day grateful.  George E. Fraiser said, “No one should teach who is not a bit awed by the importance of the profession.”  I’m thankful that each day gives me “aha” moments of joy.  I search every day for a way to connect with students, so that when they leave me, they will remember that learning is always filled with “aha” moments.
being a teacher, emotions, honesty, personality

Yes, You Look Fat in Those Pants

Pernille Ripp

I am an open book.  I wear my heart on my sleeve, smile to the world and rage directly at the people that need the rage.  I am driven by emotions both good and bad and have a very strong instinct that guides many decisions.  I was probably born this way but can also accredit this personality to my mother, who never backs down when it gets tough, who always speaks her mind, who is always honest.  I am the friend that will tell you that those pants make you look fat but I will also tell you when something you did was amazing.  I am that wife that tells their husband when they are whining but will also show genuine appreciation for taking the garbage out or buying gas station flowers (they are the best).  I am that teacher that will tell you how your actions upset me and then we will solve it together.  I wish I could say I do not carry a grudge, but I do, however my grudge list is very brief and I intend to keep it that way.

It is not easy being bold, or direct, or honest.  In fact, this society does not reward such behaviors but instead tells you to tone it down, think of who you are offending, or know your place.  Being Danish does not make it easier since it is a trait much-valued in my country and yet over here, it is almost entirely frowned upon.  The trouble I have gotten into because of my bluntness could fill the pages of a very long book, from being booted out of a wedding the week before, to almost being left behind in a Vegas casino, yes, I have made many mistakes.  And yet, I would not change who I am, at least not in a major way.

Yes, I am emotional but that is not a swear word.  Instead, I am exuberant, joyful, and overly optimistic – most of the time.  I am genuinely happy to see you, to meet you, to connect with you and if I am not, you will know.  If I care about you, I will reach out to you.  If I am interested, I will ask.  If you upset me, I will tell you and then try to solve it.  If you hurt me or there is a misunderstanding, I will come to you rather than my colleagues or friends.   I believe in honesty and it is my driving nature.  Sure I get into trouble, a lot of trouble, but I will not change it.  It is time we let our guards down and let the honesty out.  It is liberating to tell someone what you really are thinking as long as you weigh your words carefully.  But do not be afraid of yourself, your emotions, your instincts, after all, they are you.  Do not hide from your directness but embrace it; embrace yourself, and give yourself a chance.

goodbye

Dear Beautiful Baby

Pernille Ripp

Today you were supposed to have been born.  A beautiful baby, joining your  older sister Thea that does nothing but run around and point at all the babies she sees in the world.  We would have been scared but excited.  Feeling so overwhelmed and yet so happy.  But today is not your due date; that day will never come because I lost you many months ago.

Every day until this day I have thought of how big my stomach should be now. How I wouldn’t be able to fit into those pants, bend over to pick up that marker, or even be able to tie my shoes.  I would be getting ready to hand over my students to another capable teacher to welcome you into this world; into our family. And yet, sometimes life doesn’t work the way it is meant to work.

I am sorry, there is no heartbeat are the hardest words I have ever heard.  And I think that moment in time will always be frozen, just hanging there, not quite within my reach but there as a mountain in my life.  Brandon took my hand and held it so tight and the tears just came and came.  A magic child, a child we had so hoped for, was not to be.

And yet, life goes on.  I returned to school and had to face parent emails, students that needed help in math, hugs and smiles because that’s what teachers do.  We keep going, no matter what happens in our life, we know there are kids that need us and sometimes, truthfully, we need them as well.  And I really didn’t tell anyone because I did not want them to ask how I was.  I knew I would be ok, I am not the only one to ever go through something like this, and yet you feel so alone when it does happen.

So with this letter, sent out to the world, I am saying goodbye.  Goodbye to the dreams that would have been with you that were not meant to be.  And thank you; thank you for showing me that maybe having another baby is not outside of our reach.  For showing me that I am incredibly grateful for my soulmate, Brandon, who I know will weather any storm with me.  Thankful for the strength you made me find in myself to carry on and keep smiling, loving, laughing.  Goodbye dear baby, so long.

being a teacher, community, grades, letting go, rewards, students

Letting Go

Pernille Ripp

As this new year is really getting under way, and for me even slightly starting over, I am thinking of all the things I am letting go off.  At first scary and new, now these things are becoming familiar and worth it.  So I urge myself to let go and continue to let go off

  • Grades. Yes, once the cornerstone of my educational philosophy but now I am seeing them for what they are; fictional numbers scribbled on a page that does not let my students know what they excelled at or even how they may improve.
  • Tests for the sake of a grade and being done with something.  Instead they now work as springboards to new learning, explorations and joint adventures.
  • My voice.  Yes I am actually staying more quiet and letting the students do the talking.
  • Rewards.  Imagine a room of 28 well-behaved students that yes may get a little fidgety or even a  little loud but that actually enjoy each other and the learning environment they are creating.  Not punished by rewards as the wonderful Alfie Kohn would say but rather motivated by a common desire to create the best learning environment for all of us.
  • Rule poster.  Oh yes, that staple of classroom walls.  I don’t even have one this year, of course, we have talked about it and, in fact, they often change based on the challenge we are doing, but nothing is etched permanently and neatly laminated for the sake of reminders.
  • My markers.  Another novel idea; let the students do the writing.  No more trying to decipher my chicken scratch.
  • Missing all of a recess.  Sure some students stay in to work with me but when we are done they are free to run because kids need to run, not stare at me for some sort of punishment they do not understand.
  • Lectures about behavior.  They get it, they know when they are being too loud, or off task, address it and move on.
  • Structure for the sake of control.  We have a basic structure such as asking to go to the restroom but if you forget, it is ok.  I forget sometimes too.
  • Me being the only teacher.  I think of my room as having 29s teachers plus whom ever walks into the room.  Those kids know something, let them show it and watch them gravitate toward each other for more.
So ask yourself; what have you let go off this year and how has it changed you?  I know that I have a long way to go but this journey is one I gladly get on every day.
blogging, students, writing

So Blogging is just for Fun?

Pernille Ripp

In the past 3 weeks my students have finally gotten to start blogging on their own. We did not take this endeavor lightly and therefore first had to discuss safety of blogging and being on the Internet, see this post on the lesson used.  We also had to discuss how to properly comment on other posts through the use of paper blogs, a lesson I wish I had come up with but which I absolutely borrowed from some fantastic educators and its creator Leonard Low, and how to solicit comments on one’s own; after all, these blogs were meant to be starts of conversations and not solitary pieces of writing.  Finally, we were ready.

Our first blog post was tied in with the Global Read Aloud Project and if you visit our kidblog you will notice that many of them do tie in with this.  However, I hope you will also notice something else; how the students have started to type using paragraphs with topic sentences as well as how their blogs appear visually.   See, I am all for creative writing but I also have a writing curriculum to teach so I therefore combined the students’ passion towards blogging, and believe me they are blogging in their free time, with my requirements for writing.  So one week was dedicated to the fine tunings of a paragraph, discussing not just the how (they mostly know that already) but also the why.  The result of that week’s focus was these introduction posts.  This week we are discussing types of sentences and you will notice, hopefully, later this week how students have to use different types of sentences in their blog posts.

So to those educators that still think student blogging is just for fun, I say, not in my classroom!  Of course, blogging is a blast, after all, how often do kids beg to write more over the weekend or groan when time is up?  Yet blogging is so much more than that; it is writing for an actual audience, not just the teacher, it is learning how to engage in a written conversation, how to constructively criticize writing, as well as appreciate other people’s skills and abilities.  Blogging has brought my fantastic students even closer as they reach out and cheer for each other.  Blogging has taught us that it matters that our writing makes sense because otherwise we may not get many comments or questions.  It is teaching us that we are not solitary writers and hopefully never will be.  Blogging for us is a life lesson of communication, writing, connections, and internet safety mixed in with conventions, crafts of a writer, and as well as the writing process.  To us it is how writing is taught with the added bonus of portfolio creation.  So to those that think student blogging is just a fad,  a way to amuse and use some technology, think again; blogging can a revolution in writing if you let it.  Don’t stand in its way.

goodbye, promise

Next Week I Promise

Pernille Ripp

As our goodbye nears in my fantastic 4/5 class, my students are getting progressively rowdier, louder, more fidgety and less able to focus on learning.  Students get overstimulated more easily and sometimes de-escalation takes hours rather than 15 minutes.  With one week left to teach them before I hand half of them over to a new teacher, it was hard not to dread how loud they would end up getting this last week.  And yet, who can blame them?  We have built an incredibly community in our room and real friendships have emerged.  No longer are kids designated by grade level but rather by their qualities and how they connect with others.  They know they have my heart so as my class gets ready for a new adventure, and I silently grieve the loss of these amazing students, here is what I promise:

I promise to always be your teacher, no matter who’s room you go to in the morning.  I promise to care for you as long as you let me.  I promise to read your blogs and approve all of your comments as you continue to keep friendships alive.  A promise to check in, to check out when you don’t need me, and to help you transition.  I promise to listen to your dreams, adventures, and your fears.  I promise to tell you every day how incredibly lucky I feel to have had you as my kid these past 6 weeks.  You will always be my kid.  I promise to step back, breathe, and understand that you acting out is just because a change is coming.  I promise to cry within moderation, (not sure if I can keep that one).  I promise to smile, to laugh and to tell you just how incredible you are.  I promise to care long after the bell has rung on Friday, the nametags have been replaced and the lockers reassigned.  I promise to never forget this class, this journey, these kids, you.  I promise.