Be the change, new year, reflection

Go Ahead; Lose Yourself

Pernille Ripp
This post is inspired by a comment left by Susan, a new teacher, on my post “Do You Dare to Look in the Mirror”

Dear Self,
This year, allow yourself to lose the pointless homework, lose the percents, lose the monologue and for sure, all of the packets.  Feel free to lose the dioramas (wow, I hate dioramas), the stilted book reports, math pages that are beside the point and insane expectations for kids that are trying so hard.  Lose the F’, the D’s and any other letter that comes to mind, and the averages.  Lose the raising of eyebrows over late work, the percent deduction, the phone call home, and the threats of failure if work isn’t turned in.  Lose the “my room” and let it be “our room.”  Let go of black and white and invite in some gray.  Lose the insane motivational posters that just clutter your walls.  Let go of a desk for every student, lose the need to organize them as you do your supplies.  Lose your inhibitions, your fears, your need for privacy.  Lose packaged lessons, and old ideas, or at least the ones that do not work.  But never lose your excitement, belief, warmth, or your heart.

expectations, grades, homework

So I Wrote to Alfie Kohn…

Pernille Ripp
This weekend marked the first ever Reform Symposium, which was an incredible experience of people involved in education all coming together to tear it apart and perhaps puzzle it all back together.  There were many stellar talks but my favorite presentation was by far Joe Bower´s on Abolishing Grades, although I must admit I am partial here because I already admire Joe´s work and dedication.  Joe did not disappoint and the backchannel talk was lively as well.  I certainly only became more passionate about my quiet revolution in my own room of perhaps, just maybe, removing grades.

However, to do so though there are people I must get on my side, the first one being my principal, so as any passionate teacher does, I have been gathering my research, thoughts and ideas as I prepare for it.  Once again, it has been a wonderful experience to find that I am not alone in this frustration with grades and a particularly grateful thanks go to @MrMacnology and @Joe_ Bower for their non-exasperated answers to my endless questions.   

And yet, I wanted to see if there was anything I was missing, so I decided to write to Alfie Kohn and by golly he answered my request for help to speak to my principal.

Here is my plea for help:

Dear Mr. Kohn,
I am 3rd year 4th grade teacher struggling with why I grade students.  For 2 years now, I have fudged grades, assigned worksheets to make sure I have enough stuff to make an average from, and dashed students love of learning when they received a poor grade.  For 2 years I have fielded parent phone class on why their child got a particular grade and graded papers until i was ready to fall asleep.  I have dozed off during meaningless book report presentations, and fought with homeless students to turn their homework in.  I am done with grades but have to still convince my principal.  Do you have any strong points that i should bring up to him to convince him that learning should be for learning’s sake and not to produce a grade? 
best,
Pernille Ripp

Here is the advice I received:
Thanks for your note.  I’ve written about why grades are unnecessary and harmful in two books (Punished by Rewards and The Schools Our Children Deserve) and in two articles (www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm and www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm).  The first of those articles is a little more accessible, I think.  It’s focused on grading at the high school level, but I think one can argue that its points apply more strongly to teaching younger children since there is even less of a case to be made in favor of giving kids grades.  (One can’t even rationalize them on the grounds that colleges care.)
A Canadian teacher has lately been working hard to persuade other educators to join him in refusing to give grades on individual assignments (even if they have to turn in an end-of-term grade).  Some of the resources on his blog may be useful to you:  www.joebower.org/p/abolishing-grading.html.  Of course, persuading the principal to stop using grades at all — on a schoolwide level — would be much more desirable.
Also of possible interest:  this account of a middle school administrator and a high school teacher who have gotten rid of grades (www.alfiekohn.org/miscellaneous/newsarchive.htm#grades) and the first two clips from my DVD that summarize some of the key reasons that grades don’t make sense:  www.alfiekohn.org/gandhvideoclips.htm.
Any or all of these resources can be shared with parents and other teachers, the idea being to organize opposition to grades so you’re not fighting this all by yourself.
Good luck!

— Alfie Kohn

I am once again amazed at the power of reaching out to others for help in this quiet revolution against grades.  I am excited to meet with my principal, and hopefully persuade him to let me try this.  And most of all, I am excited about joining up with all of you that think,  discuss, evaluate and listen every single day; never too tired to ponder, “Are we doing the right thing?”
Be the change, reflection

Do You Dare Look in the Mirror?

Pernille Ripp
I am a loud mouth, I have opinions, I try to hide them sometimes successfully, most of the time unsuccessfully.  My school has undergone a lot of changes in the last couple of years and many new staff members have joined, myself included.  When you are new it is hard to not be excited to be there; after all you have just begun your journey.  It is hard to not be enthusiastic.  It is hard to not embrace any new idea that comes your way and then share it with everyone you meet.  While this can be a great quality, in large doses it becomes a nuisance.  We sometimes forget that even though an idea is packaged as a new thing, it is often something that came through the school 20 years earlier.  We are seen as one-track people, closed off to other ideas, too focused on our path and we blame others for being the same way, too ignorant to see ourselves in the reflection.


It is true that we lead by example, so every day this year, I want to be positive.  I want to be a multiplier, as Liz Wiseman calls us in her book “Multipliers.”  People of this nature are leaders that instead of taking all credit, pass it on and enable others to grow.  Ideas are thought of around these people, discussion is lively, other people’s voices are heard.  When you run into a multiplier, you know it; your head is full of new ideas and enthusiasm for whatever you spoke about.  I can point to many of such leaders in my school and in my district and not many of them are in official leadership positions.  

You also know when you meet the other type of person; the divisor.  These people lead from the top, they do not listen to ideas or invite discussion.  They are so focused on their goal, that even though what you say may benefit that goal, they cannot process or implement it. Divisors leave you feeling flat, demotivated, unappreciated, and ignored.  Many times, I have run into these people as well. 

So ask yourself much as I have; this new year do you plan on being a divisor or a multiplier?  Will you open your door to new inspiration, or at the very least leave it open a crack so that a couple of ideas may sneak in?  Will people want to come to you to participate in discussions, or will they be afraid to voice their opinion?  I have been a divisor, and I promise, never again.  However, to start this journey, I had to look at myself and really see myself to discover my effect on others.  Do you have the guts to look at who you are and then be honest enough to see if it needs change?  That is my hope for all the leaders in my school; whether leaders by title or leaders by nature.  Understand yourself so that you may understand the role you play.  Be positive, be eager, but know when to be quiet and listen.  The silence can be just as inspiring as the discussion.

While I cannot change people, I can change myself.  I want to become a full-time multiplier.  I want to spark other people’s intelligence and inspiration.  I want to get out of the way of new innovation, changes, and random exploration.  Not only do I want to be a positive force among my staff, but also min my classroom.  Kids can also be divided into these tow categories but are often not aware of how they affect others.  We must therefore lead by example and point out why some people make us feel better about ourselves.

This is my reflection and thoughts on school leadership as prompted by Scott McLeod’s call for edubloggers to speak about leadership today for Leadership Day 2010.

Be the change, curriculum, Student-centered

So You Keep Saying Authentic Learning…

Pernille Ripp
In my last posts, I have thrown out the term “authentic learning” as if it is the new buzzword.  Well, for me it is!  I am sure others have coined this term before me but this is my definition, my revolution in my classroom, my new mantra for the year.

Authentic learning is what I plan on doing in my room this year.  One can argue that all learning is authentic if only applied to the right situation.  My problem therefore lies within my own style of teaching that seems to lack moments of relatability.  Few are those times when I was able to truthfully tell my students that “this skill you will use one day.” Why is that?  We are supposed to be the shapers of the future, right?  Everything we do or say in our classrooms should have a bigger purpose.  I agree that there are certain building blocks that do not lend themselves easily to authentic learning, but how do we go from that type of knowledge to packets, dioramas (I really hate dioramas) and longwinded spelling sorts?

I am about to start my 3rd year in my room and I finally feel like I know a little bit about the curriculum.  I know what the goals are and where the students should be at the end of 4th grade.  That allows me to change the journey and the tools we use to get to that point.  So here is what I propose to myself:  Study the goals and then base learning on getting to that goal, not digging up more worksheets to really make it stick.  So, if you want your students to know the difference between a verb and a noun – send them on a scavenger hunt and tell them to film the nouns and verbs they come across.  Students need to learn how to research – research something that they would be interested in.  You need to teach geometric shapes – find them in your school, count their angles, build your own.  Most of all, make it relevant!

I know there will be days where this will simply not be possible, I will hate those days, but recognize them as a necessary evil.  There are certain curriculum areas that I cannot create authentic learning experiences for; difference between a linking and helping verb – still thinking about that one.  The important thing is that I can still fulfill all of my duties as a teacher but do it in a way that I would have loved to have been taught in, and that I hope my students will remember.  I hope to make it meaningful, to help them connect it to their own lives, to help them see what the purpose is and that school is not boring or something to dread.  Am I a fool?  Probably, but at least I am fool with great aspirations for all.

Do you believe in this type of learning?  Can it be done under our standards and requirements?  Will my students benefit or will my parents revolt?   I will spare no details this fall.

Be the change, curriculum, grades, homework

But We Worked So Hard On It…

Pernille Ripp
Those words, uttered by a parent disagreeing with their child’s grade has made my hair bristle more than once. You worked hard on it, meaning you and your child? Wait a minute, this was not meant to be a parent and child homework assignment but rather a well thought out learning experience for your 4th grader. And yet, parents decide to help. At first, I thought it was because they were helicopter parents, obviously not having severed the proverbial umbilical chord, marching their child toward a successful life always monitored by the parent like a shadow. Then I thought the parents were suckers, after all, nothing can ruin a weekend more than a child whining that they don’t want to do their homework. Maybe these parents lacked self-control, discipline, dreams, a life? Maybe they just really wanted to re-do 4th grade curriculum because it was so much fun. Oh, those illusions kept me and my irritation going for two years.

This summer, on my Twitter revolution I started reading more about parent involvement, grades and their effect on classrooms, all posted by the formidable force that is Alfie Kohn. And yes, I had an epiphany, an ugly one; one that I hoped not to have, and yet it was so necessary. These parents, who obviously had to do the work with their children, did it because my assignment was too hard, too all-involving, too removed from learning and not based in real-life. So all that frustration should have been directed toward another source; myself. After all, the puppet-master of the homework strings is me.  So this year I am making a change:

  • I will not assign homework because I need something to add to my grades so that I can do a bigger average.
  • I will not assign homework because I was long winded and didn’t get to the point, leaving no work time.
  • I will not assign homework just because the book tells me that I should.
  • I will not assign homework because my team members assign this piece or someone else who has taught the same unit.
  • I will not assign homework because it is a long vacation and who knows what sort of trouble student’s need to be kept out of.
  • I will not assign homework because the learning did not happen in my classroom.
Instead, homework will be limited.  It will be re-evaluated and contained within my room as much as possible.  I am changing my grading system, more on that in another blog, and no longer feel the burden of needing enough things to grade so that I can fall back on it for my report cards.  My mantra for the year is “Authentic Learning” and with that comes the responsibility of teaching students within my room, within my time, within the standards, but also within their capabilities.  Learning has to be relatable for them for it to stick.  No more dull repetitious packets, no more book report dioramas, but rather conversation, blogging, hands on experience.  Maybe then those parents will find something else to do, something that they want to spend time on, and maybe I will finally get a clue.

So why do you assign homework?  How do you not assign homework?  

building community, collaboration, new teacher, new year

If You Have One Hour with a New Teacher…

Pernille Ripp
We’ve all been there; arms full of papers, books falling out of our bags, and so many questions that we hardly know what to ask – ahh, the plight of being a new teacher.  Or at the very least, a teacher switching schools, or jobs, or grades.  So who do you turn to, where do you find those elusive answers that will make you sleep more easily at night before the big show?  And mostly, which answers do you really need?

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with a great friend from college who just landed her dream job in a 5th grade classroom.  Previously she has taught as an ELL teacher but had the opportunity to switch jobs and switch schools.  Prior to our meeting, I asked my PLN what I should share with her and had some fantastic responses.  So here is what I thought was important.

  1. Sign up for Twitter!  If you need to know why, read this post or read the Innovative Educator’s fantastic blog on how to use Twitter.
  2. Start a classroom blog; Tumblr or Blogspot are just fine – my classroom blog is is well visited by parents and they love how everything is accessible to them.
  3. Start a professional blog for your own reflections, this can even be tied in with your PDP and you will be amazed at the thinking you end up doing.
  4. Meet with teammates, ask questions but don’t forget yourself, after all, you will be teaching your own class and must be able to stand behind what you teach.
  5. Think about a morning and afternoon routine, or coming and going routine if you are non-elementary.  I explain and establish this on the 1st day of school and it sets the tone for the rest of the year’s expectations.
  6. Reflect on your hidden rules of your classroom.  We all have pet peeves, figure your out and then share them with your students!
  7. Come up with community building projects.  Although curriculum will need to get started quickly, make sure you have opportunities where the kids are engaged in something creative to establish trust and excitement in your room.
  8. Send home an introduction letter to students and parents.  Give them insight into you and your classroom.
  9. Don’t waste too much time on your hallway bulletin boards.  Spend the time in your classroom instead, setting it up for great learning and collaboration.  Cybraryman has a wonderful webpage with great resources for how to set up your room to boost learning. 
  10. Laugh, joke, smile, and most importantly be yourself!  You were hired because you were a great candidate, so go in there and show it.  Curriculum will be taken care of but those first few days set the tone for the year so have fun with it!
I know there are many more important ideas to add, so what would you tell a new teacher they should focus on?  What did I miss?