collaboration, PLN

What My PLN Has Done for Me

Pernille Ripp
I have always considered myself a bit of a techy geek, a badge I wear with pride; I may not look it, but I love technology and computers.  My school has a couple of people like me and we meet in secret; sharing sites and ideas for how we can make our classrooms more technology friendly.  And yet, Twitter escaped me.  Sure, I had an account, but no desire to follow celebrities or wannabe celebrities in their daily doings.  So last Friday, I was following 15 people on Twitter, had 4 followers myself which included my husband and two of my brothers (who the 4th one was I have no idea) and I had used Twitter as a status update tool.

Last Friday, my world moved a little bit:  One tweet came across my computer that mentioned PLN, not knowing what this meant I clicked on the link to the article and was brought to @shellterell’s twitter account.  I scanned her tweets and clicked to follow her; the rest they say is history.  In 9 days, this is what learning about a PLN has done for me:

  • I now follow more than 100 educators, bloggers, techies from all around the world and daily add more valuable people .
  • These fantastic people have invited me to join in the The Educator’s PLN where I have established contact with even more educators and resources.
  • I have started my own blog, not just doing a classroom blog anymore, and through that have been challenged to think about my teaching and which direction I want to go.
  • Strangers have complimented me on things I post and encouraged me to keep blogging.
  • I have been introduced to phenomenal free tools such as Voki, WallWisher, Wordia, Glogster, Prezi, and Mouse Mischief
  • I have set up a student blog via KidBlog for next year and have designed lessons for the students to blog about.  No one does this at my school.
  • I have discovered blogs to follow who do the research, try out new technology, come up with incredible lesson plans for me amongst many other things.
  • I have changed my Master’s Degree to Technology Instruction – no joke.
  • I have forwarded blogs and articles on to my principal, PTO, Professional Development Coordinator for our district, and fellow teachers hoping to inspire them as much as I have been.
  • I have made tentative plans to go to my first technology conference, ISTE 2011.
  • I have out-geeked my husband for the first in our 10 years together.
  • Most importantly though; I have become energized about teaching!  I am not alone and nor should I be.  Reach out and there are people who will learn with you, teach with you, and go with you on your journey.  I can’t wait to start the school year and create PLN’s for my students.

In the last 9 days, I have discovered that there is a whole world out there waiting to join me on this crazy teaching ride and they all have the time to talk.  I cannot hide behind the excuse of not having time to collaborate anymore now that I can do it in a matter of 10 minutes of skimming the tweets from my PLN.
All I can say is; this is what 9 days with a PLN did for one teacher in a district, imagine a year with 10 teachers or 100 teachers.  Where will it take us all?

technology

10 uses for Voki

Pernille Ripp
So I stumbled across Voki during one of my check ins with Twitter and my creative juices have been flowing. Here are my first 10 ideas for how to implement it in my room:

1. Have students introduce themselves to each other during the first week of school
2. Use it to deliver my morning message to the students
3. For shy students use to read haiku’s or other poetry aloud – or really any (short) writing
4. Introduce new vocabulary in science and math
5. For student created podcasts (we do one named “Guess that Cow”)
6. To introduce main characters in student created stories
7. My ELL students can use it to help them with pronunciation of vocabulary
8. After biography unit, have them create a character that tells facts about their researched person
9. Email them to our penpals asking them questions about their loves.
10. To share book reviews of favorite books read
These are just some of my beginning ideas, have any to add? Please do so in the comment sections.
Be the change, building community, PLN

Get Out of the Way!

Pernille Ripp
This past Monday, an article was published in our local newspaper in which I was quoted; a huge moment in my brief teaching career. The article was a narrative of a field trip we took in which we had one of my students, who is a paraplegic, backpacked into an underground cave. Being his teacher, I was heralded as a solution-maker prompting many friends and acquaintances to praise me and my efforts to include all students. While the praise is wonderful it was not completely justifiable, for the credit for this solution in inaccessibility was not mine.

That honor goes to Miss Anma, our fearless physical therapist who has worked with this child ever since he entered our school. It was her words in September when we first discussed this end of the year quintessential 4th grade field trip, “How about we backpack him in?” Up until then, the solution was to not go the cave and rather go somewhere else, thus disappointing a whole set of 4th graders. You see this field trip is epic and is the definition of finishing 4th grade. Students talk about it on the first day of school and write about it as their favorite field trip before they have even gone. We knew from the start that my student’s wheelchair would not be able to go into the cave and so we resigned ourselves that this year we would go somewhere else. Until Anma spoke up. “Yeah,” I said, “why not put him in a backpack?” laughing a little at the idea but nevertheless not standing in the way of it.
Permissions were granted, a carrier was found who was willing to carry this 90 pound boy around for an hour in a makeshift backpack, training was had for the ordeal. And the whole time, I just got out of the way. The field trip was a massive success cherished by all involved. Posters have been made in my district with pictures of the boy in the backpack and a title “Nothing is Impossible.” Hallmark would be proud. Accolades have been given, satisfied shoulder pats and misty eyes all around. And yet, the true teaching moment for me came when Anma hugged me and said, “Thank you so much for all of your support and help with this.” All I could answer back was but I didn’t help or support; I merely got out of the way so that you could do your job. And that was my biggest lesson; get out of the way so that others can get to work. Why make it harder for everyone else when they are there to help educate just as much as you are. So the praise for this adventure should not fall to me, but rather to a ingenious, compassionate physical therapist who dared to dream up a wonderful solution knowing that I would get out of her way.
Be the change, curriculum, Student-centered, technology

I Am So Sick of Grammar Packets

Pernille Ripp
Part of 4th grade’s curriculum at my school are grammar packets, or some sort of grammar lesson every week to ensure that students know the difference between verbs, nouns, adjectives and so forth. The idea of wrapping the lesson in a packet format meant less time needed to teach; all I had to do was introduce the various exercises and then assign the homework. Students would get a week to finish and then we moved on to the next topic. At the end of the year, after several eye rolls and disheartened moans from students when they realized it was time for grammar, lightning struck. Of course they hate grammar packets – I do too.

You see, packets can be fine when we need something to grade. However, if I am looking for a true learning experience, I cannot just assign something and then leave the students to their own devices. Learning must be shared, not handed out with a deadline. One student actually loved the packet; it was manageable, she knew that if she spelled everything correctly she would receive a good grade and most of the stuff she remembered from years prior. Some students saw them as a dreaded chore that they lumbered through and were happy with the grade they got. And then there were the kids that really needed to learn the grammar. Those kids lost the packet, would not realize they had lost it until the night before and would therefore hand in a half-finished product sometimes with pages missing, usually with the wrong answers because they had not understood the directions and had had no one to turn to for help. Those kids, the ones that really needed to learn, were not being given any favors by me or the packet.
Another aspect of the packet was the sheer number of points that I assigned to them; after all if a students was going to slave away over 5 pages of work then the points needed to be a reflection of that. Again, great for the students who had no problems with the topic or had help at home. Detrimental for the not so fortunate students. We don’t give a separate grammar grade in 4th grade, we lump it under writing. And yes, understanding and using correct grammar is a vital step to being an accomplished writer, but the point value was so high that the packets counted toward a bigger piece of their grade than their actual writing. One student who was a very creative writer and used verbs and nouns correctly, could not identify them in a packet, even with help. But his ears told him how a sentence should sound so how do you grade that?
So under the constraints of having to teach grammar, I started to ponder, then how? We have a grammar book available which is kind of like the packet, except in a book form. So I knew that the book would not be my solution. The book does offer one thing though which is what the topics are that need to be taught, so that’s a help. A solution came form an article I read, which I regretfully did not bookmark, in which the teacher described handing digital cameras to her students and having them search for nouns, verbs etc throughout the school. Now that is hands-on-learning. While not every grammar topic lends itself to the digital image – difference between an action verb and a helping verb as an example- this represents a start for me. A new idea where students are assigned a quest and they have to represent their answer somehow to their fellow students. I set up the learning, we discuss it and then with scaffolding, off they go. I only have my own digital camera but I am hoping to write grants for more or to come up with other methods for teaching the fundamentals of writing. Using Wordia and Voki keeps popping into my thoughts as well. Anyone out there with other thoughts or ideas? I refuse to believe I am the only one trying to escape packets.
Be the change, reflection, students

The One I Couldn’t Save

Pernille Ripp
I am new educator, only 2 1/2 years under my belt and so I am an idealist. I still believe that I can save the world; one child at a time. Sure, some teachers share that belief but wiser or more grounded teachers may shake their heads. It is a belief I hold in high regards for how I approach my classroom and yet this year taught me a little too soon that sometimes, no matter what you do, and who you reach out to; you cannot save them all.

An irritated mother approached me on orientation day with a nice looking boy in tow; she introduced herself and then the child, who was to be one of my students, let’s call him Peter. We chatted for as bit and I tried to share my hopes for the coming 4th grade year, mom quickly shook her head and told me, “Good luck with this one, he doesn’t care about anything.” The boy’s smile quickly faded and I was dumbstruck. Wow – usually parents share their concerns privately, never in front of the child we are trying to teach. I shrugged it off, vowing that the parent’s obvious frustration with her child would not leach into my relationship with him.
Once school started, it was clear that Peter was very depressed, riddled with anxiety, and so defiant that even tasks he had looked forward to were greeted with an immediate refusal when asked to participate. As I watched him slip further into the grips of depression; strange behaviors cropped up and finally suicidal thoughts were spoken of. Medications were changed, counselors were called, conference upon conference with the parents were had. I tried to engage Peter in all of our discussions; after all it was his life we were debating. And yet, when asked what he would prefer the answer was a shrug and an “I don’t know.” However, I was not going to give up, after all this is what I am born to do – change lives.
What do you do when the life you are trying to change does not want to be changed? I tried all the tricks I could think of; we praised, we had behavior charts, we took away homework, we stressed therapy, and constantly met with my team to discuss new options. Nothing worked. He participated less and less and became a massive distraction to the rest of the class. Toward the end of the year he was often in the office, were he had asked to be put so that he did not have to be in the classroom. On the last day of school he was suspended at 11 AM for inappropriate internet behavior and his dad came and picked him up; the disappointment showing like a banner held high.
School has now been out almost 2 weeks and yet he is the one I keep coming back to in my thoughts. How did I fail him as well, just as those who had come before me? Why was I not able to reach him? And most importantly, what happens now? How will this affect me in the coming years? There are students we never forget, no matter whether we want to or not. I will not forget Peter, sure the worry about his well-being will ease over time, but the wondering will not…I still believe that I can save the world one child at a time but maybe that is just an illusion.
being a teacher

So why blog? And why now?

Pernille Ripp

Blogging can appear self-indulgent at times, yet inspirational at others. Being a teacher is not just a job, it can be an all consuming, never-ending thought process. Wherever I go; whatever I do, I am constantly thinking about whether this is something that can be used in my classroom – can I use this? It is different world view that one never gets quite used to, and sometimes it can be annoying to those close to you, and yet I would not change my life for anything.

To stay current and gain even more inspiration, I read blogs, I comment on them, I share the good ones. So now it is my turn to add my voice to the ever-growing world of bloggers. I hope I have something valuable to say.