being a teacher, books

Some New (To Me) Must Add Middle Grade Novels

Pernille Ripp

I love back to school; the excitement in the air, the untested new ideas, the fear, the thrill.  All of these things put a pep in my step.  And yet, there is one major downfall to back to school; less time to read.  I have luxuriated in books this summer.  Gone days with no TV where I could be found under the covers needing to read just one more page.  My books read display at school shares the tale of a summer filled with amazing reads that now I cannot wait to book talk.  So what have been some of the best middle grade novels I have read lately?

The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen is a fantastic page turner.  Much like Jennifer made me fall in love with The False Prince (still one of our most loved series even in 7th), I too fell in love with Ani and Weevil and the trouble they cause.  This is an accessible book, many reading confidences will be able to get sucked in and stay sucked in as the action springs from page to page, and yet, it is also a book that speaks of human relationships, of deep commitments to each other.  My only disappointment with this book is that it is not a series; I would have loved for the story to keep on going because it is that good.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill was one of my last reads of the previous school year, and yet I still book talked and had one student read it in two days before the final day.  His face when he came back told me all I needed to know, “It was so good, Mrs. Ripp.”  And I agree.    With one of the best first chapters I have read in a long time and the most incredible language, this is a book you give to those kids that want to sink into a world of magic, destiny, and a quest.  Kelly’s storytelling is masterful and I would be incredibly surprised if this book does not end up on a lot of “best of…” lists.

I don’t read dog books, ask any of my students, and yet this year there have been an incredible slew of dog books to prove me wrong.  Lynn Plourde’s Maxi’s Secrets steals your heart from the very first chapter.  Just like Maxi quickly brings love and life back into the lives of the characters of the books, so does he for us.  I gave this book 5 stars when I read it and it still stands out as a 5 star book to me.  This is one of those books that make us thankful that there are writers out there that so gets what it means to be new, what it means to try to fit in and what it means to love something like a dog.

I have sung the praises of MiNRS by Kevin Sylverster since it came out lat year and so when I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of its sequel, MiNRS2, I knew this was a book I had to start right away.  I was not disappointed.  Kevin Sylvester masterfully picks up on the cliffhanger he left us on and takes this tale of kids surviving a devastating attack on a far away space colony to new heights.  This page turner is sure to have readers wanting to read just one more page and then much like me, eagerly await the third book.  Does it really have to be so far away?  This comes out October 11th.

While I have not finished Wish by Barbara O’Connor yet, I know I will later today because I have to find out what happens to Charlie as she tries for a new start, albeit grudgingly.  The characters pull you right in as does the story.  How many of us can relate to feeling displaced?  To being angry?  To feeling all alone?  Barbara O’Connor is a master storyteller and shines in her latest book.

My students have been obsessed with free verse novels the past year.  It is hard not to be when some of the greatest books are being published in this format.  So when I was gifted a copy of A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman and noticed that this was not only a book written in free verse, but also represented  a cultural view that most of my students have not been exposed I knew I had to read it.  So I fell into the pages of the story of Veda and her dreams of becoming a dancer.  Wrapped in the beautiful world of India, I found myself reaching for my iPad as I read wanting to understood more fully all of the culture that was being shared in the pages.  It was a beautiful reading experience and one that I am thrilled I can pass on to my students.  One that I know will catch many of them too as they cheer for Veda and find connections between themselves and the story unfolding before them.  For too long my classroom library has not had enough multicultural diversity in its text, this books a small step toward rectifying that, and a beautiful one at that.

Nora Raleigh Baskin’s book Ruby on the Outside was a book that I said all libraries should own because it told a story that some our children live every day; a parent incarcerated.  Her latest book Nine, Ten: A 9/11 Story is another must own, must read, must share, must discuss.  Written delicately, yet honest, it follows four different children on the days leading up to what we know as 9/11.  The four stories means that we get four different perspectives of that day, of what it meant to be an American after the event.  I love the four different perspectives because they mirror so well how we felt as a country; fractured but together.  All with our own experiences coloring how we viewed the event.  This book is a must add to your library as we continue to try to teach such a historic and frail moment.  It is appropriate for young students, but my 7th graders also love it (I was gifted an advanced review copy).  I am grateful to the authors that are giving me the tools to make our future understand why we changed so much as a nation, why we are the way we are now.  How we came together as a country, even though these days, that seems like a long lost memory.  Perhaps books like this will help us remember how alike we all are, rather than how different.  One can only hope.

To see all of our other favorites, please go here 

being a teacher, Literacy, Reading, Reading Identity, student choice, Student dreams, student driven, Student Engagement, student voice, Student-centered

How to Create Empowered Readers – A Beginning

Pernille Ripp

The sniffles started almost immediately.  Small choking noises came soon.  Then full out wails, tears, and gasps.  Theadora, our oldest daughter, was a mess as we drove home from Chicago today.  What had caused this sudden crying?  The end of Harry Potter Book seven.  The end of our 9 month journey accompanied by the ever amazing Jim Dale and the audio books of Harry Potter.  I was wistful myself to tell you the truth.  As I tried to console our distraught daughter,  I couldn’t help but feel slightly pleased, after all, isn’t this exactly the type of relationship that we hope our children, our students, have with books?  One that makes you want to cry, or laugh, or scream in frustration?  One that allows you to feel so intimately attached to something not created by yourself?  To feel the gratitude of brilliant writing and a long journey along with an author’s imagination?  To feel the loss of characters and of story as a book series finishes?

Yet, how many of our students have never experienced this type of sadness?  How many of our students have not experienced what is means to complete a series that one has become so invested in that it feels like the loss of a family member once the last page has been read?  How many years has it been for some, if at all, since they truly loved a book?  While we cannot change the past, we do have control over the now, over what happens in our classrooms. Over what happens from the moment they enter to the moment they leave.  And with that power comes an immense responsibility to empower our students, to offer them a chance at an incredible relationship with reading once again or for the very first time.  While it may start with having them choose their own books, this is not the only place students need more control to be empowered and passionate readers.

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Book choice.  This fundamental right to choose what you read is one that is so often taken away from our students because we want to help them develop as readers.   Yet when a child is not a  allowed to choose the very text they are asked to engage with, we give them little room for an emotional attachment.  How many of us adults will willingly invest in something we have been told to read?  So while we can expose and recommend, we must create classrooms where student choice is the norm, not the exception.  Where we help students find that next great book in order for them to become independent book selectors so that they can leave our classrooms knowing that they do not need us.  Not in the same way as they did in the beginning.  Where wild book abandonment is the norm and not something you need permission for.  Where indifference rules when a book is given up because we know that a new book awaits.  If we truly want students to feel in control of their reading identities then giving them the choice over which book to read is the very least we must do.

Book truths.  If we do not know what we are up against, then we can never change their minds.  This has been a mantra of mine since I started asking my students all sorts of things about their education.  So every year, and throughout the year, we continuously discuss how we feel about reading (and writing).  I never dismiss their truths, nor try to correct them.  It is not my job to tell them how they should feel, but it is my job to hopefully create a better experience for them.  I cannot do that well if students do not trust me, trust the community, and trust themselves and also trust the fact that perhaps how they feel about reading right now, if it is negative in any way, is something that can be changed.  (Yes, growth mindset at work here).  So ask them how they really feel and then truly listen, because it is when we listen, we can actually do something about it.

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Student post-it’s cover our whiteboard, our very first discussion of why we like reading or not from Friday.

 

Book Tasks.  Just Friday I was asked how many book summaries we would do this year.  I must have looked perplexed, because another student quickly added, “You know, write a summary every time we finish a book?”  I assured them that while we would work on summarizing, it would not be on every book, nor even books mostly.  Instead we discussed what we want to do when we finish a book; discuss with others, pass it on, perhaps forget all about it.  We must give our students control over what they do with a book once it has been finished.  We must allow them to explore ways to communicate their emotions with a book and certainly still develop as thinkers.  I keep thinking how I want our students to have choices every few weeks as we advance our reading; review, conversations, written ponderings, perhaps a summary, perhaps a video.  The point is, I am not sure at this point what we shall do once we finish a book because it depends on what the students would like to do.  I do not ever want to implement a task that makes a child slow down their reading or stop it altogether just because the task attached to it is horrific in their eyes.  So when we plan our reading tasks make sure that the long-term effects are not unwanted.  Make sure that it actually plays into our bigger picture; students who actually like to read, and does not harm this.

Book Selection.  While choice is of utmost importance, so is the way books are selected.  Too often we schedule in book shopping time for when it is convenient to us, forgetting that all students need books at different times.  Selecting a book is a also something that must be taught, even in middle school, because many students still have a hard time finding a book.  We therefore discuss how to bookshop, which yes, includes, judging a book by its cover, and then we take the time it takes.  If we really want students to wander among great books then we must give them time for that wandering and we must embrace the social aspect that comes along with it.  After all it is this book loving community that should sustain student reading after they have left our classrooms.

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How many students would say the exact same thing?

Book Access.  While I cannot continue to purchase books at the rate I have been due to a change in our household, I know that one of the biggest reasons many of our students end up identifying as readers is because of the sheer volume of books they have access to both in our classroom library and in our school library.  Kids need books at their finger tips at all times.  Much like they must have time to book shop when they need it, they also need to be able to book shop right in our classrooms.  When a child is obviously lost, we or other classmates can jump in.  When a child is only pretending to bookshop we can offer guidance.  We cannot control how many books our students go home to, but we can make sure that whenever they are in our classrooms; the books are plentiful.

Book Time.  Providing students time to read in our classes is one of the biggest ways we can signal to students that reading really matters.  After all, it is what we give our time to that must be the most important.  So whether it is only 10 minutes, like I provide every day, our a longer amount of time; time for reading in class is essential.  Otherwise, how will we ever know that they are truly reading because anyone can forge a reading log.  The time for reading should be just that, not time for tasks or post-its.  Not time for partner discussions or writing.  Reading, in all its glorious quiet.  In all its glorious discovery.

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While the above areas may seem so commonsense, perhaps it is their commonsense-ness that makes us forget to implement them all.  It seems so obvious and yet… how many of us have told a child what to read (I have!).  How many of us have asked students to create task upon task after they finished a book (I have!).  How many of us have asked students to bookshop at a certain time and for a certain amount of time and wondered why they came up empty-handed (I have!).  The point is really that we have the choice to empower our students.  That we have the choice to show our students that their reading identity and developing it is a major part of our curriculum even if the standard does not cover it.  Even if the test does not measure it.  Because we know that at the end of the day we are not just teaching students that should be college and career ready, but instead are teaching human beings that should grow as human beings in our classrooms.  I may not be able to change every child’s mind when it comes to books and reading, but I will go in there every day trying, because my hope will always that they too will someday cry when they realize that a series has ended.

I am currently working on a new literacy book.  While the task is daunting and intimidating, it is incredible to once again get to share the phenomenal words of my students as they push me to be a better teacher.  The book, which I am still writing, is tentatively Passionate Readers and will be published in the summer of 2017 by Routledge.  So until then if you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

administration, being a teacher, new year, principal

A Letter from My Principal for the New School Year

Pernille Ripp

If you have ever spoken to me about the amazing district I work for, Oregon School District in Wisconsin, chances are you will have heard tales of how amazing our principal, Shannon Anderson, is.  Shannon is a huge reason to why I am a seventh grade teacher, she is the reason many of us love our school, and she is also the type of principal that I wish every single educator could have.  The following blog is her welcome back letter to us, it moved me, I hope it will move you, and I am so grateful that she allowed me to share it here.

Twenty-two years ago I was a first year teacher at Verona Area High School. There was more than one occasion that first year when I paused during class in a moment of panic and thought to myself, “Why in the world did someone actually entrust me with this classroom full of students? I have no idea what I am doing!” I was teaching five different classes in four different classrooms. I was planning lessons the night before, I was afraid of parents, and I had crazy grading practices (Why not give extra credit for bringing in boxes of Kleenex? I needed Kleenex boxes!). I look back on that first year of teaching and cringe.

That same year Jacklyn Keller was a ninth grade student in my Art Foundations class. She drew with confidence and grace. I remember her maturity and inquisitive nature. Jacklyn took several classes with me while in high school, and she never ceased to amaze me with her artistic skills and insightful observations about art-making and life in general.  Sometimes when I stop to pause and reflect on my former life as a high school teacher, Jacklyn is one of the students that brings a smile to my face.

Several weeks ago, I was attending Literacy by the Lakes, a three-day conference for Wisconsin teachers sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On the first day, I noticed a woman sitting in front of me that looked like Jacklyn. I tried to read her name tag every time she passed me, but I could not read it. Finally, I gathered up the courage to ask her if she ever attended school in Verona. Before the words were even out of my mouth, she exclaimed, “Ms. Roper, it is you! You were my favorite teacher in high school!” (Yes, Ms. Roper was my maiden name.) I was stunned for a minute. I was stunned because it was indeed Jacklyn. I was stunned because she actually remembered me. But I was even more stunned that I was her favorite teacher from high school. Sure, I remember having a good relationship with her when she was in high school, but I never thought I was her favorite.

Jacklyn, a former high school teacher, is now a elementary school librarian in Madison. During our short conversation, it was clear to me that she is passionate about the learners she serves and committed to making learning engaging and successful. As we ended our conversation, I was a bit overwhelmed with the sense of pride I felt. Jacklyn was no longer the amazing teenager I remembered; she is now a passionate and successful educator.

During the 2016-17 school year, you will touch the lives of hundreds of students like Jacklyn. The relationships you develop with them will likely last longer in their memories than the curriculum or lessons you teach them. Some students will let you know how much you mean to them, and some will not. In fact, in many cases you will likely never know the impact you will have on their lives. I think that is one of the most amazing things about dedicating your life to education: you can make a difference every single day and not even realize it. Something you do or say can change students’ thinking. You can inspire them to take risks. You can encourage them when they are ready to to give up. You can help them to see something within themselves they cannot yet see. You can expose them to new possibilities. You can help them turn mistakes into opportunities. But most importantly, you can show them you love and care for them.

Looking back, I acknowledge the fact that I did not have much of clue about curriculum, assessment, best practices, engaging lessons, or communication with parents that first year of teaching. However, my brief reunion with Jacklyn reminded me of Maya Angelou’s words: “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” Even though I had a lot to learn about teaching as a first year teacher, I was able to develop some positive relationships with my students that made a difference.

As we prepare to welcome students back into our learning spaces (at OMS), I want to thank you in advance for the impact you will have on their lives. You will make a difference every single day!

Be the change, being a teacher, being me

Perhaps This Will Be the Year

Pernille Ripp

May we never be the reason that a child hates school...

Perhaps I will have bad days this year.  Perhaps I will have a lot.

Perhaps I will not reach them all, nor even know when I am not.

Perhaps this will be the year that I will think of in years to come when I tell the stories of all of the things I should not have done.  Of all the mistakes.  Of all the failures.

Perhaps this will be the year of tears, of doubt and anger as I drive home eager to leave it behind.

Perhaps this will be the year where I rethink everything, much like I have in the past, but not because I want to but because nothing works.

Perhaps this is the year where all of my school nightmares actually do come true and I will have no control, nor any desire to keep on teaching.

Or…

Perhaps this will be the year where more of our crazy ideas will actually work.

Where those dreams I had on long summer nights actually happen just like that.

Where every child feels seen.

Where every child feels heard.

Where every child feels they matter.

And this teacher feels the importance of their work.

Perhaps this will be the year that I go home eager to share the stories of the wonderful students I teach and all that they can do, much like I have in the past.

Perhaps this will be the year that I don’t want to end, because this is the year, this is the year…

Perhaps this will be the year that I will always try to duplicate, to pine for when things get tough.

Perhaps this is my year.  The year I have always hoped to have.  Perhaps I will finally be enough.

I just don’t know until it starts and then until it ends.

I just don’t know until they come and we begin.

But I do know that I can choose what year I think I am going to have.  I can choose the perhaps to remember.

I can realize that I can be the difference between a child loving school or hating it and never forgetting that immense responsibility.

Perhaps this will be the year where I cry but also laugh, but I know for a fact that this will be the year where I tried.

Because we always have a choice.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

 

 

 

being a teacher, first day, first week, Student dreams

No Matter

Pernille Ripp

What matters most will always be how they feel when they are with us.

Am I good enough?  Will I be enough?  Will this be a great year?  These thoughts have haunted me this summer.  Perhaps it is because I will start my third year as a teacher of seventh graders.  Perhaps it is because I have eight and a half years under my belt and I have seen what great teaching can look like.  This summer as I have traveled across the country working with fellow educators, I have seen what great teaching can be.

I have spent hours at home reading, learning, listening.  Taking notes and finding ideas.  I have run through scenarios, plotted possible courses.  This week I have spent many hours in our classroom, moving furniture, fixing borders, shelving books, and dreaming.  Dreaming of this year.  Dreaming of what we can accomplish.  Dreaming of the type of teacher I used to be, of the one I want to be.

So no matter how panicked I feel…

No matter the fears…

No matter the dreams, the ideas, the hopes and the wishes…

No matter the furniture, the planning, or even the bulletin boards…

What matters will never be found before school starts.

What matters will never be dreamt in my head.  Concocted with colleagues or pinned for in a book.

What matters will never just be those ideas we came up with, that new thing we are going to try, or even the lessons we spent the most time on.

What matters will always be the kids.

And until they show up all we can do is dream.  Is hope.  Is wish.  Is rest so that when they do arrive we know that all of that sleep lost and all of that time spent planning was worth it.

My friend, Jed Dearbury, says “Love first, teach second,” and he is so right.  Because at the end of the day what matters most is not how much we got done or even how well prepared we were.  What matters is how they feel when they are in our classroom and how we feel as their teachers.  I am waiting for those kids to show up next week so that I finally can feel like a real teacher again.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students.  Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

 

being a teacher, building community, first day, first week, new year

Have You Asked Parents Yet?

Pernille Ripp

 

Give them a chance to tell you about their child...their stories deserve to be heard.

I have 30 more emails to go tonight.  30 more individual responses as a way to reach out.  30 more individual responses as a way to say thank you.  30 more individual responses as a way to plant a seed.  Why so many emails to go?  My team and I teach more than 150 students and every year we ask the parents/guardians to take a beginning of the year survey.  We ask a few simple questions to start to get to know our students more.  To get to know the families more.  To start the relationship that we hope to have with them all year, and every single person that takes the survey deserves to get an email in response.

If you teach younger students, this may be nothing new for you, after all, the parent survey seems to be a pillar of beginning of the year.  Yet, I don’t hear of it often at the middle and high school level. I don’t see many middle or high school teachers discuss their beginning of the year surveys.  Which is such a shame because the information that we get with our few questions is invaluable.  This is how we know that a child may have lost a parent.  This is how we know if a child has had a tough school experience, if they love to read, if they cannot sit still.  If all they hope for is a day full of PE or if they really hope that this is the year that their teachers will like them.  This is how we know if those at home may not like school much and would therefore prefer to not be contacted.

What we have found the last few years is that this small beginning of the year survey is a chance for those at home to know that we value their knowledge of their child.  That we value their commitment to school.  That we value who their child is and the journey they are on, as well as take the role we play very seriously.  We ask them how involved they would like to be to help us gauge their feelings about middle school.  We ask them how they would like to be contacted so those who do not want an email can be called instead. We ask what their goals for their learner is so that we can help them achieve that, not calling it a weakness, but instead having them help us become better teachers.

I know that we often want students to become more independent and not so reliant on those at home, yet a survey is still in place.  What those at home know about their child is worth sharing.  What those at home know about what their learner still needs or strives for is worth hearing.

So if you haven’t done a beginning of the year parent/guardian survey do it now, even if the year has already started.  Ask a few questions, send it out electronically and then hand paper copies to those who do not fill it out.  Send a few reminders and then send a thank you email.  Plant the seed of goodwill that will hopefully carry you throughout the year as you try to create a learning experience that works for every child and every parent/guardian.  Trust me, you will be glad you did.

To see our current parent/guardian survey, go here.  In the past we have also used the standard “What are your hopes and dreams for 7th grade?” but found that this survey gave us more information.

PS:  I think I blog about this every year, but it is because I am blown away every year by the knowledge we receive.