Can We Have Courageous Conversations With Our Principals?

I am always struck by passion of the principals I meet in my travels and this weekend, at EdCamp MadWI, was no different.  I was in many frank conversations with principals who had questions for me or just had really amazing ideas.  Their passion for their staff and the betterment of their school poured out of them.  As I returned to school today, I wondered; where are those conversations between teachers and principals in our buildings?  What holds us back as teachers in starting frank and honest discussions with our very own principals on a regular basis?  Fear?  Apprehension of misunderstanding?  Past poor experiences?  Or is it simply time and a strictness of protocol?  Do our home schools have a power hierarchy that we cannot bridge in the same way we do at EdCamps?  Do we walk around our schools afraid of having courageous conversations with those closest to us?

I think it is time we start those courageous conversations with our administrators.  It is time for us to realize and acknowledge that our principals were teachers once as well, and that they too functioned under a principal, with every self doubt that implies.  It is time for us to not be afraid and to speak to our principals and administrators the way they deserve to be spoken to; as human beings rather than just our bosses.

I know I fall victim to stereotypes myself;  assuming that someone in a principal job does not want feedback, does not want ideas, does not want honest discussion.  I am not sure where this idea started from but it seems to permeate many schools.  Perhaps the very role of principal means there is a glass wall between us.  Perhaps it is their sheer busyness that creates a natural distance.  I am not sure but we must discuss, we must reflect, and we must have conversations that push the boundaries much like we would with our colleagues because even though principals are in leadership positions they are still our colleagues as well.

While I know many principals tread water all day, floating from one fire to another, there are still many moments for us to discuss and reflect together.  I think we need to bridge that unspoken gap that exists between teachers and principals and somehow find a way to grow together, rather than the more typical path of us versus them.  We must approach our every day as we would an edcamp; there to learn, there to think, there to connect.  It is time we give our principals a fair chance.

So We Ran an EdCamp and What Did We Learn?

Yesterday was one of the "Oh my gosh I can't believe it is finally here" kind of days with the coming of EdcampMadWI - or EdCamp Madison as we preferred to call it.  After many months of thinking, hard work, and definitely team work, the day came and passed in such a blur, it felt as if it was my wedding day.  The same nerves of anticipation and then a blur of people to speak to, thank, and even a presentation or two and then it was over and with just great memories to look back upon.  So while there are many posts out there on how to plan your Edcamp, I thought I would offer up a few smaller lessons we learned along the way.

• Think small.  This idea started out with Jess having a lunch time conversation and then grew from there.  Our core team was 4 people; Jess (@jhenze44), Kaye (@MiddleLevelEd), Emily (@MsDittmar) and myself.  That was it, and it was nice.  Because we knew it was just us 4 people taking care of most things, we also knew explicitly who was going to take care of what and when.  Accountability was there and that to me was half the battle.
• Create a Google group just for the organizers.  This way all emails get archived and it is easy to find.  Saved us so much time.
• Tell sponsors specifically what they should sponsor.  We started out soliciting sponsors by just asking for something, toward the end, we were asking for specific items to be covered.  This worked much better than just crossing your fingers and hoping for something good.
• Ask other edcamp planners for help.  I was lucky enough to be able to ask many great people for advice; @mbteach - one of the original founders of edcamp and @TamL17, one of the edcamp Milwaukee planners.  They have done it before and thus know exactly what to do or not do.
• Think outside of education.  We had many local sponsors like Market Street Diner that wanted to help even though they have nothing to do with education, so don't be afraid to ask.
• Trust your volunteers.  Kaye was phenomenal at recruiting volunteers and then overseeing them, but truth is, many of our volunteers knew exactly what needed to get done without being told.  So get quality people and then trust them to do their thing.
• Make goodybags.  We had a lot of stickers, pens, app codes etc to hand out to people but rather than raffle it all off which would have taken a long time, we instead created 49 goodybags.  20 were handed out to the first 20 people that proposed a session and then 29 were raffled off during lunch.  At the end of the day we then only had some major prizes to give away rather than tons of stuff.
• Set an example.  I proposed a session on blogging, Jess did one on Evernote, and Emily did one on 20% projects.  We found the time to do it and were still able to run the edcamp, it can be done.
• Don't marry your schedule.  We had set a preliminary schedule but our opening took a lot less time than we anticipated so we had 1 1/2 hours for our first session instead of waiting for it to began.  You run the edcamp; you can change the rules.
• Meet people.  I purposely tried to meet as many people as possible this time around rather than just stick to the few I know.  I have never had so many great discussions about a variety of topics.  Because you are an organizer you will be busier but also more visible  take that opportunity to reach out to others and engage them in conversations.
• Wear sensible shoes.  I wore my teaching shoes which happened to have a higher heel and then I rolled my ankle before the day began.  Ouch.  So next time, yup, I will be the one in sneakers.

Being an organizer of this EdCamp really deepened my love for this type of professional development even more.  I now know exactly how much work goes into this "easy" day of learning and also how much its success depends on the excitement of its organizers and attendants.  So in the end, we are happy to say that there will be a second annual #EdCampMadWI.

Introducing The Style Teacher

As some of you may know, and others may have an idea; I love fashion.  But I am teacher so that in itself presents quite the conundrum   I cannot dress like someone out of a magazine because I have to be able to get on the floor and get kind of messy.  I also have to stay warm because I live in Wisconsin which to this Danish girl feels like Antarctica at times.

Having 3 kids and being sleep deprived most of the time thanks to the 4 year old also means that it would be really easy to just not care about what I wear, but I do, so I started a fashion blog a couple of years ago.  Because why not show the world how huge I get while pregnant with twins or chalk up some of my more adventurous outfits?

Not that fashion blog; poor og rich, has to move to Wordpress and with it comes a new name and a new look, The Style Teacher.

So while my main goal will always be teaching, I have decided that it is ok to try to look good while doing it.    Judge for yourself at The Style Teacher. 

Should Teachers Ever Apologize for the Damage We Do?

"...Peter*...What am I?  Chopped liver?"  And with these words the boy that changed me turns around and gives me a smile.  It is the annual PTO carnival at my school and he has come back with a friend to see his old stomping grounds.

I stand there not quite knowing what to say, feeling like I should apologize and tell him how much having him in my classroom changed the way I teach.  How I am sorry for not changing sooner, for realizing that punishment and rewards was not going to help motivate.  For not giving up on homework he was not in a state of mind to complete  For not treating him as a child and more like a product.  I don't know where to start and so I don't.

"How are you?"  I say
"Good..." and he smiles again.
"How is school?"
"Really good..."
And I smile.
"I am proud of you, do you know that?"I stammer out.
He smiles, shrugs and nods.
"Good to see you..." and I release him back to his friend.

The words left unspoken rattle me and I turn to a colleague, "If he only knew how much he means to me.  How much having him changed everything for me."  Perhaps it is just not something you tell a middle school boy.

When do we as teachers apologize for the way we teach?  When do we apologize to the students we failed to reach?  Do we ever or is it part of the nature of teaching, that we wont be able to reach them all?  Do we ever own up to our previous ways or do we just carry it with us hoping it will push us forward and never teach that way again?

Would Peter have cared if I apologized or simply shrugged and nodded as must middle school boys do? I don't know.

*Name changed for obvious reasons

image from icanread

Related articles

• Must We Be Passionate Readers to Teach Reading? (pernilleripp.com)

Do Kids Really Want an Intervention? Do We Care to Ask Them?

I think I may have interventioned some kids to death.  Not an easy thing to admit but it needs admitting.  In the trend for differentiated instruction and a test to discover every shortcoming a child could possibly have, my students know and dread the word intervention.  I dose them, specialists double dose them, and sometimes when things get really rough, they even get a triple dose.  Call it reading help, call it math support, call it what you will, but I wonder if some of these kids don't need a break from all of our help?

Imagine being a child who comes in with certain knowledge lacking.  Perhaps they have moved many times.  Perhaps they have a learning disability.  Perhaps they just hate reading.  Or perhaps they can't help what they don't know.  We test and discover the holes, we meet and discuss the gaps, we then plan and set up all of the things we now shall do to the child.  Often without ever asking them or wondering how they will feel when they get pulled out.  We teach them strategies, we fill their brains with more methods, more knowledge, more understanding, hoping to find the one that makes it all make sense.  They lose class time but we know we have to sacrifice something.  They lose reading time because they are in the group we meet with as much as possible.  We hover and constantly ask, "Does it make sense?"  All in the hope to help them.

I don't mean to suggest we shouldn't intervene but perhaps we should ask them how they feel about all of the things we do to them.  How do they feel about their labels that we are not supposed to have put on them?  How do they feel about the pull out?  The extra attention?  The extra people that they get to work with?  Most kids just go along, but perhaps we should ask them.  Perhaps they need a break t ojust be a kid, like all the other kids in the classroom, and perhaps they just need some time.

Related articles

• No Homework - 2 Years Later (pernilleripp.com)
• How To Start a Reading Revolution, Perhaps (pernilleripp.com)

I Make Them Blog But Do They Want To?

image from icanread

For three years I have assumed that my students loved blogging.  For three years I have assumed that they wanted to share their thoughts with the world, be role models for others, and have many people comment.  I have tweeted about it, I have blogged about it, and I have presented about it.  I have held up their work as pictures of exemplary blogging and I have pushed them to share, reflect, and bare their souls.  Never did I stop to ask them if they wanted to.  Never did I take my own advice to give the students a voice and ask them how they felt.

Today I did.  I had opened up their Kidblog, noticed a few kids that had not done the weekly blogging challenge and I got upset.  After all, how much more time could I possible give them to blog?  How many more opportunities to get it done with?  Then I realized that perhaps they didn't want to.  One child for sure did not since he had told me pretty much every day, but the others I had no idea about and the truth is, I had never asked.  I had just assumed they loved it as much as I did.

So today I stepped back and asked them if they wanted to blog.  I told them it was their discussion to have and that I would await their answer.  And I meant it to, as much as I love blogging and it is something I am incredibly proud of, I no longer want to push them into something that is so open without them being ok with it.   So I sat back, slightly on pins and needles, and just waited to hear their thoughts.

At first hesitant chatter but then a student took charge and told everyone to sit in a circle and they would all share their opinion.  One by one they got their chance to speak and one by one they were listened to.

...I love to blog because I love writing for other people than Mrs. Ripp...
...I love blogging because we can talk to other kids...
...I love blogging because I have no social life...
...I love to blog because people care about what we say...

In the end they decided they wanted to keep blogging.  They wanted to share, to reflect, to discuss.  They wanted me to read it but they also wanted others to discuss their lives with them.

When they had decided and told me, I added only these thoughts:
...I love when you blog because I get to see your growth as writers...
...I love when you blog because you are considerate writers and others can use you as role models...

But most importantly, I love when you blog because it allows me to get to know you better.  We have such little time in the classroom but blogging allows us to connect even more, and I am grateful for that.  So thank you for sharing, for growing, and for writing.  My students are bloggers; not just because I tell them to be but because they want to be.  And for that I am thankful.

If you would like to visit them, please leave them a comment and tell us where you are from - we map all of our connections, wont you be one of ours?


Epilogue:  Two days after I wrote this post I asked my students what the students who chose not to blog should do.  After another student-led group discussion, they decided as a class that any students that chooses not to blog will do a weekly journal prompt to me instead.  They felt that since they were writing as bloggers and sharing their thoughts with the whole world, that others who chose not to should have to do the same but only to me.  I stand by their decision and look forward to seeing who will blog or not.

Having A Classroom Library is Not Enough

image from icanread

If I had squinted my eyes, I am sure I could have seen the dust.  Looking at my classroom library, I knew something had to be done; those books were not making it into the hands of students and I think I knew what was missing; me.

I had expected that if I stocked the library with a lot of books that students would flock to it, eager to browse all of the titles.  I thought if I labeled everything in meticulous bins that the labels would grab their interest.  I thought if I turned a few books out the students would snag them up.  I was wrong.

Having a lot of books meant exactly that;  I had a lot of books.  Having bins meant students put books back into them, however most of the time it was not the right bin.  Turning books out meant students did the same rather than put books back where they belonged.

And there was no love in my library, there was no excitement, just books in baskets hoping someone would read them.  I didn't introduce the library, I didn't sell it, I didn't visit it.  It was just a corner of our room.

Not anymore.  Now the library is busy.  Books are flipped through.  Bins are pulled out on the floor.  Books are taken when they are turned out.  What changed?  Me.  I made it a point to talk about the library.  I made it a point to pull bins out and show students stacks of books they might love.  I made a big deal of placing new books into the library, showing book trailers, sharing my review, asking for guest reviewers.  The library is now something we cherish and uphold.  Students from other rooms borrow books from it as well, they know they can probably find something.

Gone is the dust, gone are the broken bins and broken spines.  Instead books and lots of love; for reading, for sharing, and for exploring.

How To Do Mystery Skype

This month, I was excited to have an article published in "Learning & Leading" on how to do a Mystery Skype call.  This exciting way to practice geography sills has been an almost weekly occurrence in our room this year and one which I hope many others will try as well.

Excerpt follows:

It is time for my students to guess where the class they are meeting for the first time via Skype is located.

“Is it North Carolina?”

There is silence in the classroom as my fifth graders crane their necks toward the screen.

“No!” shouts the voice from the computer speakers, and my students scramble back together. A buzz of “What could it be then?” envelops them.

This is what it sounds like when 23 students engage in what is known as Mystery Skype. The idea is incredibly simple, but the unfolding of the idea can be downright magical. When else can you see students using all of their background knowledge, tech savvy, and common sense just to figure out where someone is in the world?

 To read the rest of the article, please enjoy "Learning & Leading."

They Send Me the Angry Ones

I tend to get the angry ones.  You know the ones; they shout, kick, fume and hold their jaw just so, hoping you will push them over that cliff.  They show up in my room all smiles and ready to go but within a day or two, I see something else, that torrent of emotion, that distrust that has consumed their whole school experience, just waiting to unleash on me.  So I smile, and I trust, and I go home and think about what I will do with this angry child who needs me more than others.

I didn't know I would be ok with the angry ones at first, but I am.  In fact, my first year of teaching I got one of the angriest ones I have ever met and I loved that child like he was my own.  Now I don't worry when I see the file, the reports, the suspensions and recommendations, because I know what has happened in the past will stay there and together we will carve a new path.  And I smile laugh rather than yell even when my very last button has been pushed and pushed and pushed because in the end that is all there is to do.  That child already has enough anger for the both of us.

So the angry ones keep on coming and they bring new stories of broken relationships and reasons why school just isn't for them.  And we listen, and we nod, and we take note and look for that kid that is still in there somewhere.  And we hope that they leave us a little less angry, a little more trusting, a little more ready for the next step in life.  In the end, that is all we can do; hope and believe.  Hope we must because the angry ones needs us as well and believe we have to because someone has to believe that there is still a chance.  Even for the angry ones.