Pernille Ripp's Blog, page 31

On Selecting Better Read Alouds

When the Global Read Aloud was founded, I added the word “Global” because I wanted to connect kids around the world.  I wanted to make the world smaller.  I wanted to bring the world into my 4th-grade classroom in Middleton, Wisconsin, and help my students understand just how many others like them were out in the world.

A few years into the project someone pointed out, in a not so nice way but still, that perhaps the word “Global” should also mean books that weren’t always written by American authors.  That perhaps global also meant global authors, not just global connections.  I stood corrected and have tried as much as possible since then to include authors not from the US.  While distribution problems arise at times when a non-US author is chosen, it is an important part of the project.  Not every child involved lives here, therefore, not every book should be set here.  There is much more to the larger world than just this…

The read aloud is a central part of many classrooms, something that we value for the experience it gives us.  In fact, according to The U.S. Department of Education Commision, the most important activity for building the skills and background for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.  And it should be, reading aloud to our students, at all ages, allows us to not only build community but to build knowledge together.  To dive deep into a text and have rich discussions.  To model what it means to be a reader in thinking and in fluency.  Read aloud weaves us together and it is the stories that we remember as we look back on our students and the year we had together.

This is why choosing the right book to read aloud, whether globally or not, is such an important action.  No longer can I simply pick a book just because I like it, more thought needs to be given than that.  Examining the books you read aloud has to be a central part of your educational grounding, because it is not enough to simply pick a book because it is fun, or because you loved it for many years, or because you have to.  There are many different questions to ask before you start the book.

Is it meaningful? 

An obvious question to ask, of course, but is the book something that will add value to your experience together?  Will you come out changed at the end?  Better?  More thoughtful?  The experience that your chosen read aloud cerates should be one that students are excited about and remember after your year is over.

Is it relatable?

Is there something in the book that the students can connect to?  Not that the book has to feature characters like them, but is there some aspect of the story that students can recognize within themselves so that it can be a book that means something to them personally.

Is it pushing our thinking?

Will new conversations arise from this read aloud?  Will new experiences be sought after so that we grow past the book?  Read alouds work so well for starting deeper conversations because it is safe to start within the pages of a book, rather than just dive into it.

What else have you read aloud?

Is this book just like the others or does it bring a new facet to your year?  While it is great to do one tried and true read aloud, there is immense value in experiencing something new together, something different than the norm.  Also look at mood, if every book you read aloud is heavy in nature, then what does that do for your community.  read alouds can tackle complex topics and still be funny.

What does the main character look like?

If we are only reading books with characters that mirror what the “norm” is projected as in America: cisgender, white identifying, heteronormative families, we are doing our students a disservice.  Where are all of the books that show off families and children that are unlike the supposed norm?  Where are all the books to further own understanding of what it means to be a person?

What is the gender of the main character?

For a long time, I read books with male protagonists.  It wasn’t on purpose, I just hadn’t thought about it.  It wasn’t until one of my 5th graders pointed out that she would really enjoy a book with a strong female character lead that I realized what had happened.  Study the characters of the books you have chosen and make sure to add variety.

What is the issue of the book?

Is the issue of the book always how someone who is seen as being on the fringes of society is struggling to fit in?  Is it that a disabled character is shunned?  Is it that an LGBTQ child is struggling with society’s acceptance of their identity?  While these books are vital they cannot be the only books that we introduce students to.  How about a book like The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson which is a mystery that also discusses embedded racism and even has a parent that comes out to their child?

Is the book problematic?

There are so many books that we have clung on to as our read-aloud books that are truly problematic, look no further than Little House on the Prairie.  If we are creating inclusive classrooms where every child’s identity can be fully accepted then we have to examine the choices we make for read aloud.  How do the books handle race?  How do the books handle history?  What is represented as the norm? Who wrote the book and are they an #ownvoices author, does it matter whether they are? A read aloud can be a seminal experience in a child’s life, we want it to be that for the right reasons not because it made them feel marginalized or pushed outdated and even dangerous thinking on them.

Is the book a window, mirror, or door book?

The work of Dr. Rudine Simms Bishop has been seminal within the children’s book industry and it should be in our classrooms as well.  Are you only reading one type of book where students only see characters like themselves (mirror)?  Are they never seeing themselves in books (windows)?  Are the books opening up to new conversations, learnings, and connections (doors)?  The choices we make as far as the texts we use to tie our community together speaks volumes of what we hope for our readers.

Is it worth it?

Choosing the right book to share with a class is no laughing matter, even if the book itself brings plenty of laughs.  Don’t be afraid to abandon a read aloud that isn’t working, there are some books that are better experienced by yourself than read aloud.  Don’t be afraid to do nothing but listen, read aloud is about being together, about listening, about going on a journey within the pages of a book.  Not just listening to understand or find evidence for comprehension.

The Global Read Aloud started as a small dream of making the world a little bit smaller.  To think that an idea thought of on a long summer drive could reach millions of kids around the world is almost inconceivable.  But it did, and it does, join us as we do it again starting on October 2nd with some incredible new read alouds.  Because the GRA would be nothing if it weren’t for the books.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

 

The Real Reason to Read Children’s Books

We had visitors in our classroom again today as some fantastic educators had traveled to be with us (shout out to West Dubuque).  As always, they had a few moments to speak to the people that prompted their visit in the first place; our students, who with their candor, wisdom, and humor always have great things to share.

They asked, “Why do you think it matters that Mrs. Ripp reads children’s books?”  I was eager to hear their answers.

I thought they would say that it mattered because I could recommend great books.  They did.

I thought they would say that it mattered because there was a lot of great books in here to choose from.  They did.

I thought they would say that it mattered because it made it easier for them to find a new book.  They did.

But what I hadn’t expected was this…

It matters because it shows that she cares about her job.

It matters because it shows that she cares about reading.

It matters because it shows that she cares about us…

Let that sink in.  That while we know that reading children’s books matters for so many reasons, this was the biggest one of all.

For all of my students, me reading a book and being able to bring it into class shows them that I care about them as people.  As kids who read and who have meaningful reading experiences.  That I am willing to dedicate my time away from our classroom to something that will hopefully matter to them shows that I mean every word when I say I love my job, I am grateful to be your teacher.

We worry so much about whether or not kids know that they matter.  Whether they know that we care about them.  We come up with elaborate ideas to show them how much we appreciate them and sometimes forget about the small things.  That care comes in small packages.  That caring sometimes comes in the shape of a book read and discussed.

So for every book I purchase, for every dollar spent, I will continue to tell our students that I love my job, that I love being a teacher for them, that reading matters and that this very book I read is my way of reminding them that I care.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

Lessons from a #PhoneFree Classroom

I have been meaning to write more about our phone free classroom for a while.  It’s been more than month now.  I have been meaning to update, and yet, it keeps slipping my mind.

Not because I am busy.  Not because there are so many other things to do, even though there is.

No.

More because quite simply put, there isn’t much to say.

The protests and indignation I was worried would build over this rule haven’t come.

The anger or the sneakiness I wondered about hasn’t happened.

The letters to the principals, the “how dare you” statements never uttered.

Are some kids annoyed?  Probably.

Are some kids leaving them in their pockets? Probably.

Are some kids hoping to go back to the old way?  Probably.

But are they mad?  Outraged?  Feeling like their rights as a learner somehow having been violated – nope.

In fact, every day we have our routine down.  Most kids leave their phone in their locker.  Some in the bin in our classroom.  After the bell, I give a final reminder which inevitably leads to a few more phones in the bin and then we are off.  Focused as much as we can be in May in 7th grade on the learning that is happening.

Yet, what I have noticed has been small.  A few changes here and there; more face to face conversation within our classroom walls.  Less tense faces.  More presence.  Less worry.

It turns out that we didn’t need more cloud for more engagement, but needed more presence.  More here.  More now.

And today I noticed how several kids even forgot to grab their phone, only showing up later in the day to claim it once they realized it was missing.  Some of these kids were kids I have had to remind to put their phone away in the past, and here they come several class periods later, glad that their phone is still there waiting but realizing that perhaps it wasn’t that big of a deal anyway.  Perhaps not having their phone was not the end of the world.

And so we will continue until the very last day.  Separated from something that sometimes feels like it contains our entire world.  Given a moment to breathe that doesn’t involve notifications, likes, or needing to record every moment of our day.  A space to take risks, be present, and focus on each other, with just a small change in our days.

I started this experiment worried about the mental health of us all as we become more and more addicted to our phones.  But I also worried that it would cause resentment and anger, a sense of distrust in our community, that I was yet another adult who didn’t care about my students.  It turns out that my fear was unfounded.  That asking students to leave their phones out as they bring their hearts in was a step in the right direction.   In the end,  it turned out that we really didn’t need them for much anyway, who knew?

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

How to Assess Student Reading Skills Without Knowing the Book They Are Reading

A question I am asked often is how do I know what my readers know when they are all reading their own self-chosen books?  How do I keep them accountable for their reading?  How do I know what they can do without knowing the book they are reading?

And I get it.  How do we adequately assess the readers we have for their growth in comprehension when we don’t have them DO stuff all of the time?  Because that’s the thing, one of the biggest reasons that kids report for hating reading is actually the stuff we have them do after they read, not the actual reading itself.  It seems as if we have forgotten a few simple lessons that academics such as Louise Rosenblatt have been trying to remind us of for years.  Kids need relevant reading experiences that not only teach them how to be better readers but also help them grow or protect their love of reading.  I think I just summarized the goal of my book Passionate Readers here.

Yet, when we constantly attach something to the very act of reading, we diminish the act itself.  So how do we assess without harming?

A few things first, our students get ten minutes of protected self-chosen reading every day.  It is the very first thing we do.  If I had more time to teach (darn you 45 minutes), it would be a longer period of time.  During those ten minutes, the only thing our students are working on is reading a great book.  There are no post-its, no jots, no turn-and-talk.  They are working on their reading relationship, nothing else, because that task is big enough in itself.  While they read I check in with them, not to have them do stuff or talk about their book, but to talk about themselves as readers.   To help them establish or continue a connection to the act of reading itself.

Then we move into our mini-lesson, whatever that may be.  If the day is focused on reading then after we read the students then apply the skills as they read their own books if they can, a central tenet to our teaching always being; be able to use the skill when needed but you don’t have to use it all of the time.

We use read aloud, picture books, or short stories to model and discuss what readers need.  If students are asked to do a long-term project with their own books such as focusing on character development, symbolism, or analysis in some capacity,  then I model what that may look like within a read aloud.  I can sort out from their own writing whether they grasped the depth of the skill or if they merely skimmed the surface.  I don’t need to know the plot of their book to do this.  If I have questions I ask or look at the book they used.

If I need to narrow my scope then I will model a skill using a short story or a picture book (aren’t they almost the same?!) and then have either another short story or a stack of picture books to hand to them as they try out the skill for themselves.  Because I know all of the picture books and short stories I can quickly assess whether they understood it or not and use their work to further my own instruction.  Simple and yet it works every time.  Students get to balance reading their own self-selected text with the work of the classroom and we have created a balance between teaching skills and establishing the love.

And there you have it, how I assess my students’ skills without needing to have them do a reading journal – one of the number one things my students attribute to causing a hatred of reading – and without needing to know every single book they are reading.  Sometimes it is the simple things that make the biggest difference.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

Dear Administrators – A Few Ideas to Motivate Teachers

I was asked about how to motivate your teachers just the other day.  How do you help them stay invested?  How do you stave off burn out?  An earnest question and also one that deserves a thorough answer.  Yet, before I was able to answer in full, another administrator at the table, threw out a quick idea, “Jeans Friday…”

“Tell them if they work hard, they can earn the right to wear jeans that week.  It works every time…”

And while this may be true, I still carried the comment with me, not quite sure how to process it.  After all, allowing a teacher to wear jeans as a reward seems like the lowest type of compliment there is; you finally get to dress like other adults, congratulations!  Perhaps it is because I work in a district that expects us to dress professionally and allow us to wear jeans whenever we want.  Because they trust us to dress for success.  Because they trust us to dress well.  Perhaps it was because of the unbridled enthusiasm shown for the idea as if our burn out would magically appear when such a token was placed on the table.  Perhaps I just was tired and could not come up with something good to say, so I sat in silence and quietly buried my thoughts.

So today, I am here to say what I wanted to say in how to motivate your teachers and trust me, it goes beyond allowing them to wear jeans on the last day of the week.  Because the thing is, it may seem complicated, but it comes down to just a few things that can be implemented easily.  Just a few key ideas that can make all of the difference or at the very least offer us all a place to start.

Trust us to be professional.  That includes how we dress.  That includes the lessons we create.  That includes the everyday decisions we have to make.  Tell us you trust us, so often it is assumed as a known fact but I can tell you, many teachers assume they are not trusted because of the lack of curricular decisions or even smaller things they are allowed to make.  And yes, when it happens that we make a mistake, because we all do, then help us fix it.  Have our back because you trusted us in the first place.

Trust us to try new things.  So many administrators say that they want their teachers to take risks but then don’t give permission for the things they want to try.  So many look to innovators and wish that they were in their district.  What if they are and you just don’t know it yet?  What if the most innovative teacher is already working in your building but because of technology restrictions, scripted curriculum, or teaching to fidelity, they haven’t been able to do what they wish to do.  Which limitations are being placed on staff that aren’t actually needed?  And how can those be lifted?

Trust us to invest ourselves.  From staff meetings to professional days, the educational field has such few choices when it comes to how we, educators, spend our time learning.  Yet so many of us actually burn to learn about specific things, isn’t that the mark of a passionate learner, so give us the time to do so.  Let us choose our path and plan your staff development as if everyone will take the opportunity to pursue meaningful learning rather than the opposite.  For the few who are not motivated, and you may know who they are, help them find a direction that matches them.  No more one-size PD for all at all times where few walk away inspired. No more staff meetings that could have been handled via email.  No more one thing, no choice, please.

Help us leave it at work.  Teaching is a never-ending job.  There are always more lessons to plan, more ideas to think of, something more we can do to try to reach every single child.  To make this year matter.  And yet, we have to leave it at work sometimes.  We have to have full lives outside of school so we can truly be the best that we can be in school.  So make it a policy that staff is not expected to answer emails after 5 PM, that it is not about getting it all done, but getting enough done.  Protect our prep time and our collaboration times.  Don’t steal away minutes here and there for quick announcements or that extra little thing.  Help us achieve a better balance by protecting the precious time we have in building so that we can fully utilize it.

Help us forge connections.  Teaching can be incredibly lonely, especially if you are seen as an outlier in some way, so build in opportunities to get to know one another beyond the in-service days at the beginning of the year.  Run book clubs and health clubs, yoga and garden clubs.  Create events that go beyond the school walls, that go beyond the work.  Give us time to praise each other at every meeting.  Give us time to see the good that happens in our classrooms so that we can stop with our assumptions and instead see what the experience is like in other classrooms.

Help us see the good.  Not just in each other but in ourselves.  Check in with your staff to make sure they are okay.  That they feel supported.  That they know the good they are doing.  While admin can be quick about sharing concerns and even complaints with staff, what if a pointed effort is also made to share the good, those small comments from parents, from kids, from the community?  Write a card of thanks, find out their favorite candy and leave it for them, do something to share the appreciation so that we, in turn, can share ours.

While warding off teacher burn out starts with the decisions we, educators,  make ourselves, there are also so many small things that can be done to help within the school, within the district.  Teaching is a hard job but we were never told it would be easy, we were told it would be worth it, sometimes we just need a little bit of a reminder from those that make the decisions.  What have you done to help your teachers stay motivated?

PS:  Many ask how I get to do what I do; teach, travel, write, speak, be a mom, have a life etc.  There are two main reasons I can do what I do – an incredible husband and an incredible district.  Both support me in ways I could never have dreamed of when all of this started.  I hope you all may find support like what I have.

 

Five + One Ideas for Redefining the Whole Class Novel Experience for All

I knew I had to teach reading when I was first hired as a 4th-grade teacher.  After all, every teacher teaches reading.  Yet, I didn’t know how to really teach reading.  I knew components of effective literacy practice, and yet, what those actually looked like within my own classroom was a bit of a mystery.  How did actual teachers of reading teach reading to kids who already knew mostly how to read?

My very first answer?  Whole class novel, of course.

Thinking back to my own days of learning how to read, I knew to not go the basal approach, and yet I remembered that shared experience of reading the same novel as everyone else.  Of discussing.  Of trying to find meaning within its pages as we drove each other to deeper levels of understanding.  Of even finding a few books I never knew I could love (For Whom the Bell Tolls, anyone?!) to remembering the year together (9th grade honors English with Mrs. Vincent at Lenox Memorial High School, Massachusetts)because of the very books we shared.

Since I knew my students were not quite ready for Hemingway, I picked what I hoped would be a great anchor text for us – Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, the beloved classic rite-of-passage read by Judy Blume.

I now had the book.

All I needed was the work to go with it.

So I found it on the internet, an entire packet just for the book, with questions, activities, and word searches galore.  The students could even color in the pages if they so chose.  Prep work done, I was ready.  And so we began our fourth-grade year together within the pages of a very short book, 144 pages to be exact and we split it up evenly within the 7-ish weeks I had set aside for the task.  4 pages a night could certainly not be too much to ask.  Let the reading begin.

And it did.  So did the packet work.  The lackluster discussions.  The rigid instruction, and perhaps even some scolding when students dared to read ahead.

Rarely do I remember us marveling at the audacity of Fudge.  Rarely do I remember gathering the kids around the pages of the book to look at something together.     Rarely do I remember coming to class excited to discuss, to share, to connect around the book.

But the work pages.  The long-drawn-out reading.  The lack of excitement.   That I remember.

And so for a long time, I swore off whole class novels.  Even jumped in the camp of telling everyone else how awful they were.  How they are killing the love of reading in kids.  But what good does that type of rigid thinking do when my very own memories betray me of my own whole class novel experiences.  And so it turned out that I, once again, was proven wrong.

Because it wasn’t really about the whole class novel.  It was about me and my own adherence to terrible decisions that surrounded the experience.

So now, let’s look at this concept of the whole class novel and how we can actually make it work within our reading environments without killing the love of reading.  It turns out what we need are just a few tweaks and perhaps a dose of common sense.

Step 1 – Redefine the purpose.  Rather than using whole class novel to produce a lot of work, how about we redefine the expectation to producing a whole lot of talk.

Idea – Cut out the written work altogether or boil it down to one main product.  Does it have to be written or can it be filmed?  Does it have to be an analysis or can it be a discussion of relevance?  By connecting the book read with other issues in our current society?  Does it have to be produced alone or can it be produced with others?  Can we assess the discussions as they happen and not worry so much about the end result? And can we please roll back on the annotations.  There is very little reason to annotate an entire book, other than to prove you have read it.  Is that really what we want kids to work on?

Step 2 – Redefine the access. One of the major problems within a whole-class novel is that for many students the book is not a great match for their current reading capabilities.  While it is good to stretch students with challenge texts, you don’t want to put it so far our of their reach that they simply feel defeated and it becomes yet another nail in their “I hate reading coffin.”  For others students, the book is way too easy and they would rather read other books after they have read this one.

Idea – Offer choice in accessibility.  Do all students have to read it with their eyes or can it be listened to?  Can it be shared as a small group read aloud?  Can kids partner-read?  Can kids read it quickly and show up ready to discuss when needed?  Provide multiple access points so that all kids can focus on the purpose; engaging discussions.

Step 3 – Redefine what we read.  Why is it that our literary canon are still the same books that I read more than 20 years ago in high school?  Yes, there is merit at some point in your life to picking up some of the classics, but you will get infinitesimally more out of them when you are invested.  To Kill a Mockingbird was incredibly boring when I read it in 9th grade, but when I re-read it as a 23-year-old, I had a better experience.  So how about rather than using this format as a way to expose students to classical texts that they otherwise may not pick up on their own,  instead use it to garner deep discussion that can mirror the societal discussion surrounding us? Besides, what about how problematic some of these texts are?  we cannot keep hiding behind the cloak of “that’s how they spoke in that time” to make it okay to read them.  See this great article here discussing some of the major issues with our current literary canon.

Idea – Critically evaluate the classics and give choice.  Perhaps some kids do want to read the same books as their parents did, but others don’t.  Take a critical lens to what you are offering up.  Who are these choices for?  Why are these choices offered year after year?  When were these books selected?  Simply saying its because they are classics is not enough when we have brilliant books that have been published within even the last 50 years. (Even this year!)  There should be a balance.

Step 4 – Redefine the time.  One of my major mistakes was to stretch our whole class novel out over way too long of a time period.  I have seen some schools use an entire book for a quarter of the year.  I don’t care how great the book is, few people can sustain their interest for 12 weeks or more.

Idea – Shorten the length.  Three weeks max.  That way you have to move through it at a good speed and you can focus on the most central or interesting parts.  Within a three-week period, there is also a sense of urgency that otherwise can get lost.  Students have to keep up with the text to keep up with the discussion rather than assume that they can simply read it later when it really starts to count.

Step 5 – Redefine your role.  One critical aspect I lost within our whole class novel was that it was all centered on me.  I generated the questions (or purchased them in my case).  I led the discussions.  I assessed the work.  That is easy for kids to get through and exhausting for the teacher.  There is also very little buy-in as far as responsibility and it is easy for kids to coast through, especially those kids who have pretty great reading skills.  That is not the intent behind the work.

Idea – Share the responsibility.  Start as a role model for how to lead discussions but then share the responsibility with students.  Delegate who will come up with questions and who will steer the conversation?  Getting students invested beyond the quick answer can lead to more engagement and definitely more understanding of what it means to engage others.

Step 6 – Use it sparingly.  I have heard of school districts that mandate that every single reading experience is through a whole class novel for an entire year.  In fact, my own amazing niece is currently a victim of that.  I don’t use that term lightly, but you know what it has done for her love of reading after several years of this?  Yup, totally quashed it.  When I ask her what she reads for fun, she says nothing.  That’s what doing the same thing over and over can do for you.  It may have been great at first but going through the same routine over and over is sure to lead to routine fatigue.

Idea – Everything in moderation.  Reserve the whole class novel for those one or two incredible books that you just know will light your class on fire.  Reserve it for the fall as you establish your community and perhaps once more in the spring when you know each other so much better.  Use it as a tool to challenge their thinking, their analysis, their communication.  Put your all into it and then do something else; free choice, book clubs, anything but another whole class novel.  Make it special and treat it as such.

While it has been a while since my students actively dove into a whole class novel with me, I am always on the lookout for that amazing text that I feel we all need to digest together.  Once I find it, I cannot wait to dive in with my students.  Until then, if you need more ideas and inspiration, please read Kate Roberts new book, A Novel Approach.  

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

What Matters to You? An Exploration into #BeingtheChange

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“I brought this because my mother bought it for me before she picked me up…”

“I brought this because my brother sent it to me…”

“I brought this because it represents who I am…”

My student holds up a small stuffed toy, the rest of the class sits in a circle in silence, and then a few ask questions.

The next child shares their object, and the experience replicates itself.  Silent listening, thoughtful questions, and a newfound knowledge of who we are and what we are.

For the past few weeks, we have been working our way through experiences inspired by Sara K. Ahmed’s new book, Being the Change.  A book that I knew the minute I read it would be a game changer for me.  And I was right.  The book inspired me to throw out my entire 4th quarter plans and revamp them with a focus on self-exploration, discovery, and social comprehension.

The book inspired me to add more student discussion, more time for reflection, more quiet, more time, deeper experiences.

We started with an exploration of the identity webs we created at the beginning of the year.  What can we add now?  Have we changed this year?  We discussed what identity means, how it shapes our experiences.

The focus naturally shifted then to our names.  I asked students to discover the story of their name or of someone else’s name.  I let those at home know to share the stories.  I shared my own name story, opened up and shared what it meant to only be named by my mother because my father didn’t really have a stake in my name, nor me as he decided that he couldn’t be at my birth because of a meeting.

The questions followed and I answered as best as I could, modeling my own trust in the community we have created, the vulnerability it sometimes takes to open up to others when you are not quite sure what they will do with the information.

We spent a lot of time talking, asking questions, and writing in our identity journal.  A low-key journal where students are asked to share their thoughts on what they are learning about themselves and others.  Quick lessons turned into several days, savoring the pace with which it unfolded in front of us.  Giving the proper time it deserves.

We moved into picture books, diving into amazing stories of others who decided to make an impact on the world.  Students read, inferred and wondered what led someone to take a risk and try to change the world.  I asked the students if they could connect with the person they wrote about.  And they did, not so much in the large feat the book was focused on, but on the everyday resilience, on the goals, on the motivation, the decision to be courageous.

And then I asked them where they were from.  Not just location, but what shapes them as a person.  What smells remind them of whatever home may be.  Which words, objects, moments frozen in time.  I shared my own life once more, opening up for questions and then stepped out of the way, having the students slowly unpack what the question even meant. They reflected, shared, and opened up.

And then I asked them to bring in an object that represented them somehow.  Something that mattered to them.  A 7th-grade show-and-tell but with meaning.  Some forgot, but those that remembered showed parts of themselves that perhaps others hadn’t seen.  It was meant to be a reminder of how to listen actively, a reminder of how to ask thoughtful questions, and yet it became so much more.

An unveiling of small parts that perhaps others hadn’t seen.

A deep sense of appreciation for taking the chance and sharing.

A stillness in our classroom as some kids chose to share deeply personal items, while their peers took it all in.

As a visitor observed yesterday, I can’t believe what they shared, and I agreed.  These kids with their hearts.  These kids with their stories.  These kids with their sometimes bravado laid it out there for all to see.  I am so grateful.  I am so proud.

As we move forward in this exploration of the issues that surround us in our world, I am so thankful for the inspiration for the book.  For the ideas to push us toward a closer understanding to who we are and how we see the world.  For how our very identity shapes the worldview we carry with us.  Sometimes all we need is a little inspiration.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

When I Realized I Would Be OK…

I ask her if she has anything else she wants to share.

The student-led conference is almost over.  Ups and downs have been highlighted.  She has discussed how she has grown, the choices she has made, how she is ready for the challenge of the next year.  I couldn’t be prouder, she is right, she is ready.

She clears her throat, says, “Yes, I want to share my highlight of the year…” pulls up the page to show her mom and then begins.

“My highlight of the year is when I realized I would be ok…

When I realized that all of the work I had put in would pay off, when I realized that I was smart, that this would be a good year.  That the way others saw me was for me to decide.  That last year which wasn’t so great, was not this year but that this year would be good.”

She continues on, and as I listen I get teary-eyed, I cannot help but think that perhaps we all need to have this realization.

That we will be okay.

That the past is truly in the past.  That we decide how the present will be.  That we screw up, that we make mistakes, but that we can fix it, that we can be better.

That sometimes others view us in a way we don’t want.

That sometimes we surround ourselves with negativity.

That sometimes we are the negativity.

That sometimes we make these decisions that affect us for a long time, but that there always, always is a way out.

And that sometimes, we are the reason a kid started to see themselves this way.

That we, as educators, hold so much power over how these kids feel within our classrooms, that if we do not feel okay, it will be hard for our students to.  That if we only see our student through one lens, whatever we may be, we miss the whole kid.  That we all need to help kids that they will be ok.

So may we all have the realization that we will be ok.

That we are enough.

That we are smart.

That we are kind.

That what we have done is worth it.  Is worth us.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

 

I Hate Your Class

She tells me that she hates my class.  She hates coming.  She hates what we are doing.  Waits for my reaction, after all, aren’t those fighting words?  I take a breath, quell my shame, and ask, “How can I help?  What can I do?”

Nothing, she says, and she looks away.  This conversation is over.

I carry the words with me wherever I go.  I am the teacher that a child hates to have.  I am a teacher whose class a child hates.

It happens to all of us and yet we feel like, surely, we must be the only ones who have ever been told just how awful we are.  Just how miserable we make coming to school, just how we make this child feel.  In the past, a long time ago, I would have gotten mad.  Angry at the words.  How dare you and do you know what I do to make this class great?  Don’t you know just how much I care?  Don’t you see all of the kids smiling, having fun, investing in our class?  Don’t you hear their declaration of love?

Surely it cannot be me but you that is the problem…

Now I know that the words are not meant to hurt, but instead, inform.  To help us realize that what we are doing at the moment is not what this child needs.  That their lens of our classroom needs to change, that somehow, somewhere our connection has been dulled or frazzled and that it is in our power to now do something about it.

Because that’s what those words are; an invitation to repair.  To have a deeper conversation.  To say, what can I do instead of what have you done?  To reflect on our actions, on our interactions, and question how we are part of the problem before we get to the solution.  It starts with us, and it starts with asking, after all, not every child will have the courage to say it straight to your face.

So on Monday, take a moment to ask your students or even your teachers, do you like our classroom, do you like our school, do you think I like you?  Ask them to trust you with their truths and put their names on the answer.

Take a deep breath before you read the answers.

Don’t get angry, get quiet instead, think for a moment and then approach the kids, or the adults, and thank them for their honesty.  For their truth.  Then ask, how can we make it better?  How can we change this?

Because we cannot change what we don’t know.

I am the teacher that a child hates to have.  I am a teacher whose class a child hates.  But it is not all I am.  It is not all I have to be. If only I have the courage to ask.  I can change that, we all can.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.

 

A Way Out

 

The poster hung above our sink, one of the most prominent spots in our classroom.  Every time my 4th graders washed their hands, they would see exactly what was expected of them, what the consequences were if they messed up.  Screw up and you get your name on the board.  Screw up again and you place a checkmark next to your name.  Screw up again?  Phone call home in the middle of class.  Clear, consistent and fair consequences, or so I thought.

I wish I could tell you that I saw the errors of my ways quickly.  That some sense was talked into me before I implemented it.  I can’t.  That poster and that system hung on that wall for more than a year, bearing witness to all of the kids who marched right up to the front of their room, dictated by my call of “Write your name on the board!”

I wish I would have known better.  I wish the students would have protested.  I wish the parents would have questioned.  I wish and yet, how often do our decision, whether poor or not, truly get questioned by those they affect?  How often do the very people we are supposed to serve actually dare to question our authority?

It is easy to cringe at a public display of discipline like that.  Of how I used public shame as a tool for compliance.  Of how I wielded my discipline system as a way to control and not to teach.  It is easy to look at others’ mistakes and forget the mistakes we have made ourselves, without questioning the practices we may have put in place now that perhaps aren’t quite as public, aren’t quite as harsh., but still serve as a visible reminder to kids of what will happen when they do screw up, because, let’s face it, all kids will at some point.

How often do we make a final decision because we think it is in the best interest of the child without actually thinking of the child?

How often do we set up rules so that all kids can be treated the same, somehow forgetting that all kids are, indeed, different?

How often do we stand so firm in our beliefs that we forget that part of growing up is screwing up and that is how we grow?

How often do we create rigid rules because we believe that it is in the best interest of the children when in reality they were really in the best interest of the adults?

A colleague reminded me today that there’s always gotta be a way out.   A way for all kids to actually succeed, to have some room, to still be a part.  To feel like even if they didn’t quite get there, there was still success in the steps they did make.  To feel like while they may not have fully succeeded, there was still progress nonetheless.

There’s gotta be a path forward even when we are exasperated.  Even when we feel we have tried everything.  Even when we think that there is nothing else that can possibly get done.

And while, sure, all kids need deadlines and consequences, at what times do we set them so hard into stone that they become unattainable for the most vulnerable students, for those who consistently find limited success within our schools?  Do we in our eagerness to be fair and balanced forget what that really looks like in the shape of each child?

Don’t forget about the way out.  About taking a step back and re-evaluating.  About keeping kids in mind.  About being a helper.  Being a believer.  Being someone who was willing to reevaluate just to make sure that we tried everything.  Because I would rather go home feeling I tried than knowing I stood firm at all costs, because at what cost do we really move forward?

A way out for all, a way in for all, so that we all can find success, somehow.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017.  This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block.  If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.