How We Became that Room

“...And if you walk into our room you may be surprised at the noise and the mess, but to me that means the students are engaged.”  So ended an elementary teacher’s presentation to my class on classroom management and I was horrified.  Noise?  Mess?  Not this teacher!  I was going to run my classroom like a machine.  Those kids would know routines for everything, even down to when they could sharpen their pencil, and they would love me for it because that was part of my expectations as well.  Equipped with all of my Harry Wong ideas, I was ready to whip these kids into shape and they would be so thankful.  After all, how could anyone possibly learn in noise or out of their desks?  

Now some years later I look around our room and we are that classroom.  The one you can hear coming down the hallway, the one where students are splayed out on the floor, discussing, laughing and gosh golly sharpening their pencils whenever they like.  There are no laminated rule posters hanging on our walls, there are no reminders of how to get their stuff or how to come into the classroom.  There are no sticks to move or stars to give.  Just a classroom being run with the students and by the students.  To the untrained eye it may seem chaotic.  After all students crave routines, even in their classrooms.  But if you look closer, you will notice they are there.  Students get to work and stay focused, they treat each other with respect.  They tell me in the morning when they forgot to do their homework and they ask to work on it during recess or to get it to me the next day.  They have their things organized, they know when I need their attention, and they know how to treat each other.  Behold, the managed classroom without the overt rules.  

I did not start this way, in fact, I am not sure any new teacher should.  As a new teacher it is so important that you discover who you are as a teacher, that you discover your own best practices and then start to question them.  Question the ideas you are taught and see how they fit into your vision.  I was taught that I should post the rules of my classroom so that the students would be continually reminded of what the expectations were.  Except I like clean walls, and I don’t think students need constant reminders.  Down came the posters and my room somehow got uncluttered.  I was taught that I had to be the ultimate authority in the classroom or it would turn into Lord of the Flies, except I found out that by sharing the authority I created autonomous learners that were much more engaged.  I was taught that students would learn better if they were rewarded with stickers or A + but found that we didn’t need the extrinsic motivation if the learning was worth it.  How did I learn all of this?  By watching my students and questioning my own practices and then trying it.  I was terrified the first year I threw out the rules.  When I told my students there would be no rewards and no punishment I thought I would have a riot on my hands, kids who refused to work, homework that would be weeks late, and instead?  No change.   In fact, the kids shrugged, no big deal, they knew they had to get to work.  

So this year I did the unthinkable; I didn’t tell the kids the rules.  I instead asked them what the routines should be and what type of classroom they envisioned.  They discussed without much of my input and that was it.  We didn’t make a poster, we didn’t all pledge to follow the rules, we moved on to more exciting things.  Now students live up  to the they expectations set and they help each other work well in the classroom.  If a day is louder than normal, then I know we need to get out of our desks and I adapt our learning to their moods.  By being clued in to what their behavior is telling me, we have a lot smoother days because I am not trying to squeeze them into my box of expectations.  They are in the truest sense of the word active learning and teaching participants.

So how can you make this work for you?  Start to question what you have been taught.  Question those tips and tricks you were given that didn’t seem natural to you.  Ask yourself how do you learn best and then ask everyone else you meet.  The answers may surprise you.  Ask the students; their voice is the most important one in the room.  Yes, that’s right; their voice, not yours.  Create a space where the students feel comfortable, welcome, and have ownership.  Show them you trust them to make great decisions and then give them an opportunity to do so.  Change your curriculum to fit their needs and get them moving; long periods of stationary work lead to restless bodies which means their minds have long since wandered off.  Have i fit their age; I teach 5th graders so I can expect a lot more autonomy than I can from a roomful of kindergartners, but even our youngest students can own the room.  And most importantly; believe in your students.  Believe that they have buy-in in the room, believe that they care about it, and then give them a learning experience that they actually do want to care about.  Tear down the authority between you and them and give them a chance to prove you wrong.  Give them a chance to show that they can work without the overt rules, that they can set the expectations, that they can rise to the occasion.

Related articles

• Why Have You Not Given Up Rewards Yet? (mrspripp.blogspot.com)
• This is My Room - How Controlling Ones Classroom Can Send the Wrong Message (mrspripp.blogspot.com)
• Technology Does Not Make the Classroom Succesful- the Teacher Does (mrspripp.blogspot.com)
• 10 Ways to Make it "Their" Room (mrspripp.blogspot.com)

No Size Fits All - Some Thoughts on Prescribed Systems in the Classroom

I am sometimes asked what system I used in my classroom; which system do you prescribe to to get them to act this way, which system do you believe in for your philosophy.  I always feel like a disappointment when I tell them, "None."  It is not that I am pioneer within education, or a maverick, but rather that I don't believe in systems.  A system to me means prescribed, a system means rigidity, rules to follow, and scripts to use.  I tried that for 2 years when I first started teaching and it failed, horrifically and miserably.  My classrooms doesn't work that way, it doesn't fit into a book description.   So while some people may say I fall under whatever system they think, I always giggle a little because the truth is much simpler.

I follow the Pernille system.  The one that says to listen to your students, give them a voice, get out of the way, and then change your mind when needed.  The system I use has no book or no guidelines but only common sense and a lot of reflection.  I don't manage my children, they are not stress I must constrain.  I guide them, they guide me and we trade spots more often than I can count.   I do not read a book to see how I should train my students the first week of school; they are not circus animals getting ready for a performance.  Instead we get to know each other and we laugh a lot because laughter is a key ingredient in my life.   I do not hide the "real" Pernille from my students because I believe education must be authentic to be meaningful.  My students share their emotions and opinions whenever they can.

I know that if I wanted a book-deal or masses of followers I should call my system something, my husband jokes about that all the time.  That way people could refer to it and ask themselves, "Well what would Pernille do?"  And then they would be confused as to why my system wouldn't work as well for them, because  a system has to be as personal as your classroom.  You borrow, you steal,  you get inspired by others, but in the end your voice and that of your students is the one that needs to  shout the loudest and it needs flexibility and adaption skills.  So trust in yourself, sure read the books, ask the questions and then reflect; what will you do and what will your students do?  Hint:  It requires conversations with your students to create your own system.  Good luck.

Related articles

• This is My Room - How Controlling Ones Classroom Can Send the Wrong Message (mrspripp.blogspot.com)
• 10 Ways to Make it "Their" Room (mrspripp.blogspot.com)
• The Real Reason Kids Are Missing From School (coopcatalyst.wordpress.com)

Do We Need to Set the Rules? Or Do Kids Already Know Them?

Photo Courtesy of Bloggertone

Yesterday was my very first day with my 24 new 5th graders.  I don't know who was more nervous; me or them.  As we got settled into our new tables, 23 sets of eyes on me  (one child is still on vacation) eagerly awaiting what this teacher would share with them I asked; what is the first thing teachers usually talk about on the first day of school?  Hands shot up and one child blurted out "Rules!"

It's true, isn't it?  One of the first things we welcome students into our rooms with is indeed the discussion of rules.  Walk into almost any classroom on the first day of school and somewhere on the agenda is a discussion of rules or an explanation of the rule poster that is already on the wall.  As some of you may know, there are no rules posted in my room.  And yet the kids knew that rules had to be discussed.  They knew it was important, they knew that in fact it is one of the first things we choose to welcome students with.

The room got really quiet, the kids were waiting for me to list the rules but I didn't.  Instead I asked them whether they knew the rules?  A couple of kids nodded.  "Again, don't you already know the rules of a classroom?"  More nods.  "Isn't this your 6th year in school?"  All nodded and starting to wake up a little.  "Do you need me to explain the rules or can you tell me what they are?"  With this, the buzzing started.  That little bit of chatter that kids get involved in when they start to see the light.  "We know the rules, I know how to act, we can set the rules...."

So I told them to discuss rules at their tables; what works for a classroom, what type of environment do we need to learn in, what do you need, and the kids took it from there.  They all brainstormed and then shared their ideas and guess what; they knew it all.  How to respect, how to work, how to be a community.  We discussed fidgeting which in my book just means the teacher is boring or you need to get out of your seat.  We discussed interruptions and blurting out, how to be safe, how to be nice (You don't have to be friends with everyone, but you do have to be nice to them).  And then we decided that we didn't need to discuss anymore because we all knew what the expectations were.  In fact, they decided we didn't need to post our discussion because our rules are going to change and that maybe they shouldn't be called rules but rather just expectations.  And with that our expectations were set and for now I don't need to spend anymore time discussing them.

I gave my students a voice and let them lead and they showed me they already know.  I am so excited for the rest of the year.

Related articles

• A Discussion of Rules (mrspripp.blogspot.com)


• Recipe for My School Year (mrspripp.blogspot.com)


• Kids Shouldn't Feel Like Tourists: How Every Classroom Should Be a Tribe (mrspripp.blogspot.com)


• So I gave Up Punishment and the Kids Still Behaved (mrspripp.blogspot.com)

Rulebreaker

I wasn’t born a rule breaker. In my hometown of Bjerringbro, Denmark, population 7,390, I did not strive to be a rebel without a cause.  In fact I was your average tomboy, a middle of the roader, a child deemed living below their potential.  I followed the rules set forth because that is what I was told to do.  Not specifically by people, but as a child, you just know what the rules are and what the expectations were.  Of course, there were small rebellions such as coming home just a few minutes late, or perhaps “forgetting” to do my spelling words (I knew them already so why did I have to write them out 5 times?).  So my childhood was not an adventurous one and my adult life seemed to be kind of middle of the road as well.  That is until I met my husband, Brandon.

Oh, the tales of love can inspire excitement or convulsions in people.  Mine usually gets giggles and aw shucks.  You see it was the classic tale of bartender meets bouncer and the rest they say is history.  And yet something fundamentally changed for me when I met Brandon. He asked me what I planned to do with my life, and although many had asked that same question before, including my dear mother, with him, I really wanted to impress.  I became a teacher, knowing I wanted to reach children, change them, inspire them, listen to them.  And yet, I followed the rules.  Good teachers graded.  Good teachers rewarded.  Good teachers told students that if their homework was not done then there would be consequences.  

In my gut, I knew something was wrong and yet these were the rules and by signing up to teach, I had signed up for the rules.  Never did I stop to question those rules, why should I?  They obviously worked, until they didn’t.  Last year, my class was a mixed bag of emotions.  Various big personalities that needed a lot of love and a lot of patience at times.  I learned more in that year of what type of a person I am, than I think I could have in any other profession.  I started the year the same way, detailing how to get an A.  How to earn a class party, how to get on the awesome board.  Basically, how to be the best student they could possibly be.  Or did I?  Really all I did was tell them the rules and then tell the punishment there would be for breaking those rules.  How is that for inspiring the youth of America?
So this summer, after having accepted the fantastic challenge of a combination classroom and joining Twitter searching for others, searching like me, I came upon a tweet from Jeremy (@MrMacnology) to Joe (@Joe_Bower).  I stopped because I was surprised.  They tweeted about perhaps not grading, perhaps not rewarding, perhaps breaking the rules.  I lurked on their conversations, wondering if they would not mind another person asking questions.  Finally I held my breath and wrote to Jeremy asking if I could ask him questions.  We have collaborated since on a regular basis and I am proud of knowing him.

Grading degrades.  It tells a student that no matter how hard they worked, if it does not fit into our rubric, our vision, our plan for them, then they may not get the success they so hoped for.  Grades tell students that even though their parents are violently fighting and they can’t do their homework because they are scared, they lose 10% off their grade and get a zero if I don’t get it in a week.  Grades tell students that even though they devour books, when they leave the title and author off on a book report, they must not be A+ readers.  Grading tells students that have way too much responsibility at the young age of 10, that I don’t care that they had to watch their 4 younger brothers and sisters instead of doing their homework.
We know this as educators.  We see the defeat in students’ eyes when they get that grade they did not hope for.  We see it in parent/teacher conferences when parents’ zero in on the bad grades rather than all the plusses we so meticulously planted on the report card.  You cannot blame the parents; after all, they were part of this system too.  We all are.  Well, I am not anymore.  Or at least I strive to break the rules on this one.  I strive to follow my instinct and speak to students about their successes. Listen when they tell me answers that they didn’t know how to spell right.  Think when they give me an unexpected explanation.  I may not have been born a rule breaker but I have certainly become one.  It is in the best interest of my students and myself that I break these rules.  There is a better way to teach, we just must not be afraid to try it.  Will you break the rules with me?

The Hidden Rules of a Classroom

Today I lost my temper, yes, it is a rare occurrence, but it happened on the phone with a credit report company who claimed that I had signed up for their monthly services.  I had not and had to cancel my debit card because of this.  The Indian woman I spoke to kept telling me that the fee was right in the terms and conditions section of the site and that I therefore had signed up for it.  No matter what I told her she was relentless in her explanation.  I finally lost it and yelled that i would like to speak to someone in charge and who could help me since I had never seen their terms and conditions, let alone signed up for them.

This incident made me think about the hidden rules of our classrooms.  Sure ,we post rules and expectations, short and to the point, on our walls and expect our students to agree to follow them.  What we don't post though, are our hidden rules and expectation, the terms and conditions if you will, for being in our classroom.  And those tend to be the most important rules. 

I have pet peeves I call them, they include sharpening your pencil while someone is talking (me), waving your hand in someone's (my) face to get attention, interrupting someone (me), not cleaning up after yourself, and not taking responsibility for missed/late work.  I try to divulge these in the first few days of school and yet there are always some that I miss.  Every year, I end up being internally disappointed by the actions of a student who really had no way of knowing that taking off their shoes really bothers me (it is unsanitary).

So, at the end of this year I asked my students to write about what they wish they had known at the beginning of the year.  Much to my surprise, Mrs. Ripp's pet peeves came out on top.  Wow!  I had no idea that this was something important in the eyes of my students.  So this year, I am going to be honest.  Yes, I hate when you sharpen your pencil (switching away from electric pencil sharpeners because of this), I hate when you spin your ruler on your pencil (don't poke your eye out), when you put your head down on your desk (are you sleeping?), and when you don't tell me you haven't done your homework and I have to find out.  But no one knows that unelss I tell them and then they can sign up to learn in my classroom knowing all the terms and conditions, not just the ones in bold on the first page.