Why should students blog?

This was written by Pernille Ripp who teacher fifth graders in Madison, Wisonsin. She blogs here and tweets here. This post first appeared here.

by Pernille Ripp

As a proponent of student blogging I am often asked what it "does" for my students. The thing is, it does quite a bit.

Provides them with a voice. Education cannot be done to students anymore, they have to have a voice since it is their lives it effects the most; blogging gives them that.

Gives them an authentic writing audience. The product doesn't end with me and a grade, it is out for the world to see and to continue to be developed. 

 
Puts their place in the world in context. We think our students know how much in common they have with kids their age around the world, but they don't usually. Blogging with those kids and connecting through projects such as the Global Read Aloud brings the world in.

Increases their global knowledge. Again, when you connect with others through your work and words, friendships develop and as does a mutual interest in the lives of one another This is the modern version of penpals.

Instills them with tech saviness and confidence. Blogging teaches my students yet another tool to use and we also use it to showcase other tools we have played around with. They feel confident in their skills as bloggers and it carries into their overall tech approach.

Instills safety rules and measures to be taken whilst online. We drill safety all year and the kids know the lessons by heart. It is our job to teach them how to be safe and the best way to do that is to work with them in situations that could be unsafe if treated the wrong way.

Teaches them how to give constructive feedback. We comment on each others posts but they have to be constructive comments. Blogging is a natural extension of the peer edit.

Teaches them how to have a meaningful written dialogue. When students don't get comments on their posts, we often go back to see why not. Usually they realize it was not written in a manner that invited others to participate in their writing. Revision and reformulating follows.

Cements proofreading and spell check. We don't want the world to see us as a poor spellers or grammatical buffoons.

Expands their geographical knowledge. We pushpin maps with the location of our connections, this sparks more questions, which lead to a deeper relationship between the students and those we connect with. 

 
Furthers their empathy, as well as interest in others. Blogging should not be a solitary experience, but rather one that invites discussion. To have meaningful discussions one must care about others, which is shown through their questions.

Encourages them to view their own writing through a more critical lens. Because we have a portfolio of their writing from the beginning of the year to now, we can go back and see their development. Are they developing as a writer or what do they need to focus on? The stakes are raised because it is not just the teacher that sees their work.

Creates reflective students. Because students are given a mouthpiece to the world, I see them take more chances to reflect on themselves and their choices. It is remarkable to see a student reflect on what grades has taught them or what it means to be a student.

It creates opportunities for us to have fun.

Grading Moratorium: Pernille Ripp

Pernille Ripp has joined the Grading Moratorium. Want to join? Here's how.

Pernille Ripp
Middleton, Wisconsin, United States
Elementary
psripp@gmail.com
@pernilleripp
www.mrspripp.blogspot.com






At what stage of the abolish grading game are you?

I am in my second year of this now, but it doesn’t seem to get easier as far as making sure that I am doing it all correctly. I love not having the focus on grades, and yet still have to produce report cards. It is always a process in progress.


Why do you want to or why did you abolish grading?

For two years I fudged grades, handed out worksheets to make sure I had enough grades to average as well as see kids flourish or wither away depending on their report card. This is not what learning or
school should be. I want to create an environment where students know what they need to learn to move forward. They need to able to explain to their parents exactly what they are working on and what they have mastered, grades do not provide this. I also want parents to get a full picture of what their child knows and where they are headed.


When I remove the letter grade, the focus becomes on the skills and learning rather than that letter.
It has been remarkable to see the change in my students as they are freed from letter grades.


What do you do in replace of grading?

I provide a lot of feedback, and I do have to give trimester report cards. the kids decide their grades with me and we discuss how they want to move forward. Some assignments get rubrics filled in and other are handed back and discussed. Much of our work is a work in progress.


How do you establish a grade if you have no grades?

Through conversation with the students. they are much harder on themselves and clued in in different way than I am to their own skills and needs. It is such a rich discussion and I walk away knowing my students even better. I also trust myself as a teacher; how often do we feel that we have a more accurate reflection of a child’s abilities than what a test tells us. By removing letter grades I get to finally trust myself.


What fears did you have about abolishing grading?

Backlash from parents, teachers,and the students. However, it hasn’t been bad. Many agree and many feel that they have a good idea of what their child knows. The students find it peculiar but then move on. Administration has been supportive as long as I do a trimester report card. My district is exploring standards based grading as well so there seems to be a good discussion about grades starting to happen.


What challenges do/did you encounter with abolishing grading?

Just that I have to discuss and defend it. It is important to have your reasoning straight and also to have a network. I blog a lot about it because I want other teachers to feel comfortable reaching out. I am very transparent with my own struggles and I don’t ever want someone to feel alone in this. It is a big decision but for and for the kids, it was the only right one.


Are you willing to provide contact information (e-mail, Twitter, blog, Skype, etc) for others who are interested in abolishing grading?

Oh heavens yes; please! You are not alone in this so reach out. I am on Twitter @pernilleripp, I blog www.mrsprip.blogspot.com and you can always email me as well psripp@gmail.com

There are others like you

Here is a guest post by Pernille Ripp. I'm pleased to learn from Pernille both on Twitter and on her blog Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension.

By Pernille Ripp

I could never go back to how I taught before. I could never start talking that much again or assign that much work without losing this newfound passion that now drives me every day. Now when I plan, I constantly ask, what is the goal of my lesson? Why am I choosing to present this to the students rather than something else? How can the students be my partners in learning? How can this be about them and not me? Those simple, yet powerful questions drive me every day as I continue to develop as an educator.

I also could never go back to how I used to learn. The way traditional professional development was introduced to me in college or the network that I lacked. Sure, I do many things differently this year but I am not an expert on any of those, in fact, I am not an expert on anything in life. Therefore the power of being able to connect with others who know so much more than me has been life reinvigorating. I am simply me, and yet with the power of my extended learning network, I am not alone when I share my story. Others join me, support me and scold me as I put it out there; flaws and all, for people to judge, comment, think and perhaps even change. I can only tell you my story in the hopes that it will allow others to share theirs as well. That they will not be afraid to speak about their own paths and journeys even when they veer off the more standard path. That they will have a place to share their voice, their fears, their triumphs and a whole community that will support and accept them.

We must be courageous when we try new things, particularly those that seem to fly in the face of traditional education, fore there are many more critics than supporters. Yet with those critics comes a relevance because if people were not afraid of the changes we propose for the betterment of education than perhaps we are not asking for enough. So although you may find yourself seemingly alone in your own environment, if you reach out, you will be surprised. Others are out there, perhaps not in your own building, but somewhere in the world. Others that will teach you, inspire you, and believe in you when you need it the most. And perhaps, just perhaps, you will find that reaching out to others will make you become a leader in your own right, an inspirer, a supporter, someone whom others look to. Or maybe you will be like me, simply me, someone who is not an expert but who learns and tries to better themselves every day, whether it be through the people at my building or people in my PLN whom I have never met and yet still consider friends and confidantes. Whatever you become, don't give up, you are not alone, there are others out there trying to change the world as well. Unite and believe in yourself, and in your students. Change will come if we fight for it.

So I wrote Alfie Kohn... by Pernille Ripp

It is my pleasure to have Pernille Ripp guest blog here today. She has an interesting experience to share with you about her journey to abolish grading. I also welcome you to visit Pernille's blog: Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension.

Here's Pernille Ripp:

This weekend marked the first ever Reform Symposium, which was an incredible experience of people involved in education all coming together to tear it apart and perhaps puzzle it all back together.  There were many stellar talks but my favorite presentation was by far Joe Bower´s on Abolishing Grades, although I must admit I am partial here because I already admire Joe´s work and dedication.  Joe did not disappoint and the backchannel talk was lively as well.  I certainly only became more passionate about my quiet revolution in my own room of perhaps, just maybe, removing grades.

However, to do so though there are people I must get on my side, the first one being my principal, so as any passionate teacher does, I have been gathering my research, thoughts and ideas as I prepare for it.  Once again, it has been a wonderful experience to find that I am not alone in this frustration with grades and a particularly grateful thanks go to @MrMacnology and @Joe_ Bower for their non-exasperated answers to my endless questions.   

And yet, I wanted to see if there was anything I was missing, so I decided to write to Alfie Kohn and by golly he answered my request for help to speak to my principal.

Here is my plea for help:

Dear Mr. Kohn,
I am 3rd year 4th grade teacher struggling with why I grade students.  For 2 years now, I have fudged grades, assigned worksheets to make sure I have enough stuff to make an average from, and dashed students love of learning when they received a poor grade.  For 2 years I have fielded parent phone class on why their child got a particular grade and graded papers until i was ready to fall asleep.  I have dozed off during meaningless book report presentations, and fought with homeless students to turn their homework in.  I am done with grades but have to still convince my principal.  Do you have any strong points that i should bring up to him to convince him that learning should be for learning's sake and not to produce a grade? 

best,

Pernille Ripp

Here is the advice I received:

Thanks for your note.  I've written about why grades are unnecessary and harmful in two books (Punished by Rewards and The Schools Our Children Deserve) and in two articles (www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/fdtd-g.htm and www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm).  The first of those articles is a little more accessible, I think.  It's focused on grading at the high school level, but I think one can argue that its points apply more strongly to teaching younger children since there is even less of a case to be made in favor of giving kids grades.  (One can't even rationalize them on the grounds that colleges care.)

A Canadian teacher has lately been working hard to persuade other educators to join him in refusing to give grades on individual assignments (even if they have to turn in an end-of-term grade).  Some of the resources on his blog may be useful to you:  www.joebower.org/p/abolishing-grading.html.  Of course, persuading the principal to stop using grades at all -- on a schoolwide level -- would be much more desirable.

Also of possible interest:  this account of a middle school administrator and a high school teacher who have gotten rid of grades (www.alfiekohn.org/miscellaneous/newsarchive.htm#grades) and the first two clips from my DVD that summarize some of the key reasons that grades don't make sense: www.alfiekohn.org/gandhvideoclips.htm.

Any or all of these resources can be shared with parents and other teachers, the idea being to organize opposition to grades so you're not fighting this all by yourself. 

Good luck!

-- Alfie Kohn

I am once again amazed at the power of reaching out to others for help in this quiet revolution against grades.  I am excited to meet with my principal, and hopefully persuade him to let me try this.  And most of all, I am excited about joining up with all of you that think,  discuss, evaluate and listen every single day; never too tired to ponder, "Are we doing the right thing?"