RIPPLE is a program I developed to help show students how they can and do promote a positive learning environment.  At the beginning of the year, I tell the students that there are four different ways to "ripple", four different roles they can play:

 

RIPPLE #1: The Answer Person -- This is the person who understands the material and can easily answer the teacher's questions.  The other students can learn learn from her.

 

RIPPLE #2: The Questioner -- This is the student who is brave enough to say that he doesn't understand.  His classmates are often grateful to him for letting the teacher know that something is unclear.

 

RIPPLE #3: The Model -- This student leads by example, using his actions to remind his classmates how to behave.  He is much more powerful than someone who tattles.

 

RIPPLE #4: The Supporter -- By providing positive reinforcement to her classmates ("Great job!", "Good question!"), this student helps foster a safe environment in which all students feel comfortable learning and growing.

 

Each week, the students must write a "RIPPLE card" to someone in the class (their classmates, their teachers, or themselves).  I collect and distribute the cards to the students' envelopes for them to retrieve at the beginning of the next week.  The cards highlight things that the students have done to improve the classroom environment. 

 

The goals are for the students to learn to celebrate themselves and each other, to understand the power that they have as students, and to recognize that the person who knows "everything" isn't the only person worth having in the class.  So far, the program has been extremely successful. Click on the links below to see examples of RIPPLE cards that students have written.