Newsletter
January 2026
Newsletter
Rip’s Teaching Tips​
Monthly Newsletter
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Ideas, resources, and inspiration for teachers
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Instead of "Think, Pair, Share" try "Think, Ink, Pair, Share"
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Adding a writing step to this common classroom practice helps teachers ensure that every student is getting the opportunity to think deeply about a question.
It’s a common scenario: A teacher poses a question, a few students raise their hands, one is selected to share a response, and class moves on. Tight time limits and a gauntlet of content to cover can make this seem like a necessary routine. However, there are certain questions that warrant giving the entire class time to answer thoughtfully. And it can be hard for a teacher to gauge who is actually doing the thinking when only a few students speak up. Enter Think, Ink, Pair, Share—a classic classroom strategy with one added step that gives everyone in class a moment to process important content.
After posing an important question, instead of the traditional “Think, Pair, Share” process, add a step and ask you’re your students to take a moment to write out their responses. “We know from cognitive science that whenever a student writes as they are thinking through an idea, they are likely to process it more deeply.” explains Learning Science Partners’ Jim Heal, “And therefore they will have more chance of encoding and remembering that information in the future.”
This added step can be well worth the bit of extra time it takes because it holds ALL students accountable for
thinking and producing a response. I recommend that you take this for a test drive in your classroom.
Adapted from an article in EDUTOPIA December 3, 2025
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​​​​Research Spotlight: ​
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WHAT THE LONGEST STUDY OF GIFTED KIDS CAN
TELL YOU ABOUT YOUR GIFTED KIDS
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In the 1970s, Julian Stanley and his team launched a full-scale study, identifying many of America's gifted kids and tracking them throughout their lives. The study, called the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth never ended and is now more than 50 years old. Here are two of the study’s main findings:
1. Some of what we used to think about gifted kids turned out to
be wrong.
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There are plenty of misconceptions about gifted kids, but one of the major ones is the idea that gifted kids are so
smart that they'll "find a way" to excel even if those smarts aren't nurtured and developed. That is simply not true.
We all need guidance and help, especially children. Yes, even the gifted ones.
2. Hard work definitely still matters.
Effort is a critical factor in determining how far someone will go in life, gifted or not. The idea that hard work still
matters aligns with the 10,000-hour rule, popularized by journalist Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers: The Story of Success. The 10,000-hour rule suggests that some of the world's greatest innovators, including Bill Gates, The Beatles, and Robert Oppenheimer, excelled in their endeavors because they put in long hours of study and practice. No matter how smart some of your students may be, they still need to develop their work ethic if they are going to succeed in any endeavor.
Adapted from: A study followed 'gifted' kids for over 50 years. Here's what we've learned about them.
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​Book of the Month: Summary of a Book That Will Help You Be a Better Teacher
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TRUE Teacher Story of the Month​​​​​​
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Teacher Well-Being Corner
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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
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"Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best."​
Bob Talbert
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TEACHING Q&A
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On the Rip’s Teaching Tips website there is a section where teachers like yourself can submit questions and I will
answer one of these each month in this newsletter and explore some possible answers that I hope will prove useful.
This month’s question is from an experienced educator who wants to share his expertise with those who are new to
the profession. “How can I be a better mentor to those who are new to the profession but are
reluctant to engage with more experienced teachers. How can I be a better mentor to them
without appearing to presume that what I have to share is worth anything to them?”
It can sometimes be difficult for experienced teachers to remember what it was like in their first year of teaching.
Teachers who are new to the profession and are self-aware are quick to realize how little they actually know about
how to engage their students in learning content. Yet, at the same time, they are often reluctant to display their
shortcomings for fear that doing so may jeopardize their chances of obtaining a continuing teaching position down
the road. They don’t want to appear lacking or weak. This is a very real dilemma for many novice teachers.
The fact that you are asking such a question indicates that you want to help. Having mentored many novice
teachers over the years, the strategy that I found most helpful was to first establish trust. I would do this by being
friendly, dropping by their classroom after school for casual conversations, and during these times telling them the
“horror stories” about my first year of teaching and the myriad mistakes I made. This helped them to see me as
someone who remembered what being a novice teacher was like, and it helped them to see me as nonjudgmental.
Once I had developed a sufficient degree of rapport and trust, I was then in a position to offer to help them. Often
this was with content – things like lesson plans, teaching materials, and assessments. However, our conversations
would eventually get around to classroom management and ways to manage student behaviors – which of course
are always tied to presenting interesting, relevant and engaging lessons.
Letting novice teachers know that you remember what it is like to be a first year teacher, letting them know that
you want to help and that they can trust that anything you discuss with them (within the bounds of policy and law)
will stay between the two of you, goes a long way toward them trusting you enough that they are no longer afraid
of exposing their weak spots and accepting your help.
Thanks for such a great question, and for your willingness to mentor those who are new to our profession.
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Fun Extra​
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If you find this newsletter of value, please feel free to SHARE it with your colleagues.
And please remember:
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If you’re not having fun... you’re doing it wrong! ​​​​​​​​​
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Thank you for all that you do to help kids! Teaching is hard, but there’s no doubt that you’re making a difference. The very fact that you have taken the time to read this newsletter tells me that you want to grow and continue to get better as an educator. My compliments and my thanks!
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Dream Class: How To Transform Any Group Of Students Into The Class
You’ve Always Wanted by Michael Linsin offers practical classroom-
management guidance centered on 15 key principles that make a significant
difference in any classroom. The book teaches teachers to create the “dream class” by influencing student behavior through clear routines, consistent
accountability, strong relationships, and proactive strategies rather than
reacting to problems. It helps educators handle difficult students, build
respect and rapport, foster independence, and enjoy a calmer, more confident
teaching experience. The focus is on simple, implementable steps that
improve learning environments for both teachers and students. If you want
to read something that is relatively simple and quick, yet actionable and
effective, I highly recommend Dream Class.
Three friends were killed in a car accident and they met up at the orientation session to get into Heaven. God asked them what they would most like to hear said about themselves as their friends and relatives viewed them in their respective caskets.
The first man, a doctor, replied, “I hope people will say that I was a wonderful doctor and a good family man.”
The second man, a teacher, replied, “I would like to hear people say that as a teacher, I made a big difference in the lives of the kids I taught.”
The third man, who was very wise, replied, “I’d like to hear someone say, ‘Look, he’s moving!’”
Late one Saturday evening my phone rang. The call display read City Police. I answered, and it was one of
my students who was calling me from jail. Brendan was a very big young man in my Grade 10 class. He informed
me that he was in jail and that bail had been set at $400. Brendan said he had called several relatives and friends,
but they had all told him they didn’t have the money to post bail. So now, he was asking me.
I immediately thought of how desperate this young man must have been to call me – his high school
teacher. Seriously, who does that? Who calls their teacher to bail them out of jail?
I responded that it would be difficult for him to attend school if he was in jail, so I would come down the
following morning and post bail if he promised to do two things: a) show up at school every day until his court
appearance; and b) to show up at his court appearance (otherwise, I would forfeit the bail money). Brendan
promised to do both, and so the next morning I posted bail and drove him home.
Brendan kept his promises. He came to school daily – not always on time, but he was there every day – and
he showed up to court and I got my bail money back.
Brendan and I had a different relationship after that experience. Because I had bailed him out and never
told any of the other teachers or students, he felt he owed me something. This, plus the fact that now I could work
with him regularly because he was actually coming to school every day, made working on our relationship that
much more productive.
Several weeks after this incident, the principal of the school appeared in my doorway with a new student
who had registered part way through the school year. I welcomed the new student, Jack, into the class, and quietly
asked him if he knew any of the other students. He did not. I got him seated and showed him the work we were
doing, and then continued with the class.
Within the first half hour, Jack ignored me twice, muttered something under his breath when I asked him to
do something, and then proclaimed loudly that the work we were doing was “bullshit!”
I looked over at Brendan (remember, Brendan was a very large young man, well over 6 feet tall and
weighing over 200 pounds) and said, “Brendan, the new kid clearly doesn’t know how students in this class behave
and how they talk to me. Would you please take him out into the hallway and teach him how we do things in this
class?” Brendan stood up, looked at the new kid and said in a very commanding tone, “Come with me!”
I never asked what happened in the hallway. I never asked what was said. All I knew was that two minutes
later, Brendan and Jack came back into the classroom, and I never had problems with Jack again.
When you go above and beyond to help your students, most of the time, they will go above and beyond
