It’s been so long since I wrote, that I forgot my own website address.
It’s not that there haven’t been things to share, it’s more that I don’t know where to begin. That I have lived back home in Denmark for four years now, and been a teacher here for nearly three, and yet still feel like Bambi on ice. Trying to find my footing but knowing that I am more than likely spinning in circles and sliding farther away from my intended target.
So instead of trying to catch anyone up, don’t even know if there is anyone to catch up here, I am simply beginning again.
Hello and welcome to my thoughts about teaching, about life, about being a mom, a woman and living in this world right now with all its complications and wonders.
I am supposed to be the one that teaches children to read and write in my first grade classes. This is a burden I never wanted to have and yet the puzzle of trying to make the pieces click into place, of trying to help children find their way into story, and place their stories into the world, is one I relish. Will this little thing work? What if we do this? Try this? Stop this?
My students are both willing and unwilling participants; while happy to be in school still, they don’t get to choose that they should learn how to read or write. Like so many other things, that choice has been made for them.
But how we do it, together, that can be rife with choices. Some we are exploring cautiously, some we throw ourselves into just happy to try something new.
There is so much we can do together that I feel paralyzed at times. The weight of this wondrous world of literacy so heavy that I am not sure of what is best, what to do, what to keep. Imposter syndrome at its finest.
Because am I enough for everyone? Probably not. But can I show up and try my best, yes. Can I plan something every day that is one part of an expansive path that will expand these readers and authors? Can I teach strategies, offer practice, and pull them into the magic of what it means to read and write and leave the door so wide that even the most cautious of children can bumble through. Yes. Always yes.
I can observe, and tweak, and dream, and wonder and try. I can try again when it didn’t work. I can offer myself grace when it feels like too much to do and not enough me.
Because the power we have to experiment and pilot cannot be removed when we sit in our classrooms. We are allowed to try again again and again.
Because that’s really all this great big thing is. Whether it be life or teaching. An invitation to show up every day and try again. To leave knowing that you tried something. To leave in a way that makes you want to come back.
So I may not always know what I am doing, or even how to do something well, but I know how to show up. And for now, that’s going to be good enough.
So glad to read your words Pernille! The children who learn with you are very lucky!
Very Beat Wishes
Deborah Kovacs
25 Jordan Road South Dartmouth MA 02748
I think I continue to be the lucky one, I am learning so much from them. But your words are kind.
I’m still here reading your words Pernille! I’m also still showing up as a teacher-librarian with 30+ years of experience. Yet, when your character strength is a love of learning, you are always reflecting on your practice and how to improve. Too much reflection may lead to perfectionism and an overly critical inner voice. This is why the mantra “We are enough!” is crucial to maintaining our wellbeing. Our students intuitively know that we care deeply about them and that ultimately is enough. Our influence may not show up on tests and we may only hear from a few students, years after we taught them, so we have to believe that we are enough in the meantime to have hope for continuing to try! You are more than enough to me! Thank you for being brave enough to be vulnerable about this struggle. You are not alone.
Thank you so much, Sarah. When I started to write this post before boarding a plane home today, I didn’t know where I was going with it, but ending up in this place of a forgiveness reminder to myself made so much sense. I don’t always feel like I know where I am going, but to know that there are others like you on this journey alongside me, is a source of comfort. We show up, we try, and we connect as much as we can.
Hi!
First, I want you to know that someone is “out here” reading what you write.
Second, I taught mostly second and third graders for 29 years. I think some of the most important things you can do to create readers and writers is to show them how much fun and engaging it is. Reading to students from wonderful children’s literature, and providing long periods of time for students to just choose their own books and read. (Of course, I would say they also have some direct instruction, but I think the other two are just as important, if not more.)
With writing I always provided times for students to choose their own topics, write and share. And, I think one of the most important things I did was to publish student writing. Having student written texts in the room that everyone could read was very engaging. And, of course, really feeling like an author because your name was in print and others were reading your words.
I know you know all this, but I just wanted to comment and affirm what you are doing. It’s a huge responsibility, like you say, but I do think that all students can achieve a level of reading and writing success, and have fun doing it!
Mary Shelton
You were and still are an inspiration! I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
What everyone above has said, I echo and applaud. Yours will always be a voice worth paying attention to, Pernille. Carry on for all of us!
Thank you for sharing your time and a glimpse into the magical 1st grade world. We are still here for you.
Lovely to hear from you! 🤗
It is good to hear from you. I am retired now, but I remember connecting with you so long ago with your first Global Read Aloud and every year after, until I retired. You are enough, you are doing all you can and it is enough. You got this.
Welcome back! It always feels like a gift to hear from you. Thank you for sharing your teaching journey.
Great to see you online again.
So much teaching is choosing among various good ways to do things. So you choose the approach that works best for you and your students at the moment.
Yep, I’m out here too. I love hearing about first rate teachers! Keep writing!!
I am still here – always. 🙂
Hi Pernille,
I am sure there are a few, like me, who don’t need you to ‘catch up’, but are really happy to hear from you again.
Just last week I was talking about you to a colleague. While we are/were secondary teachers, and I was/am an English teacher we were talking about how good picture books and graphic novels can be as a way of getting students to read. Turns out she already knew of you.
However, the post of yours that has stayed with me was the one you wrote, a long time ago, about being a foreigner in a land that was turning toward darkness. A place that no longer felt safe, despite the privilege that comes with being educated and white. As the daughter of Scottish parents, born in India and living my primary years in Singapore during the 1960s, before coming to Australia in 1966, the recognition that we may be ‘the other’ is so very important.
I have signed up to your blog with one of my work emails so that the mail comes to the most appropriate place.
Again, you have been missed and it really is good to hear from you.
Cheers
Carolyn
email: semioticlizard@gmail.com ph. +61 0413621423
I, too, am so glad to hear from you again. Meeting you at a conference one time and reading all you’ve written through the years has been reaffirming and inspiring for me in my career. Thanks for coming back! I’ve missed you!