Pernille Schmidt Ripp (@pernille) Bsky

Reading Was Never Meant to Compete We talk about reading as if it is in a race. As if every time a kid picks up a phone instead of a book, reading has lost a point. And I understand why we frame it that way. The competition feels real. YouTube, social media, every platform built around the endless scroll, they are extraordinary at what they do. The additives of a phone and everything that comes with it, the brain chemistry they tap into, the way they are engineered to keep you coming back, it's a losing race, we cannot compete with that.

Reading belongs to every child — not as a skill to master, not as competition for their phone, but as one of the last truly private spaces they have. Here is why we need to stop framing it as if it is in competition with devices.

2 weeks ago 10 3 0 0

When a Child Says There Are No Good Books: A Tool for Conferring All year I have been working with this one child. A good reader. Bright. Funny. And yet he hates reading. Tells me there are no good books despite me bringing all my tricks. Book recommendations, book excitement, cheerleading and all of that. And then I realized something. It's an ingrained habit now. A quick dismissal. Because if there are no good books then the work stops.

He's a good reader. Bright. Funny. And all year he's told me there are no good books. This post is about what I finally realized — and a free tool to help.

3 weeks ago 5 2 0 0

When a Child Says They Hate Reading: What to Ask Next It seems, no matter what I do, it still happens. Year after year. I started this work in 2010 and the voices were smaller then. Present but quiet. Now, with passive consumerism, with the need to be constantly entertained, with the pressures of life growing for so many kids due to inequity, it seems to have grown to a cacophony of voices.

Year after year, I hear it more. Even from my youngest readers. "I hate reading." This post is about what to ask next — and a free tool to help. Link in comments.

1 month ago 19 6 1 2

Two Different Loses What we track. And what we miss. I keep thinking about the ones who came to us loving books. You know the ones. The kids who wanted to tell you everything about what they were reading, who recommended titles before you could recommend them first, who couldn’t walk past a shelf without stopping. Somewhere between then and now, they faded into the wallpaper.

A new piece on something I keep thinking about — the readers we already had. The ones who loved books and slowly, quietly stopped sharing that with us. Not because they stopped reading. Because the room stopped asking.
Three small moves that might help.

1 month ago 4 0 0 0

Lessons in Genre—and in Failure We have been studying genres in 3rd grade. Something so simple, and yet such a powerful key to unlocking yourself as a reader. For some students, these classifications are crystal clear; they already have the language that wraps around them as readers. For others, the designations are murky at best—confusion between fiction and nonfiction (which I completely understand in this day and age), and even what it means for something to…

We turned our tiny classroom library into a space students could navigate—sorting books by genre, wrestling with fiction vs. nonfiction, and learning through messiness. A lesson in reading, teaching, and yes… failure. But worth every minute.

2 months ago 9 2 0 0

This Is the Work This week, I was invited to sit down with with Dr. Sarah Sansbury, Leah Gregory, and Janette Derucki for the Can’t Shelve This podcast (releasing February 10th). The invitation was simple: come talk about reading culture. About what we actually do in our classrooms and schools that either invites children into reading or quietly pushes them away. That kind of conversation is my favorite.

This is the work. Not forcing reading or offering rewards, but building spaces where children feel safe enough, curious enough, and seen enough to want to read. Before we change students, we have to change the conditions we create around reading.

3 months ago 20 5 0 2

One breath at a time I have the lung capacity of a 70-year-old. Several years ago, I was diagnosed with a genetic deficit in my lungs and liver. One that can lead to emphysema, asthma, and a whole list of other things no one hopes to casually collect. It made sense. Walking up the stairs while talking would leave me breathless, still does. And yet, hearing that my lungs were not the way they were supposed to be was a quiet devastation.

Supporting children who struggle isn’t about fixing everything. It’s about showing up, noticing, and taking small, meaningful steps — building trust, safety, and connection while honoring realistic expectations in the classroom.

3 months ago 13 2 0 0

Quiet, ordinary, enough I'm on my second cup of tea of the day. Waiting for my husband to come home so I can head out into the world with our youngest, giftcards burning a hole in her pocket. We woke up in the dark, but knowing that we gained 5 minutes of sunlight already. We lumbered into awakeness through pages read, quiet conversation, and a plan for this second to last day of the year.

On the cusp of a new year, I reflect on quiet moments of survival, presence, and ordinary joy — in parenting, teaching, and life. Sometimes the bravest work is simply showing up, noticing, and offering steadiness to children and ourselves, one small moment at a time.

3 months ago 8 0 4 0

So much of it is manufactured urgency, well put

3 months ago 1 0 0 0

Thank you so much, Matt. It was so nice to sit in the quiet and write those words.

3 months ago 1 0 0 0

"we forget that gathering in schools is also meant to simply gather us."
Exactly this.

3 months ago 14 3 0 0

The Work That Still Works It has been ages since I have written here. Not created content, not shared ideas, but simply written in the ways that I have been writing for so many years. A familiar refrain, a coat that fits just so, but left forgotten in a closet because who has time to take it out? It seems I moved to Denmark and forgot parts of myself.

In a world pushing more, faster, and louder, I’ve been returning to what actually works: slowing down, building community, and protecting children’s humanity in our classrooms. This is a quiet return to that work.

3 months ago 57 9 2 2

The Thinking Classroom in ELA Next week, in my 3rd grade Danish class, we’re starting something new — or maybe something old, just done differently. We’re bringing the Thinking Classroom to our literacy work. I have seen the excitement from it in math, which made me wonder; how can we model the same concept but within ELA (or DLA in my case 😊). So in true Pernille fashion, I asked if anyone was interested in seeing the slides with prompts I had made in either Danish or English, and it turned out that, yes!

Starting something new — one Thinking Classroom prompt each week. Quick, curious, and made to spark talk and connection during literacy time. One whiteboard, three kids, endless thinking

5 months ago 8 1 1 1

Loving this year's Global Read Aloud selections from @pernille.bsky.social! Is your school signed up to participate?

1 year ago 10 1 0 0

The 2025 Global Read Aloud kicks off on October 6, 2025. This is one of our favorite reading events every year.📚

You can click on each book cover to find the Global Read Aloud Books in @follettcontent.bsky.social Titlewave.❤️

buff.ly/NkBk8bL

#TLSky #EduSky #tlchat #futurereadylibs #edchat

11 months ago 12 8 1 0

Our school was awarded a grant to buy books so our whole K-6 school can participate in the Global Read Aloud. We’re excited to partner with other classes around the world reading the same books. I can’t wait to see all the connections we make. 🌎 📚 @theglobalreadaloud.bsky.social #GRA2025

7 months ago 4 1 1 0

I am thrilled to hear this!

6 months ago 1 0 1 0

Global Read Aloud Choices 2025 #GRA25 In these continued times of turmoil I have looked to the past and the present for hope. I don’t think I am the only one. When the world around us seems to lose its way, we look back upon othe…

PLUS, join in on Global Read Aloud this month, which has chosen Oge Mora as this year's picture book creator! Each week, read along and join in the discussions for one of Oge Mora's fabulous books, including SATURDAY and Caldecott Honor book THANK YOU, OMU!
🔗: theglobalreadaloud.com/2025/04/07/g...

6 months ago 3 1 0 0

Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi book cover and global read aloud selection description image

KAREEM BETWEEN by Shifa Saltagi Safadi is now out in paperback! Happy #BookBirthday to this incredible winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and 2025 Global Read Aloud Selection 📚

Click the link below to download the FREE guide!
penguinschoollibrary.com/KareemEdGuide

7 months ago 5 2 0 1

Boost you read aloud with drawing prompts – some ideas I'm a doodler. Facing long meetings or tasks where I need to intently listen, I instinctively reach for something to draw on—not as a means of escape, but as a way to focus. I know I am not the only one. Doodling, when done mindfully, has been shown to boost attention and cognitive processes. It helps in information retention, reduces mind-wandering, and provides a creative outlet that promotes stress reduction.

I’m a doodler. For me, drawing isn’t distraction—it’s focus. With the Global Read Aloud about to begin, I’m sharing ideas for how mindful drawing can deepen read-alouds, spark conversation, and build understanding. Curious how? Click to read more.

6 months ago 7 4 0 0

My 13 year old just told me I am a cool mom because I used to be in a motorcycle gang.

This is not true.

But I will not correct him.

6 months ago 7 0 0 0

In case you need me to tell you this, whatever the Clown Car says about autism today, it's going to be a bunch of shit. Read autistic writers and researchers if you actually care about us. We are legion and live it.

6 months ago 18 7 2 0

7 games to promote brave questioning When I first moved back to Denmark, I had the privilege of working in marketing—a completely different field from teaching, but somehow familiar. Everything was new: teams, assignments, routines. It was exhilarating, exhausting, and, unexpectedly, deeply thought-provoking when I considered my work as a teacher. One of the first things I had to learn, fast, was how to ask questions. I knew very little, every day I was surrounded by people who knew far more than I did, even those fresh out of school.

Asking questions is brave—especially for kids in a world of AI, bias, and peer pressure. In this post, I share 7 play-based ways to help students practice curiosity, take risks, and feel safe wondering, experimenting, and learning together.

7 months ago 8 1 0 0

Headline: 12 New and Forthcoming Books by Indigenous Authors, Bookstr logo and three book covers: THE OTHERS by Cheryl Isaacs (Heartdrum); LEGENDARY FRYBREAD DRIVE-IN, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Heartdrum); featured contributors: Kaua Māhoe Adams, Marcella Bell, Angeline Boulley, K.A. Cobell, Christine Hartman Derr, A. J. Eversole, Jen Ferguson, Eric Gansworth, Byron Graves, Kate Hart, Karina Iceberg, Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, David A. Robertson, Andrea L. Rogers, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Brian Young; SISTERS IN THE WIND by Angeline Boulley (Henry Holt).

12 New and Forthcoming Books by Indigenous Authors by Nel Aldrich from Bookstr. PEEK: “Here are 12 new or soon-to-be-released books by Indigenous authors, ranging from memoirs to fantasy epics, to an anthology about a legendary fry bread diner.” bookstr.com/list/12-new-... #BookSky

7 months ago 23 13 0 0

Anthropic Authors’ Rights Class Action – Author Contact Page – Lieff Cabraser

We urge all authors who believe their books may have been unlawfully downloaded by Anthropic to visit the website and provide the requested information.

www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

8 months ago 235 147 3 3

Conversation with a 2nd grader today - translated from Danish

Her: Hi Pernille, I have a question
Me: Yes…
Her: Why when you get old do you get large knockers?
Me: Well, we continue to develop as we grow older
Her: You must be really old…

Happy first day of school 🤣

8 months ago 13 0 1 0

1. Planning self directed time for the afternoon of PD day 1 bc the morning is district run

2. Putting must know content in the AM of PD day 2, and giving teams time the rest of day 2.

Reflecting on what to spread out over staff mtgs, what can be an email, what are team leads best suited to share

8 months ago 2 1 1 0

This is excellent leadership

8 months ago 1 0 0 0

Admin and school leaders: how are you protecting your staff’s time and load capacity during back to school PD?

8 months ago 4 0 1 0

First day of PD and I am so overstimulated. So many small decisions discussed, so much conversation, so much sitting. It was all needed but my brain was not ready for that much stimulus at one time.

Time to chill with my kids and then CrossFit to clear the mind before going back tomorrow.

8 months ago 11 0 0 0

Posts by Pernille Schmidt Ripp