BONUS: Teacher Hacks to Preserve Your Sanity

This bonus episode highlights how the Danish education system's focus on community well-being can inspire change. Pernille Ripp's insights emphasize that teachers need to embrace good enough for effective teacher well-being. By experimenting with boundaries, educators can prioritize teacher wellness and individual achievement.

🎯 Feeling burned out as an educator? Tune in for game-changing insights from Danish education expert Pernille Ripp that will transform how you approach teaching and work-life balance!

Discover why "good enough is okay" and learn 5 powerful micro-experiments that will help you reclaim your time and energy without sacrificing your effectiveness in the classroom.

What You'll Learn:
✅ Why perfectionism is stealing your precious time and energy
✅ How to create sustainable teaching practices that actually work
✅ The Danish approach to education that prioritizes community wellbeing
✅ 5 micro-experiments you can try TODAY to reduce overwhelm
✅ How to set strategic boundaries without guilt
✅ Why you're a human being who teaches, not a teaching robot

Perfect for K-12 teachers, educators, school administrators, homeschool caregivers, and anyone in education feeling overwhelmed by endless perfectionism.

Ready to try a micro-experiment? Email me at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com and share your experience!

🔔 Subscribe for more teaching strategies and join our summer series starting Monday with bite-sized tips to make September's school year launch feel lighter!

Connect with me: 📧 Email: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com 🎵 Music by Benjamin Wahl

Don't miss the full interview with Pernille (Season 4, Episode 40) 

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction: Why "Good Enough" Changes Everything
1:00 - The Problem with Perfectionism in Education  
2:00 - Micro-Experiment #1: Simple Slideshow Solutions
3:00 - Micro-Experiment #2: Emergency Sub Plans That Work
4:00 - Micro-Experiment #3: Setting After-Hours Boundaries
5:00 - Micro-Experiment #4: Community-Focused Problem Solving
6:00 - Micro-Experiment #5: Daily Work Timer Strategy
7:00 - You're Human, Not a Teaching Robot
8:00 - Taking Action: Choose Your Experiment
9:00 - Summer Series Preview & Closing

#TeacherBurnout #EducationPodcast #TeachingStrategies #WorkLifeBalance #TeacherWellbeing #EducatorLife #TeachingTips #ClassroomManagement #TeacherSelfCare #ProfessionalDevelopment #TeacherMentalHealth #SustainableTeaching #EducationReform #TeachingBoundaries #EducatorSupport #BackToSchool #TeacherPrep #SummerPD #EducationGoals #teachingcommunity 

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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi there. I'm so glad you're here. Your time is precious, and because of that, I want to let you know right away what you'll gain by listening to the very last second of this episode, my conversation with Pernille Ripp, focused on how the Danish education system prioritizes community wellbeing over individual achievement.

In this bonus episode, I highlight how Pernille reminded me that teachers need to embrace good enough. They can experiment with setting boundaries to create sustainable practices that prioritize their well-being alongside their effectiveness in the classroom. You'll learn why perfectionism is stealing your time and energy, why boundaries are strategic, not selfish, and why we need to shift from individual blame to community support.

Stay with me. I'm so happy to have you as a listener today. This is Schoolutions Coaching and Teaching Strategies, the podcast that [00:01:00] extends education beyond the classroom. A show that offers educators and caregivers strategies to try right away and ensure every student receives the inspiration and support they need to thrive.

Welcome back to a special bonus episode of Schoolutions. I'm Olivia Wahl and I cannot stop thinking about my conversation with Pernille Ripp where she shared about her teaching experience in Denmark. If you have not listened to that episode yet, pause this, go back, listen, and then circle back to this bonus episode.

One phrase keeps echoing in my mind, good enough is okay. And I keep thinking about how as educators, we've been conditioned to believe that anything less than perfection means we're failing our students. But what if that belief is actually what's failing us? Today I want to dive deeper into something Pernille mentioned that could change your teaching life immediately, the power of micro-experiments. [00:02:00]

So let's start with something beautifully simple. Pernille told us that she stopped making elaborate slideshows. She literally just picks a Google Slides template. That's it. One template - done. Now I want you to think about how much time you spend making your presentations perfect. Choosing fonts, finding the right images, adjusting colors.

What if I told you that your students literally don't care? They're there for the learning, not the visual design. So micro-experiment number one: this week, it's June, it's the end of the school year, choose one basic template and use it for everything. Time yourself. How many hours do you get back? What could you do with that time?

Rest, plan differently, actually eat lunch. And here's something that might blow your mind again, in [00:03:00] Denmark, when teachers are sick, they don't write sub plans. The substitute creates the plan. It's their job. So think about this. How many of us have written detailed sub plans while we're running a fever or from hospital beds or while dealing with family emergencies?

And so here comes micro-experiment number two, create five generic emergency sub plans right now. Board games, documentary day, silent reading with snacks, community building activities, art, exploration. That's it. When you're sick, you pick one and you're done. And Pernille said something that hit me hard.

We've been taught that when we're fearful we should be afraid, versus when we're fearful, it's something exciting coming up. So what if setting boundaries isn't something to fear, but something to get excited about? And with that said, micro-experiment [00:04:00] number three, choose one thing you currently do after contract hours and stop doing it for one week.

Maybe it's staying late to organize your classroom. Maybe it's answering emails after dinner. Maybe it's creating elaborate bulletin boards. Notice what happens. Do your students notice? Does your teaching suffer or do you just breathe a little easier? 

And another powerful thing that Pernille shared was how Danish education puts community wellbeing before individual achievement. We can start practicing this tomorrow. Instead of asking, how can I fix this struggling student? Try asking, how is our classroom community supporting this child? What do we need to change about our environment? And so micro-experiment number four: for one week, every time you're tempted to blame yourself for a student's struggle, instead [00:05:00] ask, what does our community need to better support this child?

And here's what really gets me - Pernille was told by her Danish colleagues, do you ever stop working? That's not healthy. In America, we call someone who works constantly dedicated, passionate, innovative. In Denmark, they call it unhealthy. So what if we gave ourselves permission to be human in the States, to have lives outside of our classrooms, to not produce constantly until we fall into bed exhausted?

And so here's micro-experiment number five: set a timer for when you stop doing schoolwork each day. When it goes off, you're done. No exceptions. Notice the guilt that comes up and notice that the world doesn't end. And Pernille said something else profound. Fighting back takes so much energy. It's okay to fight [00:06:00] back in a way that isn't loud and public, but that is saying, I'm going to preserve my energy to stay in this job because I want to still be here when all of this nonsense is gone.

Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is take care of ourselves. Sometimes setting boundaries isn't giving up. It's strategic resistance. I hope if you're listening to this bonus episode, you're feeling inspired, and I would love for you to pick just one of these micro-experiments. Don't try to do them all.

That's the old perfectionist teacher talking. Pick one. Try it for a week. Notice what happens. And here's the thing, if it feels scary, that might mean it's actually what you need to try. Remember what Pernille was reminded of when she moved home to Denmark? You don't live to work. You work to live. 

You are not a machine. You are [00:07:00] not supposed to be endlessly productive. You are a human being who happens to teach, not a teaching robot who happens to be human. I want to just say these aren't just individual wellness tips. When we take care of ourselves, we model for our students what healthy boundaries look like. We show them that adults can be whole people with rich lives outside of their work.

We create sustainable practices that let us stay in education for the long haul. And maybe just maybe we start to shift the culture one good enough slideshow at a time. These ideas I'm offering this week aren't about your students. They're about you. Again, pick one micro-experiment, try it, notice what happens, and remember, good enough is really okay.

I'd love to hear from you about how these experiments go. Email me at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com and tell me what you [00:08:00] tried and what you discovered. I cannot wait to see you next Monday where our summer series kicks off. I will be offering you different tips you can try Mondays and Fridays to get ready, so that September the lift doesn't feel so heavy when the new school year begins. Take care of yourself with the same compassion you show to your students. You deserve it. 

Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube.

Now, I'd love to hear from you. Let me know which micro-experiment you want to commit to trying for just one week. Whether it's using a basic slide template, setting a daily work timer, or creating generic emergency sub plans. Choose the experiment that feels [00:09:00] slightly uncomfortable. That discomfort might signal it's actually what you need.

Notice what happens without judgment. And remember, you are not a teaching robot who happens to be human, but a human being who happens to teach. Tune in every Monday and Friday this summer. I will be offering you little mini-episodes with ideas and tasks you can start to do so that when the school year kicks off in September, it doesn't feel like such a heavy lift.

Until then, take care.