In this article, the author shares her experience when she wrote a poem anonymously to an English teacher, who never mentioned the poem, nor gave the tiniest suggestion that the teacher read or received it. In reflection, the author thinks that she had developed her personal and emotional literacy by composing a poem which might not have been very good in terms of academic literacy. Despite this the author found a way to use language and to find a voice at a time when there was a lot of silence in her life. Reflecting on this experience and aspect of literacy from her own schooling experience has been so valuable. It has helped shape her views of what she believes English teaching should be and how she might translate her views and ideas into a classroom setting. She has begun to realise the complexities of English teaching, specifically in regards to how she might respond to students' work and how she can create a classroom atmosphere where trust and freedom is felt.