Category Archives: Reflections on teaching

My Day True or False?

Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life
This slice is part of the Slice of Life on  Two Writing Teachers! #sol24. I’m slicing on as many Tuesdays as I can. I hope you’ll join me.

I first tried this format here, originally from Ethical ELA: A True or False List Poem . . . There are some things that are true, there are some things that are false, and you’ll never really know!

Today I

accidentally cried a lot
threw 92 starfish into the ocean one by one
wore a t-shirt that said “When I’m not sad or mad, I’m ok.”
wrote 3 slices of life
laughed at two terrible pictures of myself
flooded a classroom with sink water
said the word butt to first and second graders at least 20 times
got armloads of gifts
drank 104 ounces of water
walked 10,793 steps
took a picture with one of my students from my first year teaching
found out my high school social studies teacher died this week
watched 3 episodes of ER with my daughter
taught second-grade

Or, did I?

Crumpled

Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life
This slice is part of the Slice of Life on  Two Writing Teachers! #sol24. I’m slicing on Tuesdays. I hope you’ll join me

I want to tell you about this little boy today.

He was trying to explain why he was going to throw away his art project,
how his picture had gotten ruined.
As he explained it to his teacher, his face got shakier, his eyes filled with tears.
He had accidentally pushed someone,
the crumpling of his paper was the retaliation.
He was convinced that there was
nothing
left
to do but
throw the paper away.

I tried to see what was wrong
with his picture,
but his face was more crumpled
than the page.

His teacher
listened
intently and then said,

“It sounds like this is really upsetting for you.
I can help you figure this out.
Why don’t you go put your stuff on your desk and then –

I can help you with this.
It will be okay.”

He gave his picture to his teacher
turned to walk back into his classroom, nodding and sniffing,
tried to pull himself together.

His teacher and I spun so kids couldn’t see our faces
Both pointing to our own eyes, filled with tears now
tried to pull ourselves together too.

“I don’t know if I can do this
teaching
thing afterall,” I said.

I mean, how will my heart take it?

She nodded her head and we looked at the
barely crumpled picture for a moment.

“The picture is fine though, right?” I asked

She gave it a once over,
nodded,
flattened the page a little extra,
took a deep breath and walked into her classroom
where I know she
helped
one
crumpled
boy

In Other News

poetry, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life
This slice is part of the Slice of Life on  Two Writing Teachers! #sol24. I’m slicing on Tuesdays. I hope you’ll join me

I want to make a point,
or at least an analogy
so I close my eyes
what story could I tell
from today
from 10 years ago
from second grade?

Or rather
what story could I
share
because I have plenty to
tell
that email
that conversation
that canceled meeting

Today we cried about
a drink carrier
it was the one from our
first coffees
in our first home

Endings are beginnings
and all that jazz
so why do I hear The Doors
This is the end
Beautiful Friend
The end?

In other news,
I watched a Kindergarten class
cheer for a friend after he read
good Job! they said
we love you!
and I thought to myself
wow
kids really get
how to take care of each other

Chaucer Says

poetry, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life

This slice is part of the Slice of Life on  Two Writing Teachers! #sol24. I’m slicing on Tuesdays. I hope you’ll join me!

I’m searching for a seed
of a story
that shows flowers after showers
like Chaucer says.

Instead, I’m back in eleventh grade
Memorizing The Canterbury Tales
Recording my performance on cassette
in a closet off the classroom.

Is this a real memory? It must be.
For decades I’ve randomly
thought, “Whan that Aprill…” and wondered
Does everyone else remember the rest but me?

So I get it, Chaucer
with the showers then the flowers
I just don’t think you knew
how long the rain can last.

I’m looking for poetry challenges. Today I found one by checking out Ethical ELAs prompt:: “April Showers Bring May Flowers”

No More Elegies Today

poetry, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching

Today I will

write a poem

about bittersweet joy

It will not be meant to sway you with metaphor.

It will not be toxic

or double-edged

or dramatic.

But rather about the joy that

breaks your heart

just a little piece though.

But rather the laughing 8 year old

trying to figure out what

fitting in means.

But rather the birthday girl watching her

mermaid balloon fly into the clouds

all the grown-ups around suddenly a team of distractors.

But rather groups of teachers

together problem solving and laughing too

because adversity needs humor,

because humor creates belonging.

But rather the friend of a friend

leaning forward with understanding to whisper

“It’s hard to listen to something

so riddled with untruth.”

I’m looking for poetry challenges. Today I wrote inspired by “To Elegize or Not to Elegize” on Ethical ELA.

Teaching Poetry: A Few Tips

poetry, Reflections on teaching

Poetry Challenge: Free Form Friday

Teaching Poetry

Did you ever
notice
that kids speak in poetry?

If you want to teach children
to write
poetry,
I have a few
tips.

One. Listen.

Two. Notice.

Three. Listen some more so that whenever you can
fit in step four, you know it.

Four. (Don’t skip this) Say it back to them.
Say
Wow! You are a
poet! Can you say that again?
I
need
to
write that down!
(Say it with serious enthusiasm.
You won’t be faking it. Children are
already poets.)

Five. Read their own words back to them.

Repeat.
Soon they will know
their own poetry
and they will draw it
recite it
build it
write it
fall in love with it.

Then you can start
to listen
to notice
to listen some more
to your own
poetry too.


Happy April! Happy Poetry Month! 

I’m looking for poetry challenges. Today I did a Free Verse. Free Verse Friday! It’s a thing. Because I just made it a thing!

Some Days Are

Family, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life
Slice of LIfe
This slice is part of the Slice of Life on  Two Writing Teachers! #sol24. I’m slicing on Tuesdays. I hope you’ll join me!

Some days are
wake up early with the dog days
dog is scared of rain days
it’s raining all day days

Some days are
meetings cancelled days
kids are awesome days
work gets done days

Some days are
coloring is part of my job days
kindergarteners say hi in the hall days
people are so appreciative days

Some days are
rush home from school days
walk the dog in the drizzle days
zoom class with good people days

Some days are
don’t see your kids very much days
make a salad late at night days
hope to go to sleep early days

Relax. It’s March (Soon Enough, It Will Be April.)

Celebrate, Family, Pets, poetry, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life
Slice of LIfe
This slice is part of  the 17th annual Slice of Life Story Challenge on  Two Writing Teachers! #sol24 I’m slicing every day this month, for the 11th year! Wahoo!!! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

I was so inspired by Fran’s Relax slice, and I’ve been trying different versions on my own. But, it’s hard! Today I read a lot of people’s March Slice of Life wrap up slices, and I thought … what if I did a wrap up Relax slice? It might seem depressing … but the cool thing is that I’m still standing! Here’s my try, from my month of slices: Relax. It’s March (Soon Enough, It Will Be April)

Relax.
It’s March.
Things are going to be bad.
You will realize you have been wearing the tag
on your shoe in public. It will make you laugh,
and write. You will be angry about things you can’t
quite publish. You will know you will never be
as unf***withable as your friend was. Noticing things
all month will become an issue. There won’t be any
paper towels or plastic garbage bags at your airbnb
and you will sob saying goodbye to your daughter. You will continue
to parent teenagers. An honor, for sure, but also so tiring
being a punching bag. You will go to Home Goods and
realize that death is just around the corner, and you will
not practice your therapist’s advice in order to pause that
catastrophic anxiety. The SATs will come and go. Your son will
curse at his computer screen while practicing. This will make
you feel, once again, like a bad mom. Your kids will roll their eyes
at you. A lot. Spring break will end, and all the poetry you write
will not stop school from coming in like a lion. Even your dog
will be embarrassed by you, although he is an old man, not a teenager.
The world of education will continue to go mad, citing research
that the powerful cherry pick. Meanwhile, you will go in and out
of classrooms finding joy but not realizing you should
have been paying attention to how the teachers took
lunch count. It will warm your heart to hear your cat play,
but she will be alone without her cat brothers which will
break your heart. People will be scared to voice their opinions,
and you will feel like a storm is coming. You will worry
that more things will be thrown out with the bath
water. Your dog will get sick which you won’t write about, because
ew, gross. You will try to remember that it won’t be winter
forever but anxiety will take hold as you wait
for a meeting. You will try to spend your energy thinking
about little joyful things. You will realize almost nobody
can be trusted, and that fumbling through
new things is in your future. A glass will get stuck in your
garbage disposal. You will lose faith, but you will always have poetry,
which will help you march on. Undappled won’t be the word you
want it to be. There will be too many questions in your head, and
you will search for answers. You will be reminded of betrayal, as if
you need to be reminded. Your filter will disintegrate,
and you will stop watching your face, but your connections
will just keep growing. You will be proud of your kids, even
when you have to use google translate. The Easter Bunny won’t
leave jelly beans on the piano, but there will be
a scavenger hunt for the teenagers, and then there will be
a quiet Sunday afternoon. Soon enough, it will be April.