Friday, May 09, 2008

Poetry Friday -- Pick My Chin Up Off The Floor





Flabbergasted


I have witnesses.
Eight teachers from Tennessee
spent the day observing
in my classroom.

They heard her say it.

They heard the fourth grader say
"Hypothetically speaking..."
as we discussed
the characters
in
Greetings From Nowhere.

I'm still dumbfounded.

But I have witnesses.
It really happened.




The roundup is by writer2b at Findings.

11 comments:

  1. I'm not sure what is more awesome - that the student said that or that you managed to write such a beautiful poem about it.

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  2. Ditto what Jenny said.

    I'm sure you were really cool about it, and didn't shriek or tell her she was cute. That happened to me a lot. Even more often adults said, "You talk like a book!" And some kids said some other things that don't bear repeating.

    I hope you made that moment proud for her, as proud OF her as you are, I'm sure you did.

    Rock on, teacher!

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  3. The incident and your poem are too cool! Nice going!!

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  4. Anonymous8:10 AM

    Awesome! There are almost never witnesses to such a moment.

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  5. tadmack,

    I think I only gasped a little and made eye contact with the visitors.

    We always celebrate when someone comes up with just the perfect word or a particularly apt way of expressing themselves. This one was such a flash of brilliance, and as writer2b notes, a rare one that was WITNESSED.

    So this poem is a particular moment in celebration of ALL of our (unwitnessed) vocabulary moments for the year!

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  6. love it. great story. great poetic capture.

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  7. Anonymous9:52 AM

    Wow, wow, wow to both the student and your poem. Happy Friday

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  8. Oh, a great story and great poem about it! I love moments like that. I want to give that little fourth-grader a hug (and, in just the right moment, over smoothies, the encouragement to never "dumb it down" as I remember doing in fifth grade, just to fit in and sound like peers.)

    Thanks for the moment!

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  9. Great moments like these show you (and everyone else!) just how fabulous your year has been with these children. Celebrate! Thanks for sharing it in your poem.

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  10. Anonymous9:23 PM

    I'll bet her parents are professionals who use regular language in front of her all the time, and in their case, that includes Big Words.

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  11. Anonymous8:54 AM

    A lovely rendering of a Perfect Moment in class! You captured it well, Mary Lee.

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