We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree. ~Aang (in Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Collaboration
Testing means work silently (all by yourself) but we
are accustomed to collaboration. We know we are all
smarter when we work together, but we have
to take the
test alone. It is not the same
as (all those times) when we discovered how our (very different) roots
could lead us to common understanding. Testing is too quiet and
the air is filled with tension. We
struggle silently (on our own) until we are
all finished. At last we get our voices back and we are all
of us (once again) like branches
(grafted from many nations and cultures) of
the
(strong enough to support us all and tested by time) same
(collaboration makes us all smarter) tree.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2018
Phew! Some big truth here! We are just finishing two weeks (that feel like two months or two years) of testing. And all of us are tired! I'm going to share this poem with teachers and kids today! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by how you used parentheses in this one. You never cease to amaze, or teach me!
Somewhere I read that one of the biggest predictors for success was one's ability to work with others... I love all the parentheticals in this one! xo
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's third graders are about to start all that testing. Sigh. Thanks for your insightful & carefully constructed golden shovel today, Mary Lee!
ReplyDelete