Poetry Friday -- Beginning...again

Photo by Mary Lee Hahn

A Teacher Turns the Calendar Page From July to August

It's the same feeling you get

just after you've nudged the sled 

over the shoulder 

of the hill.

Movement becomes momentum

and quickly shifts 

to catapulting and careening.

You relinquish control

and hold on 

for the ride.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

Next week is the official start of school in our district -- teachers on Monday, students on Wednesday.

And so we begin...again.

Julianne has the roundup at To Read To Write To Be.

PSA -- For Teachers Who Are Writers

Creative Nonfiction is working on a project to recognize the work that teachers do. They are hosting an essay contest -- "We're looking for stories from the widest possible variety of perspectives and experiences with the theme 'How We Teach.' "

The winning essay will receive $1,000, and the runner up receives $500; all essays will be considered for publication in a special "How We Teach" issue of the magazine in spring 2017. The deadline for submissions is August 29, 2016

Details of what they're looking for are below. You can find the complete guidelines on their website, here.

How We Teach

For the spring 2017 issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine, we’re looking for original essays about teaching—whether in a traditional classroom or online; in summer camp or college; in preschool or in a prison; in the woods or in a workshop.  

We welcome personal stories as well as profiles, and we’re open to a very wide range of experiences and circumstances. Above all, we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character, detail, and a distinctive voice—that give insight into what it means to teach.

I Wish I Had Written This Book

You Are My Wonders
by Maryann Cusimano Love
illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa
Philomel Books, 2012
this book was a gift from a former student

My love of 5th graders is a little on-again off-again these days. You know how they get; what it's like to try to keep their focus. But you also know about their razor-sharp wit and their amazing insights.

I need to read this book every day so that I can remember that they are truly my wonders.

"I am your teacher;
you are my school child.

I am your welcome;
you are my running wild.

I am your bell;
you are my ring.

I am your notes;
you are my sing.
.
.
.
I am your story;
you are my wide eyes.

I am your lesson;
you are my surprise.

I am your stillness;
you are my jiggle.

I am your straight line;
you are my wiggle."


Really. I need to read it every day.

And did I mention how much I wish I had written this book?

Poetry Friday -- Poetry is the Main Line

"...I always loved English because whatever human beings are, we are storytellers. It is our stories that give a light to the future. When I went to college I became a  history major because history is such a wonderful story of who we think we are; English is much more a story of who we really are. It was, after all, Miss Delaney who introduced the class to My candle burns at both ends; /It will not last the night; /But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends— /It gives a lovely light. And I thought YES. Poetry is the main line. English is the train."

This is an excerpt from the prose poem "In Praise of a Teacher" by Nikki Giovvani. The entire poem can be found at The Writer's Almanac. 

Dori has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Dori Reads.

Coaches

I finished listening to The Art of Fielding (Chad Harbach) yesterday. I can't say I wound up loving it -- Harbach makes his characters weaken and fail until every last one of them is so low he/she can't go any lower -- but when I stopped at the bookstore to look up this quote, I was amazed to learn that it was his debut novel. That doesn't make up for what he did to some perfectly nice characters, but it does raise my opinion of his craft -- Harbach will be one to watch for in the future. The Art of Fielding is literary, academic, romantic (straight and gay), youth, aging, and baseball, baseball, baseball.

I thought this was a good quote for teachers, and for a certain blog partner turned runner:

"He already knew he could coach. All you had to do was look at each of your players and ask yourself: What story does this guy wish someone would tell him about himself? And then you told the guy that story. You told it with a hint of doom. You included his flaws. You emphasized the obstacles that could prevent him from succeeding. That was what made the story epic: the player, the hero, had to suffer mightily en route to his final triumph. Schwartz knew that people loved to suffer, as long as the suffering made sense. Everybody suffered. The key was to choose the form of your suffering. Most people couldn't do this alone; they needed a coach. A good coach made you suffer in a way that suited you. A bad coach made everyone suffer in the same way, and so was more like a torturer." (chapter 19)

The Start of School

It's getting a little crazy here in Back-to-School Land. Times like this, the best we can do is point you to the writing of others. Bud Hunt, at Bud the Teacher, has a great post that every teacher needs to read, whether this is your first year or your 25th year (*finger pointing at self*): An Open Letter To Teachers, by Bud the Teacher. Here are a couple of my favorite parts:

Be humble, but fight like crazy for your students. (Did this today. Proud of self.)

You’ll have nervous days and scared days and failure days. But you’ll also have “yes” days. Write about, reflect upon, and learn from all of them, but build a special place to keep a record of the “yes” ones. Return to it when you need a boost on some of the not-so-good days.

I wish you well. I ask you to be brave and humble and kind and tenacious and wise and caring and gentle and fierce. We so need you to do well. And there are lots of folks out there who want to help. Do good stuff.

JBlack at Transitioning to Web 2.0 made a Wordle poster of Bud's main points. Very cool. Words to live and teach by.

Support for Teachers

Lois Lowry appreciates all the work teachers do.

Thanks.

Teachers According to Clementine

I just finished THE TALENTED CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker. I must say, I just can't get enough of Clementine. What a great character! As expected I totally love this second Clementine book. I was so excited when I saw it at the bookstore yesterday. The bad news is, I now have to wait for the next Clementine book. Really, this character is, for sure, one of my favorites of all time. She is full of life and the writing continues to be brilliant.

And, I think we need to add Clementine's teacher to our list of Cool Teachers in Children's Literature. What a great teacher! I can't seem to find a name but he definitely belongs on our list.

Now, Clementine seems to have teachers all figured out. Here are some things she says about us in this latest book. It is a little frightening, but she is usually pretty accurate. See what you think.

"I have noticed that teacher get exciting confused with boring a lot."

"But he ignored me, which is called Getting on with the Day when a teacher does it, and Being Inconsiderate when a kid does it."

"My teacher looked at me as if he suddenly had no idea how I'd gotten into his classroom."

"In school, my teacher started in with the 'Talent-Palooza' business so fast I thought it was the last part of the Pledge of Allegiance."

"...so I went up to his desk. I made quick secret-eyes all around behind there to look for the pizza and doughnuts everyone knows teachers eat when kids aren't looking..."

"There should be a rule about that. No laughing for teachers."

"My teacher made a face at Margaret's teacher. It meant they didn't believe that for a minute, but they had to say it anyway."

"If a teacher can have a substitute teacher, how come a kid can't have a substitute kid?"

"When I got back, Margaret's teacher gave me a look that said she was going to remember all this nonsense when I got into her grade."