Showing posts with label love wins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love wins. Show all posts

Friday, February 14, 2020

Poetry Friday -- When They See You


Via Unsplash

Valentine Letter From Shadiya

I Love you so much
I ned you so much Miss Hahn
I nau you is so tieard
because I see yor pekchar in the book
I want show you your pekchar in 2018
You is so nice Miss Hahn
I see yor pekchar in the book
my firend has the book
you is so difrend in 2018 and 2020
I see you
and I see you is so tieard
if you ned hilpp
I can hilpp you.


Shadiya was new to the U.S. this fall. She is from Kurdistan, and speaks a rare dialect of Kurdish that has left her linguistically isolated in ways that none of our other EL students experience. There are no bilingual aides available to help her navigate our world. Every bit of English and our 5th grade curriculum that she has conquered has been won with grit and determination.

She must have always had this big heart we see in her letter to me, and it gives me comfort that the harsh reality of her isolation has not made her bitter and withdrawn. Rather, it has sweetened her already good nature like the boiling down of maple sap to make syrup. She begins and ends every day by giving me a hug. She keeps me centered and helps me remember why I do what I do.

Thank you, Shadiya. Yes, I am "so tieard" this year. But where would I be without you?

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope someone touches your heart like mine has been touched! Check out the Poetry Friday Roundup at TeacherDance.





Thursday, November 10, 2016

Poetry Friday -- The Impeded Stream

























The Real Work
by Wendell Berry

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.



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Poetry writers and readers, let's gather at Jama's Alphabet Soup to share the words that will begin to heal our hearts, and then let's roll up our sleeves and get to work. I'm thinking about volunteering to support senior citizens through my community's resource center, getting involved in Stonewall Columbus' PFLAG group (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), and donating to the NAACP. 

What causes will you champion with your discretionary income and your volunteer hours?