Picking Up Where I Left Off

I have learned over the years that nothing we do is wasted. Yet, I'm always surprised when it happens once again, when something from the past shows up with more meaning in the present.

Such a thing happened this week.

REWIND

During my first year of teaching, I was still taking classes for the Teacher Immersion Program, one of them being teaching in my content area. I recall I wrote a paper answering the question: How do we teach creative writing yet still provide structure? I wrote about various ways to approach writing in the classroom, in which I included something called The Town Project I read about in Teachers and Writers Collaborative magazine.  That same semester I attended a Saturday workshop put together by the National Writing Project at Florida Gulf Coast University, and decided I would definitely apply for the NWP Summer Institute. This came with some additional commitment, as the Institute required I do a presentation on a way I engage students in writing in my classroom, and it would also give me college credit, motivating me to take the MAT and apply to grad school.

Yeah.  I was busy.

And I knew that I didn’t actually have anything solid to present.  After all, I was just a first year teacher. So with the time left, I decided to implement the Town Project in my classroom.

The Town Project, as written about by Robin Behn in a project called Capitol County, created towns in each classroom, and generated writing ideas based around a simulated real world community.  At the time I taught three double blocked classes (sounds like such an easy schedule now!), and I had each class name their town.  Each student created their persona – who they were in the town, preferably an adult so they could write from a different perspective. We had doctors, cookie factory owners, lawyers, dance studio operators, fashion designers, restaurant owners, and yes, one year I even had a hit man for the mob.  Students had the opportunity to run for mayor, write to people in other towns (never knowing who exactly they were writing to – names were secret outside the town), newspapers, brochures, magazines, and writing persuasive pieces about town issues. They also put on talk shows, news shows (complete with hilarious commercial breaks), Jerry Springer type shows, and even an American Idol knockoff. I had a parent who was a court judge, and she helped us set up a small claims court, and even volunteered her time to come in and hear the cases. I recorded many of these with my video camera so the kids could watch themselves afterward.

In other words – we had a blast.

Artifacts from my capstone project

The summer of 2005, I presented The Town Project to my NWP Summer Institute colleagues, and had other opportunities to present as well. The plan all along, put together with help from Dr. Patricia Wachholz, was to present at Florida Council of Teachers of English, which I did in the fall of 2006 as my capstone project for my masters.  I was supposed to write an article for professional publication, but somehow that never happened.

Fast forward to switching to high school teaching, where The Town Project didn’t really fit.  When I came back to middle school, I tried it with a 7^th grade class of intensive readers, but I was struggling that first year, and I don’t think I gave it a fair chance. Then I pretty much forgot about it.

THIS WEEK

This semester I’m teaching a speech and debate class that meets first thing in the day. I have twenty smart and motivated 7^th and 8^th graders, who progressed through the debate cycle quite well, debating violence in video games, school uniforms, standardized testing, and the need for homework. I knew we were entering the speech/storytelling portion of the semester, but I felt I had little time to think about exactly how to approach it.  My thoughts, when I had time to think, were all over the place.

Then on Monday we had the final speaker in the final debate. She did something I had not witnessed before: I knew she was nervous, because she had said so many times. When she got up, she was doing fine, but then started repeating lines. Then she went into this stuttering thing, and gave up. I had never heard anyone do that before, in all my years of being involved in public speaking.

This caused me to set aside some space and time in my life to really THINK about what to do with the speech class.  I did not want to put her through this again.  I know from experience that focusing on the needs of one student can open up possibilities for all students. So I concentrated my thoughts on how to approach things so to lessen her anxiety.

And I came back to The Town Project.

Interviews. News programs. Town Hall meetings. School Board meetings. Proposals for the community to consider and debate. The ideas flooded in.  All ways a student could practice a variety of speaking skills without necessarily having to be put on the spot.  Plus, she would be speaking from the perspective of a make believe person – hopefully making it easier.

I brought The Town Project idea to the class on Wednesday (not telling them why I came up with it), and they wholeheartedly embraced it.  We now have a town: Little Harbor. We have a mayor: Rachael Parks (elections were Friday, after all the candidates spoke). This week there will be interviews of the various town members, speaking their inspiring life stories or talking about something important they are promoting for the town. I have many more ideas up my sleeve, which I hope to share as we go along.

One of the things I like about this is that I will be teaching this course again next semester, and it will be meeting the last period of the day.  I know the motivation and the focus is not going to be as strong.  This means we will be doing The Town Project during fourth quarter – the best way to use end of the year energy. This is a win-win all around. I cannot wait to see what comes out of it.

And who knows?  Maybe I’ll finally write that professional piece!

Pictured below are some of the students who participated in The Town Project my final year at Gateway.

Becoming Readers

As I completed the sixth poem in this collection, I realized that each of these readers has a special relationship to reading. I suppose we all do. But I have observed the growing interest in these students. This time I have associated book titles with them.

First Seed

She is "Z" to us

Za'Kerrial, invisible realm

face like the sun

a first seed breaking open

a lark soaring over the meadow

A present and lovely treasure.

Flickering Star

Rumor has it she is brilliant

Among the multitudes that shine

The way Jesenia moves

A Star that often hides in the sky

Dimension of youth appealing

Lost, then found

Flickering

Winter Sun

like the winter sun

Lauren is white ocean sky

a blue edge

an arch

a warm south wind

drifting, curving, dancing

Being Berkley

Can she be any easier to

teach? -- Berkley is one --

the one -- open to learning like a

flower, interested, exploring, striving

to succeed at it all,

growing day by day.

The Measure of Matthew

Here is the measure

of a young man, this

"gift from God" Matthew,

he has a readiness

for learning and quiet...

composing in clear lines,

finding himself

in everything.

Falling In

It seems to be what she wanted

a place that all of us

long for, a book to

fall into. It was the look

in Flaurise's eye that told me

she had fallen already.

pointing toward the sky

pointing toward herself.

 ***

All poems inspired by other poems. Some of these are found poems, some Golden Shovel poems, some are Inner Voice -- word acrostic.  Sources listed in order below.

 "Before there was a trace..." by Bibi Hayati

 "Is Love" by Maya Angelou

 "Watching Crow, Looking South Toward the Manzano Mountains" by Joy Harjo

 "Thus Spake the Mockingbird" by Barbara Hamby

"Cotsworld" by David Whyte

"First Reader" by Billy Collins

Eclectic 14-18

I started finding that found poems work for some of these better than Golden Shovels.  I've tried using the Inner Voice (word acrostic), but so far can't get it to work right.

Alanah Watching

watching

through the branches
snags of stars
sun and storm
thrown off by grief
each leaf and flower
mountain, sea, desert
prayer and song

skies of infinite being
shimmering possibilities
a song begin born...
a poem

Saphire Sings

Saphire -- it's in her voice

and in her eyes, she is

into herself, music, and 

the zeitgeist, a bird

who never rests, always flying,

renewing energy, over and over,

until she is beyond the treetops...

                                         far and away from here. 

 Kevin Calls

He comes across as unsure.

Proceeding slowly, Kevin is of

smiles and jokes, skewering what

is obviously funny, his

deflection is a call.

I must answer.

Zack Zacking

floating over

hovering, somehow

he's forgotten the laws of gravity

refusing to be still

rare moment

slow flight

perfectly realistic sunlight 

Afternoon Gold

Mia is afternoon gold.

Does not lack a single thing.

Seed of life

Rock of love

A mirror that shimmers

A sandbar in the shallows.

The center of the circle.

Quiet Moment

A nonet to honor my first day at the beach since July.

Quiet Moment

And now I take a very deep breath

October morning perfection.

Tide rolling out, mud flat birds,

feeding, preening, grouping.

I am alone here.

Mindful walking.
Quiet moment.

Soft pink

clouds. 

Smart Girls, Part One

The process continues to work in a variety of ways. The first three poems here were all pulled from the same poem: Twyla M. Hansen's "After the Prairie Burn."  The fourth one is from the last poem Emily Bronte wrote (no title.) The last is from Maya Angelou's "Old Folks Laugh," and is the first one I pulled an additional line from to round out the poem.  It's fun to expand on the ways the Golden Shovel can work.

Reach Deep

She is on the rise.

Reese is bright

and involved, and from

what I see, her roots

solid and strong, that

are where she can reach,

yet still they run deep.

Undisturbed Pond

She comes across

as an introvert, the

demeanor of Zulai a bridge

to what is above:

a determined girl, an

undisturbed pond

where stability and intelligence reside. 

Singular Story

She has aliveness when

she comes in the room, Mia is one

who never quits, loves to read,

is always engaged in the

class activities; a fresh and singular story.

Curious Questioner

Julia comes in with

her wide-embracing

curiosity, her love

of the written word, her

intense need to know; a spirit

inside her animates

and engages, draws forth eternal

questions she'll be asking for years.

Girls Like Her

Kayla is full of knowing

Never missing a beat, or the

opportunity to exhibit her best.

It's a wonder, really, and

puzzle: does she even have a worst?

It's probably a matter of

stellar thinking and crystal remembering.

Girls like her can free the world!

Dual Citizenship

This blog is dedicated to five students who I have for reading and an elective: four are in Creative Writing, and one is in Speech & Debate.  The poems they are drawn from are listed at the bottom.

Bright Song

Taylor puts in the work

although she's sometimes late,

her backpack as big as she is keeps

her a step behind, big eyes the

first thing you notice, then her whole

countenance, bright for the world,

her rhythms always running.

Dancing Poet

She is high in spirits

and one of

the many CLMS dancers.

Annie's smile comes before

everything else, reading us

her poetry, helping us feel joined

to the larger human picture and the

honor of our time together on earth.

First Gamer

Josh has an easy presence, his

smile always there, no small

thing, enjoying life and his place

in it, the gamer in him of

high importance,  its all about play.

Attention Antenna

Sometimes, yes, Tyrese is loud
like a never-ending motor
one, two, three, four,
he seemingly never tires.
Yet, he is alert, like an antenna,
his brain motor running sharp, that
makes me stop, turn around, listen.

Patient Angel

Angela shyly asks her questions,

a quiet classroom presence that

can be overlooked. You have

come to know how patiently

she approaches every task, waiting

for the right moment, waiting for

a chance to surprise you.

***

"Workers' Song" by Maya Angelou
"Rushing the Pali" by Joy Harjo
"First Steps in Hawkshead Churchyard" by David Whyte
"The Wires of the Night" by Billy Collins
"Someimes" by David Whyte

Dignity Waits

From David Whyte's poem "Death Waits," I chose the line:

swaying in the light wind that
touches his own (face)

Dignity Waits

His mood often swaying

out of frustration or in,

Alex is the genuine light

and the earnest wind.

Intense to the point that

the wrong approach touches

a nerve with his

dignity. It needs to be his own.

Night Star

I'm loving this form.

Today it was harder to find a line to use.  The poem today was Twyla M. Hansen's "Outdoors at Night, Winter," and it was full of very specific descriptions that didn't seem to lend themselves to this activity.  However, I finally settled on this line: (A) falling star, perhaps, flaring/out of the corner of the eye."  This one I really worked to get the precision of her character down. The challenge of this is spurring me on. I believe I have made a commitment to write one for each of my students this year. This will keep me very busy! (I may have to limit it to the reading students to make this happen.)  I might even give them their poem at the end. We will see!

Night Star

She sometimes seems to be falling

sometimes she appears as a star

in the darkness around her, perhaps,

Lyndzie is bright and flaring.

She won't be ignored or left out.

She insists on clear answers of

all her questions, the

frustration can mount, the corner

she puts herself in. She is of

incredible detail, insistence, and the

love of animals, perfect in her eyes.

Moon Song

Last night a writer friend posted about a poetic form that was new to me -- the Golden Shovel. I was immediately intrigued, since the form is attributed to Terrance Hayes, and I just finished his intense book of poetry American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. The form uses another poem, taking each word and using it as the last word in the line.  His "Golden Shovel" poem was based on another poem I admire greatly, Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool."  It is a poem about dropouts playing pool at the Golden Shovel, and is a masterpiece in word placement and rhyme.

I write a poem every day, and was deeply in need of a new approach, so today I opened my Billy Collins book to the next poem, which is one I love: "The Man in the Moon."

I decided to use the last line: as if he had just broken into song.

I began writing about how I wake up at night and worry about old age...but then I realized I needed the word "he," and I had no way to use that word.  So I thought about "he," and Daniel from my 3rd period class came to mind. After that, it flowed. And in this case, I needed a final line that was not part of the text, but I think it works.  Next, I had to figure out the title. I decided to pull inspiration from Collins' title and the line I was using. This worked well, since Daniel can be bright as a full moon, and dark as a New Moon on any given day.

What I loved about doing this is that I have told myself many times that I'd like to write more poetry about my students because it helps me see into them better.  Yet, I rarely do it.  I'm going to dedicate myself to this form, think about my students, and see where it takes me.

Here is the first:  Moon Song.

He comes into the room, oppositional as

any 13-year-old boy who is having troubles, as if

he is the only one in the world. He

complains about the unfair treatment he had

in a previous class, something not just

in his eyes, and leaving him broken.

My para and I work together, getting him into

what he needs to do, after listening to his song...

...the one he needed to sing.