Single Power

 

And each born of our own crown -- a single power, our distinction.

--Layli Long Soldier --

I'm moving slower these days.
It's my power.

More deliberate. More flexible.
More loving. More listening.

What.  a.  difference.


All the times I thought I did this
in the past -- never enough.

Always felt that underlying push, sometimes panic.

Now...

No panic.  No push. No insanity --
for me, or my learners.

February is quickly approaching
                                                  and I am calm.

Bend the curriculum to the kids
Cornelius Minor tells me.

This -- the greatest benefit of all.

Wildflowers

FRIEND

Find her where people are

Respecter of all, helpful, kind.

In her way Penelope looks to please

Every day it is a mission.

Nested into the classroom culture

Deep into what needs to be done. 

 Lighted Path

The subtle presence

lights a path to the inner

source of Jasmine, a girl who

is chill and fresh, intelligent, smiling her

secret smile, never wavering.

EDGES

Early on she showed us that she

Doesn't always follow the way.

Genius, really, to lower expectations,

Engineered to keep Jazmin free, to keep the

Sun shining around her, to keep her edge.

TRACK

Testing the limits

Resting on response

All-American Ethan

Confident in movement

Kicking conformity 

STRONG

for Jonathan

Straight talker

Thinker and creator

Respectful presence

One who stays grounded

Neutralizes situations

Golden link in the chain

Dobbin Discovers

It is in the way he approaches everything, the

happiness that begins to form

on Dobbin's face when he discovers a new feeling, it is

worth the price of admission, an eternal

enchanting flow of delight.

Night Sky

She could guide the moon across the sky,

waiting, patient.

She a vast spiral, teeming with stars,

Itzel is a startling amount of light

perfectly clear.

Shaped, yet unseen

above the horizon.

Dance With Her

Let your heart dance

Let your heart sing

Let your heart fly to the wind

By the spirit of her presence

Margo invites us to

dance with her in the light

and sing a chorus to the sun 

OCEAN

Obstacles -- she has none

Creativity -- plenty

Expressive Milana is wide

And free as the sea

Nothing can stop her movement.

RIDDLE

Reverse any expectations

In Cameron, he will forever

Do his own thing, not easy to

Determine just what it will be,

Like a mystery in human form,

Ever confounding the order of things. 

Taylor Trusts

A space between leaving and staying,

approaching herself from here to there,

Taylor fades, falls backward, dreams

a whole world balanced on carved ice,

darkness open to all light.

 HELIUM

He is an original.

Elevated status, floating free

Like a hidden path or

Underground tunnel, Fabricio

Manages escape unscathed.

QUARTZ

Quick thinker, Niah is not to be 

Underestimated. She has the goods!

Always has. Focus and energy in

Reserve, she is a cornerstone

Trusting in the process,

Zoom lens to the center of things.

***Inspirations***

"Summer Garden" by Anna Akhmatova (two)

"The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window" by Joy Harjo 

"Mambo Cadillac" by Barbara Hamby

"Workshop" by Billy Collins

"Seen from Above" by David Whyte

"Waiting for Meteors" by Twyla M. Hansen

"Those Who Do Not Dance" by Gabriela Mistral

"They Ask Why" by Maya Angelou (two)

"White Bear" by Joy Harjo

"Betty Boop's Bebop" by Barbara Hamby

"Ganymede's Dream of Rosalind" by Barbara Hamby

Independent Voices

The Art of Being Hermoine

A girl who can make art,

certain that it is time well spent, her

way of being Hermoine.

In this way she lifts and lays claim.

The message from her is silently consistent:

"World be what it is -- I am here."

BALANCE

Boys will be boys it is said, just

A way to adjust to what boys do,

Like make jokes about each other

All day long -- literally. Jipson

Never stops being his boyish self, yet

Can balance between that and his academics,

Ever walking the edge of middle school acceptance. 

CENTER

Central to Jose's life is

Ever-increasing knowledge and focus,

Never pivoting off the central

Tenets of the classroom: to be

Engaged and participatory, to

Reap the benefits of each lesson.

DIGGING

Does anyone come more alive?

Intrigued by every bit of everything,

Growing his thoughts,

Growing his connections

Into the depths, Rider digs

Never giving up until we all

Grasp his delicious insight.

LOYAL

Lions and lotus flowers are

Outward symbols of loyalty.

You might think they conflict, but

Allow me to introduce you to Jacqueline:

Lion of determination, flower of gentleness. 

Reaching High

Voice -- Allison has it

coming through loud and clear,

through her perfect mind, thinking

her thoughts, expanding outward

like the branches of a tree,

roots down, reaching high. 

HAPPY

High-spirited and cheerful, Crystal is

Animated in a joyful way

Pleased at her progress

Prepared for what's next

Young in age, seasoned in spirit.

SHINE

Soccer and academic star

His beaming smile lighting his path

Interested, focused, all things

New to Miguel, he radiates an

External fire generated from within. 

Persuasive Wind

Emma is all that is whole

in a person, much like a tree,

she is steady and strong, leans

on a rare occasion as needed; in

her way she gives her gifts, the

thoughtful fruit, the persuasive wind.

METEOR

Might be a small matter, but when he

Enters your atmosphere, Jimmy

Tracks like a streak of light

Expressing his unique perspective that

Only he can see, that smile, that

Reason to treasure his presence.

**Inspirations**

"Our Grandmothers" by Maya Angelou

"Canada" by Billy Collins

"Seeking Out Time" by David Whyte

"Along the Oregon Trail" by Twyla M. Hansen

"Preacher, Don't Send Me" by Maya Angelou

"For Alva Benson, And For Those Who Have Learned to Speak" by Joy Harjo

"Ode to Airheads, Hairdos, Trains to and from Paris" by Barbara Hamby

"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins

"Poem in Praise of the Trinity Harp" by David Whyte

"Grain of Sand" by Twyla M. Hansen

Cloudless

The final day of a lovely seventeen days off, I take myself to the beach.

Cloudless sky. Tide way out for the New Moon.

As I walk, I reflect on past Januarys...

2016 I was feeling a weird tiredness, which later manifested into shingles.
2017 I was on a steroid, puffing me up and causing a false sense of energy. Later, once off the medicine, I would crash hard for an entire month.
2018 I was still puzzled by the lupus diagnosis and waiting to see a rheumatologist, who all but formally dismissed the diagnosis on my first visit.

But this year...is cloudless.

** I have re-established my walking practice, and it is going great. I get out and walk about 10 miles a week. The thing is, I want to go. I don't stop myself.  But I'm also smart enough to take a day or two off each week, so getting back out feels like a treat.

** I am finding my way into areas of creativity which have been lying in the background, waiting to be rediscovered. This applies to my personal and professional life.  I have plans to slowly eliminate screen time for my life and get more "old school" in my plans. It's time.

** I have built a community of writers and reading teachers around me. It makes every day more worthwhile, sharing the journey with others committed to much of the same things I am.

** I wrote my first new mission statement in twenty years -- one that is designed perfectly to keep me focused in the right direction.

**These days off have enabled me to reflect more fully on the responses to the survey I gave my students in December. Their words point to what needs to change. The needs of each class are different, but there are some simple, proven things I can implement that will help across the board.

Losing a former student caused me to go back and find some words of wisdom the students in 6th period Advanced Placement Literature wrote. I take these words into the new semester with me.  I have just a little over 40 days left with each class.  May I push the clouds of misdirection away, and fully realize these words again:

Creative, bright, always outside the box.

Easygoing, yet analytical.

Thank you for caring about me.

This has been the best English class ever.

The way you approached everything made it more understandable.

I have learned more than I expected, plus my passion for writing has gone way up.

You're funny, smart, and real -- and that's what kids need.

Your class is one I find most useful for me outside of school.

You always try new things and make learning fun.

You create a very creative environment for your students.

This classroom is a safe and free place to express ourselves...many good memories.

Thank you forever, Class of 2013

Windows of Determination (2000-2005)

Written in my head on Christmas Day as I walked in my former apartment community. Finally getting it down today as it comes out, as it has been rolling around in my brain for over a week now!

Downstairs,
the window on the right
is where I discovered that the moon I thought might forsake me
would still peek its way into my blinds at night, to let me know she
was still there for me. This is the room we watched The West Wing and
Six Feet Under, where I discovered Jon Stewart, where I saw the second
plane crash into the World Trade Center and in a panic called to my husband,
a room I watched the videos for my Humanities and History of Western Civilization
courses, where our dog Macbeth liked to lie in the doorway making it a challenge
to exit. Determined always to move forward, to focus my energy in the right place.

The window on the left is where the computer resided, where the poem "Tulips"
by Sylvia Plath laid me low for days, where I wrote my $500 scholarship story "Dragonfly,"
a draft of a novel called Fire on the River, where I sorted out index cards with research
notes for a variety of papers for my Florida Literature and Shakespeare courses, where
I wrote to my friends and downloaded music for the first time, where I collected
my writings and photos into a booklet called Turning Point I gave as a Christmas
present to family and friends. Determined to be considered a writer with a good mind,
ability to deeply analyze, to extend myself, to be who I never actually thought I'd be.

The screened in center is the lanai where I raised my first orchids, where I watched sunsets,
talked with visiting friends into the night with a bottle of wine, where I would work
diligently with a stack of sharpened pencils completing mountains of math homework,
determined to pass that test, to become a teacher, always knowing it could be the one thing
to bring me down if I didn't focus my energy in the right place. This is the apartment I
hunkered down in during my first hurricane in August 2004, right after I began my teaching
life, where I would come home with parcels of reflection papers by my students, learning
who they were, determined to be the best teacher, feeling wholly unqualified and uncertain,
step by step; I would look out the windows at the wildlife on the lake, walk the pathway
around looking at the little wildflowers, the nature all around me, knowing I was in
the perfect place to make my dreams come true. Southwest Florida, home of my heart.

This place. These windows. This important turning point of my life.

These Boys

STAND

Sure of himself without fail

Taking issue any time he disagrees

Abiding by the rules that hold

Now we know some of this is just played for fun

Dogging us is just what Kyle does.

WATCH

With time ticking like

a clock, Hudson is aware of

the movement of those around him,

catching a second hand in motion,

he is as smooth as a fine gear spinning.

 BUILD

Bet you he can do it in an

unbelievably fast motion,

inside a second, Matt can transform

light and air into art and design.

Doesn't hesitate. Thought-filled. Detailed. 

Pop Quiz

Jojo is the first to help.

He can delight me, confound me;

 it is easy to give him a pass

at times, his bright smile warms your

loving heart, it pops

and makes you feel you aced the quiz 

EQUATOR

Endless wisdom, Nick never

quits trying to balance the scales;

useless to argue with his logic. Take

advantage of his insights and

trust in his astute

observations. Consider it a way to best

respond with respect.

BLADES

Bringing with him sharp insights

Like a narrow leaf of grass sprouting, Nicholas

Alerts me to what I need to know,

Deepening his own knowledge and

Experience along the way,

Stating the not so obvious.

WHIRLING

Wheeling, winding, and whip-smart,

He is of spin, dash, and sprint.

In his mind, Jace sees rapid movement

Rushing into physical activity

Like a spinning top.

In time, he can slow the motion,

Nest into his place, be

Grounded, only to find he has to whirl once more.

* Inspirations *

"Prayer of a Woman in Charge of Berry Picking in Knights Islet" (Kwakiutl)

"Ode to Anglo Saxon, Film Noir, and the Hundred Thousand Anxieties that Plague Me Like Demons in a Medieval Christian Allegory" by Barbara Hamby

"Days" by Billy Collins

"Working at Pam-Pam's" by Barbara Hamby 

"A Few Lines at Summer Solstice" by Twyla M. Hansen

"Planting Initiation Song" (Osage women)

"Anchorage" by Joy Harjo

 

Build a Bridge

Here I am again, the beginning of a new year, and the mid-way point of the school year.  It is always a time to assess, to dig out what has been forgotten but needed, and to leave behind what is not working. This has been an on-again, off-again activity this break, as usual, and I'm here to report my progress and aim.

It began in earnest when I heard this song for the first time, even though it is at least a year old:

Upon hearing Mavis sing, I immediately knew that "building bridges" will be my focus for the coming year. This is needed as I'm  coming off a semester where many student conflicts affected what I was able to accomplish in the classroom, and the student surveys helped point the way to how we should proceed.

Part of what I have decided is to have the reading classes create mission statements of six words. It is time we came together around a common theme, and it can't be mine. But then, I knew I also needed a mission statement of my own: six words that will point the way to exactly what I should be doing every day. I already know a relaxed environment yields higher rewards, and it is up to me to make that happen.

I tinkered around with words and ideas for a few days, and today I hit on it: use the word BRIDGE as an acrostic. It flowed right out after that:

Building
    Relationships
Illuminating
    Discovery
Generating
    Expression

I made a list of what activities go into each category. Examples:

Building relationships: discussions, mindfulness & kindness practices, partnering and teaming up.

Illuminating discovery:  observation, creating questions, mentor text sequence, analyzing, most important word, tension of opposites, higher level questions

Generating expression: writing activities like carousel, write-arounds, letters, found poems, charts, tweets, distributive summaries, reflections, pluses & deltas, along with mind maps, one pagers, slideshows, using new words, students as teachers

And as I was preparing this blog, I realized I could have "Build a Bridge" time, where they can just converse with others in the room as the song plays.  This was actually a request by one class, begging for just a little time to talk to each other at the beginning of class. It would give the activity a name and a purpose.

I'm sure the ideas will keep coming, and I'm aware only so much will get done. It's a start. It has possibilities. It's a new year!