A Rose, Is a Rose, Is a Public School Teacher

"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

by any other name would smell as sweet.”

I've been thinking a lot about names lately.  Perhaps it's because we've been chatting with our daughter and son-in-law a lot about baby names, listening to them make decisions as they contemplate their baby boy's name, our first grandchild's name (can't wait until April).  A baby's name is important, it labels his identity from that first cry when he leaves the womb and is placed in his mother's arms or when the adoption agency hands a new dad his daughter for the first time... "Hush, little Baby, don't say a word!"  But a name doesn't develop the child's identity.  What develops the child's identity is the way he or she is treated, nurtured, loved, honored, nourished, cared for, respected!

In "Romeo and Juliet" Juliet argues that a name is just a name, but rather it's what lies beneath that name that's most important.  And we all know when Juliet says, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" she's just stating that she should be able to love who she chooses to love, despite his name.  Gertrude Stein's most famous quote is, "A rose, is a rose, is a rose."  In her staccato style, she used the phrase many times in her poetry (first in "Sacred Emily" in 1913) and she once said, "I'm no fool.  I know we can't go around saying 'A ... is a... is a...' and yet she used the phrase often (maybe she just liked the way it rolled off the tongue or her pen).  But Stein and Shakespeare probably pondered those words carefully before they appeared in their writing.  They probably read the words over and over.  And, so we name a rose a rose.

I was looking at the name of my blog this week "All-en-a-Day's Work."  A simple play on words that my son used on his projects when he was little and that I "borrowed" when I created this spot for me to share my ponderings.  When I looked up the meaning of "all in a day's work," I discovered it meant, "If something is difficult, unpleasant, or strange... it is considered to be 'all in a day's work," a usual part of the job."  But my blog isn't just a mundane, routine, or unpleasant part of my teaching life.  Certainly my entries can be sporadic, but it's an important place for me to contemplate my beliefs, my discoveries, my wonderings, my ideas.  It's a place for me to share a little of myself with whomever reads it, for whatever it's worth.  It's one place for me to give the thoughts in my head an identity.  It gives them a chance to develop.

I've been a public school teacher for 31 years.  I love my job.  I've said it before, I fell into my career when my wife gave me a copy of Writers: Teachers and Children at Work by Donald Graves.  That book changed my career path and changed my life.  I became a teacher because of little things that nudged me into my vocation.  The signs were all there and I believe it was God's plan for me to teach; the one who lead me to the public schools.  I take the name "public school teacher" seriously, just as I would if I taught in another setting (and we're so lucky to already have that choice).  It's more than just being called "teacher" for me, I am proud to add "public" to my name!  

My identity is not developed by working within "an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge."  My Identity is not developed by spending my days in "an entry level position."  My identity is not developed by what Graves calls in The Energy to Teach, "pundits who have never taught."  My identity is developed by passion - for learners and learning.  I love my career - with it's ups and downs, changes, mandates, and other "stuff".  But I try to focus on the joys, the celebrations, the exciting challenges.  There's nothing better than spending the day with children, except perhaps continuing to learn myself. 

I've developed my passion as a public school teacher by looking into the eyes of 25-30 kids each day.  I've developed my passion through hours of professional development, hours of reading, hours of watching others teach.  I've developed my passion by writing and sharing my thinking with others.  I've developed my passion by being the father of four wonderful children who have all attended public school.  I've developed by passion by being married to another teacher.  I've developed my passion by surrounding myself with colleagues and friends who care just as much about education as I do.  I've developed my passion by spending thousands of dollars on children's literature and professional literature that helps hone my craft.  I've developed my passion by talking to and learning from Stenhouse and Heinemann authors.  I've developed my passion by attending and presenting at conferences, working in schools across the country and in Canada, and spending countless hours talking about education on the telephone with grand friends.   

I've developed my passion as a public school teacher, because I have witnessed exciting, wise pedagogical changes in 31 short years (which is far less that the 150 years that we've recently been told there have been no changes).  And, I continue to teach because passion can't be easily extinguished.  After all, I am a teacher for goodness sake.

Names are important.  I'm sure my children would agree.  

Once you choose it, it goes public.  

And then you can help develop the identity of what you've named.

What's in a name?  

That which we call Public School Teacher.  

Boy, does it smell sweet!

Eudora Welty - A Mentor's Mentor

In the late 1980s, my friend and colleague, Laura Benson, recommended One Writer's Beginnings to us at a workshop.  I remember her sharing sections of it and I immediately went to The Bookies for a copy (at that time The Bookies was still in an old bungalow off 6th Avenue... crammed to the brim with books).  

I think it was one of the first hard cover "professional" books I ever purchased and it still has a special place on my bookshelf.  It's the narrative of Eudora's falling in love with language, writing, and story. It's broken into three sections "Listening," "Learning to See," and "Finding a Voice." Based on her lectures, it captures her story of becoming a writer... finding her voice after years of listening and observing those around her.

Imagine for a minute if we used those three section titles as a "curriculum guide"... if we, indeed, took all the complexities we face as teachers and filtered them through what a young girl from Mississippi deemed important as a learner.  As teachers of reading and writing, could we not couch our work in those three areas?  

What if our guiding questions became:

What are the ways my students are learning to listen?

What are the ways my students are learning to see?

What are the ways my students are developing a sense of their own voice?

How?  Why?  So what?

If we simply (or not so simply) helped our students (and ourselves) to "listen," wouldn't we already be one step ahead.  Listen to the rhythm of these words.  Listen to your fellow learners, what did you hear?  Listen as I share this part out loud with you, what do you notice?  Listen to your own understanding, what's floating in your mind right now?  There's something in this piece that I want to try in my own writing, did you hear it?  Listen again. Listen to the pattern of the words, the sentences, the text... what's beating in your heart?  Your mind?    Listening.

Now "See."  See what's around you (write it down).  See what he just did, do you suppose you might have a go with that?  See how that vowel pattern works, are you learning to recognize it?  See how this illustration matches the words the author uses.  Close your eyes for just a moment, what do you see?  When she shared her poem with you, what did you see?  When you share your writing with him, what did he tell you he saw?  Watch me, tell me what you see... now let me watch you and I'll tell you what I see.  Learning to See.

Find a Voice.  Did you hear the way you said that... it sounded just like _____ (insert your favorite author's name)?  You should write about that, it's an important story.  Your thinking is really important, you might recommend this book to someone you think might enjoy it.  You did create a sensory image, how did it help you?  If someone, right now, asked you what you were thinking, what might you tell them?  You know, not many people can capture a moment in time as beautifully as you just did... how will you share it with others?  Finding a voice. 

Listening.

Learning to See.

Finding a Voice.

Listen to Eudora's words as she describes an important discovery she made about books:

It has been startling and disappointing to me to find out 

that story books had been written by people, that books were not

natural wonders, coming up of themselves like grass.  Yet regardless

of where they came from, I cannot remember a time when I was not in 

love with them--with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper

they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession

in my arms, captured and carried off to myself.  Still illiterate, I was ready for 

them, committed to all the reading I could give them.  (Welty, pp. 5-6)

That's exactly what I want my students to do, to commit themselves to understanding all that books can give them.  Not based on a number of books they plow through.  Not based on a "level" or a specific genre.  Not based on the number of minutes they read.  Not based on the questions they can answer after a read.  Not based on some mystical "core" description of what a reader is or is not.  Not based on a test.  I want the readers in my care to fall in love with the books themselves.  And perhaps if they listen and learn and see my passion for reading and writing, they will perhaps, in turn, find their own voices as readers and writers.

If you haven't read One Writer's Beginnings, you should.  If you haven't read one of Eudora Welty's works, you should.  If you haven't explored her descriptions of life in Mississippi, you should.  There's something grand about her language, her words, the tempo of her writing.  Her simple southern life gave her writing a complex and varied cadence.  And as you read Welty, you have to keep "Listening, Learning to See, and Finding a Voice" in mind.  Eudora Welty is a mentor's mentor.  

Also read A Darling Life:  A Biography of Eudora Welty by Carolyn J. Brown.  Ms. Brown has captured the life... in words and photographs (many of Welty's own)... of Eudora Welty for a new generation of learners.  This time for young readers and writers.  From her childhood in Jackson, Mississippi to political unrest to her declining years, Ms. Brown captures the journey of Miss Welty stunningly.  She lead a simple, albeit extraordinary, life.  Listen to these words from Miss Welty:

Lately, in my old age, it has seemed to me, when friends meet to hold

a public service to pay tribute to one of their number who has died, that 

without words to that effect ever being said, they are drawing a circle 

around that friend.  Speaking in turn one after the other, joining them 

together anew, they keep what they know of him intact.

Eurdora Welty, Introduction, The Norton Bok of Friendship  (Brown, p. 75) 

I'm thinking we all need to draw a circle around these two books for a bit of time... just to listen... to see... and perhaps find a bit of our voice, both as teachers and as readers and writers ourselves.  To keep Eudora Welty's contributions as a writer intact... read!

Just Ask Them

Just ask. 

This week I had a classroom visitor ask me, “Tell me about the reluctant readers.  What did you do to get them so engaged?  What did it look like in September?”

I answered… “We took time to learn rituals and routines, there was lots of modeling, exposure to a wide variety of text, lots of talk about strategies, etc.”  But for some reason, I wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

I remember Don Graves once saying that he loved going into a classroom and asking a student, “What’s that for?”  And he’d take time to listen to children and see how they responded.  So with Don’s wisdom in mind, I was wondering, “What DID it?  What is it about our classroom that ENGAGES readers?”

As I went back to the classroom with the visitor's questions ruminating in my head, I made a decision.  I’d ask my students my questions.   And as usual, I was flabbergasted.  

Here’s a sampling of their responses:

• You kept bringing in new books.  And you keep bringing them in… there are always new choices. 
• You don’t say… Just read that book— read it now! (said in raspy, harsh voice).
• We have the power of choice.  You say tell me what you think… sometimes teachers just want to hear us say the same things over and over.  They want to hear their thinking. 
• There’s a calm feeling in the room.  It’s never rushed. 
• We have a choice to have a consultant; someone we can turn to when we need to talk.
• There are books everywhere; when I first walked in this room I remember my little brother saying, “Is your classroom the lie-berry?"
• When you walk into the room you see books everywhere and you say to yourself Now THIS is interesting, I’m going to give this a chance.
• When you stare at baskets and baskets of books what else can you do?  You have to be engaged.  Otherwise you sit and feel kind of guilty because the books seem to call your name.
• I always felt pressured to read before—I didn’t have the freedom to read—this room gave me freedom.  I am inspired by other readers.
• You teach us strategies to think and then talk to us about our thinking.
• You teach us different ways to think through text—I think my reading’s changed because I’m trying new things.
• I know how to think using different strategies… I’m thinking of things more out of the book. 
• You’ve given us the experience of yourself as a reader and writer—you know what’s at the heart of being a reader and writer—I’ve never felt that before.
• You taught us the workshop model—from the first week of school we’ve been using it (opens notebook to his notes).
• You always return to the learning—day after day—it’s connected.
• You address us by name—you look into our eyes and address us by name.  That’s important.
• You teach us to go deeper in conversation and deeper in our hearts.  If you go deep you are a better reader.

So I learned a great lesson.  Engagement comes from wise teaching, of course.  But real engagement comes from providing the essentials of time, choice, opportunity, ownership, response, and environment—authentic reading experiences.  Look into their eyes and call them by name!  When you’re wondering how things are going… just ask!  

A letter found in my files

A few weeks ago, I was looking through a few of my files and ran across another brilliant piece of writing by my friend Lois.  

I've blogged about her before... she was a mentor, friend, and fellow teacher for many years.  Lois died on June 23, 2008 after a lengthy battle with breast cancer.  I wrote about her strength and endurance in Conferring:  The Keystone of Reader's Workshop.  And, not a day goes by that I don't think of my teaching days with Lois, Judy, and Randi (under the incomparable leadership of Laura)... those were the days... thinkers and learners, together!  We mentored one another and asked big questions and children were always at the heart of our work and conversations and inquiry into "What can we do next?"  I yearn for the professional discourse we shared... "all for one and one for all!"

Lois had a masters degree in Gifted Education and an amazing knack of meeting the needs of all children--those who were "dormant" and those who were "highly-abled."  She looked at children as individuals (including her own three children).  She was always reflecting on her teaching.  She was always reflecting on the needs of her students.  She was a writer, artist, mathematician... a teacher's teacher... and constantly honed her craft.  Yet, she was one of the most humble and nonjudgmental people I've ever met... she was shy, until it was time to stand up for a child.  She was not afraid to take a stand.  I admired her courage.

In 1999, she wrote a letter to our "Student Support Team" (at that time part of the pre-referral process) after referring a child for "support" and she shared a copy with me.  In kind, I thought I'd share it with you.  Why?  I find it apropos.  I think it speaks to our need to support the learners in our care.  I find it thought provoking.  I think it's intriguing.  I think Lois was a thinker before her time.  

I'm using this letter as a bookmark in my current professional read.  I've read this letter at least ten times in the last few weeks.  Like Donald Graves, Lois was a teacher whose work will always remain current... the words of great thinkers continue to inspire me.  Please enjoy her words, they speak for themselves!

I think Lois wouldn't mind my sharing it (I removed names and pronouns to make it generic):

January 31, 1999

Dear Members of the Student Support Team:

Even though many of the members are my close friends and respected colleagues, I have found taking a student to this committee a frustrating experience.  In my opinion, issues of timeliness, purpose and respect are important for us all to examine. 

First of all, dealing with this committee has caused extreme delays in getting help for my students.  I submitted three names to the committee two months ago.  You just got around to the first of my students this week.  Now we have another six weeks of "interventions" before the follow up meeting on March 11.  In my opinion, twelve weeks of delay is unacceptable and unnecessary.  Who knows when you plan to begin my other two students?

Secondly, the purpose of my referral was misunderstood.  The student I referred is not failing.  ___ is not failing because of the many interventions (which apparently you do not count as interventions) put in place my myself, by specials teachers, by previous teachers, and by very concerned and conscientious parents.  My point, as stated on the pre-referral form, was that all these interventions should not be necessary for a student who appears to be competent in many ways.  I believe there is something wrong with ___ processing of information and am concerned that the middle school staff will not be as diligent as we have been.  This ___ with so much potential is in danger of getting lost in the system and may give up.  More interventions, while welcome in many situations, were not appropriate in this case. 

Finally, there is the issue of respect.  Brainstorming, in front of parents, such solutions as preferential seating and presentation of directions auditorally and visually was insulting and demeaning to me as a classroom teacher.  If this is necessary for some teachers, parents do not need to be present to hear it. 

In conclusion, the present system for S.S.T. is cumbersome, ineffective and insulting.  Please withdraw the names of my other two students, ___ and ___ from future consideration.  I will find other ways to deal with their problems.  With all the criticism of public education today, we do not need to do this to each other. 

Sincerely, 

Lois

It Takes Commitment

     I’ve been thinking a lot about commitment.  The commitments we make are sometimes overwhelming—teaching, parenting, relationships.  While I was exploring the meaning of the term commitment, I found an interesting article online (on a leadership site, which, by the way, I know nothing about, but I liked the premise).  It stated: 

     A great business leader once said: "...the basic philosophy, spirit, and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation, and timing. All these things weigh heavily in success. But they are, I think, transcended by how strongly the people in the organization believe in its basic precepts and how faithfully they carry them out." (from Thomas J. Watson, Jr., A Business and its Beliefs - The ideas that helped build IBM).

      As true as this is for the success of a corporation, it is even more so for the individual. The most important single factor in individual success is COMMITMENT. Commitment ignites action. To commit is to pledge yourself to a certain purpose or line of conduct. It also means practicing your beliefs consistently. There are, therefore, two fundamental conditions for commitment. The first is having a sound set of beliefs. There is an old saying that goes, "Stand for something or you'll fall for anything." The second is faithful adherence to those beliefs with your behavior. Possibly the best description of commitment is "persistence with a purpose".

     I love the term “persistence with a purpose.”  In the classroom, I’ve done a lot of work with my students around the idea of “Learning with a Spirit of Endurance” (see Conferring: The Keystone of Reader’s Workshop for more information).  And, while I’ve explored stamina and endurance with students, in terms of their learning, I think I’m going to go after the idea of persistence with a purpose with them next year.  To strengthen endurance, I think it takes both commitment and persistence. 

     Case in point – Exercise.  The dreaded “E” word!

     For the past five weeks, I’ve committed to exercising every day.  I’ve started doing P90X© for the SECOND time (I didn’t have right attitude the first time).  And, now I’m committing to not giving up.  In fact, to strengthen my commitment to getting in shape, I signed up to be coach with the Beachbody organization.  I’ve also started incorporating another exercise program, RevAbs©, an at-home exercise program designed to burn fat and strengthen core abdominal muscles.  Why become a coach – it’s made me accountable both to myself and to others.  Isn’t accountability an important aspect of commitment?

     For the past year, I’ve been sedentary, a couch potato.  I admit it, it’s been longer than that (but one year makes it sound a bit more forgiving)… but, because of the encouragement of my friends, Troy and Jarod, I’ve gotten up off the couch.  Through our conversations, text messages, and consistent nudges, we’ve all made a renewed commitment to exercise.  Mind you, I don’t look like the guy on the DVD; in fact sometimes I curse him when I’m working out.  But the point is, I’m trying.  Taking a 51-year-old body and putting it through daily rituals and routines, can’t help but improve my health!

     I’ve also committed to better eating.  I am an eater.  My mother was a restaurant owner – one fine and dandy cook.  And, fortunately/unfortunately, she passed the love of cooking and eating on to me!  So I’ve decided to make better choices.  I’ve committed to drinking a Shakeology©  shake every day as a meal replacement (it's an amazing product by the way, click on the link and read about it).  This choice alone has strengthened my endurance as I exercise.  I feel so much better energy wise (it’s doing a lot internally that I don’t even realize).  I’ve tried to be flexible and try something new.

     My older brother immediately responded, “Not interested!” when I told him about my new health regime.  But after watching our father have his leg amputated from complications of diabetes (according to the National Diabetes Association, more than 60% of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations occur with people with diabetes) and seeing our mother suffer through complications of diabetic gangrene, I realized that I had to become a decision-maker.  I had to commit to making sure that I’m doing what I can to prevent the same fate.  Eliminating body fat is one step in the right direction.  Perhaps my demonstration and modeling will help my brother change his mind next time we see each other.

     Commitment is gradual.  I’ve seen my friend Troy journey through a complete transformation of mind and body (we originally started at the same time, he kept going, I gave up… Then I made excuses, “You’re ten years younger!” or “I don’t have time!”).  Recently, I've watched him and wondered, “Why couldn't I do that?”  Through sharing and cooperation, he has helped me see that the benefits of making a commitment will pay off in the long term.  Troy checks in with me, he supports me, and he listens.  He’s a good coach, and more importantly, a good friend—he’s given me a tremendous amount of support as I begin making exercise an important part of my daily life!  In turn, he has encouraged my independence and I’ve passed my learning on to Jarod.  

     So what does this have to do with learning?  Everything.  The article I found also said, “Commitment is most difficult and most readily proven during tough times. How someone weathers the storms most clearly demonstrates their basic beliefs. In antiquity, Epicurus stated: "...a captain earns his reputation during the storms."  So as I end this school year and begin a new one, I’m going to take this idea of commitment and incorporate it into our workshops.  As I continue my new regime, I'm going to explore what other aspects of my new learning I can bring to the conversation.
     As learners, persistence with a purpose will be a moniker of our time together!

You might be a book fiend if...

Keeping up on all the new titles that cross my path via my Twitter account, the blogs I read, and the emails I receive is next to impossible.  I read blogs and say, "Oh, I have to have that book!"  I receive Tweets from colleagues with recommendations and reflections and say, "Oh, I have to have that one!"  I read emails and say, "Oh, I have to have that one!"  I meander a bookstore's aisles and say, "Oh, I have to have that one!"  My friend texts me and I say, "Oh, I have to have that one too!"

     Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming... and a bit tricky when I open my wallet and there's no cash, or I check my online account and the funds are running low!  It's like the Erasmus quote on the bag my children gave me for Christmas, "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."   I'm not alone... it happens to us all.  

     I was talking to my friends Dana, a first grade teacher, and Barb (@bgail59), a literacy coach, while I was working in Casper, Wyoming this week.  All three of us were laughing about our obsession with books!  Barb plays a bit of "Pong" with the UPS driver, having him deliver to both home and school... so that there always seems to be a little brown box waiting to surprise her.  Dana, she has a similar passion for beautiful books... and her first grade classroom is a garden of literacy... there are few teachers that display them so beautifully, throughout her classroom there are thoughtful invitations for children that softly cajole, "Pick me up, read me, enjoy me!".  We love sharing titles and I brought so many that I had to stop at Evansville's Wal-Mart on the way back to the hotel (after dinner at 9:30 p.m.) to buy a plastic tub to reorganize the books I had taken with me because my book bag ripped as I was trudging into the hotel (one of the pitfalls of doing staff development in a city nearby).

      So, this "gotta-have-it" mentality is not just an obsession that I share with locals that I learn with and from on a daily basis... it's a widespread mania that all bookstore and Amazon denizens possess.  But, unlike other addictions, I don't know if being a "bookie" can cause much harm, can it?  Of course, if it comes in combination with being a "foodie" that could cause a problem... the more you weigh, the harder it is to run to the bookstore (I'll let you infer the other combinations with book-obsession that could cause either mental or physical anguish).

     Hmmm... maybe it's just a simple a process of identifying the 12 things that make you a book fiend.  Here are 12 ideas you might consider before 2012 rolls around (my apologies to Jeff Foxworthy):

1. If you peruse blogs and order new titles at random without previewing the book, you might be a book fiend. 
2. If you clean your bookshelves and find you have four copies of the same book AND you realize you've never read it, you might be a book fiend.
3. If you have six bags of books "ready to take to school" that never seem to leave your at-home library, you might be a book fiend.
4. If you sit in a quiet corner with a cup of coffee and look for possible crafting lessons in picture books and spend time labeling them with sticky notes, you might be a book fiend.
5. If you spill coffee on a book and replace it, but never  find the need to recycle the wrinkled, stained book, but simply say it's "a first-edition, well-loved book that I've antiqued," you might be a book fiend. 
6. If you buy your friend a book for his birthday and then buy yourself a copy too (or worse yet, ask to borrow it before he even opens it), you might be a book fiend.
7. If you race to peruse the library discard pile when your librarian sends out an email that says it is "first come, first served," you might be a book fiend. 
8. If you've ever gotten in a physical tussle with your best friend on the floor of the children's section at the Tattered Cover or The Bookies or The Boulder Bookstore (insert your favorite local bookstore) because there was only one copy of a title and there was bleeding or punching involved (yes, it's happened), you might be a book fiend.
9. If your friend finds a book and says, "It's out of print!" and you spend $55 or more for your own copy, you might be a book fiend.
10. If you hide books in the trunk of your car and then sneak them onto the shelves before your spouse finds out you spent more money on books, you might be a book fiend. 
11. If you find elements of craft in a book and giggle out loud, drool, squeal, sweat, or turn to a complete stranger and say, "Listen to this..." and don't care if she stares at you in fear or disdain, you might be a book fiend.
12. If your best friend says he has come down with an illness that perplexes his physician and your first question is, "Can I have your books?", you might be a book fiend.

So, if anyone is interested, you might join me by adding your own "You might be a book fiend if..." comment to the blog.  Otherwise, I guess it's okay to say, "What the hell!  At least I've got something to show for it" and keep on, keeping on!  As for me, I have 12 books in my Amazon cart that I need to prioritize on this snowy, Colorado afternoon... race ya! 

10/10/10 Blogger Challenge

if you are so inclined...

It's 10/10/10... we have to have some sort of challenge, eh?  Here's a list of ten possibilities:

• Read ten picture books off your shelf that you haven't read for a while.  Think about how you might use them in your classroom!
• Email ten friends and tell them about a book that you've read recently that reminded you of them.
• Write ten lines of poetry using ten words in each line.
• Read ten blog entries from ten blogs you don't have listed on your blog list (click on some of your followers to see what they read that you do not have on your list).
• Buy a $10 dollar gift certificate and mail it to a friend anonymously or hand it to a child in the bookstore.
• Go to the bookstore, read ten books you've never read.  Create a list of your ten favorites and send it to someone you think might appreciate some new titles.
• Write your next ten blog entries in one sitting.
• Choose ten books from your collection that you can give to ten friends with a personal note inside!
• Write ten letters to ten friends or former teachers and mail them... with a stamp! 
• Write a comment on ten blogs, using ten sentences each with ten words.

Any takers?  Try at least one of these this week (or within the next ten days) and see what happens.  Let me know what you try... 

Soccer and Poetry

Opening Days:  Sports Poems by Lee Bennett Hopkins is another of my favorite books.  Something about the poetry, the artwork, the thrill of reading, the sport... draws me in!  I love reading these poems with students and listening to them read aloud with prosody... the tone, the emphasis on certain vowels, the pitch, the syllable length!  And we worry about fluency... all we have to do is practice with a poem or two! 

     One of my favorite poems is "Soccer" and that's where I will be today, watching my daughter play.  She loves the game and she plays with such grace with her gazelle-like legs.  Watching her play is like reading a poem by Lee Bennett Hopkins... she punctuates with her toes, kicks each side kick with execution, stops on a dime, such precision in the scores!  She plays with athletic prosody (I made that up).  Watching your children on the field is a wonderful treat!

     But as I type this (on Friday night), I look over and see a reader lying on the couch.  The television's off.  The house is quiet.  And we are both at work... reader and writer... enjoying the pleasure of the sport! 

 

Soccer

Twenty-two

prayers

on

reverent grass.

kick

and

dribble

trap

and

pass--

sprint

and

run

tackle 

and 

fall--

all

for

the

love

of

the

sacred

ball.

This is a picture of her in action, by the way!