George Ella Lyon and I started communicating with each other this past winter when I needed to request permission for my students to mentor their "Where I'm From" Poems after hers when they were writing DEAL WITH IT! Powerful Words from Smart, Young Women. We had dinner in Louisville on Friday night, along with Ann… Continue reading I met George Ella Lyon!
Month: July 2007
Poetry Friday: A Poem by Billy Collins
I'm still on my Billy Collins kick. This has been going on since Saturday... I'm just loving his work. Here's one I especially like: Introduction to Poetry I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop… Continue reading Poetry Friday: A Poem by Billy Collins
Share this:
Share this:
poetry friday
I just love Maya Angelou. This one has me thinking -- what does frighten me? Certainly not Friday the 13th! <smile.> Life Doesn't Frighten Me At All Maya Angelou Shadows on the wall Noises down the hall Life doesn't frighten me at all Bad dogs barking loud Big ghosts in a cloud Life doesn't frighten… Continue reading poetry friday
Share this:
Share this:
WN Entry: Noticing People
As I walked through my day today, I noticed the small things that people do that we often overlook. For instance, during my layover at O'Hare, I noticed that one of the women who was assembling cheeseburgers was doing it with a smile on her face. There was such love put into each cheeseburger she… Continue reading WN Entry: Noticing People
Share this:
Share this:
Haiku
I pulled the grays out but they're sprouting back again they make me feel old. I wrote this after hearing Billy Collins speak last week. I thought it might be good to write a Haiku, especially if I'm going to teach this form to my students this-coming school year. (I've never taught my kids Haiku… Continue reading Haiku
Share this:
Share this:
Rethinking Independent Writing Projects Plan Sheets
M. Colleen Cruz wrote a stellar professional book, Independent Writing Projects: One Teacher, 32 Needs, Topics, and Plans. Her book inspired me to get my students going in Extended Day last year. I was reflecting on the Independent Writing Project Proposal Form I gave my students in June, which I adapted from Cruz's book, and… Continue reading Rethinking Independent Writing Projects Plan Sheets
Share this:
Share this:
Ode to My Second Cupcake
Ode to My Second Cupcake You come from Buttercup Bake Shop On the Upper West Side. You sat amongst other delectable creations, Waiting to be picked. Your cake is golden. Your icing -- Vanilla with green food coloring Added for effect. I bite into you As a smile spreads across my face. The white sprinkle… Continue reading Ode to My Second Cupcake
Share this:
Share this:
Did You Know 2.0
Here's the link in case you want to pass this video along to someone else: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U To join in the Shift Happens Conversation, click here. I particularly like their discussion questions, which are as follows: # What are your initial reactions to what you saw in the presentation? # How are these changes manifesting themselves… Continue reading Did You Know 2.0
Share this:
Share this:
Advice from Poet Laureate Billy Collins
I heard Poet Laureate Billy Collins speak today at Columbia University's Roone Arledge Auditorium. He was fascinating, funny, and filled with ideas for teachers on how to be better teachers of poetry. Here are some of his tips: * Some good questions to ask kids about poems are: 1. How does this poem go? 2.… Continue reading Advice from Poet Laureate Billy Collins
Share this:
Share this:
Poetry Friday: The Poets’ Room
THE POETS ROOM has nothing in it. No comfortable furniture, no TVs, voices, clocks ticking, nothing except beats of air and blood pulsing through your lungs. You take a clean breath and quietness comes in. Your favorite films start flaring on theatres of walls, whenever you are brave enough to chase your images with words.… Continue reading Poetry Friday: The Poets’ Room
Share this:
Share this:
Fourth of July Parade
Hear the blare of bugles, Hear the beat of drums, Hear the sound of marching feet. Down the street there comes, Playing, marching, Marching, playing, In the sun and shade, All the music, All the color Of the Fourth's parade. See the buglers blowing, See the drummers pound, See the feet go up and down… Continue reading Fourth of July Parade
Share this:
Share this:
Resume Writing
How many kids do you know that have resumes? Well, I now know five since I just helped to create resumes for five of my former students on Career Kids, which is a website that prepares students to take charge of their future. I'm starting to believe that resume writing is a type of technical… Continue reading Resume Writing
