Poet and educator Georgia Heard discusses My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness and talks about how both poetry and mindfulness invite us to slow down, be present, listen more deeply, while quieting our restless minds.
Category: georgia heard
Revisiting the Heart Map
Heart maps can help young writers when they think they don't have anything to write about.
Pursue a Passion Project!
How might you use writing to tap into your personal passions? Are you writing a piece that makes you "ache with caring"? And in a chock-full, busy-every-minute life, how can educators find time for writing that is deeply meaningful, with the lens of replicating this experience for students?
Heart Maps: A Review and a Giveaway
"My hope is that as you explore heart mapping with your writers, you will fall in love with the stories and poems, truths and courage that will unfold--both theirs and your own." Georgia Heard in her newest book, Heart Maps.
Growing Students Who Love Poetry
Back in March, I had the pleasure of attending the Michigan Reading Association conference in Grand Rapids, MI. I had been preparing my own presentation for the event and had neglected to look at the program closely enough to plan the rest of my time. I arrived and sat with an hour to kill… Continue reading Growing Students Who Love Poetry
Wish Poems
“Poetry breaks through the skin of suffering in which children are often imprisoned: silent, confused, and scared. A child’s poetry is an intimate, trusting gift to her parent or to anyone who wishes to ‘read’ her heart.” --Alice Walker (Cited in Heard, 1999, 3) Last week I led a poetry exploration with my students. First,… Continue reading Wish Poems
Found Poetry + a Giveaway
Have you ever found a poem? I'm not talking about something with stanzas, line breaks, and the other traditional things that typically make a poem a poem. I'm talking about finding something poetic in ordinary prose, on a street sign, in an advertisement, or even inside of a fortune cookie. The Arrow Finds Its Mark:… Continue reading Found Poetry + a Giveaway
GUEST BLOG POST: Ending with Independence
Lindsay Reyes began her teaching career seven years ago in South Carolina where she taught 4th and 5th graders. Following her heart for urban education and literacy reform, she moved to New York City where she taught middle school in the South Bronx. She has experience teaching General Ed and Special Ed (as a Collaborative… Continue reading GUEST BLOG POST: Ending with Independence
The Doors of Poetry: Guest Blog Post by Sarah Mulhern
Our first Guest Blog Post of the summer is written by Sarah Mulhern, who is a sixth grade teacher in New Jersey. Sarah blogs at The Reading Zone. When Stacey first asked me to write a guest blog for Two Writing Teachers I immediately accepted. Then I realized I would have to think of something… Continue reading The Doors of Poetry: Guest Blog Post by Sarah Mulhern
Verbs in Revision
Georgia Heard's Book The Revision Toolbox: Teaching Techniques That Work is one of the best books on the teaching of writing that I own. If it's not in your bookshelf, then click here to preview it and/or buy it (It's that good!). To that end, I decided to do one last revision lesson, before my… Continue reading Verbs in Revision
A Thought + A Poem
Around Indiana, Kindergarten Round Up is in full swing. This personally effects me since my red-headed flair of a five year old will be entering kindergarten next year. She is so excited. She's unable to keep still just thinking about going to kindergarten. I watch her pretend and imagine and dress up as a ninja-dentist-ballerina… Continue reading A Thought + A Poem
Getting Started with My Territories
I decided it was time for me to start doing the work I'm going to ask my students to do this fall with regard to mapping their writing territories. The following photo includes my bulleted list of territories plus one of them with 12 different things I can write about the larger territory. Now I… Continue reading Getting Started with My Territories