TEDxHerndon Conference

This past Saturday afternoon, I traveled to a local middle school and settled in to listen to eighteen TED talks about difficult conversations. I left four and a half hours later inspired and motivated and educated. There's not enough time to share everything with you, so I'll share some highlights for me. Whitney Parnell spoke about creating allies and building bridges. Her talk started with this song she wrote. I was sobbing.

Kwame Alexander was one of the speakers. 

He always inspires when he speaks. His message was to be a SAY YES person. I laughed and listened and teared up as he shared his journey and experiences.

After Kwame came the legendary, Nikki Giovanni! I have been reading her poetry since college. She's bigger than life. In person, she's sassy and irreverent and brilliant! My favorite thing is she walked on stage and gave her TED talk holding her notebook. I felt a connection with her as soon as I saw that!

She spoke to writers about writing and not worrying about what people think about it. She then launched into a poem about fear. Here are a couple of lines from it,

"I think fear should be a spice..."

"I need to explain right here, it's not fear that causes problems, it's when hatred is combined with it..."

"Hatred is a bad idea, which is why it's cheap and available, anywhere you look"

Her words echo in my mind. There were so many other powerful speakers who made me think and who taught me. I have pages and pages of notes in my notebook. I can't wait to return and reread and soak in these words.

If you ever get the chance to attend a TED Conference, I highly recommend it!

Questions and Answers

Questions:

What should I write today?

What does success look like to me?

Why are does everything move so fast?

Why does life seem endlessly busy with all of our modern conveniences?

How do we fix this?

What book is your favorite?

How are there people who don't read?

Why are we sad and stressed and overwhelmed?

How do I stay healthy when everything is dangerous?

What information do I trust?

How do I make things better?

What do I do now?

Questions & Answers:

What should I write today? This.

What does success look like to me? A life filled with JOY and LOVE.

Why are does everything move so fast? Breathe and take it all in.

How is life busier with all of our modern conveniences? More to manage, more to do.

How do we fix this?  Be mindful.

What book are you reading now? The Sun is Also a Star.

How are there people who don't read? This I will never understand.

Why are we sad and stressed and overwhelmed? Everyone has a story.

How do I stay healthy when everything is dangerous? Everything in moderation.

What information do I trust? That which serves the betterment of all.

How do I make things better? Show up.

What do I do now? Begin.

Answers:

This.

A life filled with JOY and LOVE.

Breathe and take it all in.

More to manage, more to do.

Be mindful.

The Sun is Also a Star.

This I will never understand.

Everyone has a story.

Everything in moderation.

That which serves the betterment of all.

Show up.

Begin.

I couldn't figure out what to write today. Lately, it feels like I have all of these questions swirling around in my head, so I just started to write them down. This is what happened...kind of cool! I didn't want to write this morning, but I didn't want to miss sharing a slice MORE. Showing up and developing a writing ritual created this piece of writing.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it.

Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

Poetry and the Professor

April is poetry month. I love poetry, even though I've had a troubled past with poetry in school. The words never showed me the same meaning that they showed to everyone else. Instead of celebrating my creativity and original viewpoint, instead of asking me how I came to that conclusion, I was told that I was wrong. This professor told me, "That's not what the poet meant." She wrote it on papers. I felt like I was never able to really get it.

That feeling of ineptitude continues to live deep inside of me, even though my love for poetry is stronger. Sometimes, I feel like a fraud when it comes to poetry. I fear being told how wrong I am. It's like that professor was trying to come between me and poetry, instead of creating a true love for us. I was there and willing to do the work.

This professor taught me a valuable lesson. Building the passion and love for reading and writing is my most important job as a teacher. When students love books and words, they are willing and eager to learn the nuts and bolts of these things. If they are coming from a deficit, always believing that they aren't good enough, the relationship shuts down and valuable learning can't truly happen.

That professor didn't teach me poetry. She showed me the dangers of deficit teaching. I'm grateful that my love for poetry survived and I'm grateful to her for helping mold the teacher I am today.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

A Poem of Slices

As I was reading posts a few days ago, I came across this post titled, Slicing Titles Make a Poem. I was intrigued and immediately I thought this would make a great last day post! Rereading through the titles made me smile. I'd already forgotten some. In my work to create a poem, I tried to keep the titles very true to form. I added three words to the entire poem. For me, the revision was mostly about moving around and making the lines fit together. I had fun revising and creating this poem. Here it is...

Currently…Introverting

Real peek into an ugly moment

From grumpy to grateful

It’s the small things

Like conversations about flamingos and

A day with a friend and lots of chocolate

Am I a writer?

I don’t wanna write

How do I notebook?

Here’s my day in notebook entries

My day in six-word memoirs

We are writers

Words hurt, words heal

The seven writers I’d like to meet

You can blog about it

Why am I teacher?

You teach middle school?!?!

Sixth graders save the day

Sacred words, sacred friends

I can’t keep quiet

Ten years in the blink of an eye

Nostalgia

What’s left?

Reading moments

Tribes

Favorites party

Starting over

Flexible seating

What’s your theme song?

Podcasts

This has been a poem of slices.

Thank you for another amazing year!

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

My Day in Six Word Memoirs

My day (Tuesday) in six-word memoirs...

Alarm woke me, well rested.

Cheerios. News. Walk dog. Get coffee.

Beautiful sun shining over the school.

Suddenly, rain pouring from the sky.

Thunder and lightning make it exciting.

Lots of debating, writing, and reading.

Big news. Good news. Transitions. Beginnings.

Days almost over, time to write...

Only two slices left. I'm sad... but proud of this accomplishment. Yay!

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

Words Hurt, Words Heal

Yesterday was Monday. It was very Monday-ish too. Mondays usually don't bother me, but yesterday, it got me good! To quote the brilliant Judith Viorst,

What happened? Words happened. Words hurt me. Words frustrated me. Words shamed me. Responding to these situations isn't easy. Sometimes I fight back and other times I let go. Today I did a little of both, but most importantly I turned to my own words. Writing helps me sort out issues. Writing brings me peace of mind. Writing often answers questions that I didn't even know I had. Here's a poem that poured out of my day...

My notebook became Mine today.

I grabbed it

in a moment

of pain and

despair.

It’s in this moment

when the pages

offer comfort

and protection

they become part of me.

It’s in this moment

where trust is earned

by guarding and preserving

these words, these sentences,

these stories.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

The Best Part of Me

We have been experimenting with some interesting entries in our notebooks. I wanted to share. Last week, I borrowed an idea from Penny Kittle's website called Writing Beside Poetry.

We watched Sarah Kay perform her poem, "Hands" and we created our own hands and filled them with stories and memories. 

 

I was shocked at how well this worked for my sixth graders. I struggled with it, more than they did. The more I stayed with it and the more we shared, my hands filled up with ideas and stories. 

From there we talked about other stories we carried with us. I posed this question to my sixth graders, "What is the best part of you?" I shared that I liked my crazy, curly hair and I often got compliments on my smile. Students listed parts of themselves that they loved. We read poems from the lovely book, "The Best Part of Me". I shared the photographs and the poems. Students got to work scribbling down the best parts of themselves. It struck me how often we overlook the parts we love and focus on the parts we don't like.

Their poems were thoughtful, vulnerable, funny, and creative! Students wrote about their eyes, hair, legs, eyelashes, brains. They had ten minutes to write, but the poems will stay with me forever.

The pages in their notebooks continue to inspire and surprise me. I'm so proud of the risks they are taking and the work they are putting into their words. They are writers. 

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

The Best Part of Me

We have been experimenting with some interesting entries in our notebooks. I wanted to share. Last week, I borrowed an idea from Penny Kittle's website called Writing Beside Poetry.

We watched Sarah Kay perform her poem, "Hands" and we created our own hands and filled them with stories and memories. 

 

I was shocked at how well this worked for my sixth graders. I struggled with it, more than they did. The more I stayed with it and the more we shared, my hands filled up with ideas and stories. 

From there we talked about other stories we carried with us. I posed this question to my sixth graders, "What is the best part of you?" I shared that I liked my crazy, curly hair and I often got compliments on my smile. Students listed parts of themselves that they loved. We read poems from the lovely book, "The Best Part of Me". I shared the photographs and the poems. Students got to work scribbling down the best parts of themselves. It struck me how often we overlook the parts we love and focus on the parts we don't like.

Their poems were thoughtful, vulnerable, funny, and creative! Students wrote about their eyes, hair, legs, eyelashes, brains. They had ten minutes to write, but the poems will stay with me forever.

The pages in their notebooks continue to inspire and surprise me. I'm so proud of the risks they are taking and the work they are putting into their words. They are writers. 

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

Exhausted

I planned a great post

With so many words

and ideas,

I had so much

to share...

And then

life got in the way

quizzes to grade,

groceries to buy,

a debate to watch...

Today

I show up

sleepy,

with few words,

a couple of ideas,

knowing that

my writing

will always

be there for me...

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.