December | 2016 | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for December, 2016

The Season for Giving

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged #haikuforhealing, Matt Forest Esenwine, Today's Little Ditty, winter poem swap on December 20, 2016| 12 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

Click to purchase on Amazon

If you haven’t already heard about this wonderful little book of poems, I am here to offer another shameless promotion. I was one of the readers who selected poems to be included; I have 2 poems included; and I wrote a blurb for the back cover. Michelle Heidenrich Barnes is a person I know I love even though I’ve never met her face to face. She is incredibly generous. Each month she features a wonderful poet and asks us out in the Poetry Friday cyberspace to write ditties. When we do, we understand that the fame is short lived on a blog post gallery at the end of the month. However, now we have an anthology! So many great challenges from cinquain to zeno, from haiku and beyond. This collection is a must for any classroom poetry library.

Also in this sphere of poets, I’ve virtually met Tabatha Yeatts who mixes us up and organizes a Winter Poem Swap. This week I received my poem gift from Matt Forest Esenwine. Matt managed to find time to read my Christmas blog posts and create a found poem from them. He printed his poem on one of my Christmas tree images. So thoughtful. So meaningful. So special. Thanks, Matt.

We are in our last few days before winter break. I invited our art teacher to lead the students in an activity during their party on Monday. She taught them about shading in a snowman image. It’s funny when we talk about snowmen because few of my students have ever seen snow, much less made a snowman. But all kids love drawing them. We ended up with a rainbow of snowmen, grey, blue, teal, and even purple.

I hope you are finding gifts everywhere, under your tree, in your mailbox, and in the smiles of children. Happy Holidays!

Haiku-a-day #20
#haikuforhealing

Read Full Post »

Haiku-a-day #19

Posted in Writing on December 20, 2016| 1 Comment »

Read Full Post »

Haiku-a-day #18

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged #haikuforhealing, Enneagram, haiku-a-day on December 18, 2016| 1 Comment »

Through your example
kindness echoes through the trees
on wings of love

–Margaret Simon

#haikuforhealing

Read Full Post »

DigiLitSunday: Celebrate

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Photography, tagged field trip, Grand Village, Ms., Natchez, Natchez Trace, St. Francisville on December 18, 2016| 14 Comments »

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Celebration time is just around the corner. It’s moving in quickly with the cold front. My dining table is full of gifts and wrapping paper. Soon the gifts will be under the tree and my dining table will be clean and ready for family to gather. How will I ever get it all done? I ask myself this question every year, and every year, I manage to be ready for the celebration.

In our classrooms, the students are anxious and antsy. They have more difficultly focusing. When my colleagues and I began planning a field trip for December 16th, I thought we were nuts to do it so close to Christmas break when the weather (literally and figuratively) changes daily. It turned out to be the perfect time.

On Friday, the weather was cool but not cold, cloudy but not raining as we set out at 6:30 AM on a charter bus heading to St. Francisville, Louisiana to the Myrtles Plantation, one of the top haunted mansions in the US. The stories of the “little spirits” both intrigued and frightened my students. I have to admit I was a little unsettled when I heard ticking coming from the old desk I was standing next to.

Our next stop was the cemetery of Grace Episcopal Church. This cemetery is a beautiful place with draping oaks and old graves. Our students made gravestone rubbings that we will later use for a research/writing project.

Gravestone rubbings at Grace Episcopal Cemetery, St. Francisville, LA.

Grace Episcopal Cemetery

Taking students outside the classroom is an effort in planning, making reservations, arranging payment, yet every time we do it, I realize how important it is to get us outside and into the world. We traveled northeast to Natchez, MS. to visit the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, run the mounds, and learn about the ways of the original Americans. We walked the old Natchez Trace and visited an old inn.

Indian mounds at the Grand Village, Natchez, MS.

Walking the old Natchez Trace.

When we return from our winter break, we will revisit this field trip and turn our learning experience into digital posts and presentations. But, for now, I celebrate the opportunity to take students out of the classroom and into an earlier time and place to learn and play together.

I will be taking a holiday break from DigiLitSunday. Come back on January 8th.

Please add your own DigiLit posts with the link button below.

Read Full Post »

Haiku-a-day #17

Posted in Poetry, tagged #haikuforhealing, haiku-a-day on December 17, 2016| 2 Comments »

Read Full Post »

Poetry Friday:Haiku-a-day #16

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #haikuforhealing, haiku-a-day on December 16, 2016| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

Early morning dark
I, in silence with a pen,
catch haiku harmony.

–Margaret Simon

#haikuforhealing

Other December daily haiku writers:

Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
Mary Lee Hahn at Poetrepository
Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog
Jone Rush MacCulloch at DeoWriter
Diane Mayr, posted on Thursdays at Random Noodling
Julie Johnson at Raising Readers and Writers
Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
Carol Wilcox at Carol’s Corner
Julianne Harmatz tweeting @jarhartz
Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes at Today’s Little Ditty

Read Full Post »

Spiritual Thursday: My 2016 Little Word

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged #haikuforhealing, One Little Word, Presence on December 15, 2016| 6 Comments »

Link ups at Irene Latham’s site, Live your Poem

Being a part of an online blogging community keeps me writing and thinking and reflecting. Irene Latham asked our Spiritual Journey Thursday group to write a reflection about our One Little Words for 2016. So here I am… Present.

My OLW for 2016 was Presence. This word mantra has helped me in many ways this year. When I’ve been worried, I turned to presence. When I’ve been celebrating, I turned to presence. Being with whatever is happening in the moment is a valuable skill, and I am so glad I chose presence this year. The year I spent two weeks in Africa. The year my middle daughter got married. These experiences still live in my heart because I was fully present to them.

But everyday, I have to call myself back to presence. I take walks alone, valuing time to see things in my world, to focus on the gift of nature. Sometimes while walking I’ll take out my phone to send a message to someone who has come to mind, or to type a poem or an idea for one, or to take a picture to capture a moment.

Practicing presence fits my personality, too. I am one of those people who is always on the look out for ways to help others. While some may think this is a positive trait, it can also lead to burn-out and low self-esteem. By being present, I take care of myself. And by taking care of myself, I am better equipped to help others.

I haven’t started thinking about my word for 2017. I’m not ready to let this one go. I don’t have to, of course. I can build on Presence along with Reach of 2015 and Open of 2014. I enjoy words and playing with words, so this tradition of finding one little word to guide my year is fun and inspiring. I think deeply about what I really want and the possibilities that are open to me.

Thanks, Irene, for calling me to be reflective about my one little word.

Haiku-a-day #15

Be present today
open to whatever door
Turn the knob, enter

–Margaret Simon

From Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation

Read Full Post »

Haiku-a-day #14

Posted in Poetry, tagged #haikuforhealing, haiku-a-day on December 14, 2016| 1 Comment »

Time to burrow down
be a seed, holding life tight
deep in the dark soil

–Margaret Simon

Read Full Post »

Slice of Christmas Tree

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged #haikuforhealing, Christmas, Linda Baie, ornaments on December 13, 2016| 8 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

Haiku #13

There, in twinkling lights
a Teddy Bear, nutcracker,
an angel watches.

The ornaments on the Christmas tree take me on a journey of memories. I am borrowing this idea from Linda Baie who wrote about her ornaments memories here.

I don’t know why, but I hesitate to unpack the ornaments each year. I don’t like doing it alone. So my daughter Maggie came over to help me, even though she now has a home of her own. I appreciated her help, but mostly I appreciated the impetus to get it done. In her words, “Let’s do this thing!” I turned on the Christmas CDs, and we dug in.

“Should we hang this one?” I asked. “The year you hated Santa Claus. Look at that face!”

Christmas ’88: Maggie 3.5 years, Katherine 8 months.

My husband, Jeff, has a special ornament we hang each year. His second grade teacher made it for him, sequins on a styrofoam ball, spelling out his name.

I never seem to remember where I packed my favorite ornament, the one my mother gave me from the National Cathedral when I only had two daughters. This is one of those breakable, precious ornaments that I wrap well and put away in its own box. But which bin did I put it in? After Maggie left and I was preparing to put the bins back into the closet, I gave it one more try, patiently opening and closing boxes, wrapping and unwrapping tissue paper. Then I found it. I hung it high on the tree, safe from little hands that we don’t really have around, and mischievous paws which are circling the tree as if it’s a new toy.

A more recent ornament was made by a local artist illustrating our church, The Church of the Epiphany. This ornament reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas. I look forward to singing in the loft (which once held slaves before the Civil War) on Christmas Eve.