March | 2017 | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for March, 2017

SOL #11: Celebrate the Sunny Side of Life

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Slice of Life, tagged Donna Smith, student slicing on March 11, 2017| 9 Comments »

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

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

As is true for every day of life, sometimes things are good, sometimes they are not so good. This week after our Berry Queens Hats and Hallelujahs brunch, I’ve been singing an old bluegrass song in my head. If you know the song at all, be warned. When you read the words, it will keep playing in your head for days.

There’s a dark & a troubled side of life

There’s a bright, there’s a sunny side, too

Tho’ we meet with the darkness and strife

The sunny side we also may view

[cho:] Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life

It will help us ev’ry day, it will brighten all the way

If we’ll keep on the sunny side of life

Celebrating the Sunny Side today!

Slicing students.

My students are slicing fools! Before March began I warned them that it was coming. They’ve done this before. There were moans of “Oh, no! Not Slice of Life Challenge!” Everyday the first thing my students do is open up our Kidblog site and type a slice. The rhythm of typing is music to my ears. Occasionally conversations were started over posts. For the most part, these conversations are about the writing.

Two of my students have challenged each other with a bet. They’ve bet a dollar that they can write the most slices. One of them is up to number 15. These girls are setting the tone in my room without even realizing it. Even though the others are not involved in a bet, they are inspired to write from these classmates.

2. Comments from teachers. On Friday, poet Donna Smith visited our blog. She left poem comments. She wrote about 10 of them, so if you visit our site you can see more of her fun brilliance. Thanks, Donna!

You talk of the speed of light
Like the turtle and the hare
You zip through the topics heavy
As if they were light as air
Slow as an encyclopedia
Is how life used to be
Fast as a Google engine
Is now the choice for me!

by Donna JT Smith

3. Kathleen Sokolowski took inspiration from my students to create her slice today. Wow, kids inspiring teachers! That’s awesome!

3. I drive by the mural every day. Here’s the latest progress. You can see my post about this mural here.

4. I enjoyed the last of the azaleas blooming on my walk Friday morning. These white ones open their eyes and spread pure Joy.

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SOL #10: Experience Life Twice

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged found poem on March 10, 2017| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty

I am blessed to have a group of friends who chat through Voxer. This poem came out of a conversation on our chat. It’s a found poem. But the words were found from spoken words. Their arrangement here is changed to make them flow together as a poem. Creating a poem is a puzzle to be pieced together. Creating a life is a puzzle to be pieced together.

My Presbyterian husband did his best
to make me feel guilty
about this irreverence,
this moving on.
I’m having a hard enough time
finding my voice,
finding a new perspective.

We all know things can change
in the blink of an eye.
I’m ready;
I’m creating a new story for myself
welcoming this grand adventure.

It’s all about revision,
another draft.
I want to learn something new
Maybe that’s asking too much.

We are all inching our way to that something–
who we are, who we are meant to be
So many things get in the way.
No one path will be the path.
Ultimately, we do the best we can.
I am making my way
as you are making yours.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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SOL #9 Breathing In

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged Ralph Fletcher, teacher desk on March 9, 2017| 14 Comments »

I am reading Ralph Fletcher’s book Breathing In, Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer’s Notebook. I’m a little late to this book published in 1996. But it’s special to me because Ralph himself signed it this past November at NCTE. If you’ve never read any of Ralph’s books about writing, I highly recommend them. This one in particular is full of ideas, but it’s also full of Ralph’s voice. I could listen to him all day long.

In the first chapter, “A Place to Write,” Ralph writes about the things on his desk. This prompted me to write about my teacher desk.

There’s been a movement among teachers to get rid of the teacher desk. I suppose the idea is for the teacher to be more active, wandering among her students or sitting at a table designed for group meetings. I get that, but I can’t get rid of my teacher desk, not yet. It holds too many precious things. Gifts from students.

Sweet Pea body lotion
Two message rocks: “If you have the choice of being right or being kind, be kind.” “You Rock!” with a painted smiley face
A glass bear holding a red heart, “The Joy that you give to others is the Joy that comes back to you.”
Coffee container painted by Emily with our class theme “Mrs. Simon’s Sea”
Wooden pencil holder hand-made by Andrew’s father
A paper flower from Erin
Practical stuff: box of tissues, tape, stapler, paper clips, grade book, current read-aloud, cups of pens, pencils, markers, and hand sanitizer

After writing about my teacher desk, I realize that this space holds meaning. It is the center of our classroom. Often a student will prop a laptop right next to me. Once a student called this area the zone of learning. Voluntarily, they find a comfort in being close to me.

My notebook is here on my desk. The one Ralph talks about in his book. The place I breathe into, write alongside my students, make observations, discover poems. Like Ralph says, your notebook is a room of your own, a space that is alive to even the barest suggestion of light.

What is on your writing desk? Do you still have a teacher desk? Spaces take on the meaning we assign to them. My desk, my notebook, my classroom are sacred spaces for sharing, learning, and finding Joy.

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SOL #8 Sometimes You Hit a Bump in the Road

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged car trouble on March 8, 2017| 17 Comments »

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It’s hump day, or is it bump day? Literally. Driving down the highway on my way from school A to school B, I saw a big metal cylinder in my lane. There was nowhere to swerve, so I tried to straddle it. Ka-Bump! A loud bump! And an explicative from me. I took the next exit off the highway which happened to be near the dealership. I decided to play it safe and stop.

There were no visible signs of damage, so the service director told me to come back after school, and they would lift up my vehicle. I drive a Prius. This car is very close to the ground. When they lifted my car, they found the exhaust pipe was damaged. An hour later, after a long talk with the insurance company, I was driving home in a Yukon, the exact opposite of a Prius.

The rental agent explained some things about this huge vehicle. “When you get close to an object, the seat vibrates.” Sure enough as I was backing out, the seat buzzed my behind. Kinda shocking. And what was I supposed to do? Luckily, it didn’t buzz again until I was pulling into my carport. I guess I’ll learn how to park this gargantuan thing without hitting anything.

I don’t advise driving over things in the road, but if you do hit something, it’s not so bad when you get an upgrade. I feel like I should go around town and pick some people up to carpool. I wonder if anyone needs to move furniture this weekend. Give me a call.

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SOL #7 Slice of a Mural

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged art, Envision da Berry, Mary Lacy, mural on March 7, 2017| 9 Comments »

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I admit it, I use Facebook for news. I may not be getting the most current, real news, but I’ve come to trust my “friends” to help me see what I need to see.

One of these friends is Phanat Xanamane. Phanat (pronounced Pah-not) created a community organization called Envision da Berry. The Berry (da Berry) is what New Iberia is commonly called. Anyway, this weekend Phanat posted about Mary Lacy.

Mary Lacy showed up last Monday with a lift truck ready to paint a mural on an old downtown building. After I saw Phanat’s post, I had to go check it out for myself.

Mary Lacy is from Vermont. She is an artist on a mission. She plans to travel all over the US to paint murals. I asked her if she is being paid. She said that only her expenses are paid. Benjamin Moore is her paint supplier. They will be promoting her tour through a video that is not out yet. She hopes to gain some fame and recognition from her tour. Well, she has certainly gotten this in New Iberia.

On Saturday when I talked with Mary, she said she hadn’t gotten much work done because people were out and about and stopping to talk with her. I took a few pictures of the paint cans, her truck, and the mural in progress.

“How do you do this on such a large scale?”

A quick one word response, “Math.” She lays out her design on a grid, plots it out by measuring and taping. To her, the image is just a plot on a graph. Amazing math work here!

Mary has one stipulation; she takes complete artist control of the project. For New Iberia, she chose the alligator. She wants her murals to represent the area she is working in. An alligator is certainly appropriate for bayou country.

Phanat shared this video interview on Facebook.

Alligator mural in process

I wish Mary luck in her adventures. According to the Daily Iberian, Mary has four cities remaining on her 10-city tour: El Paso, Texas; Santa Monica, California; Portland, Oregon; and Bethel, Vermont.

Mary Lacy is spreading love with paint strokes.

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SOL #6 A Slice of a Craft Festival

Posted in Slice of Life, Travel, tagged craft fair, The Shadows on the Teche on March 6, 2017| 11 Comments »

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http://www.shadowsontheteche.org

Saturday was a beautiful windy spring day. A great day for a craft show. The Shadows on the Teche hosts a craft festival twice a year. I almost missed it. I let the day get away from me with various Saturday chores. About an hour before it closed, I headed downtown to check out the show.

My first stop was my friend Brenda’s booth of crocheted shawls. I wanted to get a shawl for Sunday’s Berry Queen Hats and Hallelujahs Brunch. Brenda had a just right shawl in bright reds and oranges. Here I am all dressed up for the brunch.

One of the joys of walking through the craft festival is seeing and visiting with people. I ran into old friends and made new ones. I stopped at a pottery booth. I was looking for a little pot to go into a wire rack I had purchased this week at an antique shop. This little pot has a small guaranteed-to-survive-my-neglect South African succulent.

Haworthia

My favorite woodworker is a retired middle school principal. He always asks me, “Still teaching?” Needless to say he is enjoying his retirement and his hobby job. I found a perfect wedding gift from his selection of cutting boards.

The day is not complete without fresh Kettle corn. You can smell it throughout town, and practically everyone you meet is carrying a bag of it. Can’t resist.

The most wonderful gift of a Saturday afternoon is time to stroll through downtown, stop and take a picture of the amaryllis, and be grateful for the small things that bring pleasure.

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SOL #5 DigiLitSunday Slicing

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Kidblog, Slice of Life Classroom Challenge, Two Writing Teachers on March 5, 2017| 19 Comments »

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Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

I was just informed that March is SOL challenge month. It’s a cruel, cruel world. We have to make SOL every single day. I don’t know if I will survive this deadly month. Okay, that was a little ( lot ) over the top of the ice cream cone. Yeah, that was a metaphor.

That’s kind of like saying over the mountain but in your mind picture a mountain sized ice cream cone with a ton of chocolate going right on the top and turning it into a chocolate avalanche. Did you do that? Good for you. Now I will grant you as many wishes as you want. NOT!! I am not a genie. But if I had one wish it would be not doing any Slice of Life challenge posts ever again. That is how bad I don’t want to do the Slice of Life challenge.

by Andrew, Feb. 21, 2017

“Andrew, the Slice of Life Challenge is voluntary. Are you saying you don’t want to try it this year? Should I make you a sticker chart?”

“I’m not making any promises. Yeah, go ahead, make me a chart.”

I teach my gifted students year to year throughout their elementary schooling. This is a blessing and a curse. I am blessed to know my students really well. I don’t have to pretest to find their reading levels. I don’t have to do writing prompts to see how well they write. I know all this. They also know that when March rolls around it’s torture time. Time to write a Slice of Life every day!

Every year I try something new to motivate my students. Last year it was these buttons designed by Stacey Shubitz of the Two Writing Teachers. My students proudly collected badges until about March 15th when the newness wore off.

I also use incentives. One day of the month I hold a commenting challenge. The reward, one Skittle a comment. I soon ran out of Skittles. I buy a book for each child who completes the challenge. I usually buy 3-5 books.

Another thing we’ve done is connected with other classes doing the challenge. I’d like to do that again this year. If your class is using Kidblogs, please request to follow by signing in to Kidblog and posting my URL, http://kidblog.org/class/mrs-simons-sea/. Click on the Follow button. Once I approve, I can follow you back. It’s fun and motivating to connect kids across the globe.

After seeing Holly Mueller’s students’ long slices, I implemented a word count rule. This has been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is found when my students elaborate and expand their thoughts like you see in Andrew’s post above. The curse happens when they ramble on and type things like, “I’m up to 198 words, just 2 more to go!”

This is the nature of the beast that is SOLC! Blessings and curses! We are going to jump in despite the deep waters. Tomorrow we return from a break. Our challenge will begin. I wonder where this journey will take us.

I wrote a blog post for Kidblogs about the Slice of Life Classroom Challenge here.
If you wrote a DigiLit post, please link up with this button.

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SOL #4: Celebrating Time to Look out the Window

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Bayou Teche, Elsie, nature poetry on March 4, 2017| 11 Comments »

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

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

From my window, I see a stately oak
and the bayou beyond
flanked by cypress knees
sticking up like toy soldiers.

Sometimes, a heron happens by
stealthily stalking a wayward minnow.

Sometimes, the sun beams down
in a spotlight directing my gaze
to the intricate design of trees.

And some days, I don’t have time
to look, watch, or listen,
But I know my bayou
is always near
keeping me grounded,
showing me faithfulness,
bringing me solace.

–Margaret Simon

This Slice/ Celebration idea came from Elsie. She wrote “Outside my Window” for her Day 2 Slice of Life.

I’ve been on break all week. Such a gift to be able to look outside, take walks with Charlie, and lunch with friends. I celebrate this time to look out the window.

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SOLC #3 After Billy Collins

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Billy Collins on March 3, 2017| 25 Comments »

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Poetry Friday is with Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

This week I received an email from Heidi Mordhorst promoting a celebration of Billy Collins for this Poetry Friday roundup. Billy Collins’ birthday is March 22. He will be 76.

I’ve actually had the privilege to meet Billy Collins at the Dodge Poetry Festival in the fall of 2008. I took a picture with him that I cannot find. I remember his humor most of all. The tone of his voice, almost monotone, enhances the hilarity of his poems.

I’m not sure how many books I have of Billy Collins’ poetry, at least 5. At Christmas, I had a Barnes and Noble gift card, so I bought the latest The Rain in Portugal. I read about half of it and put it down after I heard an interview with him that made me mad.

I imagine all poets to be gentle, loving souls. If Billy Collins is being himself in interviews, and I would assume he is, he is quite arrogant. He insulted us amateur poets as if we shouldn’t even try to write. I decided to reject his opinion and continue to write poetry. In fact I’ve written a few poems “after Billy Collins.” So to appease my injured pride and to reject his lofty opinion, I am not posting his poetry, but my own.

Our Ship

after Billy Collins, Litany

We are all on this ship together
whether or not it sails.
We are side by side
like the freckles on your mother’s face.
We are closer
than the love bugs on the windshield.

You, and I, and he, and she.
We are not like the blown away balloons
at the 3 year old’s birthday party.
We are not the shavings of wood mulching the flower bed.

No, we are this way, that way,
you know what I mean,
intertwined like the vines of wisteria,
joined and connected, tumbling and reaching.

Give me your hand.
I will give you mine.
Let’s go on this voyage together.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved.

Burst into Spring

after Billy Collins, Today

If ever there was a spring day so perfect,
so stirred up by a cool crisp wind

that you wanted to breathe more often
to taste the wisteria blossoms,

and throw open all the doors,
lift them clear off the hinges,

a day so bright the pink azaleas
pop open like a birthday balloon bouquet,

seemed so delightful that you felt like
running naked among them,

released from all inhibitions taking flight
outstretched arms playing airplane,

so you could fly on steady wings
balanced for lift and drinking nectar,

yes, you can imagine it,
today is just that kind of day.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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SOLC #2 Spiritual Journey Connections

Posted in Writing on March 2, 2017| 15 Comments »

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Find the round up of Spiritual Journey posts at Dori’s blog. Click here.

When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong with the fearful, the true mixed in with the façade, and of course, the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way.
~Fred Rogers

A few years ago, a group of bloggers started writing about our Spiritual Journey on Thursdays. Now we are writing on the first Thursday of the month. Today’s theme is connections, Dori’s one little word for 2017.

I found this Fred Rogers quote on Tabatha Yeats post here. Mr. Rogers left a legacy of kindness. When I watched with my children, we sang along to every song. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” became a bedtime lullaby. At the time I thought he was so corny, but now I want corny back in my life. Fred Rogers was a wise and gentle soul.

To be able to make meaningful connections in our own lives, we must be content with and loving to ourselves. This truth took me a long time to learn.

The Enneagram is a tool for discovering who you really are. I subscribe to an Enneagram Thought of the Day.

Balancing my own feelings makes me more available for the feelings of others. I can connect in a stronger way.

Writing is one of the ways (along with yoga and walking) I center myself. How I come to know who I am and what I truly feel.

Writing is also a way that I connect to others. I’ve been writing on this blog for six years. My blogging has led me to connections across the globe. I met Tara Smith this way. She is no longer a blogger with the Two Writing Teachers, but our connection has moved us into a friendship we sustain through Voxer. Yesterday she committed to the Slice of Life Challenge because of something I said. I was touched by her post.

The more I reflected upon Margaret’s message (about the resurrection fern), the more I returned to this line: “it needs a host plant or other substrate on which to anchor.” This writing community is just such an anchor; it is our oak tree.

What is your oak tree? How do you connect and maintain connections with others? We all need these precious connections in our lives. They sustain us and nurture us as we sustain and nurture ourselves.

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