Poetry is a tool to unlock magic in the ordinary.
I spent the weekend in Columbus, Ohio at the NCTE conference. What a whirlwind of feelings! Anxiety over my presentation, awe when seeing and hearing Jacqueline Woodson and Tom Hanks, and pure joy hobnobbing with my fellow wizards. Now that I’ve had a few days to download and process the experience, I am feeling gratitude and inspiration.
The sessions I enjoyed the most were those in which an invitation to writing was given. Georgia Heard, the 2023 winner of the Award for Excellence in Poetry, led us into a community writing about wonder. She asked, “What does wonder mean to you?” and “Where do you find wonder?” Each of us wrote our response on a sentence strip and then gathered together to make a group poem. I want to take this idea to my schools. I imagine strips flowing down the hall creating a community poem.
the forest floor with white blossoms.
The coyote who crossed my path
In an egg in a nest in a quiet place
In the voices of children
In the depth of memory that pop like champagne bubbles
on my heart’s surface.
Wonder leads me down the rabbit hole
in search of more.
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, what an experience! This poem is pure…..well, wonder! WonderFUL! I like that you showed the process of how this was written. I can see how this would work for a great many conceptual words – wonder, trust, love, idea, celebration. Thank you for allowing us a glimpse into your session and your learning. I missed everyone this year!
Margaret,
I really like this writing idea and sharing a community poem. That said, most of the time my least favorite sessions are those that require me to write. I travel a long way to attend NCTE and am often exhausted the entire weekend. I don’t want to feel as though I’m in school doing homework. I do like some level of interaction, but it needs to be simple, like the idea you e shared here. Yesterday I was at an ALAN breakout session in which the presenters asked us to write about where we’re from. Nope. I could not and did not do it. Instead, I dragged out an old poem from EELA and shared that. Is that cheating? Maybe.
Oh no! We did that one in our Writers Who Care session. Sarah’s idea. I liked how she changed it up and asked different questions. You weren’t cheating. You’re allowed when you’re a grown up.
Hooray! I just saw a bunch of pics and it looks like a perfectly inspired time. I’m so happy for you and all the writing friends that got to see each other. What a great and fun prompt…wouldn’t it be great to have a whole school do this?!
Georgia Heard’s idea for a community poem about wonder is just lovely – I hope this is replicated many, many times over by all you fabulous educators who attended that big conference! Thanks for sharing this.
Margaret, oh, I missed this session, but I am so glad to see your write up about it. The lines of wondering are so beautiful, and I love how you can shuffle them and write a poem in whatever way you see fit. I want to try this with a group, and I will look forward to seeing photos of when you do it at school! It was so great to see you at NCTE.
Margaret, so glad you were able to attend and speak at NCTE, and thank you for sharing park of Georgia’s session here. You both do so much to spark wonder in the world! I love the community poem and could imagine using this in many group settings with people of all ages to foster understanding. Happy Thanksgiving!
[…] Georgia Heard won the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry. She and Rebecca Kai Dotlich wrote Welcome to the Wonder House, an anthology of poems of wonder. At NCTE in November, I attended Georgia’s workshop. She had us group together to write a collaborative poem based on the question, “What does wonder mean to you?” I shared that workshop here. […]