Writing in a community of writers has led me to so many wonderful connections with other teacher-writers from all over the world. I discovered the writing community at Ethical ELA in the spring of 2020 when we were all isolated. Being able to find meaningful writing prompts and support from others helped me feel less alone.
Now, four years later, I am honored to be involved in a book project. I have two chapters in a book that gives teachers an understanding of how poetry can be healing in our classrooms and beyond. Words that Mend is here, alongside its sister books 90 Ways of Community and Just YA.
One of my chapters in Words that Mend appears in the section Teacher Healing titled Walking through Grief with Poetry. I wrote about my grief journey after my father’s death and how writing poems helped me process that grief. The comments others left for me on my poems felt authentic and caring. Healing from grief doesn’t happen quickly, if ever, but finding a space for sharing my thoughts in poetry gave me a purpose. And having this book now out in the world gives me purpose.
The second chapter I wrote is titled Write Along with Me, An Invitation Accepted. I wrote about how one of my students used poetry in my class to carry her through grief and how she reached out to me to start a small after school writing group. In that chapter, you can find writing prompts that worked for me as I worked with her. In fact, each chapter includes a section for a prompt for teachers and students.
Penny Kittle wrote this about Words that Mend:
“My time reading Words that Mend was not only worth it, it has multiplied my thinking about teachers as writers in profound ways. These chapters contain the lives and experiences of teachers—written like a colleague who pulls up a chair to sit beside you—and you lean in, listening with intensity and joy. What a gift this book is: it holds so much. Words that Mend is the invitation each of us needs to write in community. In celebration. In support. In discovery of what it means to bring poetry into the lives of all those we know. There is a particular generosity in this book: one of personal experiences, yes, but also the hesitations all writers feel to show their lives in writing. You will find beginnings here (even a notebook page of first thoughts) that will inspire you to write. You will find lesson plans already worn and weathered by use in classrooms. Do not turn from the gift of Words that Mend: you need it more than you might think you do.”
~Penny Kittle, author Write Beside Them, Book Love, and Micro Mentor Texts
Words that Mend is now available for purchase on Amazon (for printing cost only) and a free pdf download on Ethical ELA here.
Sarah Donovan, Oklahoma State University, curator of Ethical ELA tells our story on YouTube:
We will have an online event at 2:00PM CST on September 22nd to celebrate and write together. Stay tuned!
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, I love the way you have structured your post today. I loved every chapter of Words That Mend, and the different losses, grief, and trauma allow for everyone to find a healing point of connection to someone. I, too, am loving the review by Penny Kittle. I hope we get a chance to thank her in person at NCTE this fall. Thanks for a great post!
I decided to use my blog to announce the books because I saw your post. I almost called you, feeling a little overwhelmed with the big announcement. Maybe later in the week I’ll get up the nerve to do a video post.
Congratulations on your important work, Margaret! Eager to read this book and your next two! I wish I was still teaching, though, not sure there’d be a great fit for me. Will share all this. I love what I know about Ethical ELA through poet and blogger friends like you. Inspired, grateful and convinced of the power of carefully chosen words shared as a poem.
What a gift to teachers and writers from your team! (And what an honest, clear-eyed gift Penny Kittle gave in that blurb!)
I was in a meeting this morning where trauma-informed practices were discussed. I will have to recommend this book to one of the folks I met with. Thanks for sharing it with us today, Margaret.
What a wonderful project and gift to teachers! I am looking forward to lingering in these books!
Congratulations, Margaret!
Congratulations, Margaret! I read the table of contents and most of the introduction. It seems like an important book that so many teachers and students need. I wonder if Sarah or anyone else has thought about sharing this book in schools. Or is Sarah and some other authors going to share the book at the NCTE conference, so a wider audience learns about the book?
MY sister-in-law, who lives 4 hours away from me is an ELA teacher for 9th graders. I’m going to buy her a copy on Amazon and encourage her to do some poetry writing of her own, which I have mentioned before. Hopefully, this book will encourage her to share some of the examples in the book with her students and encourage her to start writing. She always says there is no time to do poetry. Her school district is in a small city right on the border of New York State. You can see Canada across the St. Lawrence River. She’s a well-liked teacher and she loves her students, but the trauma of teaching through Covid has taken a toll. Thank you for sharing your book. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of it. Sarah, Denise, you, and the other authors should feel proud of yourselves. (I sometimes read the amazing poetry on Ethical ELA and recognized some other author names. I need to tell my sister-in-law about Ethical ELA, too!) I’m looking forward to hearing about your other books, too.
Congratulations, Margaret! Just ordered—looking forward to using in workshops as a visiting author.