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Poetry: Process or Product?

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged What is poetry?, William Stafford on February 19, 2016| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Donna at Mainly Write

Where does a poem come from?
From play with words?
Intention of language?
Simply throwing confetti to the wind?

A poem takes shape
whether I am present or not.
Some days the muse is mine.
Others I merely stroke the fire
waiting for the flame to ignite.

William Stafford said I should kneel
in the deep earth and dig.*

I kneel.
I pray.
I sing.
Then I open my notebook,
lay my pen against soft paper,
and wriggle these fingers.

A gift is given.
I will not let go.
–Margaret Simon

I’ve been thinking about where poems come from and whether the joy is in the process or in the product. I don’t know the answer. But I enjoy asking the question.

Kevin Hodgson sent out postcards. I got one and added my given word on the padlet he created. In this instance, the process was the fun. The sending and receiving of postcards in the real mailbox was exciting. None of us are really quite sure what the product means, but we all agree it’s cool.

* “Successful people cannot find poems; for you must kneel down and explore for them.”
–William Stafford.

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DigiLit Sunday: Inspiration

Posted in Digital Learning, Photography, Writing, tagged #sdawpphotovoices, Bayou Teche, digital literacy, Digital photography, inspiration, Kim Douillard, quiet on January 24, 2016| 4 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

As an educator and as a writer, I am always on the look-out for inspiration. It can come in the form of a blog post, a quote, a video, or an image.

This school year I decided to start a new posting on my kidblog site. I called it Snippet of the Sea to go along with my blog title, Mrs. Simon’s Sea. Each week I post something and ask the students to respond. I started out using quotes. I’ve used videos. And since the new year began, I’ve posted poems.

At first my goal was to promote kindness. The quotes had to do with kindness. But now I see that my purpose is more about inspiring real thinking. I want to expose my students to good, strong words and inspire them to be good stewards of their own words.

To view last week’s poem post by Irene Latham and my students’ thoughtful responses, click here.

I was this close to choosing Inspire as my one little word. I still feel attached to it. The meaning connecting breath and creativity appeals to the core of who I want to be. However, the root meaning spirit tells me that this word belongs to the Creator.

in·spire inˈspī(ə)r/ verb
1. fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
“his passion for romantic literature inspired him to begin writing”
synonyms: stimulate, motivate, encourage, influence, rouse, move, stir, energize, galvanize, incite
2. breathe in (air); inhale.

Kim Douillard of Thinking through my Lens inspires me. This week her photo challenge is Quiet. Works well with the quiet, restful week I’ve had. Living on the bayou, I am witness to the quiet calm of nature. On Saturday morning, a blue heron was perched on the water in the rising sunlight. He was there again this morning in the fog. I captured these images.

Bayou heron, Margaret Simon.

Blue heron wings, Margaret Simon

What inspires you? Inspires your students? Share your digital literacy posts below.

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Creativity and Me

Posted in Creativity, Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Big Magic, Creativity, fear, Lake Martin, poetry, tanka on January 12, 2016| 9 Comments »

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

I’m reading a new book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m not sure where I read about this book. I know Leigh Anne is reading it, and so is Catherine. So here’s the thing: If there’s a group of us reading this book who want to chat, we could start a virtual book club. We could chat in Voxer or Google Docs. If you want to join in, email me at margaretsmn at gmail.

Four years ago I jumped into publishing and put out a middle-grade novel, Blessen. At the time, I found an old diary that told me I’ve wanted to be an author all my life. Notice my expectation as a teenager that maybe confidence came from someone else.

“I would love to be a writer if only someone would give me confidence!”

If growing up has taught me anything, it’s that confidence comes from courage that comes from your. own. self. No one else can give it to you.

Elizabeth Gilbert says she lives in fear everyday.

Creativity is a path for the brave, yes, but it is not a path for the fearless, and it’s important to understand the distinction.

Fear will always show up when you are trying to be creative. You can tell it to go away. But it’s always there. I love that this great author is telling me this.

I’ve grown to cherish this blogging space because I feel safe here. Whoever you are, reading and leaving me kind comments, you are my angels. You help me feel like my words are worthwhile and mean something.

Since my OLW is present, I am showing up. I’ll listen for the muse, the magician, whatever his name is and answer with a yeah, ok, let’s do this crazy creative thing together.

Being present this past weekend, my husband and I visited Lake Martin for the sunset on the way to our dinner/ dancing date. It was not the best of all sunsets. I got my boots muddy. But we showed up. With a little magic from the lens and Picmonkey, I created an inspiring image. On Sunday, I wrote a tanka for the image. And I am sharing it here. Kicking fear to the curb! See ya!

Photo and poem by Margaret Simon

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Creative Grace

Posted in clmooc, Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #clmooc, #remediate, Amazing Grace, Animoto, WordFoto on June 30, 2015| 11 Comments »

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

The creative process is nothing if not elusive. As soon as I’ve figured out what direction I want to go in, my other self takes over, and we go somewhere else entirely.

The Clmooc community welcomes this kind of wayward creative thinking. In fact, it depends on it. If you are not participating, you should at least lurk. Twitter is #clmooc. Facebook page here. Google plus here.

This week’s make assignment comes from the University of Illinois Writing Project. They posted a video, and they all look so young. No worries. That was me, once.

The make instructions can be a bit confusing. They ask us to remediate. But the word isn’t what we typically think about in education as remediation. The word comes from re- and media, meaning taking something and changing the media, creativity at its best.

I thought about this while I perused Facebook, a typical avoidance behavior for me. But this time, I was looking for what I thought would make a found poem. On Sunday, I posted a picture of a baby baptized in our church. This post got an amazing number of likes and comments. I decided to remediate the picture using the app WordFoto. The words came from the comments on the picture.

I wasn’t satisfied. So I kept looking. I saw a post that read, “Same sky. Same moon.” That did it. I wrote a poem using these lines as the kick off. I went to Animoto to build a video. Last week was a monumental week in the life of our country. We all know this. I was riveted by our president’s singing of Amazing Grace during his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney.
Amazing Grace has taken on new meaning for me. Always a favorite, I now see it as a song that gathers people together, all of us together under the same sky, the same moon, the same grace.

https://animoto.com/play/6QOC8eUo8JiG7fOSbB0IGA?autostart=1

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Poetry and CLmooc

Posted in clmooc, Digital Learning, Photography, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #clmooc, #untro, name poem, poetry on June 26, 2015| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday round up is hosted by Carol.

I have joined the summer PD of CLMooc. Feeling my way through, I have found that poetry inspires many. Poetry is a way we can express our identity. The first make cycle prompted us to “unintroduce” ourselves. Some have taken the prompt to unidentify yourself and made poetry. One participant made a black out poem of the initial email. Another instigated a poem in response to Charleston. This community is responsive, reflective, and real.

Michelle Stein posted this prompt:
“Please follow this link and add your verse if you feel so inclined. My unmake follows these steps. Please do the same when adding your verse.
1. Randomly choose a word for each letter in your name.
2. Add a verse to this narrative poem, using each word you have chosen as the focus of a sentence.
3. Revel in the awesomesauce that is CLMOOC.”

Being one who is attracted to poetic prompts, I gave this one a try. I made a private deal with myself that I would use the first word that came to mind. This created a random word list.

Margaret

Mystic
Appetite (I must be hungry, as usual.)
Reservoir
Give
Astrology
Ring
Even
Trial

In the mystical distance,
an appetite for goodness makes
the reservoir of kindness grow.
Give your heart to life.

Astrology tells us that stars are wise.
Those rings of Saturn resonate light.
Even the universe proclaims pure joy.
No matter the trial, I show up. Ready.

Image made on LunaPic with pixabay free graphic of Saturn.

Image made on LunaPic with free graphic of Saturn.

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Summer Sounds

Posted in Photography, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #sdawpphotovoices, bayou, Digital photography, poetry, summer on June 2, 2015| 10 Comments »

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

Summer Sounds

Someone’s cutting grass.
The scent of it travels
on the afternoon wind
carrying a hint of coming rain.

Cicada sounds
rhythmically rise.
Beat of an outboard motor
bayou riding.

In the distance,
children squeal,
a baseball bat
tings the ball.
Cheers!

Mr. Mockingbird
tries on different personalities,
a long trill
of tweet-a-tweet tweet.
Then short staccato notes.

Take time to listen
to summer’s sound.
Slow down.
Sit around.
Sip some tea,
and just be.

–Margaret Simon

June Photo-a-day challenge from Kim Douillard at Thinking through my Lens. #sdawpphotovoices

Day 1: Awkward
I met this squirrel at a neighbor’s house. He was just sitting on the chair eating corn. When I went to take his picture, he turned as if to say, “What cha’ doin?”

Awkward squirrel

Day 2: Beach
I don’t live near a beach. But the bayou is in my backyard, so I switched the B word to bayou.

Enjoying the bright red mandevilla blooms.

Summer brings more boat traffic to the bayou.

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DigiLit Challenge: An Invitation

Posted in Digital Learning, Photography, Writing, tagged Animoto, Canva, Digilitchallenge, digital learning, Nola, Travel on May 31, 2015| 5 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Last week on a whim I invited my readers to a DigiLit Challenge. Many of you responded, so I started a Pinterest Board. There are already 12 pins on it. Let’s add to it this week.

This week’s DigiLit Challenge is an Invitation. You can create your invitation on the app of your choice. For Memorial Day, I went to New Orleans to visit with two of my girls. I was inspired by the art on the electric boxes. The project is a nonprofit organization to rebuild and beautify New Orleans. You can read more about it here.

My blogging friend Julianne (To Read, to Write, to Be) is coming to New Orleans this summer, so I wanted to show her some of the more beautiful parts. I took pictures and stored them. I tried Haiku Deck. The result was not exactly what I envisioned. I tried to make it into a movie using iMovie but some of the words were lost. My frustration made me quit. Here is one of the images and a link to the haiku deck. (I wish it would embed on my site.)

https://www.haikudeck.com/p/wXUiuAbwnR/an-invitation

For my second attempt, I used Animoto. I just love this app. I have even paid to get a longer time. I can make movies that look expertly done without having to go through the cumbersome steps of iMovie.

https://animoto.com/play/vyjaKvSxfnbPPbxp2IUeMg

For your invitation, you can create a movie or a still image. I created this invitation for blueberry picking on Canva.

Have fun creating. Tag me in your posts @MargaretGSimon and use #invitation and #digilitchallenge. And as always, link up with InLinkz.

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Taking Care of Myself

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Photography, tagged #blackandwhite, #nwpianthology, Digilitchallenge, exercise, health, Prayer Shawl Ministry on May 30, 2015| 14 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

Today is Celebration Saturday, and I am celebrating the first full week of summer and taking care of myself. I think we are all guilty of putting ourselves at the bottom of the list. This first week out of school I had time. I celebrate the gift of time to take care of myself.

Cleaning out! I hit the laundry room first. The shelves are clean. The junk is thrown out. The useful, but no longer needed, things are bagged up for Goodwill. Luckily today is a community household waste collection day, so my husband’s truck is ready to go with many cans of paint.
Hosting Poetry Friday and having time to read all the posts! See the round up here.
Crochet time: I recently learned of a second grade student at one of my schools who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I am crocheting my first afghan as a prayer blanket for her.
Eating right: I’ve caught a few episodes of Dr. Oz. He advised us to eat berries at breakfast. I went blueberry picking this week and am enjoying these pops of fruity deliciousness with absolutely no guilt.

Playing with photography: Last Sunday I put out a DigiLit Challenge. Tomorrow I will post another one. I also took Kim Douillard’s challenge of the week to try Black and White.

New Orleans City Park

Grandmother Oak Morning

Candle sculpture

Exercise: I love walking my dog. In the summer, you must get out before 8 AM to beat the heat. My inner clock is still tuned to getting up for school, so I took advantage of early mornings to walk with Charlie. He celebrates walking, too.
Time to write: This is last because I have a tinge of guilt that I didn’t spend more time writing. I worked on a draft for a future blog post. I revised my middle grade work in progress and wrote one poem.

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