Reflections on the Teche

Creativity and Vulnerability

May 5, 2016 by margaretsmn

I thought I might give blogging a rest. But in this wild world of social media, I have made connections. Irene Latham is a poet/blogger and the kind of person I will do almost anything for. She tweeted yesterday.

Hey, SJT peeps @MargaretGSimon @dorireads @cvarsalona @Mhaseltine @b_a_taylor Join me tomorrow in talking about Creativity & Vulnerability?

— Irene Latham (@Irene_Latham) May 4, 2016

Here I am again because this is a subject I live with every day.
Be creative.
Be vulnerable.
These two walk together with me as I wander this writing terrain.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert speaks to me. She writes for 272 pages about “Creative Living Beyond Fear.” The reason this book has taken on such popularity is we are all battling this dualistic problem: creativity and fear. On Goodreads, there are 333 quotes from Big Magic. I could pick any one of them to make my point here. That creativity and fear (or vulnerability) walk hand in hand.

With my students this week, I have been creating an altered book. We have taken books that were discarded from the library for repurposing as a collection of writing from this school year. For the most part, we’ve been making a mess. But in the midst of the mess, creativity is evolving.

A favorite page using gel printed paper, collage, and a poem.

This is the freest I have felt about painting and creating in a long time. I’m just doing it. I don’t expect anyone but me to ever care about this book, so there is no fear. And since I feel absolutely safe creating alongside my students, I am not vulnerable either.

When I write for others to read, the stakes become higher. And yet, in this blog space, I have found a safety net. I have a group of people I belong to. I’ve gotten to know you by reading your blogs. You know me, and you leave encouraging comments. I may not know your face, dear reader, but I trust you.

Vulnerability is lessened by safety, community, and camaraderie.

Creativity breeds creativity. Endeavoring to express yourself artistically whether with a paintbrush, a musical instrument, or a pen exposes you to failure. Yet creating makes us human, and creativity is meant to be shared.

Posted in Creativity, Teaching | Tagged Big Magic, Creativity, Elizabeth Gilbert, vulnerability | 7 Comments »

Slice of Life: Saturated

May 3, 2016 by margaretsmn

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

Emerging from 30 days of poetry, words eluded me. I looked outside for inspiration. With my camera in hand, I captured the natural meaning of the word saturated.

Reflections in the flood by Margaret Simon

After three days of incessant rain, I am saturated.
The ground below is just a shadow.
My words are hiding there.

Resurrection Fern by Margaret Simon

Fern glistens in the emerging sun.
Beauty finds me
speechless.

Lizard face-off
by Margaret Simon

Like these lizards,
face to face
puff up and show their true colors,
I dive back in,
searching for the light.

Bayou Sunspot
by Margaret Simon

When I am not even trying, poetry finds me. In reflection of her month-long poem-a-day writing, Violet Nesdoly posted this quote from Annie Dillard.

Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes. – Annie Dillard

I turn to poetry when I feel inadequate. When I’m not sure what to write, creating a verse moves me forward. So here I am again, no challenge, no poem-a-day, just me, opening the page, and giving freely, so my writing will not turn to ashes.

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Annie Dillard, Bayou Teche, nature poem | 18 Comments »

DigiLit Sunday: Function

May 1, 2016 by margaretsmn

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Last week for DigiLit Sunday, I wrote about form. I was pretty deep into teaching and writing poetry, grappling with form or no form. Julianne suggested that we follow form with function this week. When I googled function, the images suggested one right answer. That answer leads to points on a graph. Points on a graph remind me of testing.

Testing is the necessary evil, in my book. I teach gifted kids, and for the most part, the reason they are in my class is they can take tests well. They’ve figured out the function, so to speak.

So my question is how do I further my students learning beyond what the standardized test is going to require? My students are outside-of-the-box thinkers. I have to find ways to keep them thinking this way while, at the same time, capable of going back into the box come test time.

There is much grumbling in my class about testing. I have had students enjoy this time because it is quiet, and they get to read for long stretches. But one student complained that her teacher-proctor punished her for recess because she finished the session in 20 minutes. I’m sure the logic was “There is no way you can get all the answers right in 20 minutes.” That very well may be true, but my thinking tells me this teacher did not know this child.

The function of a teacher is to know her students. If you were to ask me about any of my students, I could tell you their favorite books, what genre they prefer to write, and their favorite activity to do outside of school.

The only thing about my kids that I could plot on a graph would be their reading levels. Yet their reading levels say nothing about their interest levels. And interest is everything when it comes to reading.

I take my function seriously, but I will never function to produce a right answer or a point on a graph. I strive to make my classroom one of discovery and development, creativity and caring.

How do you interpret function as it pertains to literacy? Be sure to leave a link to your own blog post today.

Posted in Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Teaching | Tagged function, standardized testing | 6 Comments »

NPM16 #30 Final Poem of the Month

April 30, 2016 by margaretsmn

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

This week was state testing week. We made it through. Because I am an extra teacher, I was assigned a small group to test. The routine was changed. I stayed at one school all day.

When on Friday the test was over, I resumed my routine. My students were so excited to see me again. They truly missed me. I think they also missed the flexibility of our days. It was as though they could breathe again.

I celebrate the love I share with my students while I am sad to realize the year is quickly coming to an end. So many activities planned; end-of-the-year picnics, talent shows, and field trips will interrupt my class again and again.

I want to stay calm about it all, so I planned a creative end-of-the-year project. We are making re-purposed books. They will paint the pages of a discarded book and add art and writing to them. They are already excited, and the mess making has begun. I celebrate creativity and mess making.

I am altering a book as well. This inspires the creative side of me. No one sees it, really, so I let go of my inhibitions about my art talent and just do it. Here’s a page I’ve painted waiting for a poem.

Pass the scissors
then the glue;
I am pasting poems
in a book.

Make a mess
filling the pages
with happy words.

Anyone can make a book.
Let’s make a book today!

National Poetry Month is at the end. I thought it would never come. Writing a poem a day has been a challenge. I celebrate all the poets out there writing daily and inspiring me and my students to do the same.

I celebrate Irene Latham who blogs here. She generously Skyped with my students on Poem in your Pocket Day. She listened patiently while they shared their own poems and responded with nothing but kindness. She even answered a question about whether or not she felt haunted. (Kids say the darnedest things.) But Irene handled it like a champ. She told my students that she likes to visit graveyards and feel the presence of people who have gone before.

Irene offered excellent advice about finding new words; brainstorm a list of words about your topic. Then mark them all out and start again. This forces you to find new and unusual words.

I also want to thank Laura Purdie Salas whose putrid poetry gave my students permission to write about poop and other yucky stuff.

And what would NPM be without Amy Ludwig VanDerwater? She wondered with us all month long and inspired my students to write about their world.

Thank you to all my readers who stuck with me each day as I attempted to entertain the poetic muse. Here’s to another wonderful National Poetry Month. Do not be mistaken, though. Poetry is made for every day!

Donna has the final line to the Progressive Poem and it is just right!

Posted in Poetry, Writing | Tagged #NPM16, altered books, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, Irene Latham, Laura Purdie Salas, Progressive poem | 17 Comments »

NPM16 #29: Words

April 29, 2016 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday round-up at Buffy’s Blog.

Where do you find words? I am always in search of the right words, whether I am writing a poem or a blog post or a Facebook message. The right words in the right order.

As I sat next to Vannisa while she revised a poem to enter into a 4-H poetry contest, she and I stared at the screen. She was looking for the last stanza, the inner thinking, that punch of an ending. Where were the words she need?

I pulled out a precious Mary Oliver book from the shelf, A Thousand Mornings. Vanissa swept her hand over the cover. She knows it feels soft, like silk. I read aloud the last lines of some of Mary Oliver’s poems. I was teaching Vannisa how to “steal like an artist.”

This is the list we made:

earth-praise
temple
my heart
angels singing

I can’t share her final draft because we’ve sent it in. Maybe she will win. But we both won when we sat together with the master Mary Oliver and celebrated the right words.

As I continue to write a poem a day (Just one more day, folks!), I decided to use these stolen words in a poem of my own.

Melody

The male cardinal
wakes us every morning
with his earth-praise–
monotone,
happy tone
morning music making.

I nudge the cat
to move off my foot
stretch out of bed
while you stay, softly snoring.

Coffee brews.
The day wakes.
My body is still tired.

But this cardinal
is determined in his glory-making.
He persists
until I turn and see
angels

singing along
in his tree-temple
making melody
of the morning.

–Margaret Simon

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing | Tagged #imagepoems, Mary Oliver, nature poem, Rumi, steal like an artist, word groups | 11 Comments »

NPM16 #28: Dragonfly Eyes

April 28, 2016 by margaretsmn

dragonfly eyes by Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Rest your agile flight
on a sunbeam, look about

with dragonfly eyes.

While I was attempting to get a photo of bees that are extremely active in a flowering tree, this dragonfly lit upon an African iris. I had the telephoto lens on. I was so excited that I captured such an amazing close-up. So clear I could see the eyes of the dragonfly.

Posted in Photography, Poetry | Tagged dragonfly, haiku, nature poem | 9 Comments »

NPM16 #27: Help Needed

April 27, 2016 by margaretsmn

Most every Tuesday, I wake early to serve at Solomon House, a mission of my church and a food bank. My self-appointed job is to find the clients’ names on a printed spreadsheet, check their IDs, and have them sign. During this process, I say good morning, how are you today, and have a great day. And most times they say these same greetings to me. I feel blessed by their presence, their love, and this small way to be a blessing to someone else.

There are places where
buttercups bloom
unattended
no one cares
or notices.

They bloom anyway.

There are people
nobody sees
walking alone on the street
clothes in need of cleaning
backs aching from failure.

The news speaks for itself
but I can help.

My hands are warm and kind;
they reach for you.

My mind is clear and focused;
I think of you.

My shoulder is light and flexible;
I can carry your burden.

I see buttercups.

I see you.

–Margaret Simon

Posted in Poetry, Solomon House, Writing | Tagged #imagepoems, #NPM16, Poem a Day | 4 Comments »

NPM16: #26 Oneness

April 26, 2016 by margaretsmn

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

Here I am again at this blank page. I click to “add media,” setting the stage for yet another poem.

I find myself looking all day long for inspiration. Will it come in the opening of a flower? The words of a child? Advice from a friend? The pages of a book?

I look and look.

Sometimes I open this page afraid that nothing will happen.

But something always does. Because when you show up to the page, magic happens.

A video posted by “Access Oneness” and shared by two Facebook friends intrigued me. The inscription read, “So, you lose balance and you fall … but, what do you do next? Stop? Or go on? Make art out of falling …”

Go to this link to view the video.

I was caught off-guard, unbalanced, not knowing what to feel except inspired, exhilarated.

The words flowed.

In the purple forest
one can climb
stand
slip
fall
rise again
All in the moment
of stillness
above the water
A choice
to fall
and fail,
or balance
and dance–
A chance
to fly.

–Margaret Simon

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged #NPM16, Access Oneness video, Poem a Day | 13 Comments »

NPM16: #25 Ode to April

April 25, 2016 by margaretsmn

Magnolia

Heading outside for some well-needed Vitamin N; Kim Douillard posted about this necessary vitamin here, and invited us to post photos from our outings. So this post with be a photo ode as well as a poetic one.

To the tune of the lawnmower
and the cardinal at the birdbath,
April harmonizes
and paints the air
with buzzing bees
and wispy contrails.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow flowers

April celebrates Cathy’s birthday;
She shows me how to
stop and smell the flowers.
She names them for me:
“Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
is deep purple yesterday,
violet today,
and white tomorrow.”

pineapple guava

April holds a pineapple guava
ripe with red nectar
while the cashmere bouquet
hides its treasure
beneath wing-like leaves.

cashmere bouquet

April rains make a gentle waterfall
of a mere coulee, a watering hole
for passing dogs in the park.

April is as I imagine heaven,
bright with new light,
flowing on the breeze
a kite with strings
made of flowers.

Posted in Photography, Poetry | Tagged Kim Douillard, nature poem, odes | 3 Comments »

NPM16 #24: DigiLit Sunday: Form

April 24, 2016 by margaretsmn

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

In the past several years for National Poetry Month, I focused my teaching on different forms of poetry. We would learn about a new form every day, usually following the alphabet. This method gave me a structure to teach within. I learned forms, too, that I hadn’t tried. Some students would try to predict which form we would learn each day.

I still remember the day I got out of the way, and my students created an amazing kyrielle about kindness following the Sandy Hook shootings. Form can be a puzzle that leads to deep thinking, problem solving, and creativity.

This year, however, I made a decision to use prompts and free choice for writing poems. Forms were optional.

What emerged was fascinating. Each student found a form on their own. And forms spread from student to student. The use of form was like a magnet drawing them in.

Tobie became interested in writing list poems. He read The Popcorn Astronauts and created three different list poems. He found it fun and easy. This is my favorite:

In my Room

I cleaned my room
and what I soon discovered
was enough to make you sick

1 rat family

2 family portraits

3 plastic limbs

4 bowls of ice cream

5 pairs of dirty socks

6 ounces of dirt

7 tiger cubs

8 bags of sunflower seeds

9 sticky lollipops

10 rotten oranges

11 empty soda cans

12-year-old candy canes

13 baby teeth

14 overdue assignments

And a 15-foot-pile of garbage

–Tobie

I find myself being drawn to form as well. I am writing a verse novel, and while most of the verses are free verse, when I am stuck for how to approach a scene, form is a go-to that helps get me through. I was struggling with how to write about my MC’s aunt in a way that would be endearing but also show her quirkiness. After a few tries, I turned to the Ode. Here is a preview from “Hope is our Song.”

Ode to Aunt Dotty

Dearest Aunt Dotty, Mom’s older sister
smells of Jungle Gardenia perfume.
A zest for life
and Never met a stranger
are mottos of my favorite aunt.

Aunt Dotty hugs you like a downy pillow
holding on far too long.
Mom calls her a motormouth.
She talks nonstop.
How does she know just what to say?

Without skipping a beat, Aunt Dotty will pass
you the ketchup before you ask.
With the best of intentions, she crocheted
A prayer shawl, for your sweet friend Simone
To soften her suffering.

The shawl’s as ugly as an old dog’s fur,
with colors found only in mud,
but Aunt Dotty’s gardenia
lingers on each stitch,
so love is the message she gives.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Form can be a savior of sorts, a path to finding the words you want to say in the best way you can. Rather than stifling creativity, form can actually free the writer. Finding the right form is like finding the right book; each student will find his/her way with the form that is just right.

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Posted in Writing | 5 Comments »

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