Reflections on the Teche

Poetry Friday: One Little Word

January 8, 2016 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday round-up with Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

This week my students and I wrote about our one little word choices. I encouraged them to select an image and create a Canva. I’ll write more about this process on DigiLit Sunday this weekend. Please consider joining the round-up. This week we are sharing about OLW in the classroom.

My newest student, a gifted first grader, wrote this profound poem about the idea of selecting a OLW.

A word is like a leaf,

So fragile,

Everyone chooses a word,

At the beginning of the year,

Little do they know,

Their word is a leaf.

–Lynzee, 1st grade

This student selected the word “Astonish” which is quite a big word for her age, but she wrote a personal acrostic that helped me understand her choice.

My OLW is Present. My student Vannisa helped me write this poem as I was showing how Canva works.

By Margaret Simon (with help from Vannisa)

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged Canva, One Little Word, student acrostic poetry | 11 Comments »

My One Little Word: Presence

January 5, 2016 by margaretsmn

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

photo by Margaret Gibson Simon enhanced on Picmonkey

As the old year came to a close and the new one began, I was thinking about my One Little Word, a single word to guide me through the year. I thought I had it: Inspire. This word appeared as my friend, Julianne, selected a word bracelet at a gathering at NCTE. I grabbed the word Peace, but I liked hers better. So I began thinking about how Inspire could be my OLW. I couldn’t help thinking I wasn’t entitled to this word. I kept wearing Peace on my arm.

The last few weeks, however, revealed Presence to me. I read Richard Rohr’s quote: “We cannot attain the presence of God because we’ re already in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness.”

I received a camera for Christmas. It calls me to be present, notice, see.

Fire by Margaret Gibson Simon

I slowed down and looked around. What is there but this very moment?

Living this word makes me a better friend, a better partner, a better teacher. When I am fully present, I listen and truly hear. I judge less. I don’t worry.

I sketched about Presence in my journal.

Than I made a drawing from my sketch. I shared this process with my students.

I took a picture at 5:00 PM on Monday. I’m not sure if I will keep this up. It’s an idea, but not a necessary goal for being present. I love how choosing this word, I am not obligating myself to anything but being… present.

Photo by Margaret Gibson Simon, 5 PM on Jan. 4, 2106.

Holly Mueller hosts a round-up on Thursdays called Spiritual Journey Thursdays. We will be writing about our own and other bloggers’ words. If you want to join, go to Holly’s blog here.

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth | Tagged One Little Word | 20 Comments »

DigiLit Sunday: One Little Word for 2016

January 3, 2016 by margaretsmn

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Sky sunburst by Margaret Gibson Simon

Happy 2016! I haven’t been diligent about DigiLit Sunday during the holiday, but Tara Smith has set a new resolution and this posting is a part of it. Thanks, Tara, for waking me up with your “Emazing” post about Ralph Fletcher’s book, Making Nonfiction from Scratch.

Many are thinking about resolutions and hopes and dreams for 2016. I am working on my One Little Word. I plan to ~~reveal it~~ commit to it on Tuesday’s Slice of Life post. Last year I introduced the concept of One Little Word to my students. I plan to do this again when we return to school tomorrow. I created an Emaze presentation using Tara’s chart and poetry from Mary Lee Hahn and Ramona Behnke. The lesson worked well. You may use this with your own classes to get them thinking about their OLWs.

Last year we used thesaurus.com to find a word cloud of related words. This was fun for the kids. The Tagxedo app, however, did not work well on our old PCs, so I will likely not try that again. I think I’ll give that task over to the kids and let them choose their own way of illustrating. When I don’t know what to do, I give it back to them. They usually figure it out better than I could have done alone.

Here’s the link to the Emaze: https://www.emaze.com/@AOFLCWZL/one-little-word

Here’s the link up if you are setting a new resolution to participate in this round up. Go for it!

Posted in Digital Learning | Tagged DigiLit Sunday, One Little Word | 10 Comments »

Celebrating Simple Joys

January 2, 2016 by margaretsmn

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

I had the privilege of being a round one judge for the CYBILS awards for poetry. Here is our list of finalists.

Sunset by Margaret Gibson Simon, all rights reserved.

For Christmas, I got a new digital camera, Sony a6000. This week while I was at New Castle Lake with my parents in Mississippi, I took this sunset picture. My plan for 2016 is to take more pictures and share them here. Images inspire me in many ways. Some, like this one, speak of quiet and being present with the light.

New Year’s Day with my husband was nothing special and everything special. He built a fire. It was a perfect fire-in-the-fireplace day, wet and cold. I put Pandora on the Roku (a gift from the children) and undecorated. Taking down the decorations can be a chore, but yesterday I actually enjoyed the process–wrapping each ornament in soft tissue paper worn with time and nesting the creche figures back into their boxes.

We cooked a meal together, black-eyed peas, cabbage, sweet potatoes, bread, and baked chicken. Sitting together at the kitchen table felt sacred to me. We rarely take this kind of time just to simply be with each other.

Then we went to see Star Wars! My heart was racing the whole time. As others have said, it is a must-see. Fond memories of the first Star Wars. Masterfully done.

My wish for 2016 for you and for me: An appreciation of the simple joys in life!

Posted in Books, Celebration Saturday | Tagged #celebratelu, CYBILS award, simple joys, Star Wars | 7 Comments »

Twelve Ways of Looking at a Year

January 1, 2016 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday round-up with Mary Lee at A Year of Reading.

The Time is Now: “Think back over the past year. What does the memory of each month feel like? What is its emotional tone, vibration, form? Write a poem in twelve parts that tries to capture each month’s abstract feeling in a single line or stanza. Like Wallace Stevens’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,”

I looked through Facebook and blog posts throughout the year to create this poem. It may mean nothing to you, but it was a meaningful exercise for me. I hope you will find peace and kindness in 2016.

12 Ways of Looking at 2015

January:

Sometimes on the bayou in January
light hides behind grey,
the owl hoots before sunset,
shadows disappear
and I watch
for a poem hiding there.

February:

Sounds abound, poetic listening
beads flying to the beat
of the djembe drum.

March:

Wonders lead us
to a masterful old oak
walking his roots
to hear his wisdom.

Watercolor painting of Mr. Al by Jerome Weber

April:

Are you an author,
a poet, an illustrator?
What are you doing in this place?
no faking it here.

May:

Packing up mugs, vases, photos,
stories, memories,
voices of many children,
the heart of one teacher.

June:

A walk in the woods,
I come across a doe,
eye to eye
we are mothers
holding in a moment
nature’s promise.

July:

Life changes in an instant
gun shots in a theater
lives lost, lives changed,
tragedy closes in on home.

August:

She must come, August
and paint me in the picture
of a daughter engaged to a boy.

September:

Miles and miles to go
driving to Chicago
bringing a sister home.

Illinois farmlands

October:

She makes the dust fly!
Eating gumbo with queens
is the way to conquer the world.

November:

Glow like the lemon in the sunlight.
Be the harvest.

December:

Magic tricks, magic windows,
magical gifts, magical white wigs,
the season of magic is here.

–Margaret Simon

Posted in Poetry Friday | 9 Comments »

Be Present

December 31, 2015 by margaretsmn

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

We cannot attain the presence of God because we’ re already in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness. Little do we realize that God ‘s love is maintaining us in existence with every breath we take. As we take another, it means that God is choosing us now and now and now. —Richard Rohr

An elderly couple came to the door and handed my father a pamphlet.

“Are you seeking the kingdom?”

My father replies, “You don’t have to seek it. I know where it is. Right here. Right now.”

“We are talking about the kingdom of GOD?” pressing the pamphlet forward into his hands.

“Yes, you don’t have to seek the kingdom. It’s here. You just need to pay attention.”

At those words, the evangelists turned and left.

Moments before this visit, Dad was reading W.H. Auden’s poem, For the Time Being. “And because of His visitation, we may no longer desire God as if he were lacking. Our redemption is no longer a question of pursuit, but of surrender to Him who is always and everywhere present.”

What makes the paper whites bloom
on this cold morning? Opening
up like lace droplets
on the dormant garden?

Who tells the white pelicans
to go to convention on the lake?
A gathering of pruning, splashing,
fishing. Awkward grace
in a cloud of white.

A poem will come if you let it.
Sit with His presence for a while.
Moment by moment, we are here
to praise.

–Margaret Gibson Simon

Photo by Margaret Simon, all rights reserved.

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged God's presence, Richard Rohr, Spiritual poetry, W.H. Auden, white pelicans | 4 Comments »

The Reach of 2015

December 29, 2015 by margaretsmn

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

My One Little Word for 2015 was Reach. To be honest, I haven’t thought much about this word lately. Why did I choose Reach? I began the year with the image of an oak tree with outstretched branches. I wanted to be like this oak, grounded in strong faith and reaching to new heights. How have I done that this year?

Yesterday I took a walk in my parents’ neighborhood. I have a new camera that I am playing with. I learned that you can’t take pictures of birds when you are walking. They flee. But the clouds. Oh, the clouds were amazing as the rainy heavy ones gave way to the light, the blue behind. I took many cloud pictures. (The one above I enhanced somewhat in Picmonkey.)

Where are those goals that I was reaching for? They are illusive as goals tend to be. I looked and noticed and was present to the moment of walking. I captured this image. This one is not altered.

Perhaps my reaching has become seeing, noticing, and being present to the given moment. If a star cannot be reached, it can be your guide. These last few days of 2015 seem to be pointing me beyond reaching, forward to a realization of who I am, right here, right now. That’s not such a bad place to be.

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Digital photography, OLW, Reach | 11 Comments »

Winter Poetry Exchange

December 25, 2015 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday round-up with Irene Latham at Live your Poem.

Merry Christmas Poetry Friday! My celebration began last night at our Christmas Eve service. St. Nick visits each year and tells a story to the children. He also leaves candy in their shoes that they left at the church door. Since it was 80 degrees yesterday, their little bare feet did not get cold.

On Christmas Eve Eve, our choir with some children tag alongs went caroling at two local assisted living facilities. We brought Santa along. I love this picture of Baby Jacques cuddling up to Santa.

Tabatha Yeatts gathers names and addresses to spark a poetry exchange. I received a lovely package from Linda Baie in cold Colorado. She sent a poet’s set from our own Robyn Hood Black’s Etsy shop.

Linda crafted a black-out poem especially for me and mounted it on a Christmas collage. It’s lovely.

passage home
round the lamp
beam each one in his own way,
making others idle
together
giving coats
strong enough
for bad weather.
lined on the inside with flannel,
every one did something
for the season

Friday, December 25th.
This day was Christmas;
all day long, and
a holiday dinner
Old Style celebrated
grand
drank, ate

finished all
another answered
very well
magnificent light
carrying us
fine day
sunshine.

–Linda Baie

May you and yours enjoy this day and always the blessings of Christmas Joy.

Posted in Poetry Friday | Tagged Christmas, Linda Baie, Poetry Exchange | 11 Comments »

I Want to be Light

December 24, 2015 by margaretsmn

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver; Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they

Source: Starlings in Winter, poem – Mary Oliver poems | Best Poems

We received some rough news this week. A diagnosis. A good friend. A young mother.

How do we handle this cancer nightsoil in the midst of Christmas carols and wrapping and baking. Where is the joy? I am struggling to find it.

I found it on Facebook, of all places, where her neighbor set up a Caring Bridges site. There’s a picture of over 50 people gathered in prayer. I texted, “I am overwhelmed by what you are doing.”

“It’s hard to accept the love that comes with such a crappy thing.”

So I will find joy in the love. Love of my family, my friends far and near, and of God’s word made flesh.

Watch the light of the full moon tonight, this Christmas Eve, hold your loved ones tight. Because this moment is all we have. Merry Christmas!

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged Christmas, Mary Oliver, spiritual journey | 4 Comments »

Slice of Christmas

December 22, 2015 by margaretsmn

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

Jesse Tree in our church

As I sit down finally to write my slice, I look outside. It’s dark, already! Today (Monday) is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. It feels like I snapped my fingers and the day was done. My list is long, and even though school is out, I don’t feel like there is enough time. This happens every Christmas. When will I learn to start early?

Pumpkin bread is filling my kitchen with the scent of something good. The Hallmark channel is on, and I am watching yet another holiday movie, a guilty pleasure. After two trips to the shipping place (they know me by name), I put the final packages in the mail. I finished the Christmas cards. And I replaced the burned-out string of lights on the stairway.

I am not telling you about losing my car in the Walmart parking lot… in the rain. I am not telling you about the failed gift to my students…plastic candy canes full of M&Ms = M&Ms on the floor. I am not telling you about burning my finger on the curling iron. Nope, not going to tell you about it.

I’m not telling you these things because they are minor and mean nothing. When the days shorten, and we are left alone looking out at the dark night, may we see the shooting star, make a wish, and let it go. Let it go! And Merry Christmas, everyone!