Reflections on the Teche

#SOL21: #7 A Great Day to Fly a Kite

March 7, 2021 by margaretsmn

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

Saturday the sun came out, the temperatures rose to a pleasant 60 degrees, and I was with my grandchildren. A happy place most of the time. There are those small moments when the bottle isn’t ready and Stella, 3 months, is hungry. And naptime when both Stella and Leo, 27 months, were crying. There is no such thing as a perfect child or a perfect day with them, but Saturday came pretty close.

After naps, I took Leo, dressed in his caterpillar Halloween costume, to the park to watch the kite flyers there. There was a “Hulk” kite tied to an electric pole. When the kite crash landed, I took the chance to share kite flying experience with Leo.

“Pick up the string”
I held the kite high.
“Hold it up high. Now let go”
The kite caught the March wind and up it went. Leo danced in a circle squealing with delight.

When I think about my play-day with Leo, I realize that he never played with a toy. His father was working on fixing up a small shed with peg board. Leo played with a drill, a pencil, and a screwdriver. He was building, too. At the park, he picked up a large branch and “raked” leaves. Who needs toys when the world outside is full of interesting sticks?

When the Very Hungry Caterpillar sat at the kitchen table to eat his dinner, I said goodbye.
“Bye, Mamere. Kiss.”

Kites, the wind, and that kiss will carry me through to next Saturday.

Leo, the caterpillar, sister Stella, and the fire-pit on a glorious March windy day.

Posted in Slice of Life | Tagged grandchildren, kite flying, March wind | 7 Comments »

#SOL21 #6 Failure

March 6, 2021 by margaretsmn

https://twowritingteachers.org/
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

As an adult I’ve learned that failure is a part of life. However, it’s not one we want to admit to. Failure feels uncomfortable. Failure feels unspeakable. Failure is fearful of what happens now.

This year of the Covid pandemic, there has been a great deal of failure. It’s hard to find the silver lining. I met with my last remote student yesterday and wanted to reach across the screen and cradle him. He feels like a failure. He will go back to in-person school on Monday because he couldn’t keep up with the work in the computer program he was given.

Our district has a virtual option for parents who did not want to send their children back to the buildings. The virtual option does not come with a teacher. As a gifted teacher, I was only responsible for IEP minutes, enrichment basically. I did not teach content to the virtual students. Their curriculum was through a program of videos and tasks. Virtual literally means “not real” and the program is not at all real. My student is not alone. Many students are not making it. Many are failing.

Our System has failed our Students. I do not know what this year will mean in the long run. What does the future hold? Where will we go from here? Education has failed. Our students are the victims.

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching | Tagged student failure | 14 Comments »

#SOL21: Day 5 Poetry Challenge

March 5, 2021 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is with Kat Apel down under with a new picture book.

In January I was looking for everything about Amanda Gorman, the inaugural poet and National Youth Poet Laureate, and I found a poetry prompt video from April, the beginning of the pandemic. The program was done by the 826 National Network called #agoodtimetowrite. Amanda called it a book scavenger hunt.

Book Scavenger Hunt with Amanda Gorman

It’s a quick writing prompt. Everyone usually has a book nearby to grab. Select 3 random pages and one word from each page. List those words, then write for 5 minutes. I’ve done it a few times, and the results can be really fun, so I challenged my Sunday night Swaggers to try it out.

This week was Read Across America Week which is still called Dr. Seuss Week at my school. Every day was a different dress up day. On Thursday, we dressed as our favorite characters. Lots of Cats-in-the-hat and Things 1 & 2. One of my students was Cindy Lou Who.

With this fun-filled week and words from a nearby book (LifeBoat by Susan Hood), I selected the words movie star, peaches, and tantalizing. This is my original draft:

Mouthwatering delight
the movie star of flavors–
pour Skittles into an open palm–
tantalizing
irresistible
like bacon in the frying pan
or syrup on pancakes
or melted chocolate
inside a s’mores,
peachy pink bubble
satisfied my sweet tooth,
gift from a girl
dressed like Cindy Lou Who
on the playground.
Margaret Simon, draft

See how my Poetry Swagger friends met the challenge:

Heidi Mordhorst
Catherine Flynn
Linda Mitchell
Molly Hogan

Cat in the Hat librarian Melissa Armentor and me, Teacher One on the playground.

If you would like to sign up to participate in the 2021 National Poetry Month Progressive Poem, go to this post.

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Amanda Gorman, Book Scavenger Hunt Poem, Read Across America Week | 23 Comments »

Progressive Poem Sign up 2021

March 5, 2021 by margaretsmn

Grab this free image for your blog post.

April will be here before we know it. Yippee! National Poetry Month and the Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem. Click here to see past poems. And here for the 2020 poem.

There are few rules. The poem will be passing from blog to blog with each poet-blogger adding a line. The poem is for children. Other than that, anything goes. Usually the poem takes on a life of its own, so don’t be intimidated to sign up. Just do it and wait for your turn. Then let the creative muse do what she must.

Copy and paste the poem up to your date and add your line. Simple. Some poets like to write about the process which is always interesting for the rest of us to read, but it isn’t necessary.

When you sign up, state which date you would like and leave an active link to your blog. After the list is complete, you can copy and paste the list to your own blog post. I like to put mine in the sidebar as well.

Please email me with any questions. (margaretsmn at gmail)

April 1 Kat Apel at Kat Whiskers
2 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
3 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
4 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
5 Irene Latham at Live your Poem
6 Jan Godown Annino at BookseedStudio
7 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
8 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
9 Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
10 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
11 Buffy Silverman
12 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
13 Jone Rush MacCulloch
14 Susan Bruck at Soul Blossom Living
15 Wendy Taleo at Tales in eLearning
16 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
17 Tricia Stohr Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
18 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
19 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
22 Ruth Hersey at There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town
23 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
24 Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference
25 Shari Daniels at Islands of my Soul
26 Tim Gels at Yet There is Method
27 Rebecca Newman
28 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
29 Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wondering
30 Michelle Kogan at More Art 4 All

Posted in Poetry | Tagged Progressive poem | 54 Comments »

#SOL21: Spiritual Thursday Silent Wind

March 4, 2021 by margaretsmn

2021 Grab this image for your blog post.

Today is day 4 of the Slice of Life Story Challenge and Spiritual Journey (first) Thursday.

A group of bloggers commit to writing a post on the first Thursday of the month around a topic. I am rounding up the posts today. (Place your link in the InLinkz at the end of this page.) The topic I chose was March Spirit Wind. The lioness of March winds roared through here on Monday bringing a new cold front. March weather is fickle. One day may be sunny and 70’s and the next rainy and 40’s. In this topsy turvy weather, I long to find quiet time.

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself
and know that everything in this life has a purpose.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Lately I have been using magazine collage to explore creativity. I am finding that it leads to inspiration for writing. The process of design, finding images I love, cutting, placing, gluing bring my mind to a place of rest where creativity can flow.

Linda Mitchell sent me some poem seeds that I carry with me in a ziplock bag along with pens, scissors, glue. I tossed out some seeds and this poem fell out.

Craft of Life, seed poem, notebook page 3/3/21

Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence.
Rachel Naomi Remen, gratefulness.org

I hope you can take some time to be quiet and let the Spirit Wind wash over you. Sacred moments can be found when we take time to rest and be open.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing | Tagged magazine collage, notebooks, spiritual journey | 11 Comments »

#SOL21: #3 This Photo wants to be a Poem

March 3, 2021 by margaretsmn

Each week I invite writers to join me in a quick write about a photograph. This is the first week of the Slice of Life Challenge, so if you are a slicer, I want to extend this inspiration/invitation to you, too. If this is something you’d like to do weekly, subscribe to my blog.

Here’s how it works. Use the image to inspire a small poem. Leave your poem in the comments. Respond to other writers with positive feedback. That’s it. Easy peasy. No pressure. We are just exercising our writing muscle. When I write this post, I participate in the same way. I never write a poem ahead of time. My poem is quick and drafty.

I took this week’s photo Saturday night as we were leaving a lovely outdoor dinner with friends. It was close to 10 PM, and I was struck by how much light the moon gave off.

On a clear night
you can see all the way
to the moon,
God’s streetlight.
Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life | 56 Comments »

#SOL21: #2 In the Natural Rhythm

March 2, 2021 by margaretsmn

I teach multiple grade levels, so in one given day I’ll read a social justice poem, an article about invertebrates, a picture book about water protectors, and student slices. But all reading roads lead to writing in one way, shape, or form. We write every day.

Today’s notebook collage is a sea of invertebrates, including a thesaurus page with the heading word specimen. But it was the words that led to my thoughts. We all have a story to tell. I may not have a story about significant environmental issues or roots in injustice, but it is a story, a history worth noting in a poem.

In the Natural Rhythm of Memory
While she may speak of rivers,
and he speaks for the trees, the poet
speaks for mollusks, snails, and anemones.
Who do I represent?
Neither drums of nature, nor blood
of brothers tell my story.
Not poor or tortured;
My river runs from Mississippi
to Texas, through veins of magnolias
and spray of Gulf waves–
my history is a southern drawl
spoken over the telephone,
sweet as maple syrup,
white as cornbread,
and golden as the morning sun.
Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing | Tagged #sol21, southerner, torn paper collage art | 14 Comments »

SOLC21: #1 It won’t be Perfect

March 1, 2021 by margaretsmn

A friend sent me an article suggestion from The Atlantic. “Ode to Low Expectations” by James Parker. Here’s a quote to start off my Slice of Life March Madness:

We’re half-finished down here, always building and collapsing, rigging up this and that, dropped hammers and flapping tarps everywhere. Revise your expectations downward. Extend forgiveness to your idiot self. Make it a practice. Come to rest in actuality.
James Parker, The Atlantic March 2021

I needed to read this before committing to a month long writing challenge. I need to lower my expectations and be myself on this page. Who else is any better or worse? Who else could I even try to be?

I’m testing my creativity every day. If I place my hands on the keys and get something written, then I’m ahead of the game. I’m just warning you, if you are a reader of my blog. Every day is a risk. Every day is scary. But I am here. Will you join me?

Posted in #sosmagic, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged #100DaysofNotebooking, #SOLC2021, #sosmagic | 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday: LamiPoFri

February 26, 2021 by margaretsmn

As I peer through bleary eyes at the end of a long week after a week off, I am remiss to find a proper poem to post, but Alas! Kat Apel has saved the day. She created a form just right for this occasion.

What is a lamipofri? It’s a poetry snapshot that’s quickly scribed, to give people an insight into the world around you at a given point in time – that point being the last minute as you’re scrambling for a Poetry Friday poem to post! Hence the name: LAst MInute of a POetry FRIday!
Kat Apel

A single moment
sky beckons
softness of a peach
A day begins
click,
capture,
send.

Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged Kat Apel, Lamipofri | 9 Comments »

This Photo Wants to be a Poem

February 25, 2021 by margaretsmn

Buffy Silverman is a children’s author-poet and a new friend because of an Artist’s Way group that meets each week. She lives near a lake in Michigan and finds her sacred space in the nature and quietude there. I reviewed her latest book On a Snow-Melting Day here. She’s currently offering a giveaway on Twitter.

It's a drip-droppy, slip-sloppy, snow-melting day! In honor of the season, I'm giving away a copy of ON A SNOW-MELTING DAY. Please follow and RT to enter – I’ll pick a winner on March 1st. #kidlit #STEMeducation #BookGiveaway @LernerBooks pic.twitter.com/yeMxvdxpwp
— Buffy Silverman (@BuffySilverman) February 23, 2021

I found Buffy’s image on Facebook. I was drawn to the composition within the bare tree branches. Please join me today by posting your own small poem in the comments. Encourage other writers in the comments.