One Little Word | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘One Little Word’

One Little Word 2017

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged One Little Word, Peace poem on January 3, 2017| 28 Comments »

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

Out of your whole life give but a moment!

All of your life that has gone before,

All to come after it,—so you ignore,

So you make perfect the present

from Now by Robert Browning.

My friend, Julieanne, sent me the above poem. She said it made her think of me. My One Little Word for 2016 was Present. She knew I didn’t want to leave this word behind. Being present served me well this year, especially when I was laid up by an injury. Present was perfect for a trip to Africa in July and for enjoying every moment of my daughter’s wedding in October. I have loved my daily walks because of presence. And the word turned up again and again in my daily messages from the Enneagram Institute. I needed the word. I needed the feeling. I needed the attitude.

I’ve struggled for days over what my new word should be. I read other friends’ posts and found their words fit them just right. Ruth is being steadfast. Tara wants to believe in herself and in hope. Kimberley is releasing to try to be more open and less controlling. Melanie chose brave. I think she’s already brave, but it helps to choose a word that you want to embrace.

Where was my word hiding?

I wrote a poem in my journal about Peace. Peace is a beautiful word; peace is something I can recognize, but I can’t control it.

Peace–happy ending of a Hallmark movie.

Peace– origami cranes on an evergreen tree.

Peace– wood crackling on an open fire.

Peace– breathing new air.

Peace– making perfect the present.

I made a list of possible words:

Treasure
Create
Intent
Brave
Inspire
Grace
Renew
Goodwill

All good words, but each word made some requirement of me that I was not ready to take on. Can’t I just be present again?

Then I began looking more closely at treasure. The definition included a synonym that felt right, fit right, is right!

Cherish is the fruit of the tree of Presence.

Cherish embraces me in love.

Cherish fills me with hope.

Cherish 2017, here we go!

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Spiritual Thursday: My 2016 Little Word

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged #haikuforhealing, One Little Word, Presence on December 15, 2016| 6 Comments »

Link ups at Irene Latham’s site, Live your Poem

Being a part of an online blogging community keeps me writing and thinking and reflecting. Irene Latham asked our Spiritual Journey Thursday group to write a reflection about our One Little Words for 2016. So here I am… Present.

My OLW for 2016 was Presence. This word mantra has helped me in many ways this year. When I’ve been worried, I turned to presence. When I’ve been celebrating, I turned to presence. Being with whatever is happening in the moment is a valuable skill, and I am so glad I chose presence this year. The year I spent two weeks in Africa. The year my middle daughter got married. These experiences still live in my heart because I was fully present to them.

But everyday, I have to call myself back to presence. I take walks alone, valuing time to see things in my world, to focus on the gift of nature. Sometimes while walking I’ll take out my phone to send a message to someone who has come to mind, or to type a poem or an idea for one, or to take a picture to capture a moment.

Practicing presence fits my personality, too. I am one of those people who is always on the look out for ways to help others. While some may think this is a positive trait, it can also lead to burn-out and low self-esteem. By being present, I take care of myself. And by taking care of myself, I am better equipped to help others.

I haven’t started thinking about my word for 2017. I’m not ready to let this one go. I don’t have to, of course. I can build on Presence along with Reach of 2015 and Open of 2014. I enjoy words and playing with words, so this tradition of finding one little word to guide my year is fun and inspiring. I think deeply about what I really want and the possibilities that are open to me.

Thanks, Irene, for calling me to be reflective about my one little word.

Haiku-a-day #15

Be present today
open to whatever door
Turn the knob, enter

–Margaret Simon

From Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation

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Spiritual Thursday: Mindfulness

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged mindfulness, One Little Word, Spiritual poetry on February 25, 2016| 10 Comments »

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

For Spiritual Thursday, we are writing about each other’s One Little Word for 2016. Today we are exploring Violet Nesdoly’s word, Mindfulness.

Mindfulness

My mind is full
like the bayou after a long rain
that today blows wild
waves, cold and moving.

My mind wants to rest
like the dog at my side
snoring softly,
warm and content.

My mind seeks to understand
like that student who questions
and questions, driving me
to stop and think.

My mind is aware
of light coming through the window,
a spotlight on my hands,
open and close.

My mind turns to you
like the wind chimes chanting
Om mani padme hum
carries me across the rough water
to a place of peace.

Mindfulness, much like my own One Little Word present, means to “be still and know that I am God.” I sing this mantra over and over, making my mind clear to notice the spirit within me, to notice that I am not alone, to notice my love is enough. Stillness leads me to understanding. Presence to mindfulness.

Morning birdbath by Margaret Simon

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DigiLit Sunday: One Little Word

Posted in Digital Learning, Teaching, Writing, tagged Canva, digital literacy, OLW, One Little Word on January 10, 2016| 10 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

In an attempt to get more participation in DigiLit Sunday, I tweeted out a topic this week, One Little Word. My students worked on their OLW projects the first few days of our return from break. I think this helped them focus and get excited about a new year.

As usual, I offered choices for their project. But for their blog posts, I had three requirements: an image, commentary, and poem. Many chose to write acrostic poems. Most of them chose to use Canva after I showed them how it worked.

Canva is a platform where you can create posters. We did not print the posters, but I uploaded them into their blog posts. Using thesaurus.com, they found synonyms for their words and in some cases, changed their word to one found in the search.

I have been thinking a lot about digital literacies, in particular visual literacies. How does the image convey meaning? I was careful to ask my students, “When you think of your word, what is the image you see?” For Jacob, his word Believe meant blue ocean water. For Madison, her word Effort was communicated by a rocket. Vannisa found a word that connected her interest in sleep (her passion project topic) and her zodiac sign (Pisces) by choosing Dream. She worked with the shape tools of Canva to create a cloud behind her word.

Kielan supported her choice of a star image (her word is Sparkle) with this piece of writing: “There are over a billion stars in the sky. Out of all those stars, there is one particular star that stands out from the rest. All those stars are one color, but this star is all colors. Blue, Red, Green, Purple, you name it. I want to be just like that star. I want to be bold, stand out, sparkle, and be like no other.”

Believe by Jacob

Dream by Vannisa

Effort by Madison

Link up your DigiLit Sunday posts. Topic for next week: Balance (of digital and nondigital)

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Poetry Friday: One Little Word

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Canva, One Little Word, student acrostic poetry on January 8, 2016| 11 Comments »

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)

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My One Little Word: Presence

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, tagged One Little Word on January 5, 2016| 20 Comments »

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.

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DigiLit Sunday: One Little Word for 2016

Posted in Digital Learning, tagged DigiLit Sunday, One Little Word on January 3, 2016| 10 Comments »

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!

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Gratitiude

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gifted Education, Gratitude, Writing, tagged art lessons, Kimberley Griffiths Little, One Little Word, teaching gifted on November 7, 2015| 7 Comments »

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

On this gloomy Saturday morning, I was drinking my coffee and reading blog posts. Each one added wisdom to my thinking. And I still wasn’t sure what to write today. One blog post suggested that I just open up the page and begin. Another suggested using the month of November to think about gratitude. So here I am, opening the window of a post and writing what I am grateful for this week.

New students: I was apprehensive, as always, to receive new students. This happens in my class around this time of year because the evaluators have finished testing young referrals. This week, I welcomed 4 new gifted students. These new kiddos are so excited to be in the gifted class that they are eager and ready. They love that we blog. They each wrote their first post. “And what? We can read whatever we want!” One new guy read 4 Seymour Simon books this week!

My other students have embraced the new ones, and, so far, so good, we are becoming a new community of learners.

Authors: I love authors, and meeting them face to face is such a thrill. Last weekend I attended the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge. Right before the tornado warning closed down the festival, I met Kimberley Griffiths Little. We had a great conversation. She signed a card for one of my students who loves her books. We talked about connections and writing and hugged as friends.

Student authors: Also at the Book Festival, I had the privilege of leading an awards ceremony for the winners of the Louisiana Letters about Literature and our state writing contest LA Writes! Seeing wide-eyed proud writers dressed in their best, listening to their little voices read their winning pieces, and sharing in the love of reading and writing filled me with joy and gratitude.

Jacob with his award

Two of my students placed first in their divisions, Vannisa and Jacob. Neither of them could attend the ceremony because of the weather, so I gave them their packets at school.

Art Lessons and Reaching: My One Little Word for this year is Reach. I’ve dabbled in art for years. When my mother gave me a nice check for my birthday, I decided to reach and commit to a series of art lessons. We meet once a week for an hour. (I always wish for more time.) At first I was very frustrated. I was not feeling successful. This was a huge learning curve as well as a good lesson for me as a teacher. Finally, after eight lessons, I received some wonderful feedback from my instructor. He said he sees a unique style emerging. Wow! That’s so cool! I celebrate Reaching and becoming the artist I want to be. As in writing, I am discovering you must practice, practice, practice to improve. There is No. Other. Way.

Blue heron

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Reaching

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Chalk-a-bration, Teaching, tagged Caroline Star Rose, One Little Word, rainbows, Reach on September 5, 2015| 9 Comments »

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

My one little word for 2015 is Reach. I was determined to reach with my writing. Take it to the next level. Well, this week came rejection. I hear from other authors that this is expected, normal, and we must power through, but it sent me into a slump. Because of Ruth’s invitation to celebrate each Saturday, I am climbing back up the tree and reaching out again.

I celebrate dancing! Friday night I’m tired, but I said yes to his invitation to go Cajun dancing. We only danced three songs, but we left smiling.

I celebrate rainbows. This week I’ve seen rainbows on two consecutive mornings on the way to school. One morning I pulled over and took pictures, the rainbow in the west, the glowing sun in the east.

Morning rainbow

Sunrise

I celebrate authors I admire. I received a signed copy of Over in the Wetlands, a beautiful book by Caroline Starr Rose about the place I live. She captured the magic of the wetlands, along with the fearful hurricane and the peace and rebirth that follows. She sent bookmarks and stickers for my students. I celebrate making connections with authors.

Over in the Wetlands by Caroline Starr Rose

In the midst of a rough week of state pretesting, I celebrate Chalkabration. We went outside in the South Louisiana heat and chalked up the sidewalks with poetry inspired by Laura Purdie Salas’s book Catch Your Breath: Writing Poignant Poetry.

Chalking poetry

This invitation to Celebrate each week helps me to see that there is much to rejoice. Rejection is small. Reaching is big. What are you celebrating today?

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Reaching for Creativity

Posted in Digital Learning, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged 21st Century Learning, acrostic poetry, Canva, One Little Word on January 6, 2015| 16 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Poetry forms the quality of light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change.
–Audre Lord

PHOSPHORESCENCE. Now there’s a word to lift your hat to… to find that phosphorescence, that light within, that’s the genius behind poetry.
― Emily Dickinson

My poetry light to my OLW:

Rise to the novelty
Eager for the rising
Arms stretched overhead
Calling for strength
Happy to hold the sunlight.

–Margaret Simon

If you missed DigiLit Sunday, I posted an Emaze presentation you can use with your students to make their own One Little Word resolutions. I presented this on Monday, and my students began working on their word webs and Canva designs. I wanted to share a few with you today.

Julie Johnson wrote about the importance of design. She wrote, “I think some would ask if it’s important to teach our students these skills when they are crafting digital compositions? I believe it is. Our students are composing and consuming texts very differently in today’s world. I believe it’s my responsibility as a teacher of writers to help my students be able to produce thoughtful quality products.” Full post here.

Thinking about Julie’s post, I talked to my students about design. “How can you use design of the image, the color, and the font to communicate what your word means to you?” In Kielan’s image above, she was very thoughtful about her design. She chose the word Merry. Many of the other students were thinking about “Merry Christmas,” so instead of changing her word, she used an image to describe what she meant by the word. She wants us to feel the calm, peaceful beauty of the word Merry.

I like the way Emily used synonyms for her word, Unique, to express her word.
Reed used a white board to share his word web around his word Light. I love how the design of the word web looks like a light.

When I was working with a first grader, I showed him how to use Thesaurus.com to make his word web. After we did this together, I realized how much this would help all of my students. So for my afternoon group, I suggested they try it. Put your word into the thesaurus and click. Find another word you like, click it, and so on, until a word web is built around a central word. This led some students to new words they could either select as their OLW or use in a poem. I look forward to seeing more student words. This activity not only gives students an opportunity to set goals and reflect on themselves, it also uses 21st Century Skills, the C’s of Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Communication. Feel free to use the Emaze to work with your own students on OLW.

http://app.emaze.com/@AOFLCWZL/one-little-word

To make your own images with Canva, click here.

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