BELONGING - Oxford defines belonging as an affinity for a place or situation. Webster says it means a possession or a close or intimate relationship. I’ve been reflecting on what it means to belong this week. I am getting older. I could and have said this at any age, but now approaching sixty-five, now it is a very true statement. I feel it, especially with the holidays upon us and my family members quarantined and scattered across the country. Actually, I have yearned to belong since I was quite young. It’s a human thing. We all need connection.
Category: Poetry
Magic & Imagination in a Box
Magic & Imagination in a Box - A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues showed me the great gallery of objects her 4th grade students had created. I decided the 4th graders each needed a box of objects with which to create - fidgetneering boxes.
Signs of Fall – Listen, Look
I turn to nature for solace, observing the season’s steady change: her flamboyant turn from green to scarlet to amber to tangerine, and the final turn to gray and rusted brown. I seek beauty in the decay.
Add. Change. Remove.
Add. Change. Remove. This is a strategy we use in our 2nd grade writing workshop to explain the revision process. In the lesson, which I think originally was an idea from a Six Traits lesson, the students create with Play-Doh and then at various intervals are asked to add something to their creation.
Writing Community
I have seen myself as a writer ever since I could hold a crayon. I drew and wrote letters, telling stories to anyone who happened by. Usually, that person was my mother. She was a teacher and always encouraged me. She’d look at my scribbles and pictures and ask me to tell her about them. … Continue reading Writing Community
Song of the Sky: Some Thoughts on Clouds
Songs of the Sky: Looking out towards the horizon, the sky and sea seemed infinite. Maybe that’s what intrigued Alfred Stieglitz about clouds: their ever-changing shape above Lake George and reflected on its surface. For over a decade Stieglitz photographed clouds. He first called his cloud work, Songs of the Sky, after the music he could surely hear as they drifted.
Some Thoughts on Geese
When I was young, Canada geese were a rare occurrence, but now they are common and are usually viewed and an annoyance. A whole industry has been created to get rid of them: Birds Beware, Bird B Gone, Goosinator, and GooseBuster - to name a few. But I think geese are beautiful, graceful, and devoted friends.
Finding Paris
I’ve been missing that sense of adventure this summer, and so I’ve found that I have been traveling in my mind through reading books. For the past several weeks, I’ve been in Paris by way of Hemingway.
How Does Your Zen Garden Grow?
As I look towards the end of August, cognizant that my new school year is on the horizon whether it is virtual or in-person, I am committed to keep cultivating my own garden. By this I mean I want to keep in the forefront of my mind, my health, my writing, my artistic expression, and my connection to friends and family. It has not always been easy for me to have clear boundaries between work and my personal life. For decades, I put my work before everything else. Oh sure, I talked about balance, but I really didn’t know how to achieve it. How do I juggle a great jumble of responsibilities? How do I prioritize? What do I need to do to be successful? I struggled and struggled with these questions.
Listen to Their Songs
As we drift into August, I am beginning to get weary of learning. I desperately need a respite before the tsunami of teaching in a pandemic begins to swell again. This latest webinar feature A.J. Juliani as the keynote. I have heard this dynamic speaker before, and I was eager to hear what he had to say. What I didn’t expect was his final words of encouragement to teachers in the form of a video from Clint Pulver, a motivational speaker. Clint is an author, musician, and employment retention expert. He helps companies and organizations retain, engage, and inspire their workers. Clint believes that a single moment is transformative, and he demonstrates this in a video about his school experience about his interactions with his teacher Mr. Jensen.
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 