It's April. It's Poetry Month!
Remember to check out the list of what everyone is doing at Jama Rattigan's blog: Jama's Alphabet Soup.
And check on the Water Poem Project where every day, a poet is sharing a prompt connected to water, hosted and created by Laura Shovan! My own prompt is there today! Thanks for letting me join in, Laura!
Plus! Check each day for the added line to the Progressive Poem, created by Irene Latham, now hosted by Margaret Simon! The link is above and the graphic to the right!
A leap with the theme of CIRCLES for poetry month, poems & small sketches. I am looking forward to reading everyone's posts. I'm sure I will love each one, knowing they're done during a time we've not lived before. I am worried about so many, those close and those far, my community, too.Best wishes for continuing good health to you all!
April 1 - haiku
April 2 - cinquain
April 3 - a couplet
April 4 - limerick
This is not a complaint about teachers. I was a teacher and cannot imagine how hard their lives are right now, working hard for good content, to connect through a screen! The students are trying hard, too, but it is different at home and I thought perhaps a child, though loving his or her teacher, might have discovered something else that's more interesting. Missing his or her teacher, missing the class, but a new life at home means new things for a student's attention, thus my poem.
Also, the poem is longer and I felt I had to print it this time. If you can't read it, it's also below the photo.
April 5 - a kyrielle
I watch the teacher on the screen
who shares some ways of being green.
Perhaps in time, I’ll let her know
this path is not the way I’d go.
I love her smile and miss her hugs
but here at home, I have to shrug
because of other things to know.
This path is not the way I’d go
My TV tells of monkeys wild
playing like the littlest child
from treetops spying down below.
This path is not the way I’d go.
I’d travel south where howlers thrive.
I want to see how they survive.
I want to be part of that show.
This path is not the way I’d go.
I live your sketch, and I agree that students may find even more distractions at home. I think the best advice I heard (and repeat to my daughter) is have lots of grace for everyone all around. It’s new for most of us and we’re in it together. My heart goes out to teachers, students and parents. At least mine are adults and pretty self motivated
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kay. It has to be the biggest challenge for teachers. My granddaughters have only met once with their teachers, now starting some online learning next week. They are who I wondered about when I wrote this. They, with the help of their parents, have started their own kind of learning, so this will be still another change. Thanks for sharing your experience, too.
DeleteThis is such a clever poem. I am hopeful that students are discovering ways to be joyful in their home environment.
ReplyDeleteI expect they are, Margaret, & I also wonder if they have mixed feelings, wanting to "do" school, but finding other things that grab attention, too. It's hard! Thanks!
DeleteI so agree, this is not the way I'd go either! Luckily, we have quite a bit of leeway in my district. Thank you for introducing me to the kyrielle - or least I think it is new to me! I will be trying this form in the coming days.
ReplyDeleteThank you, too, Leigh Anne. I'm sure you can find the rules to it online. I'm glad you have some leeway in your lessons and know it can't be easy at all!
DeleteI really like this poem. I've thought about the children trying to learn their lessons on line. I know I've been having a hard time concentrating on my own work, so I imagine that they are, too. You capture that feeling very well! And I'm always happy to learn about new (to me) poetic forms. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOur lives have become so mixed up, Susan, and I am sad for students who, though with help, also have to figure things out. Thank you. Hope your week will hold some joy.
DeleteLinda, a kyrielle-how splendid. #RemoteLearning is happening to different degrees in different school district but I would think, children would rather be in the classroom with their teacher. My little Sierra tells me she misses school. Another friends said she thinks her students like seeing her on the screen-it's a novelty. The real problem is that not everyone is attending the remote learning sessions. Your poem describes thinking behind the "new normal" teaching.
ReplyDeleteYes, Carol, and every child meets this new experience as a unique person and from different circumstances. What a challenge for teachers. Thanks!
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