handwritten on December 12, 2019
In the midst of the busy nature of the season, I have been hunting for a poem my class can read for fluency and analyze the final week before break, and I today finally came across one worth mentioning. Actually-it is simply beautiful because it gathers together the importance of simplicity but also this feeling of being surrounded by love and also appreciating the essence of life.
once a snowflake fellon my brow and i lovedit so much and i kissedit and it was happy and called its cousinsand brothers and a webof snow engulfed me theni reached to love them alland i squeezed them and they becamea spring rain and i stood perfectlystill and was a flower
Nikki Giovanni is such an impactful poet...
handwritten on December 11, 2019
I think a lot of the beauty we fail to notice begins with the starts and ends of things. Sometimes we become so caught up in the center of the sandwich that we tell ourselves that the beginning is in the past and therefore not important and the end is too far away and therefore not important. But just like a beautifully wrapped present, there is a beginning end of the ribbon and an end that both serve an important purpose.
I was contemplating beginnings and ends pretty seriously as I walked out into the cold evening tonight and for whatever reason decided to look up. And when I looked up at the parking lot lamp that was shining on the asphalt, I noticed a single white snowflake drifting...
handwritten on December 10, 2019
As I walked in afterschool today, I felt as if I was looking into a service-learning snow globe. Students were making holiday cards on one end of the room and packing toys on the other end to be donated to those in need. I heard laughter and saw kindness and patience, determination and wisdom, love and cooperation. And I began to think how much further we would be in education today if we just treated every lesson and every day in our classroom as a way to think about molding citizens and giving back to the community.
There are people who always say, "Students should learn about worksheets because they are required to follow directions and that is a life skill." But I argue that worksheets...
handwritten on December 9, 2019
I have this tiny postcard I carry around with me wherever I go. I believe my brother and his now wife gave it to me when they visited California, but I try to make it the mantra that I live by. The postcard is entitled "How to Build a Global Community." The one that I have found is most important in every group of students I have throughout the year is the final line which states: "Know that no one is silent though many are not heard."
With 25 children, it has been a challenge this year, but I have found that I have focused more on this last global community mark than any other year. Perhaps it is because I feel the need to have the students practice their conversational skills more....
handwritten on December 8, 2019
This morning we traveled as a group of four to go to the tiniest Christmas Tree farm and pick out our tree. From a distance, the selection looked pretty slim. However, as you began to walk closer towards the trees it was apparent that though many of the trees were tiny, they still were mighty. We found two perfect (in our eyes) trees that tickled our fancy and placed in the car to be brought safely home.
And as I'm writing to you and looking at our small little tree in the corner of the room, I am reminded that in every season of life, even if we sometimes feel as if we are the small light in the corner of the room-the light has the potential to be strong and to be mighty. One small strand...
