Poetry Friday - Inspiration

          At Imagine The Possibilities, Poetry Friday is with Rose Cappelli HERE, sharing a poetry springtime post. The three wonderful poems she shared might make you impatient! Thanks, Rose, for hosting! 

        I've spent a fair amount of time in both Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico. I've vacationed there, traveled with students there, and spent time at the Taos Pueblo. One visit in all those years, I discovered Nancy Wood, who wrote poetry and prose, married numerous times, and led an intriguing life in both New Mexico and Colorado, among other places. You can read her bio here if you are interested. 

        We are stretching toward April, poetry month, so I'd like to share one of Nancy's poems, one that is inspiring to me. I hope it will be for you, too!

The Old Man Born of Dreams

                                       by Nancy Wood

You must not be afraid to travel

       where there are no roads.

You must not give in to the darkness

       when there is no sign of light.

You must not be afraid to grow wings

       when you are tired of the ground.

        

                         read the rest here

This is a favorite book of mine by Nancy Wood, but there are numerous others you may enjoy!

Have a terrific weekend!

Non-Fiction Picture Books Share Inspiring Lives

Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  I always learn from these books, am happy that they are more and more available today for children, for everyone! This week, Alyson shares all some new award lists and events she's excited about at NCTE this week! 

Thanks to Charlesbridge for this copy!

Elizabeth Rusch tells the inspiring life story of Mario Molino, scientist, the person that is great to have on a "climate change" team.

         When Mario Molino was eight he was given a microscope for his birthday, thus beginning his journey of "what ifs?". His chemist aunt brought more tools for his "lab" and eventually he talked his parents into creating his own laboratory from an extra bathroom. Here's a picture of that "new" room, illustrated whimsically by Teresa Martinez as she shows Mario's swirls of lab equipment. 

         After earning his PhD and beginning work in the US, he continued his earlier questioning about the new "sprays" and their effects in the air. This led to a breakthrough of the deadly ways CFCs were changing the Ozone. He had a partner, F. Sherwood Rowland (Sherry) and they confirmed that the Ozone was being destroyed--by CFCs! Then came shouts from the detractors, of "A load of Rubbish", "It's a Science-Fiction Tale" and "Utter Nonsense". 

          "He never gave up." The text tells us that twenty-eight countries all over the world eventually agreed to stop making CFCs. Now, Nobel prize winner Mario Molino, has taken on a new challenge, to face the current crisis of global warming. As seen in his life's timeline at the back, he was part of the support to join other countries in the Paris Agreement, signed in 2016. Unfortunately, President Trump calls global warming a hoax and has made the US withdraw from that agreement. Teresa Martinez's illustrations set a tone through the books with lights and darks, offering cartoon-like pictures like the one above.

          In speaking before the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Molino says, "Climate change is perhaps the most worrisome global environmental problem confronting human society today." This is found in a fine epilogue, sharing all of Molino's amazing accomplishments. 

         In the backmatter, one can also find similarities between the research of "The Ozone Hole" and "Global Warming" in an easy to navigate graphic. Also included is a page of sources (Read More) and a short piece of actions ("Do More"). An author's note explains her research process.

         Most recently, courage and persistence are two traits that have been admired and written about in various ways. This book can be another to be placed on a list of picture book biographies that celebrate those traits. Also, in story fashion, the book offers an admirable role model for children, where those who are fascinated by something as Mario was with his microscope, can find their passions and be proud.

#SOL16 - 26-31 - Celebrating A Book That Inspired Me

I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community for Day Twenty-Six of Thirty-One of the Slice of Life Challenge in March.  Thank you Stacey, Tara, Anna, Betsy, Dana, Kathleen, Beth, and Deb.  

               And every Saturday I celebrate with Ruth Ayres at Discover Play Build.  and link with others who share their celebrations, too. I am grateful to Ruth for starting this meme that offers a place to share!

            I've not going to review a book today, that will happen on Monday, but I am celebrating a new book I just read that I'm going to use it as my own mentor text. I'll share the book later. Here is the celebration and slice I created that was inspired by the book. I have other ideas, but did just a little bit of how the book went. One of the ways I loved the book is it seemed like my own copy, published in a typewriter font, with beautiful illustrations. So that's what I did, typed, printed, then made a few sketches.  You may need to enlarge below in order to read easily.

Learning Important Things-not just about writing

           Time for the Tuesday Slice of Life Sharing at the Two Writing Teachers blog. Come over to read and enjoy everyone's post!

       I've already written two other times about my poetry retreat last week (last Friday & Saturday), & as you can see from the badge on the right, I've also been writing in an online poetry class in September. I'm trying to focus on several things I can share as takeaways for teaching writing (teaching writers) in the classroom. I've written about happiness in finding one's passion, gratitude for people who really listen, and in this final post, want to emphasize the importance of being surrounded by beauty. Here are some photos, and thoughts about connections to a classroom.

A special space in a classroom can mean much
to a student who needs to be alone to write.

                  Looking out a window for one beautiful thing
among the rest is something writers do.

13 of 31 Madness Poetry today!

 The March Slice of Life Challenge-hosted by Ruth and Stacey, 
at Two Writing Teachers #13 of 31

     Thanks for all the fun, Ruth and Stacey!

Tweet at #Slice2013

            Monday night we were sent our individual words for the March Madness 2013 Poetry Tournament.  Half the authletes got their words, and the other half got them Tuesday evening.  We each have a different word and will be writing a poem over the next 36 hours using that word.  The poems will be posted Wednesday for the first flight of poems (my flight) and Thursday for the second flight of poems..  Please visit and vote for your favorite poems.  Those I'm competing with are some awesome poets, and they include such good writers as Donna from Mainely Write.   I did this last year and had a wonderful time, but it's rather nerve-racking too.  

             I wanted to leave you with a quote about risk-taking, and there were so many I liked that I copied more than one.  It's almost the middle of the month and hopefully you are pleased about some risks, like taking this challenge, or in some of the things you've written.  I can always use some inspiration and thought I'd send some your way too!

Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase - that's what wild geese are for.  ~Author Unknown


To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily.  To not dare is to lose oneself.  ~Soren Kierkegaard

Gathering Inspiration for SOLC

               The Tuesday Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers, Stacey and Ruth every single Tuesday.  Join us, and get ready for the March Challenge—beginning this Friday!  Thanks for all the work, Stacy and Ruth, plus all the community of helpers!

If you're on twitter, tweet at #Slice2013!

          It’s a good time to share something that will be both helpful and inspirational for our coming challenge, to write every day for ALL of March. I have started a writing group at my school and there are eight of us.  We’ll meet once a month to share and give support to each other.  We have chosen a book about writing to read parts of each time, a part of building our community.  The book is The Muses Among Us-eloquent listening and other pleasures of the writer’s craft, by Kim Stafford, William Stafford’s son, now teaching at Lewis and Clark College. 

New Teachers Inspire

March 12, 2011 The 12th day of slice of life challenge - WOW!

Instead of being lazy on a Saturday morning, sipping my coffee while reading the paper & greeting a day full of hours to spend on my own pleasurable projects, I spent this morning doing mock interviews with prospective teachers. They have finished two-thirds of an alternative licensing program in which I participate as an advisor to a teacher & the intern assigned to him or her. This morning, along with all their own obligations, most in the program also gave up their Saturday mornings to practice one of the important aspects of job-hunting, the interview. Each one spent 20 minutes with me, answering my questions, then asking their own, & discussing what I know of the expectations of an interview from a school's point of view. We then reviewed their resumes, looking for ways to be noticed within the many resumes sent to schools, looking for ways to 'grab' someone's attention.

When I read that we are losing the best & the brightest of this new generation to other careers, I stew about the coming years in schools-public or private, worry about my grandchildren's education, & mull over the state of teaching as a career itself. This morning I had some of my concerns blown away.

The new teachers I spoke to inspired me. The things they said showed me that good hands are coming to take on the difficult tasks of education. These teachers clearly are already inspired to work hard to do well for their students, & as they are interns (read 'student teachers'), the inspiration comes as a shared responsibility. Their mentor teachers are the ones who are the teachers in charge; the interns have limited power in the groups. Even so, they still demonstrated care & concern for students, for the achievements they aided & for the relationships that were being made, even if only for a little while. I was impressed by their broad knowledge & ability to articulate some of the "why's" & "how's" of teaching lessons.

By the end of the morning, I was happy to have given up the Saturday leisure. It will be a memory to hold me when I read of all the controversies that are lately occurring in education. I will know a new force of educators is on the way, who will carry on the tasks of what is important - to teach children, to foster learning, to love the job no matter what.