Poem for My New Granddaughter

Slice of Life Tuesday, August 9, 2011

To Imogene-My New Granddaughter

When I wrote THE BABY’S COMING!

I didn’t expect after your arrival

to have my breath shortened,

to need that quick intake of oxygen

meant to overcome my surprise-

my surprise-

at your perfection.

Your head-smooth roundness-

nestles in my hand,

as my fingers gentle your cheek,

so soft I finally comprehend

the meaning of gossamer.

At only these few hours old

you open your eyes

and search my face,

begin to memorize your world.

You wait to be shaped.

I see your questions,

your desire to be protected,

the wish to be loved.

A small cry turns the calm

into need.

You nuzzle for your mother.

I give you over to her,

glad to have held

a bit of perfection

for that moment.

Switching Writing Identities

Monday, August 8, 2022


     I've been writing in a variety of ways lately, and have also lately observed that it's a challenge to keep all the parts separate, to keep all the balls up in the air in the balanced way I would like.  I'm creating a literacy newsletter for my school, writing for my blog almost every day, and recently working on WFMAD, Laurie Halse Anderson's August writing challenge.  I need different resources for each kind of writing, different ways of thinking at the task, and sometimes even different places to write so I can feel productive.  It makes me wonder how I'd like teachers to think about this as they work with students in all the various writing genres.  What conversations can this lead to?  As teachers, should we set up the writing places first, but discuss the importance of finding places that are ideal for the different kinds of writing?  Helping student awareness that writers think about this part of the writing process might be very helpful in the classroom.  

Examining Reading Habits - Great Conversations

August 5, 2011

This is sometimes what I feel my TBR list looks like!

 My Reading Habits – Wondering What Students Do, Too?

Sometime early in the year, I’ve always liked to have students write about their reading habits, what they’re currently reading, what kinds of things they read besides books, what they love and what they don’t.  I usually write too, to let students know how diverse reading habits can be.  Those who are avid readers will see that I’m usually reading several books at a time, as they do, and those who are less enthusiastic will see that reading behavior doesn’t just mean books. 

Here’s a sample of my reading during a regular day:

o   The local newspaper.  I read the front-page articles, and if especially interested, finish them when they move to the inner pages.  I check the baseball stats for the Rockies, I read certain columns in the local news section and the funnies and my horoscope.  This is wake up reading, starting the day with words, coffee, yogurt and cereal.

o   Several times a day, I read blogs from my online reader, and then turn to the e-mail.  On e-mail, I receive newsletters from Choice Literacy and NCTE, which I skim, and save for the future if some of what is shared looks like I’ll want to look again.

o   For writing inspiration, I am currently reading from Roger Rosenblatt’s Unless It Moves The Human Heart.

o   For non-fiction, which I read a bit at a time, I’m reading The Food of a Younger Land:  The WPA’s Portrait of Food in Pre-World War II American, by Mark Kurlansky.

o   For teaching, I am re-reading Becoming A Literacy Leader by Jennifer Allen, and articles I’ve downloaded like the recent tips that Two Writing Teachers shared on Facebook, the Stenhouse Blogstitute articles, and some from Education Week.  I also read the NCTE journal, In The Middle.

o   For pleasure, and lately for teaching, I’m reading Cynthia Voigt’s latest novel, Young Fredle.  Our school librarian and I are planning to hold weekly book groups through the holidays called ‘looking for Newbery’, so she and I are reading the books that are creating Newbery talk for the coming award.  And, I read magazines like Orion, High Country News, The Smithsonian, Sunset, and a local one titled 5280. 

That’s it, mostly.  You who are readers know that readers will pick up anything to read just a bit, to see what it’s like, or to skim something interesting.  When I share some or all of this with students, they begin to examine their days, and realize that they’re really reading more than they think.  I didn’t add texts, but they will, along with Facebook.  After discussions about what we read, the next step is how do we read each kind of print?  And then, sometimes questions come about how fast, which mean ‘how much to skim and when’?  And, where is the most productive place for focused reading? 

Making a list of what is currently being read supports great conversation, which leads to other conversations, some lessons in different approaches to different kinds of reading, and recommendations by peers.  Reading, critical to all learning, is one of the topics that can’t be ignored just because students appear to read well.  There’s a depth and a breadth of individual learning to consider. 

Fight For All Women

Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011

I listen to the stories on National Public Radio on my way to work.  I come from a family of strong courageous women, blessed by a grandmother who fought for equal rights for both women and people of color in her little town, long before laws were passed in the US.  She served as a city leader, led the charge to integrate the schools, and fought for good education for all children, poor and rich alike.  In a time when many children in her school came from poor rural homes, often without running water, she felt they needed to be taught, not just ignored because their clothes were dirty and torn, or their bodies smelled.  At times other teachers did not even wish to give them textbooks, thinking it was just a waste of time and money.  But my grandmother spent time both in class and after school, tutoring, advising, and giving recommendations for jobs and help with class assignments.  She used her own money for textbooks.   She deplored discrimination for any reason.

I come from that background, of respect for others, greeting politely, giving my time and energy to make the world in which I live a happy place for all.  So-when I heard a recent story from NPR, concerning a high number of suicides among Afghan women, I felt both thankful for my life in the United States, yet saddened that women today in many parts of the world still are second-class citizens.  Here’s what I heard at the beginning of the story: Seeking to escape cultural oppression and economic hardship, an alarming number of Afghan women are taking their own lives. The trend has prompted a bill aimed at ending such practices as forced marriages. The story continued to explain that because the lives of women, especially in rural areas, and especially for young women forced into arranged marriages at twelve and younger, the belief is that often the only choice in their lives is to end them.  The law referred to is promised by Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, but some say that it will be a law defied by many because of cultural traditions that ignore the laws of Islam protecting women. 

So, what can I do to help-thousands of miles from Afghanistan, here in the safety of my own life?  I can start with home; move out into the circle of my life, which includes young adult women and men.  I can research the issues of dating violence here in the United States, and support those I come into contact with by teaching self-respect, the first defense against violence. 

According to About.com: One in 10 teen girls and one in 11 teen boys admits to having experienced physical violence in a dating relationship in the past year. One in three teens stay they know someone who has been physically assaulted or hurt by a dating partner.  Because I teach in a school that prides itself in asking for respect between all persons at the school, this seems outrageous.  Yet, even here I have experienced opinions that appear to think that some violence is simply kids working things out, learning that they must be tougher in order to ‘win’.  Even with teachers who are asking that children respect differences, some students still name-call, are reluctant to be friends with those that are deemed, ‘not so popular’.  

It’s time for me to learn more, do more, and fight for the behavior I know to be right.  I look to those who have acted before me, my grandmother, too, as models.  For example, there are 83 million mothers - single, married and otherwise - who make big and small sacrifices to give their children every opportunity to succeed.  I look at them, and others, to follow.

Gifts Come In Unlikely Places

August 3,  2011


      We took our two year old granddaughter back home yesterday after keeping her while her baby sister was born, spent a little time with the new baby and parents, and traveled back home.  It was quiet in the car, no toddler singing little songs, or saying "Gramma, look there!"  As we left their house it had started raining, and a wonderful cooling of the day arrived.  Of course I had my camera because of the visit, lucky me.  On our way home, we marveled at the rain, turned a corner and there was a double rainbow!  It was like a reminder of our gift of a new grandchild, a reminder to give thanks for our blessings.   I did, then took the picture!