bus-ku
great big yellow bus
new shoes bouncing kids drivers
joy tears school’s coming
—
‘you can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.’
-carol ann duffy
Sep15
Category Archives: school
Jun14
say anything.
“I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.” That’s Lloyd Dobler, played by John Cusack in Say Anything, explaining his future plans to his girlfriend’s father.
—
’tis the season of graduations, transitions and celebrations
when people
little and big
complete their
middle school, high school, college, post-grad
school years
they will be asked
many times
what do you want to do next?
most do not yet have an answer
or
will come up with
whatever comes to mind
they just need a minute
to take a breath
look back
at what they’ve done
enjoy the moment
exactly where they are
just a little bit longer
—
‘Say Anything,’ (1989) is my favorite teen rom-com-drama movie
the movie follows the romance between Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack), an average student, and Diane Court (Ione Skye), the class valedictorian, immediately after their graduation from high school.
in 2002, Entertainment Weekly named Say Anything the best modern romance film, and in 2012, ranked it number 11 on its list of the “50 Best High School Movies.”
—
credits: 20th Century Fox
Apr18
small cheer.
a pop-up restaurant appeared in the cozy corner of our classroom
everyone was welcome and helped in the restaurant after their meal
so many delicious foods
made with care
no one left hungry
people came and went and shared plates and talked and laughed
it was a feast for the senses.
—
“small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.”
-william shakespeare
Apr11
kinder-garden.
today the kinder saw the space where they will create their garden.
—
“why try to explain miracles to your children when you can have them plant a garden?”
-*janet kilburn phillips
*Janet is a gardener who found that she had to employ a growth mindset when she moved to the United States from England. She had previously been creating English cottage gardens but encountered challenges when she tried to grow them in a drastically different climate and in heavy clay soil. After experimenting with her gardens she created a CD called English Cottage Gardening — American Style. She adapted and persevered and found a new way to succeed at something that she loved.
Apr6
here we go!
“april hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”
-william shakespeare
Mar8
the final conference.
after many years
yesterday
was my very last experience
sitting at a table
sharing stories with families
listening to their stories
connecting over something unique and wonderful
their child
at parent teacher conferences
in priceless conversations.
—
“conversations are the most direct way to connect with people.”
-padgett powell, american novelist
Mar6
party babies.
when a baby goes rogue looking for cracker crumbs in our classroom
at a class shower for my teaching partner’s soon to arrive first baby
roaming baby’s mom said not to worry,
she is just building up her immunity.
clearly not her first child.
—
“babies are such a nice way to start people.”
― d
Jan24
reports.
—
spending the recent past writing report cards
for the kinder
always a fascinating trip down memory lane
seeing how far they’ve come already
an unlimited distance still to go
the good, the bad, and the unexplained
all the good hearts, dramas, tears, and laughs
each their very own person
learning as we go.
all of us.
—
*more of frank the puppy’s report card:
“We sent him there because he is truly the most energetic puppy I have ever met,” his mom told Newsweek. “Our older dog needed a break,” she joked.
When Frank came home with the report card, she was in stitches. “I thought it was hysterical when I saw it because I can only imagine that Frank is probably the class clown that’ll do anything for a laugh and that’s definitely his idea of the best time,” she said.
Described on the card as the “life of the party,” the report also says that Frank loved wrestling with his buddies.
“It makes my heart so happy to know that he has so many pals at preschool,” said Spahr. Working on etiquette skills in his preschool class, the report also told Frank’s owners that his best friends are Daisy, Cooper, Vader, Hudson, and even a dog named Angus Beef.
—
“my report card always said, ‘jim finishes first and then disrupts the other students.”
-jim carrey
—
credits: newsweek magazine uk, alice gibbs
Oct19
choose wisely.
no matter how tired you are
when coming into the faculty room
to grab a cup of coffee
at the start of another day
look closely at the flavorings offered
choose wisely.
what will it be today?
caramel? chocolate? or bleach water?
—
“once you make a choice, you have no choice.”
-anna chin-williams
—
photo credit: c. hull – thank you!
Sep9
i need to go now.
she remembered off and on
throughout the afternoon
why she needed to leave school and go home
she tried calling on the old wood phone
told us she did not need to be here
told us her mom misses her
gave us so many, many reasons
and finally
she came up with my favorite:
“i need to go home…….to fix my hair!”
well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?
of course you do
we reminded her that mom would be back pretty soon
and in the meantime
we marched around like big dinosaurs
laughing and playing
ate applesauce and ran around outside
on a cool almost fall day
hair flying in the wind.
—
“home is where somebody notices when you are no longer there.”
-aleksandar hemon, the lazarus project
