Poetry Friday – Flying Reverso

Today is Poetry Friday, and our host is Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink. She has an invitation for us!

We hiked today around a lake under the flight path
Flights leaving Minneapolis airport

After reading Rose Cappelli’s Reverso poem last week about the love and hate of fall and Patricia Franz’s poem about two opinions of an empty nest, I thought I would give a reverso another try. They shared some good hints by Marilyn Singer. I borrowed phrases from Rose to help make the opposites, like “don’t think” and “I prefer.”

I did cheat with the YES and NO for the last words. I’m going to try this again!

Since we flew to my daughter and son-in-law’s town this week, I thought I’d use flying as my topic. I’m not opinionated either way on what kind of travel I prefer, but I know folks who really are! We are having a grand trip, so I won’t get to be online much this weekend.

Flying

Flying!
This form of travel for me!
Don’t think that I prefer
walking and biking and driving!
That is a no. How about more
flying, not
Anything else! Please!
Flying!!! Yes!

Flying?
Anything else! Please!
Flying! NOT!
That is a no! How about more
Walking and biking and driving!
Don’t think that I prefer
This form of travel for me–
Flying…? No!

Ready to board our Southwest flight to Minneapolis

Spiritual Journey Thursday – Nurturing our Summer Souls

From a beautiful walk around a remote lake in Oregon
Flowers in Oregon
That was amazing sea bass on the grill
Walking the dogs in Seattle.
The night before we went to the hospital for my daughter to have her baby.

Summer started and the next morn
my very first grandchild was born.
It’s my first summer after teaching retirement–
now Grammy-school is where my time is spent.
What a wondrous gift from God–
This new child has me awed.

Thank you, Carol, for hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday this month. 

Dodoitsu for “This Photo”

Today is the day Margaret Simon posts a photo each week for “This Photo Wants to Be a Poem.” Today, I also read Carol Varsalona’s Slice of Life post with flower wreaths and bringing nature inside. She wrote a dodoitsu on that post, as well. I read Donnetta Norris’s Poetry Friday post with two dodoitsu poems. I tried one here with this photo giving me the inspiration:

 

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I appreciate the beautiful photos Margaret shares–sometimes her own and something from friends with beautiful Instagram accounts to follow. I had never noticed elderflowers before, even though I grew up in southern California, where I read that they grow. Margaret’s poem taught about the medicinal value of the elderflower. I went to do a little more research on these beautiful flowers. I learned that Meghan and Harry had a lemon and elderflower wedding cake. I tried a dodoitsu, which is a four-line poem, no meter or rhyme constraints, with a syllable count of 7-7-7-5, and the poem can be about love or work with a comical twist. (Oops, I hope you don’t think my last line is funny.)

Elderflowers like snowflakes
What will each bud grow to be?
Spirits for a new pastry?
Stem to grace a grave?

Owning Our Learning

In a Slice of Life post by Carol Varsalona this week, I was inspired to ask again my essential question about education:

How can I empower students to own their own learning?

Carol called questions like this burning questions. This is a burning question in my professional life. I’ve been saying it and trying it since 2011, when I first learned about Alan November’s book called, Who Owns the Learning? I struggle in my current situation because teaching and learning are much more traditional and academic than what I’ve been used to. I sometimes feel I am going uphill in a rowboat.

I don’t ever want to give up, but sometimes I struggle passing the learning torch on to my students.

I am trying to help students own learning, but to tell the truth I’m a little discouraged now. Here, perhaps as a reminder to myself, are some things I’m attempting:

  1. Self-assessment checklists of learning
  2. Tests can be retaken after students master the material
  3. Student learning presentations to parents by students instead of parent teacher conferences
  4. Students have a safe place to own their strengths and weaknesses, where they don’t have to pretend to be something they aren’t
  5. Authentic audiences for student work–pen pals, a global audience through global projects, Twitter, and our class and individual blogs
  6. Less emphasis on grades
  7. Figuring out problems instead of easy answers
  8. Student classroom jobs
  9. Students believe: “All are students, all are learners”

I would appreciate any advice. What am I missing that I need to try or renew?

Here are a couple of images that inspired me today:

Never stop asking questions.

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Image by Bill Ferriter with CC BY 2..0 license.