Teacher Poems

Hi all,

I thought it would be fun to post the final assignment I had for my masters assessments course. The title of it is Red Flags be Gone, and it's about all of the things that teachers should watch out for when testing for student comprehension, reasoning, skill, etc...

Red Flags Be Gone

Be gone ye red flags
Ye villainous sins
Be gone with the tests
Whence not a soul wins

Give me more time
I cry
With tears in my eyes
I do not understand
Nor can I surmise
Why you
Oh red flag
Must assess me so
With so much yet to do
And little time yet to go

If you but gave me an hour

Maybe two more

I’d write this blasted essay

T’would go down in the lore

Be gone ye red flags
Ye beggards and hags
Nary a day has passed by
Sans tear in mine eye

I don't understand
I say
Why do you ask
Is it red or is it gray?
We learned about multiplication
So I plead red flag
Give some unification
Your objectives were clear
Yet this test does not match

Give me new questions

I beg you, stay true to the unit

And throw out this batch

Gods just do it

Be gone ye red flags

You blasphemous things

You’re taking my heart

And breaking my wings

Why do you have

to befuddle me so?

These questions are muddled

And my head sinking low

I think about why

If you would simply clarify

Whether I should answer yes or no

Or is this multiple choice?

I am simply bamboozled, a mess

If you de-cluttered your language

And underlined for stress

What you meant to be answered

T’would ease my distress

Be gone ye red flags

Ye detestable sight

Ye mar on my paper

Unseemly blight

This material we studied

T’was eons ago

Yet now we be testing

And I don’t really know

Why you muddled my head

With content a’twixt

And expect us to recall in spring

Our study in fall

Did I retain anything?

I ask you red flag, nay I implore

Timeliness is a virtue

Next to godliness I am sure

If you aim to assess my knowledge

Be formative instead

And then review the content

Before it leaves my head

Be gone ye red flags

I shan’t hold you dear

For your invalid measure

Has now power here

I surely comprehend

Why fairness is important

Yet testing us equally

Is simply exorbitant

I am not the same

As Billy or Jimmy or Sue

And if you give it some thought

You know it to be true

That my perspective

Pairs with comprehension

I demand you red flag

Remove your pretension

That out of twenty-three students

Not one of us may differ

In the way that we learn, and think and remember

Differentiation I do declare

Is the only way

To make this test truly fair

So while Billy gets read to

And Jimmy and Sue get more time

This test makes more sense to me

If it’s written in rhyme

Be gone ye red flags

I’ve said enough

You’re banished from my class

Though it may be tough

I’ve no room for you here

So leave, out the door

And be gone from all sight

You’re not welcome

Anymore

A Christmas monster under my bed!

by

Shaina Langley

Every night I go to bed. I brush my teeth and lay down my head. On my pillow I gently slumber, unafraid of the things that go BUMP!

     What was that? A noise sounded. Did you hear it? I’m pretty sure that there’s something under my bed.

     I wonder…

Is it big? Is it scary? Is it slimy? Is it hairy?

I promise I’m not afraid of the dark, but maybe, could it be a shark?

Oh no! I see an arm. It’s white and fluffy sound the alarm!

It’s making such a ruckus, what shall I do?

     Should I holler? 

     Should I cry?

    Should I kick it with a shoe?

I’m shaking in fright as I see a tuft

     of snowy white. My, oh my what a sight!

Its eyes are next. They’re big and brown.

But on his face instead of a frown.

 A smile is placed!

What am I coming down

     with a cold or a flu or a bit of a fever?

This monster’s not ugly. He’s as cute as a beaver!

He’s a big white ball of fluff, and funnily enough.

     Around his neck hangs a crazy tie.

It’s red and green with tassels at the ends.

He jumps out and says “AHA! Are you Adrian?”

I nod my head yes, too confused to say anything.

     I don’t know how to address this monster with tie red and green.

But the monster simply smiles and says, “Well that’s just grand! My name is Frostbite and I’m from Christmasland. Santa has tasked me with spreading Christmas cheer. As you well know, he’s pretty busy this time of year!"

“I’m Santa’s number one Monster in Charge.” He says as he holds up a badge with #1 letters

     LARGE.

“Usually you children are all fast asleep and I sprinkle you with snowflakes softer than a baby sheep. Then back under the bed I crawl, and onto the next house I go spreading joy to all.”

“But you Adrian, why you’re still awake! And, oh goodness, I’ve given you the shakes.”

“How can I make your Christmas filled with glee? Would you enjoy a bike, or toys, or a shopping spree?”

Frostbite is frowning, afraid that he’s ruined my holiday cheer.

     But I shake my head and smile. “Fear? What fear?”

“Look at you there, you’ve made my night! A monster under my bed, a jolly one too…

 No Frostbite, I’m not mad or sad, or afraid of you.”

“All I wanted for Christmas was to see a real live monster

      right in front of me!”

“So please crawl right back under my bed.

     And I’ll close my eyes, and lay down my head. “

“And dream of things creepy and crawly and slimy and hairy

     and one little monster…

Not quite so scary.”

The End

Some reflection on my education (Part 1)

Hey ya'll!

It's been...hmmmm forever since I've posted absolutely anything on the ol' blogosphere, but I thought it would be fun to share with you the reflections I've been required to do for my Masters in Teaching program. Feel free to peruse my old stuffs as well, circa 2011, but keep in mind that I may be changing the site a little and gearing it more towards all the teachery things that I love to do! <3 <3


Soooo here's the first reflection I'd like to post, and maybe I'll put in earlier ones maybe I won't... who knows? Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always <3 and lattes!

A reflection is an interesting thing. The ability to remember one’s experiences, hypothetically alter those experiences and/or reason through a solution, and then gain new knowledge all from experiences that only happened because we perceive they happened is absolutely, confoundedly incredible. If we didn’t have the gift of language, would we be able to remember experiences so vividly? Our knowledge is passed through stories, pictures, documented events, and now spread even more quickly through the use of social media and the age of technology. The sheer, unfathomable, amount of information that makes up all of our combined experiences creates a sense of wonderment and trepidation.  Information, understanding, reflection, new experiences, all come together to create a part of the human experience that (as far as we know right now) is uniquely ours.  So, what does this all mean?

Have you ever read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? In one of the chapters (spoiler alert) the main character finds the answer to the Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, yet, the answer makes absolutely no sense! The “answer” is only found by the main character in some happenstance game of Scrabble where he does not in fact ask any sort of question. It makes obvious sense that without a question for which to pose, the answer has no meaning right?

So what does this all lead up to? What is my “takeaway” or reflection for the week? Well, honestly, I feel that I am less so filled with new knowledge than brimming with burning questions, and, as of right now, my big daddy of them all is this:

Out of all of this information “stuff” that we (humans) have come to collect, how do we determine a) what is the most relevant, and b) how do we pass that knowledge on to other beings while understanding that their world experience will undoubtedly be entirely different from our own?

For teachers, this is our life source, our bread and butter. How do we teach students that already have all of the information, the ones who already know that the answer is 42? How do we know what questions are really those “essential questions” that Understanding by Design speaks to? As a student teacher, in the process of honing and fine-tuning my craft, how am I sure that I am not simply restating information students might already know? Am I being relevant? Am I truly understanding the big picture of what it means to learn?

The more I write, the more questions begin to spawn all over the page. I apologize, and will make an attempt at closing the open-ended hodgepodge of thoughts that make up my reflection for this week. I still need something to leave with, so I suppose I will leave with this. Our Masters program instills in us the fact that educators are lifelong learners, and, as a beginning educator/continuing learner how am I able to absorb the constructive feedback (information) from my mentors, teachers, advisors, etc. and use that information in a way that makes sense for my perceptions? In essence, how can I be given the answers, or feedback in this case, and then ask myself essential questions and perform the necessary actions in the classroom, in order to create for an effective learning experience for my students as well as myself?

Name of names

What’s in a name? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Well apparently at camp the answer is a resounding NO. Here at Togowoods, counselors have the privilege and honor of naming themselves. And while, some names might seem rather arbitrary or just plain silly, they in actuality, have a vast impact on the way the rest of your time at camp is spent, with the other counselors as well as with the campers. I’ve only been here for 3ish days and already have gone through about five different name changes, beginning even before my arrival at camp. Previous to AK, I was considering the name Tiger Princess, then it transitioned to my old Frisbee nickname FunSize, from there it went to Scrapper, back to my original nickname Shawesome, to, more recently, Dyno (it’s a move in rock climbing), to finally settling with Scrappy-D; for now that is.

My reasoning with this name is that I really want my friends here, as well as the campers, to know that, even though I may be little, I’m a fighter. Not in the traditional throwing bloody punches sense, but in the sense that I will fight as hard as possible to be the best I can be. I also wanted to mix the Dyno part in there, because the full term for Dyno means that you are performing a dynamic movement, and it is my hope that throughout camp, and life, that I will keep moving in a dynamic way no matter how much of a fight it may be. The direction doesn’t really matter right now as I’m trying to let life tell me where to go. To focus only the way I perceive myself, my actions, and how they affect those around me is my current goal.

On a less serious note, here are some of the names that other girls have chosen, or previous counselors have already picked out, that are either funny, quirky, or just plain awesome:

Sprint

Silver

Willow

Jump off Joe

and Pinto

That's all for now...love you lattes

Bad poetry makes me feel good

Listening to: The Girl from Ipemena

Currently drinking: Just drip :)

Sometimes I write terrible poetry.... and it makes me feel better, so here's a piece for ya'll

There is a meadow far below

Where the clouds roll as they roll as they roll

And who should ever seem to know

The weather which precedes the snow

The weather which will come and go

In the meadow far, far below

There sits a girl

With eyes, a doe

With flaxen hair and silver bow

She sits and stares as the clouds roll, as they roll

Down in the dewy drizzling drops

In the meadow far down below

She sings to me

Song soft and slow

With flaxen hair and silver bow

And timid smile I seem to know

Singing, growing colder as we go

As the song lilts and rolls as it rolls as it rolls

In the meadow so far below

Pregnant clouds laden with snow

Roll as they roll as they roll as they roll

Above the girl

With flaxen hair and silver bow

Who sang so sweetly

Song soft and slow

In the meadow, the meadow below

The drops of dew all seem to know

Of the clouds laden heavily with snow

And the girl with flaxen hair and silver bow

Clinging to closed lashes

Twinkling and saying

I told you so

Down in the meadow far below

53 Books

Listening to: Dream a Little Dream with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Currently drinking: A delicious cup of drip with creamer in it


I'm sure many of you remember the summer reading lists we all had to complete all through the k-12 school system, you know, the classic lit. books like: Hamlet, Heart of Darkness, Animal Farm, Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, etc... Well, as much as I hated them at the time, I seem to kind of miss having something to report back at the end of my vacation. So, I've decided to create my own little summer reading list, mostly sci-fi and fantasy, but possibly some actual literary works as well :)

As part of my goal, in so far, I am going to read 53 books (it's a special number to uniquely me).. any more than that is fine, but I will be rather disappointed if I don't reach my goal. To celebrate this taking on, I went out the other day and splurged on a few delicious paperback items ^^

Obviously Sudoku won't be part of my reading list lol

Not pictured above is the newest Anne Rice, The Wolf Gift, I ordered fom Amazon (hopefully it will get here soon!). Anyways, I've already cruised my way through The Book of Lost Things, and I must say, I would definitely suggest picking it up if you have any interest in the old Grimm fairytales :) Connolly puts an even darker twist on the already black tales, and spins it in a way that makes the old characters feel very, incredibly real. I loved it and am saving some of the special, extra chapters at the end as a sort of treat for myself.

Next I will be reading the Windup Girl (I've been waiting for the cheap paperback version to come out for about a year now), which is set in the not-so-distant future where genetic rot has killed almost all of the GMO fruits and vegetables, and bio-terrorism runs rampant... I've only read about a chapter, and that was a year ago, but I'm enjoying it so far, mainly because of the scariness of the possibility of this fictional future actually coming into reality. If you don't like post-apocolyptic or science fictiony books, then I would say it's not for you.

Lattes of love and happy reading!