My sabbatical ended on Wednesday. Although I have yet to fully reflect on my time away from work, I can say with certainty it was worth it. My advice to those who may have a similar opportunity? Take advantage of it! When was the last time you had a chance to explore the things that you are passionate about? When was the last time you pushed yourself, really, to focus on your art, your craft, your body, or your mind? You remember what the ad said, Just Do It!
The start of every semester brings a mixture of angst, anxiety, excitement, and quite honestly, fear. I think I spend more time agonizing over my prospectus for each class than I do the first week's lessons. Yesterday morning was no different. I couldn't remember what time to leave the house, I had to borrow a key to get into the teacher's room. I kept losing my class rosters. Luckily, I work at a great school. It was wonderful to hear so many people welcome me back. Best of all, were the kids. Many stopped by my room to say hello. Some had wide smiles when they recognized me in the hall. There's almost nothing better than having a teenager recognize you for you.
But then today the truly remarkable happened.
Before we get there, let me tell you how I'm approaching this semester. I want my students to read and write more. We need our students to read and write more. The focus this semester must be about what is best for them as learners. My plan for the first four weeks, for all my classes, is to have them read independent books each night for homework (this idea I stole from Penny Kittle and is one that we must spread further). We'll read common texts and write when we are in class. The reading we do in class needs to be short because of our time constraints. The short text default for me is poetry. You're groaning; I know. Stick with me just a moment longer.
I receive daily emails from poets.org. Poetry Out Loud, Poetry 180, and the Poetry Foundation are organizations I rely on as both a teacher and a writer. When I went looking for poems to start the semester, I found many lists. Lists of poems about America. Lists of poems in preparation for black history month. And lists of poems about protest and resistance. I took comfort in the open arms the community had for my return.Yet I wanted to read and discuss a poem on day one? No wonder I have a reputation for being a hard ass. No wonder I felt fear.
Somewhere, on one of the lists, I found my way to William Stafford. His writing is lovely. His poems are simple and complex. Beautiful and haunting. Here's the first I shared with my kids:
At the Bomb Testing Site
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At noon in the desert a panting lizard
waited for history, its elbows tense,
watching the curve of a particular road
as if something might happen.
It was looking at something farther off
than people could see, an important scene
acted in stone for little selves
at the flute end of consequences.
There was just a continent without much on it
under a sky that never cared less.
Ready for a change, the elbows waited.
The hands gripped hard on the desert.
William Stafford, “At the Bomb Testing Site” from Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems. Copyright © 1960 by William Stafford. Reprinted with the permission of Graywolf Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.
While discussing this gem, my students said things like:
I think this has to do with the Manhattan Project.
Lizards have been around a long time.
Is the continent Antarctica?
What is the flute end?
Instead of acted in stone, things are usually etched in stone. Is this the first of something?
I think the continent is the world of atomic science.
It's the beginning of the end.
As I told my mom tonight, if I have to go to work each day this is the job I'll take. Lovely. Simple and complex. Beautiful and haunting.
So proud of you little sister...keep it up! Welcome back to the trenches!
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