And now, a poem...

I made my first student cry.  At this point some of you might be thinking, "Oh no!  That's terrible, poor kid..." but I assure you, among educators it's a badge of honor.  It means we've gotten through.  I'm rather proud of that moment.  it happened because my Spanish students were being rather uncontrollable.  I like to have a friendly relationship with my kids, and have fun etc. but they were getting a bit out of hand.  So I laid down the law.

I love it when students think up their own punishments inadvertently.  A young man in the 3rd grade called a girl in his class a n*****.  No one was happy with this situation.  He was assigned three book reports and a stack of worksheets, along with a series of lectures from various adults, and not being allowed back in class.  I was watching him at one point and he said, "do I have to write a letter to the teacher?" i.e. an apology - I thought "what a fantastic idea!" and said, "Yes, you do."  Love it.

Ms. Larson's sixth grade class was writing poems today, so during a short break I wrote one as well:

I Am

I am scrawny and eccentric

I wonder if the perfect brownie exists

I hear the warblings of fairies

I see the sky dance

I want a bigger bank account

I am scrawny and eccentric

I pretend I'm a super-hero

I feel tall

I touch a metaphorical pig ear

I worry about the future of my kids

I cry when I laugh to hard

I am scrawny and eccentric

I understand geometry

I say "Long live the Larson!"

I dream in color

I try to laugh

I hope I make a difference

I am scrawny and eccentric

I read it to them and they snapped.

For those of you who'd like to tap your own poetic reservoirs, here's the form for this particular poem:

I am (two descriptive things)

I wonder (something you wonder about)

I hear (some imaginary thing you hear)

I see (some imaginary thing you see)

I want (something you really want)

I am (first line of the poem)

I pretend (something you pretend)

I feel (something you really feel)

I touch (something imaginary you touch)

I worry (something you worry about/fear/etc.)

I cry (something that makes you cry)

I am (first line of poem)

I understand (something you understand)

I say (something you say/want to say)

I dream (something you dream about)

I try (something you try to do)

I hope (something you hope for)

I am (first line of poem)