Toy Pensee Poems: A Slice of Life

Writing teachers need to write themselves.

I am participating in the Slice of Life 2015 Challenge, 

where I attempt to write stories and narratives about moments in my life.

I apologize if this blog post veers off the informative "literacy lens" I usually write through.

This month I am pretending to be a writer, for my students' benefit (and my own).

Writers write. 

#SOL15

I was inspired by a fellow slicer and the random toy scenes I discovered around my home this morning.

*This slice was inspired by this post from a fellow slicer:

https://lettersfromcoachk.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/slice-of-life-day-26/

Minecraft

LEGO brick made

Crafting things without a mind

Empty on the kitchen table

Where are those LEGO heads?

Parked toy

White hotel bus
Waiting for some travelers 
Playmobil van, LEGO driven
Who needs a new windshield?

A line

From big to small
Carnivores walking slowly
Long journey to the bathroom sink
Ferocious and playful

Nap time
Night for the knight
Laying on a blue lawn chair
In a castle tower bedroom
What will he dream about?

Traffic
Cars all jammed up
Rear ending an alien
Creeper behind the wheel on top
Hope there isn't a fire!

Pirates

All laying down

With a big green dinosaur?

Neverland is full of magic

Even dinos are friends.

    

It isn't a mess if memories are made in the process.  :)

Teacher Poets Revisited

Day 15 of #BTBC14
Who are your memorable students?  Share a story with one of them!

     I really have no time to write this blog post, but I can't break the blog challenge either!  I couldn't decide which student to write about, so instead I was cleaning out my dropbox because I keep getting a "your start up disk is full" message from my computer.  I have too many things to do on my computer to have no space.  Time to declutter my dropbox files.  While doing so, I found this:

Evan

Always my baby boy

Little in so many ways, but

Growing up before my eyes

I watch him...

Struggle to zip his own coat, and succeed

Pedaling his big wheel down the driveway

Writing his name in almost all caps on his papers

Finally tall enough to ride the rides at the fair without his mom

Coloring inside the lines

Saying, "Are you so proud of me mom?

I did it all by myself."

And I wonder...

Do I want him to color in the lines?

Does he need to do everything by himself?

Always my baby boy...

     This was a poem that I had written back in April when the wonderful +Christopher Lehman was hosting his Teacher Poets series.  Every Saturday for 4 weeks, we logged into google and got to write poetry live for an hour with Chris and his group of brave teacher poets.  We workshopped their writing live via twitter.  I can't even tell you what a great experience this was, not only to see Chris Lehman write live, but also to challenge myself to be a poet.  I have forced my students to write poems, but I can't say the same for myself.  +Michelle Brezek  over at Big Time Literacy, and host of this blogging challenge, had wanted to see my poems back then.  I didn't post any because I guess I was reluctant.  But, finding this one today as I decluttered my dropbox, written about my son as a student of life, I saw it as a sign.  My son and daughter are perhaps my most memorable students, after all.  :)  

     Christopher Lehman has been blogging and tweeting all week about a big announcement he is making live tomorrow!  Cross your fingers he is coming to Chicago for his big event... whatever it is!  Check out his blog below.  :)

https://christopherlehman.wordpress.com