Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #5: Audience Adjustment

I am joining Elisabeth from The Dirigible Plum in writing a Haiku-A-Day during the month of December. Please let me know if you are posting a Haiku-A-Day too! I would love to read your work.

Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #5: Audience Adjustment

For the last three years I have challenged myself to write a Haiku-A-Day during the month of December. This is the first year I have shared each Haiku publicly. In the past I only shared my daily Haiku with people I already knew and trusted. Their daily Haiku was shared back with me. 

This year I quickly realized how different my Haiku writing has been in comparison to past years. Before I knew exactly who was reading my Haiku. I knew my audience; my audience knew me. I was vulnerable with them; they were vulnerable with me. My Haiku poems were much more personal, intimate. I felt emotionally safe to share. 

My audience shifted this year. I think that most people who read my posts are friends and/or teachers or involved with education, but I cannot be certain. After all, I have no idea who reads my posts or who might stumble on them. This makes me hesitant to post anything that is too personal or revealing. Above all, I do not allow myself to be as vulnerable. 

I am reminded that audience matters. 

This reflection inspired today's Haiku:

Unknown audience.

Careful topics, words, phrases - 

guarded poetry.

Slice of Life Tuesday & Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #4 Mash Up: Quiet Walks

Looking to connect with a positive, supportive online community?  Consider sharing a slice of your life with Two Writing Teachers. All writers are welcome! 

I am joining Elisabeth from The Dirigible Plum in writing a Haiku-A-Day during the month of December. Please let me know if you are posting a Haiku-A-Day too! I would love to read your work.

Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #4: Quiet Walks  

Podcasts and audio books are among some of my favorite forms of media. At one time I wouldn't leave my house for a walk or run without downloading an episode of Heavyweight or On Being. If I was in the middle of listening to an audio book, I made certain that each section was downloaded and ready for me to listen to. Then we got our second dog, Hondo - a temperamental border collie pup. It became challenging for me to focus on walking Hondo if I was paying attention to anything else. He didn't heal very well. He pulled on the leash, often knocking out my earbuds. And so, I was forced to leave my earbuds at home  - my iPhone safely stashed in my pocket. I didn't give up listening to podcasts or audio books, but I stopped listening to them when I walked our dogs. 

After a few weeks without technology, I got used to quiet walks. I don't regret this change like I thought I would. 

Now I notice more of what is happening around me - bird calls, sunrises, ice cracking on sidewalks, and even the rhythm of my steps. For some reason, I was thinking about this on today's early morning walk with Hondo. 

Here's my Haiku for today in the form of a double Haiku: 

Former walks filled with

podcast banter. Audible.

Mind distracted snips.

Now strolls sans earbuds.

Paws pattering on pavement.

Observing what calms. 

Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #3: Light

I am joining Elisabeth from The Dirigible Plum in writing a Haiku-A-Day during the month of December. Please let me know if you are posting a Haiku-A-Day too! I would love to read your work.  

Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #3: Light 

I teach in a mostly windowless high school building. Although I am thrilled to have my own classroom this year (many of my colleagues travel between two or more rooms), it bothers me that my classroom does not have any windows. Besides the daily walk back and forth from my mini van to the building, the only time I am exposed to natural light is when I supervise in our lunch room. 

Especially on chilly winter days like today, I long for streams of natural light. When I think about it, I am in a better mood and have more energy when I am bathed in natural light. 

Perhaps natural light would make a positive difference to my students as well.

I wrote today's Haiku under my humming florescent bulbs in my classroom:

Windowless classrooms -

sterile. Artificial light

zaps learning hunger.

Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #2: Holiday Changes

When I began working more closely with high school students labeled "at risk," I noticed around November that many undesirable behaviors escalated - students in trouble in school and or the community, students shutting down, and some students trying to either be invisible or inappropriately vying for attention. I heard more conversations about strained relationships with friends and family. More tears. Not surprisingly, these behaviors often continue throughout December. 

The traditional holiday season often brings excruciating pain for many people, and this is no exception for many of our students. For a teacher, this can be overwhelming. Daunting. It takes a lot of patience. Sometimes it takes more re-teaching in the classroom setting. 

I find myself having more hard conversations. 

Like many of my colleagues, I often think and worry about my students when I am not at school, especially when I know that they are hurting and going through some tough times. One student in particular has been on my mind this weekend. In my Haiku-A-Day challenge for December, I wrote a double haiku in reflection regarding a recent exchange with this student:  

Red-rimmed eyes. Flowing
tears. My first impulse: to fix.
To comfort. Protect.

Yet I can't do much
but listen, show up, see you.
Provide a safe space.

Haiku-A-Day December Challenge #1: "Thanks for Nothing" Inspiration

Have you heard of Jennifer Abrams yet? She's an educational and communications consultant, wise author, and inspiring human. I have had the pleasure and good fortune of learning from her through face-to-face and digital workshops and especially from her books and blog posts. My personal copy of Having Hard Conversations is defaced with all kinds of notes scribbled in the margins and sticky notes flagging sage gems.

On Jennifer's blog, Voice Lessons, I was inspired by her latest post "Thanks for Nothing." I was compelled to reflect on a few of my experiences of rejection and discomfort, later grateful what those lessons taught me.

This December, I challenged myself to write and post a Haiku-A-Day. With apologizes to Jennifer for not writing quite as eloquently as she did, here's a triple Haiku I recently penned:

Thank you rejection

of building coach position - 

pain sought deep knowledge. 

Thanks, mismatched beliefs 

challenged deep conversations -

diffused comfort zone.

Thank you rejection

of fellowship- sticky hurt

fueled writing fury.  

Slice of Life Tuesday: December Haiku-A-Day Challenge

Writing Haiku is among my favorite forms of writing. I like the manageability of creating a piece with only three lines. I like the focus of a small topic or moment. I like tapping the rhythm of syllables against my leg as I pen lines. I like playing with the order of words. Five. Seven. Five.  Haiku shows up all over my writer's notebook, often after I have written about that day's gratitude. 

The past two Decembers I committed to writing a Haiku-a-day and exchanged it with a friend. I wrote about this experience in this post. 

Last night, as I was thinking about my experience of writing Haiku in past Decembers, I wrote this in my writer's notebook:

December chaos

ahead - Haiku slows me. Seek

reflective moments.

In continuation of my Haiku-a-day December challenge, this year I plan to post a Haiku-a-day on my blog. I would love for other bloggers to join me. I would love to be inspired by your daily Haiku! 

The challenge: write one Haiku-a-day in the month of December. Post it on your blog. 

Will you join me in this writing endeavor? 

Join me in sharing a slice of my life with Two Writing Teachers! 

All writers are welcome! 

Slice of Life Tuesday: Conferring Win

"Reading is oxygen for a student's future success." 

Penny Kittle from Book Love (Heinemann, 2012) 

I was conferring with one of my high school seniors yesterday. Typically I begin with a question like, how's it going or what's worth talking about? or a comment such as, tell me a bit about what you are reading. 

When I sat down to confer with *Alma, I wanted to emphasize that I noticed that she had read several books this year and not because she was abandoning book after book. She consistently seemed engaged in what she was reading! 

"Did I see that you just began your fourth book?" I quietly asked Alma as we sat down.

Alma gave me a huge grin as she shared the titles that she has read since school began, including: Living Dead Girl, The Secret Life of Sonia Rodriguez, and Someone Like You.

"Have you always been an avid reader?" I asked.

"What do you mean? Avid?" Alma asked.

"Avid means you read a lot." I responded.

Alma smiled and added, "Haha. Nope. This is the most that I have ever read! Like in my life. I can't remember the last time I read a book. I used to hate reading. Now I read at home. Instead of binge watching on Netflix or scrolling on my phone. My mom even wanted to know what I was reading."

It was my turn to grin. 

"What do you think made the difference?" I inquired.

"I think that I actually care about what I am reading. I think about what I want to read."

"Are you surprised at this difference?"

"Yeah. I didn't know that I liked to read." 

Until we had this conversation, I had no idea how much she used to hate reading. She marked on an interest survey at the beginning of the year that she believed she was a nonreader, but I didn't know to what extent. I couldn't help thinking that until this year, she had probably given up on herself as a reader. Did she feel that her former teachers gave up on her as a reader? 

Now, in the first semester of her senior year, Alma reads at school and at home for the first time in years. Maybe ever. She even cares about the books she reads.

Win!

Win!

Win! 

This conversation boosted my mood all day. It made me feel like providing the time for independent reading, sharing book talks, spending way too much money on my classroom library, and taking the time to confer has made a difference for students like Alma. 

But, if I am really honest, these amazing conferring conversations don't happen every day. Sometimes conferring is really hard. Sometimes I find that conferring conversations are awkward, and I need to remind myself to listen better to my students. It's November and I still have a handful of students in each class who still have not found the right book yet. These are the students who abandon book after book. These are the students who are still fake reading. These are the students that really stretch me as a teacher. 

Part of my professional learning this year is focused on conferring. I am still learning about how to have better, more productive conversations with my students - especially my students who have not seen the value in reading yet. I am revisiting and studying professional books such as Book Love and Conferring: The Cornerstone of Reader's Workshop. 

I still have a lot to learn. 

*Alma is a pseudonym 

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