the drop box

the drop box

a box is for groceries that are too heavy for plastic bags

a box is not for breathing babies light enough to carry with one hand

a box is for packing all of your crucial things you think you can not live with out

a box is not for rapidly beating hearts abandoned by the world

a box is for books that are being returned to it’s home in the library

a box is not for minds, eager to be shaped by places only books can take you

a box is for playing kings and queens in a make believe castle

a box is not a home for royalty

a box that illustrates a story of faith, hope and love

a box that says you are worth every breath

a box that brings a new life

this is the drop box

This poem was inspired by this video that I just watched.

Check out more information on this movie on their website: http://dropbox-movie.com./film.html

This is Just to Say…

In December, I had the privilege of meeting up with fellow slice of life blogger, Elsie. She brought me this wonderful book as a gift. Yesterday, I finally got to read it aloud to my students. We are in the middle of our poetry unit and it fit perfectly. We had just read the poem, “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams in our read aloud book, Hate That Cat.

Today, I read a section from the book, where the author, Gail Carson Levine gives advice on how to write such a false apology poem. She is incredibly funny in giving specific directions on that type of attitude needed! I had my students come up with their own false apology poems and I wanted to share it with the slice of life writing community. I just love the connections we make through this writing community. Thank you again Elsie for the book.

Slice of Life Tuesdays is hosted every week by the Two Writing Teachers.

A Dream in my Pocket

This slice is inspired by another slice I read from Pamela here: http://www.pamelahodges.org/2012/09/22/its-okay-to-start-small/

A Dream in my Pocket

I have a dream in my pocket.

I pull it out.

I shove it back in.

I completely forget about it.

I sit on it and it pokes me.

I carefully pull it out.

I look at it and wonder.

I shove it back in my pocket.

* * *

I pull out my dream again.

I put my dream into words.

I share my dream with people.

I realize that this is a big dream, but it’s my dream.

I will need time to nurture and grow my dream.

No longer in my pocket, my dream is in front of me.

*  *  *

What dreams do you have in  your pocket?

Brush With Celebrity

Slice of Life Challenge #27

Brush With Celebrity

Students on field trips, couples young and old and little kids all gather.

People lift their cameras above their heads towards her.

Everyone wants a glimpse of her.

Go, go, go

Her beauty, her mystery, and her popularity,

bring us closer to her.

Weaving through the crowds and inching towards the center

Go, go, go

We see her staring right back.

Does she like all the attention?

It’s not easy being a celebrity.

Go, go, go

She looks even more stunning in person.

Fighting against the crowds, we find a way out

Our captured photos provide enough proof for us.

fearfully and wonderfully made

Slice of Life Challenge Entry #12: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

“You are fearfully and wonderfully made…”

I was sitting at my church listening to the sermon, and this line kept resonating in my soul. I’ve heard it many times and read it in the Bible over and over again. Yet, something about it on this Sunday, made me keep thinking about being here in Korea.  I was reminded of how every time I walk through the subway station to go to my church (Sinsa station), I see on both sides of the walls, large posters of advertisements on the walls. On these advertisements, all of them are plastic surgery ads. They represent different clinics and doctors’ offices for plastic surgery in that area. It makes me so sad every time I walk through the subway station because I am reminded that the society and culture values beauty in such a distorted way, that high school students often get as graduation presents, plastic surgery here in Korea. In response to that, I felt compelled to write a poem.

fearfully and wonderfully made

the potter made no mistakes on you

each curve, bend and bump was purposeful

He didn’t make you in the image of the photo-shopped magazine covers

He made you in His perfect image

God is most pleased when you find joy in being y o u

start looking in the mirror and look deep into your eyes

when you start seeing the reflection of God’s image

you will see what God sees

fearfully and wonderfully made

A Rare Moment

Last period was  finally approaching on this long Monday and we had some extra time. I wanted to try something different. I explained to my students that we would write poems about what they are thankful for. We would share these poems at our thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday. I gave them the prompt,”I am thankful for…”

Then, they opened their writer’s notebooks and wrote, but unlike the other times, where I walk around and meet with students, I decided to write as well. I opened up my writer’s notebook, which I admit was gathering some dust in my bookshelf, and got out my inky teacher pen and wrote. I crossed out some lines and struggled to come up with what I wanted to say exactly. However, I managed to put something together. A rough draft. A beginning to something. After about 15 minutes of writing, I walked around and encouraged students to expand and be more descriptive on what they wrote.

I read aloud to them what I had so far and had a few other students share as well. Afterwards, one of my students came up and asked, “Is that your writer’s notebook? Can I see the cover? Oooh, lucky…” Unfortunately, I didn’t decorate the cover of that writer’s notebook, but my student still seemed to like it.

I was reminded today that writing with my students and getting caught in the writing process along my students is worthwhile . So here’s a little something of what I’m came up with…

I’m thankful for…

the blank pages that welcome my pen

avocados from costco, no matter the price

the songs that resonate in my soul

the warm blankets that I can snuggle underneath on a cold winter day

genuine smiles

getting paid to do what i love

my blog readers!

unexpected gifts

my family that supports me no matter how far apart we are

books that i can’t put down until i’m finished with it

my students from the past and the present

good friends that love me just as i am, no explanations needed

the excitement a student has in telling me about the book that they simply loved

hugs

answered prayers

slice of pumpkin pie, marshmallow yams and cranberry sauce

God’s unfailing love

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

For more slice of life entries, go to Two Writing Teachers.

Poetry Does Matters

I’m having a blast teaching our poetry unit in writing workshop right now. Our poetry wall which I shared about in previous posts is all FILLED up now! It was really cool seeing the students put up their own poems on the wall and read each other’s poem.

I’ve also introduced the self portrait anthology project where the students will be filling in a blank book with poems and “choice” pieces that express who they are. They were really excited about getting started on this project.  We will also start preparing for our joint fifth grade poetry cafe as well!

Our full poetry wall!

chubby goldfish poem

I just started reading this book called Poetry Matters by Ralph Fletcher. I am even more excited to see him in person at the Reading Institute this summer in NYC! Anyways, there are some really good quotes from the book that I wanted to share:

“It has been said that writing a poem for someone else is like giving blood because it comes from the heart of the writer and goes to the heart of the receiver. Poems are filled with words from the heart.” –Ralph Fletcher

“A poem is like an x-ray of what is going on inside of you. ” –Ralph Fletcher

Reading & keeping my eye open for a seat on the subway.

The Ocean

Here’s my slice of life today in a poem.We are in the midst of our poetry unit and I’ve been writing poetry with my students. This poem I wrote with my students when we were learning about personification. I’ve always wanted to live next to the ocean.

* I made a small revision to the poem by changing the “it” to “she”. I would imagine the ocean to be a strong woman!

The Ocean

The ocean swaggers into the shore.

In and out.

In and out.

She tiptoes on tiny feet and freshly built sand castles.

She runs over shattered seashells and slimy seaweed.

In and out.

In and out.

She sprints back home and doesn’t look back.

For more slices, go to two writing teachers!

SOLC#31: Sometimes…

Slice of Lifer

For 31 days, you blogged day and night, from different countries, time zones and classrooms

Sometimes, you felt like you had nothing to write

Sometimes, you smiled as you shared about a memorable memory with your students

Sometimes, you struggled to get what was inside to come out on your screen

Sometimes, you were encouraged by the comments of other slicers

Sometimes, you wanted to scream, but instead you blogged about it

Sometimes, you learned from others through the power of words

Sometimes, you were moved deeply by life and you wrote about it.

Sometimes, you realized how hard it is to write every single day

Sometimes, you were amazed at the strong community of writers that can form on the Internet

Sometimes, you fell asleep with the laptop by your side and post still unwritten.

Sometimes, you were surprised at how people responded to your slice

Sometimes, you wrote slices instead of doing grading or dealing with paperwork.

Sometimes, you wrote about the matters of your heart, your students and your passion for teaching.

Sometimes, you wanted to stop, but you kept going.

I am so happy to say that I did it.

31 days.

31 posts.

Now it’s time to celebrate with some poetry from our classroom poetry wall. A special thanks to slicer Diana for sharing about this link yesterday. I had some students  write emotional animal poems  & love that poems today. They were amazing!

Poetry Wall Instructions

Emotional Animal Poem

Love this line!

Imitating the Style of Walter Dean Myers

SOLC#29: Take Your Parents to Work Day

I remember they used to have take your kids to work day when I was growing up. Now, I feel like the roles are reversed. Today, my parents came to work with me. They are visiting Korea for the first time since I moved here. They came to see my school and meet my students. So I forced my mom to teach my writing workshop lesson! She is a poet and writes poems in Korean which fit in nicely with our poetry unit.

She shared with my students a Korean poem she wrote about spring and then had the students ask questions about it. She also shared her book of poems and pictures she had. After, I had the students work on poems in English and/or Korean. The students seemed to enjoy it, as did my mom!

The magical place from yesterday's post!