I'm back...with another poem!

Hi everyone,

Sorry that I have disappeared for so long from the blog. Now that another semester has started, I'm back again. As usual, I am posting another poem. In class today, I showed the movie "Seabiscuit" because we were talking about overcoming obstacles. If you have never seen this movie, I really recommend it - everyone in the movie overcomes obstacles, including the horse!

In one of the opening scenes, the main character recites this poem by Emily Dickinson:

We never know how high we are

We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures* touch the skies.

The heroism we recite
Would be a daily thing,
Did not ourselves the cubits warp*
For fear to be king.

*stature = height or status
*cubit = an old form of measurement, like inches or feet
* warp = to bend or turn from its natural direction

I really enjoy this poem. What do you think it means? Any ideas? Feel free to post here if you are new to my blog:)

Ha ha ha! Humor in the classroom

"Classrooms in which laughter is welcome help bring learning to life."

I just saw this quote and I liked it because I have been thinking lately about using humor in the classroom (okay, and I'll be honest, also because we have been talking about clauses and this is a good example of an adjective clause:))

I really believe that laughter is so important in the classroom. Today, thanks to one of my students who is a professional laugh therapist, we got a true lesson in laughing. I believe strongly in using humor in the classroom but I want to learn more about this. There is some research that I found, and it all agrees that laughter should be prominent in an ESL classroom.

Sometimes my students have told me that I am funny. To me, this is funny! Outside of the classroom, I don't consider myself funny, and certainly no one has told me that I am. So why do I enjoy laughing so much in the classroom? Here are some of my possible guesses:

1. I want to make the students comfortable and laughing together always makes people comfortable.

2. Life is just so funny! It doesn't matter what country you are from, laughing is a way to connect universally and some things in life are just plain hilarious!

3. When a teacher uses self-depricating humor, it shows the class that he/she is also human and not perfect. When we show our vulnerability, I think that we sometimes get more courage out of our students.

4. I love my job so much that it is easy to laugh. In fact, it's hard to be too serious sometimes.

Those are just some of my guesses as to why I love (and apparently, have!) laughter in my classroom. Any other ideas:)?

The worst sound I've ever heard

It's easy for us to remember a horrible taste or an absolutely repugnant smell. It's easy to remember the worst thing we've ever tasted, smelled or seen. However...have you ever thought about the worst sound you've ever heard? I have, and here it is:

The day my dad died, we had a funeral (memorial) service on a sailboat. We took his ashes out in the Bay and scattered them there. As we were leaning over the edge of the boat, the most horrible sound I've ever heard came out of my stepmother's throat. It was as if pain had a sound, something like a guttural, animal-like noise. She was obviously in grief, but it wasn't the simple sound that someone makes when they're crying. Instead, it was pure pain and hurt coming out of her throat. If I had to pick one sound to never hear again, that would be it.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

Now that the weather is cold and miserable, everyone seems to be getting sick. I think we should remember the nice weather and beautiful times and stay positive. Seeing as how daffodils are my favorite flower, here is one of my favorite relaxing poems. Stay healthy and remember that spring is on the way (even if the groundhog does disagree!)

"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

the subway inspires me...

Lately I have really loved some poems that I read on the subway. Here is one from about a year ago that my sister and I really like:

"The sands whispered, be separate,
The stones taught me, be hard.
I dance, for the joy of surviving,
on the edge of the road."
~Stanley Kunitz

I stole this quote from my friend and I really like it

"Watch your thoughts. They become words.
Watch your words. They become actions.
Watch your actions. They become habits.
Watch your habits. They become character.
Watch your character. It becomes your destiny."
- Frank Outlaw

read this nice poem I saw on the subway

"Tell All the Truth" by Emily Dickinson:

Tell all the truth but
tell it slant-
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our
infirm delight
The Truth's superb suprise

As lightning to the
Children eased
With explanation kind
The truth must dazzle
gradually
Or every many be blind