A good story should...

We have all grown up with stories.  We tell stories at the dinner table, while driving in the car, or while walking with family members.  In my family, we are story tellers.  My mom would tell me stories while she brushed my hair or when we sat on the front porch.  These stories are what allow our family roots to grow together tangling each of us up in a common history.

As a little girl, we would visit my grandparents in Painesville.  Our ritual was to walk through the cemetery talking to each other, reading the headstones, and recalling other family histories.  One story that we loved to recount was the story of the man whose headstone read "not guilty." Additionally, we loved to hear about how my parents met, and how my dad lost his wallet in the Grand River while trying to impress my mother.  Stories help us make sense of the world.  They allow us to come to conclusion as to what is true and what is not true.  I want you to look at your list of things said to be true. 

Tell the story that helped you come to know this.  On my list, I wrote, "The more we let others into our lives, the richer we become in knowledge."  I believe this completely. Here is my story:

I have always been shy.  Social scenes make me nervous.  I am not good with letting others in my life nor am I good at sharing.  My husband, however, has always had a very strong group of friends.  When we started dating, I was welcomed into this very close-knit group whose history was so rich.  Every story told had all participating.  After twenty years, this group is still very close.  Our children are growing up together and we are there for each other even through the darkest of times.  Our futures have been written through our past relationships.  It took me a while to let my guard down and become  immersed in this group.  I am glad I did.  I have become a richer person through our friendships.  I know that should I ever need anyone of them all I have to do is ask.  They would be there for my family, my husband or just for me.  In letting them in, they have made my life richer. 

Take one item from your list of things known to be true and tell the story that helps to make it true. Your story must be school appropriate and true:)  A paragraph is sufficient.  Happy story telling!

This I believe

We will watch a Spoken Word Poet discuss what she knows to be true.  She will make the argument that we all bring knowledge that is either similar to others or our knowledge will teach others something new.  It is in what we know that we find our individual poetry.  Words have power. They allow us to take our thoughts and give them shape.  We allow them, our thoughts, to find rhythm, meaning, and a place when we combine them with other words.  It is the artful placement of language that gives it power.  

We all come from someplace different. We may reside in the same town, but our place in it is unique. It is unique in perspective.  My view of the world is very different from yours  because of my age, my gender, my level of education, my experiences in the world. We need to accept this and appreciate this.  

What I want you to do is list ten things you know to be true. Look at my examples.  Create your own list.

My list is as follows:
I know this much is true:
1. When we look back on our lives we see moments where choice was vital, and we may not always like the choices we made. The goal is to not make the same ones again.
2. The people we meet change us.
3. Parenting is hard. Helping to shape the lives of others is incredibly hard and important.
4. The more we let others into our lives, the richer we become in knowledge.
5. There is always going to be someone who is stronger, faster, smarter.  Humility is necessary.
6. On the other side of fear is courage.  Courage is pushing through fear.
7. Children teach us to pay attention to the world. Never out grow the inner child.
8. Knowing who you are and sticking to your beliefs is vital. Do not betray yourself.
9. Holding yourself and others to high expectations is a must.  However, we must forgive ourselves and others for imperfections.
10. Kindness should always be shown.  We never know how someone's day is going or what their life may hold.  Always show kindness!  

The Books We Love

As a kid, I learned to love books.  My mother ran a daycare in our home and would read to those kids and her kids constantly.  I loved listening to the stories.  We were/are a family of stories.  We cannot help but tell stories when we are together, walking through the park, or walking through the cemetery.  It is what we do. 

I came to books later than most, but love them passionately.  I always have a book in my hand or some other genre of literature.  One of my favorite books is Poisonwood Bible.  The book is filled with so many voices.  The family works for and against each other creating conflict internally while they face the conflicts that surround them.  Each chapter brings a different perspective.  Each character has a strong voice that is haunting.  When I think about this book, images still rise up and greet me even though it has been 14 years since I read it.  These images and voices are very strong and have changed the way I see family, religion and sisters. 

Your blog this week is to name and describe for us your favorite book.  Now if you do not have a favorite, please pick one that has had a lasting impact on you.  It may impact the way you think, the way you read, the way you see the world.  A paragraph is enough.  Explain why it is so special to you or why it has impacted you.

As bloggers, we must remember to respect the writing of our peers.  Should your post have anything deemed to be unacceptable by me, your post will be deleted and you will receive a zero and disciplinary action.

Spring!!!!

I am late. I apologize. Today after school I went for a walk at Hinckley Park. I love to go there and walk. I prefer to run/walk but I am not permitted to do any running yet. (Sigh) The sun lit up the world illuminating everything. Fallen logs rested in mud puddles and the geese were everywhere leaving behind parts of them that required me to step over strategically. The trail was filled with people like me happy to be outside basking in the sun. The sun makes everything feel better. It is inviting. As spring approaches, we will find ourselves outside more. This will in turn make us put off what needs to be done.
We are also approaching National Poetry Month. It is a time to celebrate the poetry that speaks to us. Whether we like it or not, the music we listen to everyday is poetry. The way the flowers waltz in the wind is poetry. The laughter of children tickled to the core over something no one else cares about is poetry.
What I want you to do is define poetry. Look around you; pay attention to what you see and hear. Is it poetry? Describe a moment you deem to be poetry in motion. (Sorry to use a cliche.) It may not appear to be poetic to any other person. What matters is that it does to you!

Poetry

Hello minions...muhahahaha! Just kidding! I was watching Despicable Me. So our blog this week is about a subject near and dear to me...Poetry!!!!! Oh, how I love poetry!!

Poetry is what we say when our hearts are full

when we come to words in moments where clarity

is a bird flitting about our head, a rarity--

lost and elusive. Here is where we twist and try to pull

hoping to make meaning out of all that is chaos

to finally remove ourselves from life's confining box.

Poetry is how we find the questions no one will answer

and pose the ones grown in sadness, in fear, the him or the her.

It is rooted in the belief that words can save us, keep us,

protect us, but instead what we find is a new breed of justice

sworn to uphold a belief. We walk with our heads a little bit higher

for these words together build within those who listen a fire

meant to consume, and in the end truly inspire.

What I want you to do for this week is post your favorite poem. If it is really long, just post a small part or it--a couple stanzas. Once you post it, tell us why it is your favorite. We all come to poetry for different reasons. Please share yours. Happy posting!!!!!

Books

For the last week and the next three we will be engaged in reading different books. These books all bring information about the human condition to each of the readers. We learn from the characters, the time periods, and the themes about the human condition. Take our topic of the human condition from the first weeks of school and apply it one book we have already read and discussed; once you have done this, apply this idea to your current book. See the example below:

The book Night, teaches us that as humans it is necessary for us to change and grow in order to overcome and survive the situations in which we find ourselves. This can be seen in the way Wiesel works so desperately to survive the camps and in the way he became a voice for all survivors. In the book I just finished, The Bluest Eye, we learn it is part of the human condition to see what others have and desire it while never truly seeing the beauty in our own lives. The characters live life defined by some one's idea of self worth never knowing their own worth. Through these two texts, it can be argued that being human is about change. We change in order to find value in life. For some, the change is for the good leading to knowledge, but for others, the change destroys knowledge. To be human requires us to change in order to survive.

Cleaning

This weekend, I was on a roll. I cleaned out a room, and many cupboards. Cleaning and I are not good friends. I resent her. I resent that I have to put books down to clean, turn off the television to clean, stop grading papers to clean, not go shopping--all because I have to clean! Despite my resentment, cleaning is necessary. It is the way we remove the clutter from our lives. It is the way we organize our chaos and how we purge the things no longer needed.

Perhaps my resentment of her comes from the fact that I am a keeper. Not a hoarder, there is a difference. I keep my kid's pictures that they draw, notes from high school, poetry that I find, etc. Cleaning makes me get rid of things. It forces me to make choices between what I want and what I can store. It forces me to prioritize when I am thinking about what I may need 20 years from now--hence the reason I was able to wear my sweatshirt from 20 years ago two weeks ago for throw back day.

As spring approaches, it is often customary to "Spring Clean." The goal is to sweep away what we do not need and bring in the new. I am thinking I want to sweep away the clutter in my life. By clutter I mean the things that break my focus. This might include the negative people who rain on my parade, or the things I do that take away my time. I want to fill my house with positive ideas, activities, and people who add instead of subtract from my life.

Write this week about how you wish to clean house and what you wish to add to your life. Do not add names of people. You may describe people as negative or sunshine. Focus on the positive.