Teacher, Teacher, Where Are You From?
I am from bright Crayola boxes,
the scintillating scent of Elmer’s glue,
and the annoying mess of glitter.
I am from handmade cards,
colorful tissue flowers, and drawings.
I am from wiping runny noses
and pulling wobbly teeth,
from tying dusty shoes
and zipping fuzzy jackets.
I am from paper maché planets,
from planting beans,
and waiting on caterpillars to become butterflies.
I am from singing the ABC’s
to reciting the Preamble to the Constitution,
from one-on-one correspondence
to solving for x.
I am from yearly secret meetings
with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.
I’ve seen leprechauns, fairies, and the gingerbread man,
carved jack-o-lanterns and donned crazy costumes.
I am from endless hours grading papers
and writing plans,
from losing sleep over
Timmy’s reading and Suzy’s writing,
or over Tommy having shoes, or Mary having food.
I am from teaching
the basics, whole language, and balanced literacy,
from timed math drills, new math, and exemplars.
I am from CRCT and MRT,
from SST and RTI,
from EIP and IEP,
but most importantly,
I am for KIDS!
I think this poem says it best.
I've spent 30 years in elementary classrooms and in this blog I want to share experiences, lessons, and ideas to help teachers.
