Monday night I am going to the retirement dinner of the woman who was my student teaching field instructor: Kate Manski. She was the first person to bear witness to my practice as a teacher in 2003. A couple years ago, she sat in my …
Please, stop with the countdowns.
I am a resistor of the “countdown,” as in counting down the days until the end of school. I am anxious as nearly 600 other educators to dive into Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher’s 180 Days and get the story for my next novel that is …
30, April 30th, Lines and Verses Borrowed
Congratulations! Inspiration: We have shared this virtual space for 30 days — 30 days of words, phrases, images, and lines borrowed from lives lived and imagined. Today, we’d like to encourage you to select a day from our 30 days on ethicalela.com and reread …
29, April 29th, Remembered
Inspiration: What is your ultimate goal in your life? Geesh, this is a big, deep question to which you may not be ready to respond, but imagine for a minute or two what you would like people to say about you years from now. How …
28, April 28th, Overcoming
Inspiration: What was your greatest struggle? How did you overcome it, and how has it changed you for the better? Form: Try to write your poem in couplets today. A couplet is a poem made up of two-line stanzas with the final word of each …
27, April 27th, A Sonnet of Sympathetic Joy
Inspiration (and a challenge from Jackson):Sympathetic Joy is the feeling which arises when you are able to be proud of other people’s accomplishments. We rejoice that in the good fortune of others. In this way we overcome resentment, envy, and jealousy and even find inspiration …
26, April 26th, Best Gift
Inspiration: What’s the best gift you’ve ever given or received — whether tangible (an object new or passed on to your) or intangible (advice, love, guidance, support)? Why was this the “best”? A poem that tells a story is a narrative poem. Can you tell …
25, April 25th, Quatrain Plus One (about today)
Inspiration: We’ve had a lot of free verse this month (free to rhyme or not, free to break lines as you wish or need, free to stanza or not), but how does the structure of a quatrain impact our expression, intention, and meaning? Try a …
24, April 24th, Tanka
Inspiration: You are stranded on a planet alone for 700 years (not aging). What must the planet look like and do for you to be able to sustain a life alone for so long? With Summer vacation up-and-coming, today you may write a poem about …
23, April 23rd, Gratitude
Inspiration: Write a poem of gratitude: noun, the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Re-read someone’s poem that was brave, sensitive. Remember a book or story that felt like the author wrote it for you. Recall a classmate or teacher who …