I could go into my trials and tribulations of my work, but tonight, I'd rather end on a more uplifting note. I have five students in my CY after school program's homework help, which means I have exactly one hour to change those five student's ways of thinking. This afternoon, three of my students were working on poetry; more specifically they were writing "I am from" poems. Given a basic outline, they were free to express this idea. I wasn't sure what to expect from my rather diverse group of students--one hailing from Long Island, the others both with heavy accents from Bangladesh and Trinidad. I knew, simply, where they were from, but how would they portray that through poetry now that they all ended up at a school together in Harlem? A few edits were made by myself during that hour's time, but mainly just discussing their thoughts and some grammar and spelling. For the most part [segments of their poem] this is where these three children are from:
"I am from broken, squeaking swing sets and
annoying, talkative neighbors.
I am from Rock as loud as the people screaming.
I am from striped and spotted pajamas, grilled cheese and pb&j...." -Jonathan, Long Island
"I am from chicken meat, when I wake up in the morning, I smell mom's cooking and it smells so wonderful.
I am from my apartment where people are shooting, fighting and
I think, in my mind,
What is going on?
I am from a neighborhood where people are mean and talk too loud.
I am from India where the music makes me dance.
Boom, Boom, Boom
I am from a school where people make fun of my name....
I am from best friends who have names like I do.....
I am from my mother, who carried me 10 months in her belly" -Sumena, Bangladesh
"I am from beef pies, cheese pies and potato pies,
from lots of fruits, music
and fake flowers
that soothe me even though they are not real" -Na'Qia, Trinidad
My kids are great, and I long for them to succeed. It's a tough job caring about other people's lives.
.s.
