Faced with another Slice, I turned to the Two Writing Teachers blog for inspiration. Never fails. On March 8th, they featured an idea used by blogger Mandy Robek “10 Things Right Now.”
1. My friend, James Edmunds (Poor Clio) posted on Facebook “loved today’s March watercolor sunshine.”
2. Reading poetry by Barbara Crooker.
each day, we climb
a few more inches
up the ladder of light,
and grackles and redwings
return, bringing postcards
of tropical sun.
3. Started A Snicker of Magic: Felicity Juniper Pickle collects words:
Popsicle
Paper star
Poppy-seed muffin
4. Tulips on the kitchen table.
5. Remembering my Uncle Stu. His funeral was yesterday in Georgia. I wasn’t there. My mother wasn’t there. I thought of my cousins all day long. My uncle always hated to say goodbye.
6. My husband has been cancer free for 8 years! Here’s a picture of his new running shoes. Aren’t they cool? St. Patrick’s Day green!
7. Meditating for two weeks. Here is a sample from my journal:
Meditation on the words from Emily Dickinson, “Love is the furniture.”
The chair holds me, all my thoughts I brush away with a word.
I sit again and again
in silence, waiting for angel’s wings,
symbols of love.
No words, no thought.
Just light
twisted, jeweled light
wrapping me up in love.–Margaret Simon
8. The return of my former student to Slice with us. I have missed her voice. This is a small sample of a poem she wrote about Mother Nature. Our class blog is here.
Her feelings come and go
As quickly as leaves fall
In the brisk autumn months.
Her heart will always be with the earth.
If you are quiet, you can hear her heart thumping, thumping,
Dancing to the beat of the cicada song,
9. Cooking with my daughter: The menu is shrimp tacos with mango salsa.
10. Supportive principals: School #1, I got permission to take my 5 gifted students to a local fast food restaurant to solicit donations for an upcoming community service project. School #2, One of my third graders wants to raise funds and food for the local Humane Society. She wrote out notes of her plan and presented it to the principal at recess. She got the go ahead.
The 10 thing idea got me through a bit of writer’s block, too. So fun to write…and read!
Ten beautiful things, Margaret. My heart is lighter because of your shared words! Barbara Crooker is wonderful, isn’t she?
Did you introduce me to her? I can’t remember who prompted my getting her book, but I love it.
Each one of these is a slice. Love each little piece. Beautifully done.
So glad that you chose this particular inspiration, margaret – those are ten wonderful things to celebrate and think about.
I like this idea of 10 things right now. I’d like to try it some time–and those shrimp tacos sound delicious.
I don’t know that I have great answers for the book spine poetry. First, a confession. I only picked my favorites of the poems to share in the video. I had several that made no sense. I did get better results than I did last year when I tried this. I started by sharing the best examples from last year. I also talked with students about finding titles that had different parts of speech–nouns for subjects and verbs as well as descriptive words and phrases. When students brought their creations, I read the aloud to the students. Sometimes the students would realize, “Oh, that doesn’t make sense.” Then we would talk about what was missing, and I would direct them toward titles that might help. We actually were able to do a little revising work we could build on in further lessons.
Thanks. I think the reading aloud is the necessary part as well as discussing parts of speech.
I wrote this idea down to use also! Thinking about jarhartz said, each one is like a little slice. Maybe if we make the list and then turn each one into a slice – walah – we have 10 slices!
I wish I had thought of that!
Ten fantastic things. I especially love the cancer-free hubby and the two weeks straight of meditation. 🙂 Those are both very wonderful streaks!
Thanks, Stacey. Sometimes it’s hard to write so personally, but that’s what this challenge is all about, right?
Love this list, Margaret! I might have to “borrow” this idea, too. So happy for you and your husband that he’s been cancer-free for so long.
[…] Margaret Simon, at Reflections on the Teche wrote about “Ten Things Right Now,” an idea from Mandy Robeck that Stacey shared last week. […]
[…] Earlier in the week I posted “Ten Things Right Now.” There I mentioned that my uncle had died. I was not able to go to his funeral, but my mother […]
I need to share the 10 things right now idea with my students. Some of them are ready for some inspiration. I love your mediation on Emily Dickinson’s words:
“Just light
twisted, jeweled light
wrapping me up in love.”
Beautiful!