Junkyard Quote 2, Week 7

"I occasionally get birthday cards from fans. But it's often the same message: They hope it's my last."

Junkyard Quotes 1, Week 7

Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.

Calisthenics, Week 7

Hector Dreams of Ballet

After seven years of torment, dreams of a day
free of arrows dot my memory.
Vast landscapes of beaches filled
by decay and dotted with spoltches
ruin cool evenings of entertainment.

The oldest strikes examples, while
Paris embraces forbidden pleasures.
Trading one stage for Pirouettes
would allow bounderies to fall.
Perhaps Achillies would join in for a Promenade.


I really struggled with this calisthenic for some reason, but I'm going to go back and rework it a little later on. I like this idea of Achillies and Hector locked in a ballet together.

Sign Inventory, Week 6

Alzheimer's: The Wife

She answers the bothersome telephone, takes the message, forgets the message, forgets who called.
One of their daughters, her husband guesses: the one with the dogs, the babies, the boy Jed?
Yes, perhaps, but how tell which, how tell anything when all the name tags have been lost or switched,
when all the lonely flowers of sense and memory bloom and die now in adjacent bites of time?
Sometimes her own face will suddenly appear with terrifying inappropriateness before her in a mirror.
She knows that if she's patient, its gaze will break, demurely, decorously, like a well-taught child's,
it will turn from her as though it were embarrassed by the secrets of this awful hide-and-seek.
If she forgets, though, and glances back again, it will still be in there, furtively watching, crying.

*By drawing a comparison between Alzheimer's and nametags is an interesting way to view the problem.

*Continuing the metaphor by saying memory is a like a flower dying just as soon as it was born creates an interesting time structure.

*Use of the mirror to show the effects of the problem.

*There is a comparison of the demented child's game to alzheimer's.

*The idea that her mind is trapped and watching furtivily creates an interesting dynamic of how the mind works.

*In line 1, she answers the bothersome telephone. Alzheimer's drawback is lack of communcation, and seeing a device like this act has bothersome is an interesting dynamic.

*There is no clear reason why the husband thinks it is the daughters that called. Then, why is there such a problem with calling them back one by one?

*The fact that her face is "inappropriate" is odd, since she is controlling the looks.

Improv, Week 6

Reflective
A.R. Ammons


I found a
weed
that had a

mirror in it
and that
mirror

looked in at
a mirror
in

me that
had a
weed in it


Reflection

I searched for
a reflection
that showed

imperfections
in lines of prose
and

stories of
brick laced
with ivy while

white flags
reflect the
sun towards

our face and
shows us
reflections of past

Calisthenics, Week 6

Here is a calisthenic that I created with my class after we tried the EMO poetry write together. It still needs some work, but we are a lot closer.

Here is the first draft that we came up with as a class:
I hate you
You’re such a jerk
My soul weeps
The anger is talking over my body
I cut myself every night
It’s always dark and lonely
The blood rushes through my veins
I want to kill you
What happens if I die?
Will anyone care if I’m gone?
Will there be roses on my coffin?
Will my ghost still linger?
I love the way you lie.

Here is what came from it after we started to write about a mall cop:

Tasers patrol the mall for chances
to silence Hollister and Aeropostle.
Fads change with season
as feet weep across the depressing ground.

Neon signs demand gifts
from Black Friday crusaders
adrenaline wastes away in the food court
as respect and glory melt
with each "super-sale" on Maybelline.

Junkyard Quotes 2-4, Week 6

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures. ~Earl Warren

The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back. ~Steve Garvey

I don't know. I never smoked AstroTurf. ~Tug McGraw, when asked if he preferred grass or artificial turf, 1974, BQ

I was looking for a few interesting ideas when it came to sports, and these were just a couple of the quotes I found that really said something a little different.

Response to Classmate's journal, Week 6

I wanted to add to Darin's blog about his teacher.

Having teachers that challenge us is something that happened to me in the 10th grade. Mrs. Edwards was my 10th Grade Honors World Literature teacher. The class was the hardest thing I took in high school, and one of the very few teams that I really earned a "B". Now, there were plenty times I received B's, but the effort was not there. In this case, I worked my tail off to get a B, and I feel like a much better student today. My had to read Dante's Inferno, The Oedipal Trilogy, Julius Caesar and my favorite novel of all time, Jane Eyre (Cue up the sarcasm). I'm lucky to get my 10th Graders to read Of Mice and Men, much less Dante's Inferno.

Education is a different animal than it was even just a few years ago. It's almost imperative that teachers find new ways to engage students, before there is no other choice other than committing felonies. Darin points out some good points, and I don't know what else to offer. it's important that educators keep on trying new things to help students find some kind of interest out of school.

Junkyard Quote 1, Week 6

My hairgel is melting with denial - Classroom collaberation this week.

Pedagogy Forum, Week 6

In the past few weeks, I've really tried to add more creative elements to my classroom writing standards. Last week was the first, and I thought the translation went pretty well. So, this week I attempted the confessions of __________. I gave them all kinds of characters and even game them examples of a poem I wrote to get them started. I wanted to show them a difference between language and I had hoped they would choose my second poem as one to model.

My first draft went like this:

Confessions of Barney

Each day stupid kids watch TV
Snot drips on
their upper lips.

Happiness is gone
A purple dinosaur could
never be happy.
I wish I wasn't famous
and nobody love me.

I felt like it was boring enough that the second draft would wow them. Yeah, not so much. Almost universally, the classes all chose my first draft instead of the second that is listed on my free write this week. Needless to say, I was shocked at this revelation. I come to find out, they said they liked the first one because it was easier to understand. It seems they didn't understand apparatus in the second draft and it lost them. This is an important lesson on language, and it is one of the main problems facing teachers. My students have terrible vocabulary skills, and they seem to be unwilling to deal with those limitations. Both poems have serious flaws, but I was also just trying to model something that I thought they could do and see relatively easy. I'm not sure what to do if students aren't willing to take responsibility for learning language, because their writing will be very limited if this trend continues.

Free Write, Week 6

So, I attempted a confession poem with my class. I'm still working on it on it some, but here it so far:

Confessions of Barney

Each day mindless drones
file in front of the box.
Liquid dripping down
caverns to find a new home
on top of the talking apparatus.

Who can smile wearing
fuchsia shaped like a
puffed pastry. Wishing
fame would slip past like
empty caskets heading to homes.

There is a lot more to story that I will cover in the pedagogy forum in a few minutes.

Response to Classmate's journal, Week 5

This comes crom Darren's blog:

I’m working with Jonette on perfecting the art of the critique. As a veteran of poetry, she’s taken many more creative writing courses than I have and has a wealth of knowledge to offer. I’m learning how to pose more constructive questions and how relate my specific comments to the work as a whole. I’ve found that I often find details that seem to help or hinder a piece, but often am unable to express how to make it better or why something works. This is a difficult process because I haven’t practiced it much in the past. As an English teacher I critique many things, but usually creativity is lower on the list of priorities. I’m beginning to realize that maybe it should be higher. Creative writing is more important than it’s often given credit because it forces writers (and readers) to perform on a higher level of thinking. In fact, it forces us to work on multiple levels of thought

I feel exactly the same way as Darren. I'm struggling with many of the same issues, but I can see how looking at a lot of different poems can help cultivate this skill. I find myself at a loss of words when I'm looking at many of these poems, because I can't imagine writing something as good as them. It's been a real struggle, but it is getting a little bit easier as we have moved along. I feel that many good things are coming from these exercises and hopefully, I will continue to progress in the coming weeks.

Junkyard Quotes 2-4. Week 5

"The booty cheese gets stuck in the blender." - student from class.

".... there you go, always giving a fuck when it ain't your turn" - The Bunk

"I aint a cards man but I think this 45 beats a full house" - Omar

Sign Inventory, Week 5

For the Anniversary of My Death
by W. S. Merwin

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
Tireless traveler
Like the beam of a lightless star


Then I will no longer
Find myself in life as in a strange garment
Surprised at the earth
And the love of one woman
And the shamelessness of men
As today writing after three days of rain
Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease
And bowing not knowing to what

*There is a difference between the first and second stanza in which the action is different. The first stanza talks "when", but the second one focuses on "then". So, there is a correlation between what will happen and when it actually happens.

*There is no use of punctuation throughout the entire poem that creates an endless feeling.

*The use of the wren bird is an odd choice, since it is considered the king of all birds.

*He mentions that the love of a one women will not be there. The use of "one" seems to have some meaning.

*The only action named was the "shamelessness of men", which is directly in contrast with the love of one women.

*"Life as in a strange garment" suggests that he is not comfortable in life, which would help tie together the shamelessness of men.

*The idea that we pass our anniversary of our death each year is an odd way to draw conclusions about life.

*The contrast between beam and lightless star is an odd combination, because a lightless star, might be considered a black hole.

*The tireless traveler has silence looking for them, could there be a correlation between life and what we have to do? Life as a constant travel is a bleak way to look at things.

*It seems as if the speaker doesn't like rain, since this poem was constructed after watching it rain for three days. Rain as a dark symbol instead as a life giver is a possible connection.

Improv/Imatation, Week 5

One's Left Behind

It’s easy to see why they fail,
with no grip support to
it is inevitable they should be left behind
first they are pushed along
with only their precious minds in question
they earn skills with seconds and lose with minutes
that are counted each year.

Darkened circles determine some fates and progress
even the red marks give no consequence.
Yet, they have no futures or
At least one that doesn’t reek of grease.

It is easy to see how they crumble,
girls and boys packed with
no instructions or 1-800 numbers to
New Delhi, India.

Placed by a number, but
with no thought of the nuts and
bolts that actually run or
the condition of the suede-covered box.

When one gets outside lines,
erasers swoop to blot out.
Seconds tick, months roll, and years
protect psyches that must stay
within range.

5,475 days into the fray
rules change, but are untranslatable
to ones that were boxed and shipped
with too many red marks on dark circles

They are shuffled frequently
with new gibberish to swallow
to only be set free with
future red numbers or
grease splattered clothes.

Junkyard quotes 1, Week 5

How you expect to run wit the wolves at night when you spend all day sparring wit the puppies - Omar Little

Free Write, Week 5

Delivery

Scalpels anticipate their pray,
while suction is prepared to whisk away remnants.
A curtain shields the weak of heart
from an unexpected bath.

Shiny toys clear a path for
new soldiers, while the old wait
for sounds of ancestors that
reach to current generations.

Breath lights a new day
and expectations are vanquished
by unexpected DNA that
pushes its way to the surface.

The future wipes away the expo maker
on the white board with ease,
while other children progress
in regular stages.

Pedagogy Forum, Week 5

I dipped my toe in the poetry water, so to speak, this week with my students actually producing poetry in class. We've spent about three days looking at modernists poets and others, and today I tried to use the latin translation. I have to say it was interesting to see what the students came up with. Some of them, of course, were unwilling to attempt this translation with any seriousness, but this didn't take away from the experience.

One thing I did differently from last night was how we talked about the poem once we wrote it down. I had 11 different students come up and write one line from their poem and it was great to see them draw connections after we finished writing everything on the board. They saw a poem take shape from non-sense. Later in the class, I had students already drafting different version of their peom, without me even prompting them to do so. I have to say I'm very encouraged at the results so far, and I'm really excited to see where this might lead me and the students.

Calisthenics, Week 5

Cowboys and Indians

Primal worlds collide with urban concrete
on Saturdays in summer.
Mothers elicit treaties from savages,
while feeding civilized beings.

Running through the forest
can be a Wednesday in Detroit, or
a backyard during Christmas

Trees becomes igloos, and
Animals rule the wild, yet are tamed on command.
Boundaries are endless, yet are confined
to the surroundings of 5257 Haden St.



This is the third version of this calisthenics, and the only thing that remains from the original version is Urban concrete and primal worlds. I'm still tinkering with this poem, but I think there are a few things that I like here. I think the next draft, I will start to play with the language to make it more interesting.

Junkyard Quote 4, Week 4

"Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.”

Free Write, Week 4

PLC

Voices talking nonsense
unloading problems week after week.
What to make of this infernal questions?

Confined in yellow half room
where creativity dies.
Why do we spend our days with learning logs?

The same time each week
madness would be more welcome.
Why do we stay?

A chance to mold
or another chance to be told.
What would be better?

Problems surround us
like sharks after chum.
Will it ever stop?

Oversight takes hold
and expression is forbidden.
Will I remain or die?

Response to Classmate's journal, Week 4

This week's response comes from Billy's journal:

In my Sign Analyses over the past couple of weeks I've been noticing a problem. Dr. Davidson picked up on this as well. I have a tendency to move rather quickly into interpretation. I think this is really apparent in my take on Sylvia Plath, but that's I think because I've studied her extensively. On some level I think I understand why this happens. This could possibly stem from the fact that like many of us, I've been studying poetry and doing sign/poetry analyses just like this for a number of years. It's obviously an old hat in many ways and I think I may be delving into interpretation because of the fact that these exercises seem so familiar to me now. Obviously the key here is to slow down and really crawl my way through the poem, but I was considering any possible ways to make the exercise a little foreign again. I'm not saying that poetry gives up its signs and secrets easily, but I think its easy for studying poets and scholars to get a little complacent. I don't think that's the right word, but I hope this makes a shred of sense.

I tend to do the same kind of thing when I'm looking at poems. For most of our academic lives, teachers and professors have always wanted the meanings of peotry, and not taking a chance on the surface of poems. I've been trying to work on this with my classes by having them just look at poems in very small sections. Hopefully, we will be able to break down the poems better, and they will be able to actually find signs before we move into meanings now. I've found this has really helped classroom instruction with some students thave have trouble finding meanings.

Pedagogy Forum, Week 4

I wouldn't consider myself a teacher of poetry, but this week I've tried a few things that really have worked. One of the major practices that is working for my classroom is the amount of poetry I'm reading. I've always glanced at poetry, but never really anything more than the surface. I find a quick meaning and move on to the next prose story we are studying, because it was "easier" to teach. Now, I found myself wanting to teach more poetry.

It's really a fascinating thing for me professionally. I've always stayed away from it, because I either thought it was boring or it was hard to teach. Today, we looked at a few lines of Whitman's "Song of Myself". I've watched Dead Poets Society, but never really studied the poem before. I pulled out just a little to go over in class, and I was amazed by how much the students wanted to explore this poem. A discussion that I had planned for 20 minutes, lasted almost 45. I suppose that I'm more energetic about poetry now, but I never imagined this reaction. I'm looking forward to doing more of this in the coming weeks.

Improv/Imatation, Week 4

Some Last Questions

What is the head
A. Cliff Lee's WHIP* in 2008
What are the eyes
A. Places that drift by in flashes
What are the feet
A. The working mechanics
No what are the feet
A. The apparatice that allows growth and exploration
While providing a chance to play
Stumps used to beat down dreams
What is the tongue
A. An unnessarcary sliver that atracts and harms
Masses in nanos and upsetting in others
What are the hands
A. machines
No what are the hands
A. Delorians that link us to trains
Mother's milk allowing life to prosper
What is the silence
A. Madness that provides peace
Who are the compatriots
A. Shadows wavering out glimps to ourselves


(* WHIP is a baseball statistic that adds a walks and hits during a pitchers start. Then, they are divided by innings that are pitched.)

Junkyard Quote 3, Week 4

We had, I told them, the worst shower discipline of any team I've ever been around." Derek Dooley this week about his Tennessee team.

Sign Inventory, Week 4

Autun Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio

In the Shreve High football stadium,
I think of Polacks nurning long beers in Tiltonsville,
And gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood,
And the ruptured night watchmen of Wheeling Steel,
Dreaming of hereos.

All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home.
There women cluck like starved pullets,
Dying for love.

Therefore,
Their sons grow suicidally beautiful
At the beginning of October,
And gallop terribly against each other's bodies.


*There is a use of capital letters for the two ethnic indifications of Polack and Negeros. The only other time capital letters are used are for proper nouns.

*Looking at form, there is a capital letter to begin each line, even if the line is not the beginning of the sentence.

*There is a focus on working class citizens as illastrated in "Gray faces of Neggroes in the blast furnace and Polacks nursing long beers."

*The spearker doesn't seem interested in the game at all, because he is more focused on the people around him.

*The spearker sees football as a violent game as illastrated in the "gallop terribly against each other's bodies."

*Women are struggling with husbands that are "starved" and "dying for love." This is an intersted idea, because they are watching their sons.

*There is a delibrate use of specific towns in Ohio. All fo these references are actual businesses and towns.

*The idea that their sons grow suicidially beautifal is a haunting image of football, because their parents are having troubles.

*The men are dreaming of hereos, while the women are dying for love. Is the speaker point out the difference in they way men and women view life?

*The use of therfore is unique, becaus it is the only one word line in the poem. It causes the reader to think that their children are violent and suicidal, because their parents are distant.

Calisthenics, Week 4

We are made fools of Global Warming.
Last week's newspaper cruses and divides the table.
Mouths rap with nonsense, and
hating nonsense, or sense, like last week's collection call.

Always returning, questions for questions.
Fighting for questions, fighting for answers.
Yet, more curses and divides.
No place for electronic ideas.

Cries that escape, always return
with redeming qualaties.
Thoughts revisted, but escape
through meth bottles of Windex.

Junkyard Quote 2, Week 4

Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead.
Roger Bannister (After becoming the first person to break the four-minute mile, 1952)

Junkyard Quote 1, Week 4

My dad sells meth in Windex bottles. - Student in class.

Sign Inventory, Week 3

107 & Amsterdam

A phalanz of cabs surges uptown in tune
to the staggered lights an two young black
men spurt across the dark avenute (two a.m.)

ahead of them: We're here, motherfuckers,
don't mess up. Three of five cabs honk: We're here
too, older and clawing for a living, don't

fuck up. The cabs rush uptown and the lights
go green ahead like a good explanation.
Eveyone knows this ballet. Nobody falls or brakes.

Tonight i talked for hours and never said
one thing so close tot he truculent heart of speech
as those horn blats, that dash across Amsterdam,

not to persuade nor to be understood but
a kind of signature, a scrawl on the air:
We're here, room for all of us if we be alert.

* A phalanx of cabs is an interesting image, because it inovkes ideas of war in the city.

*(two a.m.) It's odd that it is pointed out that two men dart accross the dark avenue. Is there some added meaning here?

*The conversations seems to be the cabbies, but we are not sure who is speaking and why.

*The fact that good explanations are green is an interesting fact.

*The use of the enjaments through the entire poem create a tension that helps with the imagery of a busy city.

*Only two lines end stanzas with periods, and they both have to deal with being alert or able to stop.

*Is the ballet here just talking about cabs or could there be a more deeper meaning.

*The repetition of "We're Here" is said three times and there seems to be some kind of tension that is evident.

*The idea that even though we talk for hours without saying anything more important that car horns beeping is a profound image.

*Where is there room for us all? Is it a cab or life? There are a few ideas that provoke thought.

Improv, Week 3

Impov of "I Went into the Maverick Bar" by Gary Snyder


I went into Tailgate


I went into the tailgate
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
And shovled down brats and chips
bathed in beer.
My chubby exterior hideden under a Nike pullover.
I'd left my wallet in the car.

Two drunks argued about Florida
by Denny-Chimes.
A mother asked us
where we grew up?
the Millon Dollar band began to play
"Yeah Alabama"
And with the next chorus
two fans started to fight.
They embraced like two lions fighting
over territory;
I recalled last year's game
in Athens, Georgia.
The elation and roughness-
marriage-my stuidity.
I could almost love you again.
If only-we weren't fans-
under an obligation of faith-
In the shadow of the giant concrete monster
I become myself again,
The real life is back, and
"I love you once again."

Response to Journal, Week 3.

This comes from Rachel this week:

As a public school teacher, I do not give my students enough one on one instruction and discussion about their writing. I noted this because this week, as a student, I was feeling insecure and unprepared for this class. I'm sure that many of my students feel this way as well due to years and years or bad scores, failed tests, and teachers telling them "No, that is not how we write". Instead of giving up, as many of my students do, I was able to meet with Dr. Davidson to discuss the particulars. I left the meeting re-energized about my writing and confident that I could do this and maybe even do it well. As I walked back to my car, I thought about how many students feel as overwhelmed as I did on a daily basis but have no outlet for it because of the type of whole class writing instruction I often offer. This week, we are writing a paper for a school wide writing contest, and I am going to take the time to sit down with each and every student, one on one, and discuss their writing. Some may love it; some may hate it, but at least I have given them the opportunity to voice their ideas and opinions about their own writing. I spoke in one of my fist journals of letting the students "speak the language of writing". I think this is a perfect opportunity.

This is a very good look at how we run our classrooms. I often times feel the same way about my students and their writing. We are under so much intense pressure to meet all our standards with testing, and giving one-on-one time seems impossible. I've never thought about it before, because we are always working for something. That means we have to take the time to help cultivate their writing. I'm looking for ways to change this and I'm thinking having some kind one-on-one time each week, where I sit down with 5-10 students per class. That would give me a change to reach everybody in a month's time and about 3 times a semester. I'm glad I came across this post, because I think this is something that all teachers could learn from this post.

Junkyard Quotes 4, Week 3

I may be left-handed, but I'm always Right! -- Anonymous

Junkyard Quotes, Week 3

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. -- Mark Twain

Pedagogy Forum, Week 3

This week I spent my first major time on poetry of the semester. I was hoping to that my last few weeks were going to prepare me for questions from the class. We spent 20 minutes just working on a sign inverntory, which went quite well. The students were more than willing to break down a poem before we got close to ascertaining meanings. The students were involved and it was good to see that they were actually engaged in a peom we were reading. We are going to spend a little more time on Monday with more poems and I hope it goes as well.

I found when you break the information the students respond better to the exercise. I'm really excited to see if this continues as we spend more time on poetry. I'm going to have them do some imatations on Tuesday. Hopefully, they can take there all the information and start to flesh out their own poetry.

Free Write, Week 3

[Untitled]


What to do with 120 minutes?
Many choices, none that really make sense.
120 Minutes to find peace, or
create a revolution.

Necessities include a sack filled with nutrition, and
podcasts that make the clock run.
Responsibilities linger like dew in the morning,
yet sitting takes hold.

120 minutes keeps sanity in check,
Unless invasion sets down.
120 minutes for 175 days
Creates imigation or frustration.

Everyday the same, everyday the mundane.
Work is not an option,
even with the importance, or lack there of,
movtivation still melts into yesterday or tomorrow.

Junkyard quote 2, Week 3

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it." ~Yogi Berra

I love Yogi, just full of great ideas. This came off an email I got this week and it was their signature.

Junkyard Quotes 1, Week 3

"Yo daddy crazy" - Overhead student conversation.

Calisthenics, Week 3

[Untitled]

When the last out is recorded, celebration.
When the last out is recorded, relief.
Feelings of jubilation yet empty.

When the last out is recorded, new pain.
When the last out is recorded, new goals.
Darkness again.

When the last out is recorded, seems empty.
When the last out is recorded, was
it worth the wait.

When the last out is recorded, heartbreak no more.
When the last out is recorded, no more
pain as pleasure.

When the last out is recorded, weeping prevails
When the last out is recorded, streaks
commence.

When the last out is recorded, peace.
When the last out is recorded, chapters close and
no more waiting for next year.

This isn't exactly what I wanted with this idea, and I'm already trying to do a rewrite.