My Little No Social Media Experiment (LNSME): Week 4

Part of my writing process in December is supposed to be reflective on the process of not using any social media. I haven’t done a very good job of that in the past week or so, but that's mostly due to holiday celebrations. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been noticing the continual changes since this little experiment began, however.

And there have been changes. Good things that have made my life happier, easier, and even a little more whole. Here's my attempt at capturing the best of the best:

1. Purposeful living — one of my main goals in the past couple of months has been to be much more intentional about the way I spend my time. I think the phrase, “I just don’t have the time to…” may be the biggest cop-out in our fast-paced society. I know I am guilty of filling up far too many minutes in a day with mindless FaceBook scrolling, pointless Google searches, and ye grande old Time Suck otherwise known as Pinterest. And let's not even mention craptastic TV shows. Yikes. 

But with less than a week to go before my self-imposed social media hiatus ends, I’m finding so much enjoyment out of the things I do have time for, and am possibly just a little amazed at all the things I’ve accomplished this month. I’m choosing how I spend my time, not simply letting time slip by in a haze of digital noise.

2. One of the major benefits I’ve noticed from chucking my social media habit is how my relationships with people have changed. To me, this is far more significant than all the writing I’ve made time for this month. Because I’m not tweeting quick thoughts about what’s happening in my classroom or updating FaceBook to let the world know what I’m having for dinner, I have to actually reach out and talk to individual humans if I want any interaction. Instead of sharing a video or article via FaceBook, I’ll text or tell the person I know would be interested about it when we're face to face. I’ve talked more on the phone and even managed to see more people in person this month. 

This slant toward a more personal style of communication has been even more evident in my own home. I’m more apt to work on a project with my husband or sit down and help one of the Littles with a craft now that I don’t feel so tied to my phone, iPad, or laptop. It’s embarrassing to admit how stuck to these devices I had been, but I’m thankful that I chose to put them aside for awhile. I’m a better wife, mom, and friend because of it. And interestingly, my typical angsty-anxious restless feeling I get when I'm at home has mostly gone away.

3. The writing. Oh, the writing! Ideas come easier, words flow onto the page faster, and I’ve spent nearly every day writing. In fact, I think I’ve only missed three days so far. Not bad, considering my writing life before December was incredibly hit and miss, other than things I had to write for grad school. I still find it difficult to sink into one project and work through the hard parts; I’m more likely to flit between two or three projects depending on how much time I have to write and what mood I’m in.

I’m also noticing a new writing style popping up, and although it’s completely surprised me, I’m enjoying what it’s doing for my revision skills. Revision has always been my biggest struggle as a writer. I actually have two complete novel drafts that I have never reopened to revise. Sad, sad, sad. But I’m hoping this new process will help with that. I’m no longer forcing myself to write from beginning to end — instead, I write whatever scene is in my head, skipping around in the story to write the parts that help me keep writing daily. This has done wonders for my ability to stick with a manuscript longer. I also write first by hand and then on the same day type what I’ve written into my Day One app, revising as I go. Eventually I’ll transfer what I have in the app to Pages, revising a third time. Because I’m revising such small pieces at a time, it doesn’t feel so overwhelming, and I feel like I’m getting a lot more accomplished as a draft and in revisions. All good things!

4. I notice more. I’m more mindful of how I’m feeling — whether I’m bored, tired, frustrated, content — I seem to pick up on my downward spirals before I find myself wholly in a funk, and make changes before I’m sitting around angry at nothing in particular. And I notice the things around me more. My house is cleaner than it has been in a long time because I’m noticing little things that need to be tended to and actually doing something about it. Not only is the house more spic and span, I’m finally getting around to some of the projects that should have been done months ago … little by little, our house is becoming more like a home. I feel plugged into my life now that I’ve unplugged from the Internet.

5. My reading life is alive and well again. I’ve had a rough time getting interested in a book for a while now. I read a ton of books for grad school, and thankfully they aren’t textbooks. And of course, I’m always reading something professionally to keep growing as a teacher. But in the past few weeks I’ve read several books just for fun. I try to keep at least one book on my Kindle app for when I’m out and about, and have several books at home that I’ve torn through this month. I know I need to be reading every day just as much as I’m writing, and finally I feel like I’m actually headed in the right direction in my reading life.

There are far more benefits to letting go of the constant online feed of information and prattle than I’ve listed here, but these are the most rewarding for me. Perhaps as the days continue to tick by, more benefits will rise to the top, but for now I’m happy just to notice these few changes that are bringing so much more joy and creativity to my life. Only four days left in December, and I'm strongly considering continuing my social media hiatus. Turns out, it's not so lonely after all.

My Little No Social Media Experiment (LNSME): Week 1

Day 6. Approximately 143 hours with little contact from the outside world. Okay, fine, if I take out sleeping hours I suppose that's about 30 hours less this week. 113 hours. to be fair, I'll round it down to 110. Happy now?

The thing is, I expected this to be one of those excruciatingly painful experiments. The kind where I'm rattling my tin cup against the metaphorical metal bars of my self-imposed prison, screaming into the emptiness of my own existence in hopes of salvation.

Or perhaps something a bit less dramatic. Regardless, I prepared myself for much wailing and gnashing of teeth. My Little No Social Media Experiment (LNSME = Lonesome??)

But after 110 hours (or 113, or 143, or for Pete's sake, who even cares at this point...) hanging out mostly with my own thoughts, the truth has revealed itself to be a much happier place than my nightmare anxieties would have led me to believe were possible.

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Here's what I've learned this week:

Day 1: It seriously bums me out to not tweet the happenings in my classroom. So many amazing things happened this week that I wasn't able to share. And it's not so much about the sharing, even. It felt as if these precious moments between my young learners and myself were just disappearing, unrecorded.

Day 2: My Day One app became my salvation. It's as easily accessible during class as Twitter, has the capability to tag posts, and lets me record photos and text to capture the many spectacular learning moments happening in class each day. Huzzah!

Day 3: Instead of simply tweeting tiny fragments of the day, I began true reflections in Day One. Long rambling recordings of my teaching with reflections and plans for the future. So much more thoughtful than the tweets could ever be. Hm. Am I on to something?

Day 4: Pathetic shameful reveal -- I miss using FaceBook and Twitter to quell my boredom at stoplights, while The Hubs is driving, and in any 1-2 minute transitional time. I don't think I realized how often I sated my need to be constantly entertained through social media. I've started listening to Podcasts while driving. Highly recommend This Creative Life and The Moth.

Day 5: I've dreamt every night this week. My old dreams are back; the long epic movies filled with vivid detail, interesting characters, and enough story to fill my journal when I wake in the morning. If this is the only benefit from cutting out social media, it is worth it.

Day 6: I've written every day this week. Anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour. A very old nonfiction picture book idea resurfaced, and I'm fleshing it out while trying to determine if I want to stay true to nonfiction or use the original event that spawned the desire to write this book and create something more of a story from it. I'm enjoying the process, and writing it simply for myself. I've written some goals and will make a few phone calls this week in hopes of setting up interviews to gather some of the research I need to keep working on it.

Besides the extra time writing this week, I've accomplished more around the house, tackled some projects at work, and picked up a new book which I'm almost finished reading. It's called An Unnecessary Woman, by Rabih Alameddine, and I absolutely adore it.

I miss the friends I only ever have contact with through FaceBook. I do not miss the visual noise and mental junkyard of constantly scrolling through miles upon miles of nonsense. For the first time in more years than I care to admit, time feels purposefully enjoyed. Not lonesome, but mindfully lovely.

And that, my friends, makes all the difference.

Reflecting on #NaNoWriMo

December will be here in less than an hour, and my NaNoWriMo project has been a tremendous flop this year. A piece of me is gnashing and wailing and grumbling about, unsettled that I missed the mark for the first time in three years. 

A larger piece of me, the part always (always always) searching for silver linings and happy ending and the good in all things -- is perhaps a smidge happy. I did not write 50,000 words of novel this month. I did not even write half of that novel. Almost, but not quite.

I did, however, meet daily with over twenty young writers. I encouraged, cheered, and consoled. Together, we wrote and shared and became this fantastic thing -- this extraordinary community of humans working together -- and I am so much better for having experienced their enthusiasm and sheer joy in falling into a story. They reminded me of the brilliance in writing what you love, just for the sake of writing.

I spent time with friends and family. I played table top games, traveled, and shared important conversations. I read. Oh, how I read. So much more in one month than I have in quite a while.

And I wrote. Almost daily. I struggled through words and pages and chapters of muddled story. Two different stories, in fact. After the first idea went sideways, I kicked it aside and jumped into the next shiny idea and rode it until it sputtered and faltered, and then pushed it along wearily, counting down the days until December would release me from the pitiful wreckage it had become.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I was utterly bored with the story. Writing had become a competitive obligation and not something I addictively turned to each day with my normal full heart. This feeling is new to me; every year I've participated in NaNoWriMo in the past, I've been in love with the writing, typing away until the screen went blurry and my eyes refused to remain open even one second longer.

Am I sad that I didn't finish a NaNoWriMo novel this year? Of course. It's in my nature to beat myself up over failed obligations, even self-imposed ones. Especially when I feel it will disappoint my students, who cheered me on just as much as I celebrated with them. But more than that, I'm glad for what I've learned about myself as a writer. I'm immeasurably thankful for the group of young writers that gave so much of their time throughout November, and I'm eager to work with them in December to help them revise and publish their stories.

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And I'm excited about tomorrow, as I tuck away my time-sucking social media habit and pick up a fresh journal full of possibilities and begin writing each day just for me, exploring poems and vignettes that my soul is aching to put down on paper.

For the next thirty-one days, I'm working on building my daily writing muscle by participating in Linda Urban's Write 30 Daily invitation. I won't be following the hashtag or tweeting about my progress. I won't be interacting with anyone through FaceBook or Twitter to share my writing successes or lack thereof. It's a hiatus, of sorts -- inspired by Linda's challenge, but modified to meet my own need as an artist to sit inside myself and have a think or two on my own.

I may blog occasionally to reflect on my process, but other than that, I plan to enjoy my own little respite from the loud and busy world, and fall into some stories of my own.

Ten Things About Short Fiction

I'm headed out on a fourteen hour drive from Texas to Illinois today, with Uno and Dos as my roadtrip buddies, so we can offer support to my mom as she goes in for surgery tomorrow.

Time for a post is scarce, so here is my slim 10 Things for Tuesday post of the week -- all about my most recent writing experience.

1. Writing short fiction is hard, you guys. I'm not sure I'm very good at it. This week's story had a goal of 2000 words, which I skipped right over, ending at 2,002. Not what I had intended.


2. Also, the story is not what I had intended. With a pretty tragic news article as my inspiration, and some specific thoughts about growing up in constant turmoil, I sought to tell the story of one character but ended telling the story of another.


3. Where did I stumble? I became so caught up in researching the culture of the girl I wanted to write about, that I panicked and felt my story would not be authentic enough since I don't actually know what it is like to grow up bi-racial.


4. I wrote five different versions of this story.


5. In the end, I began with a new perspective on a similar character that would still end in the same way. Because I could draw somewhat from my own past, I found this story much easier to envision. 
   


6. I'm still not completely happy with the way this story is organized. I needed to build reader compassion for my main character, and found it incredibly difficult to do in only 2,000 words. While I think I avoided the dread info dump, I'm not certain it's a completely balanced story.


7. Dialogue -- still not my thing. Not surprising, since I have sub-zero social skills, however I must find a way to work on this.


8. The Husband, as always, sat and listened and gave awesome feedback. I don't know how I would accomplish anything without him as my first and most trusted reader.


9. I also struggle in the little details -- how people move, what is happening around two people while they're immersed in conversation -- all those little things. While I've been told quite often that I paint a vivid story life that people can sink into, I notice so many holes that need filling.


10. Next week our 5,000 word story is due. I have my idea ready, and am hoping a little of what I learned in the last story will help guide me through this one with less struggles.

The #SundayCurrently - Volume 3

Hosted at siddathornton.blogspot.com

Currently...

Reading The Real Boy by Anne Ursu, after finishing Creech's The Boy on the Porch and Frost's Salt. All amazing reads.

Writing First short story is due Tuesday, so I'm knee deep in the world of my main character. It's a sad, misunderstood teenage sort of world, where things don't end quite well. This story is so important to me, and terribly difficult to write because I feel I owe this character a chance at having a voice.  So much I want to do in this story, and so few words in which to accomplish it.

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Listening The weekend has been spent with much Lost and random video game tomfoolery by The Husband going on in the background. Decent white noise for my current frame of mind.

Thinking Earlier this week I told Seestah I felt bad that I couldn't just up and skip class or miss work and North Star related obligations because mom was coming into town. Today Mom called and changed all that. Now she isn't coming here, though I think it is best that I do skip class and risk tarnishing my work reputation by being with my mom. I'd regret it beyond my ability to recover if anything happened and I had chosen anything else.

Smelling Fresh cut grass, soft rain, and dandelions. Summer, you've finally chosen to blow in.

Wishing that this too-small world didn't feel all too big right now, that parenting got less confusing as children grow, and that I wasn't so neurotic about finding answers.

Hoping Mom has her procedure this Wednesday. I'm hoping it goes well, news is good, and she's back home in her own bed safe and comfy by nightfall.

Wearing It's summer time, the work clothes are hung in my closet with care (aka lying on the closet floor), and I will be chillin' in shorts, yoga pants, and tank tops for the next few months.

Loving Seestah and I have had weird ups and downs throughout the years. We have different perspectives on many big things. But when it comes down to it, we have each other's backs. No matter what. I love that about us.

Wanting Too many sadnesses have stacked themselves up in front of me like a great tower of balancing rocks. I'd like to blow them over and see them hurtle away to make room for some space to spread out and just breathe.

Needing A plan. I very seriously need to sit down and map out my summer schedule so that all these crazy goals I have can be accomplished. I'm giving myself another day to pout about life, and then it's schedule time!

Feeling Disappointed. My frame sags heavily under the weight of it.

Clicking I was in the throes of an exiestential music crisis the other day and happened about Gnoosic. You provide a few of your favorite bands or musicians, it provides recommendations. Kind of digging it. I would dig it more if there was a way to listen to samples of the suggestions right there. Either way, a pretty nifty little site.

The Idea Factory

The class I am taking this summer is about crafting the short story. I've never been a huge reader or writer of short stories, so I thought this would be a good way to step out of my comfort zone and focus on some elements of writing that I want to work on.

Also, in the one month that this summer session meets, we are expected to complete two short stories. Knowing this, I've been greedily gathering as many ideas as possible in the past month, so that I wouldn't end up staring at my blank page crying over my lack of creativity.

I love writing, but I often need a little push to get going. I let too many fears and distractions capsize my joy as a writer. This was another reason I signed up for this class.

The question of "where do you get your ideas?" has to be one of the most frequent questions I've seen asked of authors whenever they give an interview. As if we believe there is some magic formula, some perfect remedy to the quest for story.

I thought about this a lot on the way from class tonight, as I mulled over my story idea for our first assignment. This idea happened to come from a news article I read recently, one that I can't seem to let go of because the tragic end left me with so many questions. And for me, that's where many story ideas come from.

Questions.

Why did a person do the thing they did? Why did they react a certain way? What was the reason behind their actions? How does it feel to be in that situation?

I want to know more about the human condition, and so when I hear or read about something in the news that I can't quite wrap my head around -- I question it. I wonder. I make things up.

I've always been particularly good at making things up.

I have a file of news stories that grab my attention that I keep for future story writing. And when the news doesn't offer up anything enticing, I have the quirky lifelong pattern of wacky movie-style dreams that feed my stories. I can still remember dreams from my childhood that are as rich and vivid and detailed as any book or movie I've seen. It has created some strange moods upon waking, to be sure, but I almost always write them down and save them.

You never know when you're going to be fresh out of ideas and need to go back to the well to pull up something to sustain you.

And I think that's a big part of what it takes to be a storyteller. A questioning mind, a love of observing the human condition, a desire to find the truth, and perhaps a vivid dream life. And I believe I can use these came concepts to help my young writers mine for ideas. News stories, current events, and observation -- with a questioning mindset at the ready. What about you? Where do your story ideas come from?

Ten Adventures Calling My Name

Time for that Tuesday Ten again, hosted by Crystal over at Straight On Till Morning. Hop on over there to join up and show off your own ten!

Here are ten things I would drop everything and do for myself, given the means. This list could go on for days and days, as I want to know everything and be everywhere and live every moment in huge ways, so it's probably good that I can only include ten. I felt a little guilty while thinking about this list, since it is all about me, but perhaps that gives me ten things to tell you about that I'd love to do for other people... next time!

Ten Little Life Experiences I Yearn To Have

1. Sell everything, buy one of them new-fangled RV machines, and tour the continent. Like this family.

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2. Go away for a bit to a quiet writer's residency, like this one. Or perhaps this one in Ireland.

3. Hike the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine.

4. Quit my job and start up a non-profit organization to write with at-risk youth and women survivor's of domestic abuse. Like this amazing organization that works with at-risk teen girls in New York.

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5. Start my own school. No, seriously. That's another post, entirely. Because my school would be the bomb-diggity. You can trust me, even though I say things like bomb-diggity.

6. Buy a ridiculously large plot of land and build homes for all my peeps. Is this creepy? It's not like I would make them live there. I mean, probably not. Like, not all the time.

7. Buy a funky two-story building in a University town. Turn the downstairs into a bookstore and coffee shop with a space for open mic nights. Play only local music in the store, and have their music for sale, along with a case at the front of the store to sell local artist's jewelry and other miscellany. Feature local artist's painting and photography on the walls. Upstairs, create spaces for meeting rooms, gaming rooms, and let people rent out the space to teach artsy and other classes. This store is picture perfect in my mind, and has been for several years.

Maybe with sweet gondola like this store.

8. Write the two professional development books rattling around in my brain. One is a manifesto on teaching with kindness. The other, a book on using mentor text poems to teach grammar and the craft of writing.

9. Go to this 10-day meditation retreat in Kaufman, Texas. (Are we sensing a pattern, yet?)

10. And finally, as I've wanted to do since I was a weird and thoughtful little 13 year old me, travel to the Galapagos Islands and get lost for a bit. My heart is still a little broken that it's not the solitary wilderness wonderland it once was; I missed the time before hotels and tourists, but that doesn't strip away my desire to plant my own two feet on this magical little nook of our globe.

Land iguanas are sort of like punk chameleons. Can't you hear him calling my name?

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The #SundayCurrently - Volume 2

I'm not quite as ready as I thought I would be to give up my daily blogging. Today it's time for another round of The Sunday Currently, hosted by Sidda Thornton.

Currently...

Reading Bird by Cystal Chan. With an opening that begins with, "Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother, John," I knew I would quickly fall in love with this little book. And I have. Chan's writing is filled with the type of sentences I wish I had written myself.

Writing Now that our round of #EveryDayinMay blogging is over, I'm busy pondering what June will look like. While I'm not sure this busy month will leave me time for daily blogging, I do want to remain somewhat consistent. I'm also taking a class in crafting the short story, so no matter where my writing happens, I know it will be happening and that makes for a very happy Kelly.

Listening This is a leaf-turning, path-choosing, decision-making time, and I'm doing my best to listen to that inner voice that whispers me forward in the right direction.

Thinking The dread fibromyalgia has really been taking its toll lately. I know I haven't been eating as well as I should. It'd be nice if all the research I've done was as effective in combatting the aches and pains as actual action is! So I'm thinking it's time for a total nutritional overhaul - an experiment in food, to see what differences seem to make the biggest difference. This month I'm going raw, people. I've been sliding toward this trend anyway, having quietly stopped eating meat about a month ago (yay, closet vegetarianism!). I'll definitely be posting throughout the month about my raw food adventures, and how it changes things -- or doesn't!

Smelling We had a sleepover last night, and although The Husband woke me this morning to a huge bowl of fruit for breakfast in bed, the savory smells of bacon and eggs and sausage that the boys feasted on this morning is still wafting through the house. Also, syrup. Since no pancakes were eaten at this gluten free feast, I think my brain is just mourning my wafflepalooza lifestyle and inventing scents to tease me!

Wishing If only big moments had faster answers, decisions were easier, and children remained in their mother's arms for much longer. If only.

Hoping I'd like very much to know with 100% accuracy where I am headed, and if my chosen path is one I won't regret. Oh, and my big hope for June is that I devote every spare moment alone to one of a few things: writing actual stories, practicing meditation, and moving my sluggish body!

Wearing When I went to Boston last fall, I grabbed a cute Harvard t-shirt to wear to school on our college days. I've only worn it once since then, but for some reason grabbed it this morning. I'm such a quirky little "everything has meaning" person, and this June 1st feels big and important and like a fresh start -- so I thought maybe my smart people shirt would help me brave the new month with a new perspective. (I know, right? But yes, this is how my brain works.)

Loving Having all the boys here (well, minus a few, actually) last night was a dream -- so many memories from when Uno y Dos were still children came washing over me! And I'm loving the fact that I went on an overnight backpacking trip and am planning a much longer one that will be here before we know it. I love that my mom will be here in less than two weeks and that I'll spend the month laughing with her and writing through my days. And I love, so very much, the care and concern The Husband surrounds me with, and how he supported my raw food experiment by cleaning and chopping and mixing a giant bowl of fruit for me this morning. There is so much in my life to love, right now. Maybe it really is time to start that jar of gratitude...

Wanting It's time to be less lackadaisical about my writing. About revising. About querying. It's embarrassing how melancholy and yes, jealous (so very ashamed of that!) when I am surrounded by piles of new books in the library. Oh, how I love those books. And oh, how I hate that I haven't made a true effort to have one of my own out there in the world.

Needing When I was in my undergrad program, I sat down each week and write out my to-do list and a schedule (a very, very ridiculously detailed schedule). I don't know that I would have been as successful at completing that degree without my dedication to this routine. I believe it is time to bring back the lists! Bring back the schedule. I need to somehow wrangle this full and happy life into something less like a tornado.

Feeling I'm tired of the hip pain, the brain fog, the burning skin. I'm tired of being tired. Having the aches and pains of an octogenarian colors everything else in life in shades of grey. I'm ready to find my own answers. This is my one wild and precious life, and I don't want to let go of any of it, not even for one second.

Clicking As I was looking for a link to explain the above mentioned gratitude journal, I found an actual  interactive Gratitude Jar site! How awesome is this? It reminds me of the PostSecret site (and books) but with a much happier spin. Yay!

#EveryDayinMay Soon, June.

Soon, June.

And a million new newnesses to explore.

In May I realized I love writing each day when my voice feels authentic. Imagine that.

I love the #WanderlustWednesday post that somehow materialized here, and the #TuesdayTen I stole from Crystal. #PoetryFriday will remain a constant favorite, because I just wouldn't be me without poetry. And I love sharing how I look at a poem and work with it in a writing lesson. I may add one more weekly post; something writerly related -- especially since the whole month of June I'll be in a writing class!

In March I wrote each day, but with the focus on sharing a slice of my life every day I somehow felt contained and struggled to find something worthwhile to share with each post. May was easier, and I feel as though I learned more from it.

And in June... well, June will see me in class, hopefully doing some swimming, visiting with my mom, trying some new recipes, and planning for my ever-evolving weeklong backpacking trip in July.

This year I chose light as my one little word, and the first five months have felt anything but light. 2014 has been overpacked with people and classes and projects and life and yes, even death. And there is so much more yet to discover in this year. Perhaps when I chose light, I didn't realize I was choosing not the breezy, airiness I hoped for, but the bold brilliance of a perfect sunrise. Because that's what this year has felt like so far; constant discovery, continual exploration.

And brilliant, every second of it.

#EveryDayinMay NatGeo Book of Animal Poetry

Due to a series of fortunate events, I was able to place an order with Follett for a stash of new fiction books to share with the readers on my 5th grade campus next year. We have many old and uninteresting books right now in our fiction collection, so I was super hyped to grab some books that these students can get excited about!

Maybe 25% of what I ordered fell into the nonfiction category, with the majority of those being graphic novels. The purpose of this order was to really amp up the way kids feel about reading. I hope they love the books I chose as much as I think they will!


One of my nonfiction prizes is the National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs that Squeak, Soar, and Roar! Not only am I positive our readers will love this book -- it's filled from cover to cover with stunning animal photography -- I'm also excited that it will get poetry into the hands of more students!

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Each photograph is paired with a poem from a great contemporary or classic poet. This book is just win-win, on repeat! I am eager to share it with teachers and students, and then watch as it never touches it's home in the library.

Because I'm always searching for poems to share with students, and ways to help them feel safe to try their own poetry, I thought I'd grab a poem from this book and use it as a mentor text to write my own poem - similar to how I share poetry in class.

Choosing a poem from this beautiful collection was not easy, but I thoroughly enjoyed perusing the pages as I searched for my "just right" (just write??) poem. I considered Graham Denton's What's a Caterpillar? poem, because I love how a question and response poem might sound in the hands of a child trying it out for the first time. In the end, however, I settled on Buffalo Dusk by Carl Sandburg, which instantly made me long to be back in the wilderness and also made me think of those empty halls and homes once the Senior class moves on.

Buffalo Dusk The buffaloes are gone. And those who saw the buffaloes are gone. Those who saw the buffaloes by the thousands and how they      Pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs,      Their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant      Of dusk, Those who saw the buffaloes are gone. And the buffaloes are gone. -Carl Sandburg

Youth Stampede The graduates are gone. And those who love the graduates are weeping. Those who taught the graduates each day and how they      Danced a new dream into life with their hands and hearts,      Their wide eyes open dreaming big, bright, bold lives       Of brilliance, Those who love the graduates pause and smile. And the graduates are gone. -Kelly Mogk © 2014

So after a couple rereadings of Buffalo Dusk and about ten minutes to play with my own words, that is the result. Were I working with young writers, I'd think aloud through the process and brainstorm ideas, and eventually move further and further away from this patterned writing and closer to the heart of my own voice. But it's a good exercise to begin with when you aren't sure how to get kids writing, I think.

What do you think? Do you have favorite poems to use in the classroom? For more poetry, be sure to hop on over to Random Noodling, where this week's #PoetryFriday bloghop is being hosted!

#EveryDayinMay - Poetry with Flora & Ulysses

Today's post was planned and ready to go when all of a sudden it was altered by a very unanticipated occurence.

We reached our first poem in Flora & Ulysses during reading club, and decided we should write some poetry, too. It's a poem that begs to be used as a mentor text, and since our very short time together was ending, I hurriedly gathered up some markers and chart paper and modeled how to use the poem to write my own. We noticed how the poem was organized, and then I thought aloud about how to brainstorm my own list of ideas modeled after Ulysses' first poem.

After I wrote my poem on the chart paper, I invited my little poets to continue brainstorming their own words and begin their poem. We just happened to have paper and pencils handy -- before reading we had brainstormed what a superhero's sidekick would look like and they drew sketches of what their sidekick would look like. They kept the paper and pencil out while I read, to continue their sketches, write down words they liked as I read, and draw pictures to go with the story.

It is always a good idea to be ready to write while you're reading!

Their poems were lovely, as children's poems often are, and we shared what we wrote before leaving for the day.

Response to Flora & Ulysses on Vimeo.
I brought the book home tonight and finished it. Flora & Ulysses would easily be a classroom read aloud I would add to my class library, and I'm happy to have three copies on each of my campuses in our school libraries. I know it will be a book not often on the shelves, but happily in the hands and hearts of our young readers.