#StuVoice Rising

Within the community of a classroom, student voice is fostered. Through choice options, it amplifies its reach, moving all students to have a say, to reveal identities, and bring perspectives to the table of knowledge. How does #StuVoice take root?

It rises from corners-

sweeps through a room

spiraling in crescendos 

of energy and passion.

It claims its individuality-

links to another's thought

joining a collective chorus

of inspired thoughts.

It widens in its reach,

unfolding its intent-

promoting positivity as 

it connects to others.

During the #TWTBlob conversation on May 8th, educators discussed how best to keep learning going throughout the summer. As a proponent of student voice, I think that teachers who find their voice through the art of writing are more apt to encourage students to tap into their inner voice and let it fly.

Today is Slice of Life Tuesday and I am joining Two Writing Teachers to offer my slice and read the thoughts of colleagues.  

 

Professional Wonder

As the school year nears closing, educators continue to find resources and avenues to explore their professional wonder. I am impressed by the hundreds of educators who aspire to seek knowledge and grow as learners each day on Twitter. Twitter chats provide excellent soil to plant seeds, share growth, and cultivate new gardens of thought. 

While not being able to join #G2Great on May 4th, I was fortunate to read the archived transcript and Dr. Mary Howard's Literacy Lenses post reviewing last week's educational chat with Cornelius Minor and Courtney Kinney.  You can access Mary's post here. I was intrigued by the way Mary synthesized the information from the #G2Great Twitter conversation, focusing on the theme of building a tapestry. She deftly wove her post together, providing the reader with a backward look on the chat and a forward plan to finish the year strong. 

For those who enjoy the journey of professional wondering like me, I hope you cultivate gardens of thought as you network and learn from other educators. By becoming a voice on Twitter, you can gather seeds of knowledge to support your journey and build your own Wonder Wall of quotes that extend your knowledge and assist you in helping your learners become unique voices in a diverse world of thought. 

From Mary's post and the thoughts garnered from Cornelius' and Courtney's nuggets of wisdom, I created a commitment statement that I will share with other educators as I continue to walk my journey as a wonderologist.

Educators: 
Stand on the precipice of change.
Hand in hand, lift thoughts while
cultivating gardens of unique blossoms,
places of wonder-filled opportunities
where individual seeds root and grow.

With passion, cultivate and care-tend

your garden, recording each growth. 

Step back in faith, vigilant harvesters. 
Watch the fruits of your patient labor:  
each blossom spreading and standing 
tall in harmony with many others. 

Reflect within your garden quadrants.
Find the inspiration to start afresh
With yet another garden bearing blossoms.
You are the tillers of the soil of knowledge.
You are the cultivators of immense learning.
You are educators who finish the year strong!
©CV, 2017

I offer this to post to #DigiLitSunday where the topic is professional wonder. This topic stems from last week's #WonderChat where Dr. Mary Howard was the guest host discussing Instilling a Sense of Professional Wonder. 

Spring Celebrates Life

Spring is when life's alive in everything.

-Christina Rossetti

Whether the rains fall in torrential waves, there is a chill in the air, or the sun shines brightly, spring sends out messages of love and renewal. Recently on Long Island, there have been many looks to springtime, all leading me to celebrate springtime.

Last weekend there was a twelve hour span of beautiful sunshine for our Shower of Love-a celebration of life growing!

 

This glorious day was followed by cleansing rains throughout the week that brought more life to my gardens. Hofstras and herbs popped in their garden beds. The peonies are ready to burst open and the front planters of colorful flowers are looking regal.

Springtime honors life in its many forms. At the end of this week, I look back on life through a positive lens. There were several springtime celebrations, a baby shower, spring rain showers, a fundraiser for beautiful, handmade African jewelry and accessories, a professional learning opportunity, an art gala, and time to spend with family and friends. 

  

 

Balance and tranquility flowed, as it should when you look at life with a positive outlook. 

May you find positivity this coming week in all that you do and celebrate the wonder of life in springtime!

I am "Celebrating This Week" with Ruth Ayres so please visit Ruth's site to read how the community of bloggers celebrated their week. 

Rain Lullaby

morning opens with a chill

flowers stand tall

earth is quenched

©CV, 2017

As rain falls upon us, sings its praise

with pitter patter sounds, loud roars,

 and swooshes of chilling drops.

Nature celebrates spring as the sky's

confetti dances and descends.

©CV, 2017

May the rain lift your spirits rather than dampen them. Come, join me to celebrate springtime. Create digitals, write poetry, offer musical playlists or inspirational quotes for my spring gallery, Springsations. Be inspired by nature around you and unleash your creativity. The invitation to create for the gallery can be found here.

Today, Jama Rattigan is the hostess of Poetry Friday. Please join her Poetry Roundup at Alphabet Soup to see the visual display she has whipped up for us.

Reach

What better way to open a morning than to 
REACH for positivity and possibility. 

My day began with gratitude for a shining sun.
I reached out to touch the world
as I glided down the highway.
Traffic was heavy and focus
needed to arrive safely.
Persevere through
challenges,
I thought.
©CV, 2017 

Donna Smith's one word, reach, was on my mind but there was no time to write. Now at the end of day, I reflect on the power of #ThankfulThursday as a catalyst to pour gratitude into the universe. I am thankful for: safe passage to the regional meeting that I was facilitating, new learning from the keynote presenter, positive communication with colleagues, a wonderful dinner with friends, and the quiet of alone time. 

As I reach out to find further inspiration for this post being offered to Spiritual Journey first Thursday, I give praise to Irene Latham for gathering our community of believers each month and to Donna Smith for opening her site for commentary on her one little word, reach. 

There is much to reach for in life. 

The road ahead may be bumpy

but with a shiny light from above,

I will be able to reach further destinations.

Shower of Love

Bringing a Shower of Love
From My House to Yours

Pre-Shower
It came in with a roar 

that cracked the sky

but I did not hear it.

I was curled in my bed.

                                             Talk revolved around

 weather as day began

but I could only listen.

I didn't hear thunder roar.

Springsational Morning
True to prediction, sunshine followed. 
Long Island sparkled in daylight
as rainwater evaporated.
Spring came a calling.

Arrival of Guests
I marveled how nature popped.

Plantings sprouted.

Blessings poured down

as guests arrived.

Celebration
It was a day to remember.

Everything was in order.

A celebration of the wonder 

of life about to be born evolved.

©CV, 2017

Take a peek at the decorations.

More photos will follow.

This post is offered to Two Writing Teachers for the Slice of Life Tuesday.  

Touched by Nature

"Seek  the resonance that enters a poem

only when it is touched by the stillness of nature." 

-Margarita Engle

On the days before my daughter's baby shower, I spent time in my gardens with Matt, my landscaper from Rockville Lawn. Our mission was to beautify the exterior of the home. Like in the past, chocolate mulch was added to the beds to provide a beautiful landscape for the plantings that awakened just in time for tomorrow's event at my home. Now, my gardens can have a taste of chocolate along with the rest of my guests to celebrate springtime and the birth of a new addition to our family.

verdant green gardens

filled with nature's bounty-

seasonal decor

showcased in chocolate

festively dressed for spring

spring emissaries

popping up through chocolate

sprouting, standing tall

showcasing seasonal joy-

a springsation to welcome

I always seem to slip into the challenge at the tail end but preparing for the shower has left me little time to unwind and write. These two poems are offered to Michelle H. Barnes' ditty challenge at Today's Little Ditty. My poetry flows from Michelle's interview with Margarita Engle whom I had the privilege of listening to at NCTE 16. Margarita's challenge was to write a tanka, a poetic form that suits me well since I am starting a spring gallery collection of poetic blossoms at #Springsations. 

My ditty challenge is:  Write a tanka poem.  Think of it as a travel diary, even if you are only moving around in your own garden.  You are free to choose any subject.  Your poem is only five lines.  The traditional tanka syllable count is 5-7-5-7-7, but since Japanese syllables are shorter, in English the poem could be awkwardly long. You don’t have to count syllables, but stick to the basic line pattern of short, long, short, long, long.  Keep the total number of syllables for each poem under 30, or even better, keep it under 26.  Less is more.  Shorter is more powerful.  Don’t try to be detailed.  Seek the resonance that enters a poem only when it is touched by the stillness of nature.

I traveled around my garden today from one bed to the next and the images and words are what flowed when my fountain provided the right softness to the night. The stillness of nature is a comfort. 

Friday is the day for Poetry Friends to converse in verse so head over to the Poetry Friday Round-up that can be found at JoAnn Early Macken at Teaching Authors.

The image poems in tanka format above are part of my #poetrylisciouspoetry collection for National Poetry Month 2017.

Please consider creating alongside me for my spring gallery of artistic expressions, Springsations.

Joy in Creating

ME                                                                                                                            

There is a joy in the process of creating.                                                                                 AUTHOR--Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape

Creating means living.

ME
When I get involved in a passion project, whatever it is, I immerse myself in the moment, finding fulfillment in what I am doing. Tonight, my passion project is baking cookies as part of a family tradition. In many of my blog posts, I have given high praise to my grandmother and mother for their baking talents. Tonight, I think of them as I continue baking specialty cookies for the baby shower I am hosting this weekend for my daughter. Many of the cookies are dipped in pink chocolate. Have I provided a clue? It's a girl tiny ribbons and heart-shaped trinkets are everywhere in my house. My grandmother and mother must be dancing for joy in their heavenly homes.

REFLECTION
Finding joy in creating evolves as the process nears an end but not everyone realizes this. Some people have never experienced joyful feelings of accomplishment or learning for learning's sake. Some give up while creating, thinking that their work is not "good enough". Some can't move beyond their comfort zone. Others, find fault with their work and rather than revise, discard what they did.

While baking this week, I found enjoyment in the discomfort stage. Trying out new recipes was somewhat challenging because of the unknown but I remembered how creative my mother and grandmother were. That thought spurred me on. As I prepared my cookie dough, I remembered their hands busily preparing tasty confections for their family, working alone in silence to be able to concentrate. They enjoyed honing their craft. I commend their diligence to the tasks they were involved in and their ability to pass down their passion for baking so I can find the joys of creating and living a full life. If I gave up on improving my bakings skills because some of the cookies were a bit too brown around the edges or the frosting a tad too sweet, I would not have been able to create some new tastes for my guests to savor. 

Upon further reflection on the process of creating, I realize that I need to stay on task, focus, and find joy in the process of creating at all stages. 

TAKE AWAY:
Not every creation is going to be a great one but it is just one more step to honing our craft.

Cookies in the oven,

Baby cozy and warm,

Celebrate the wonder

of life about to be born.

©CV, 2017

I share this digital with you to show you that will the cookie dough was delicious, the final products were not picture picture perfect and that's okay! 

The image poem and inspirational message above are part of my #poetrylisciouspoetry collection for National Poetry Month 2017.

It's Tuesday! WRITE. SHARE. GIVE.

with Two Writing Teachers for the Slice of Life.

 

March Slice of Life Story Challenge

Celebrating the Earth

Each Earth Day, citizens gather together to find ways to protect our beautiful earth. Think Green is a popular mantra!

URGENT MESSAGE:
As residents of the earth, we need to take on the role of stewards, keep watch over the bountiful creation provided us, and teach students about the challenges of climate change and other local environmental concerns. Adults can model the slogan, Reduce-Recycle-Reuse, to take a small step forward in Earth Day efforts to save Mother Earth. 

Children can also help, as evidenced by the HBO documentary, Saving My Tomorrow, that aired last night at the close of Earth Day. You can view the clip below.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY:
Classrooms can promote "Earth Day Everyday" by planting trees, recycling, reading about Earth Day at Wonderopolis' Wonder of the Day 1675, How Can You Make Earth a Better Place, and reflecting. To broaden the after-reading experience, 4th to 6th grade students can engage in a writing activity focusing on 10 of the highlighted words in the Wonderopolis text, i.e., earth, public consciousness, future, protection, legislation, global, recycling, rally, action, conserve, plant, trash. Using these words as prompts, students work in pairs to create poems that either celebrate the beauty of Mother Earth or provide insight into ways to save the earth. Recitation of the pair-created poem with another pair enhances the oral reading experience. Asking for feedback allows students to refine their poem. Students create Illustrations, posters, or videos of the class poems to publicize a celebration event.

POETIC FORMAT:
The example I provide below is an adaptation of the Golden Shovel poetic format featured by Writer's Digest. While I enjoy creating this type of poem, I admit that it is challenging.

-Find a quote that appeals to you about your subject.

-Use each word in the quote as an end word in your poem.

-Keep the end words in order.

-Give credit to the person who wrote the quote.

QUOTE:

The earth is what we all have in common. 

- Wendell Berry

MY RESPONSE:

There is beauty in fragile flowers, the

turn of light upon the grass. The earth

wrapped in shades of vibrant hues is

resplendent in springtime, but what 

if we neglect our mighty land?  Will we

deplete earth of its riches or of all

it has bestowed on mankind. Have

we forgotten what is necessary in

our haste to have superfluous interests in common?
©Carol Varsalona, 2017

Yesterday was Earth Day 2017 

but 

EVERYDAY should be Earth Day! 

Let's band together to honor the earth through advocacy and simple steps to focus on becoming faithful stewards of the environment.

The image poem and inspirational message above are part of my #poetrylisciouspoetry collection for National Poetry Month 2017.

Thank you, Margaret Simon for suggesting the topic for #DigiLitSunday and creating the digital flyer below.

Thank you, Ruth Ayres for providing space each weekend to Celebrate This Week with fellow bloggers.

This post is also part of my Wonder Bundle of activities that I am creating for Wonderopolis as part of my commitment to being a Wonder Lead Ambassador. Do you often wonder how you can help protect the earth?