Words from the Heart

As I have said many times before, poetry is painting pictures with words.  Like any art, the more ones practices the better one gets.  Often, my students will tell me that it is too difficult to write poetry; however, I remind them that everything in life can be difficult, until we learn to make it our own. So, this past month, I had some of my ESOL students write haiku...the results were so beautiful that I created a newsletter with the pictures they used as prompts along side the haiku they wrote.  Needless to say, they were impressed with the fact that they could write something good enough to go into print.  So, begins their personal journeys into creative writing! This is the poem I wrote for my students - my heroes - who struggle against so many odds to learn English. Safe Haven   They come beaten and battered by the storm  of dictatorial lies and systematic cruelty,  looking for the promised asylum offered by  the great colo...

My "corner office" where all the creating happens! Wow!  Can't believe there is less than a week to the Poem a Day Challenge.  I have managed to keep the poems flowing, in spite of grading papers, preparing finals and enjoying my new grandchild. As I indicated in an earlier post , I am trying to keep with the theme of teaching English as a second language. This has not always been as easy as it might seem, especially if you are writing to prompts, which I have been doing.  However, I am pleased with what I have been inspired to create. The following are a couple of favorite poems.  Enjoy! (The prompt for these poems was to write a letter poem and a recipe poem - you can see the challenge, I am sure! All poems © 2012 LMN) DEAR TEACHER Thank you for teaching me to think about the words that I learn so that I can use them like money at the store of Life. LITERACY DU JOUR Begin with a student eager to learn; add in a teacher with resources ga...

English: This is a high-resolution image of the United States Declaration of Independence (article (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Teaching English as a second language to immigrants and refugees is an eye-opening experience.  First, there is the exchange of ideas, beliefs, customs, etc. that can't help but happen when one is teaching someone of another culture.  Then, there are the stories of hope that pull at your heart-strings, shared in between grammar lessons or during a practice conversation.  One of the greatest hopes of many of my students is to become a U.S. citizen.  To these amazing people, it is the ultimate dream.   As the great grandchild of immigrants, this dream is not so far from my personal experience not to understand the great passion and drive people have towards reaching it.  Therefore, I jump at the chance to teach my students what they need to become citizens.  One of the questions for citizenship in the U.S. is, "What are...

 I was wandering around my computer, when I found this post that I wrote back in graduate school for our class blog.  As the teacher to international students learning English as a second language this post has taken on a new meaning to me. The book I was reflecting on was “You Gotta Be the Book”  by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm It is a book that grabbed my attention, took me inward into my own learning and my desire to teach and brought me to a place of determination and passion. Reflections on "You Gotta Be the Book"   The entire time I was reading this book, I kept wishing I could actually be in Wilhelm’s class...not as a teacher, but as a student! I love writing, but, had it not been for a few well-placed teachers in my life, I would have never ended up becoming a writer, let alone feeling accomplished. I struggled through school due to undiagnosed learning differences. I discovered, often by accident, tools and strategies to overcome what my brain did not seem to ge...

There is a quote by an unknown author that states, " Some people walk into our lives and quietly go... others stay for a while and leave footprints in our hearts... and we are never the same..." Thanks to my first class of students in an English as a Second Language program back several years ago (around 15 years!!!), my life changed forever. My First Class - Exchange Students from Spain Not only did my students then, and those that followed in their footsteps, open my eyes to my desire to teach, they also helped me recognize the fact that one person can make a difference. I had three classes of exchange students back in the 90's, I also was blessed to have several exchange students live with my family for a full year.These are some of their pictures. Sarah, my German daughter - from the second class More Students from the Second ESL Class Third class of ESL Students Patty - my Guatemalan Daughter Pablo, my Argentinian Son and My Four Daughters My Swiss Daughter (in denim...