For Change’s Quake

October 11, 2016 / lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

this day, three years back:
an unfair observation
on a testing day.

i thought i was done;
trying to be good enough
was just not enough

and now? full circle–
a grapevine request to see
my expert teaching

from a district head
who saw just minutes of us
(speaking for us all).

now he’s bringing guests
to show others how it looks
to teach ELD

(the irony stings
with my facebook memory–
a harsh reminder)

but all things must change
from weak saplings to gold leaves
that have brought me home

Case of the Mondays

October 10, 2016 / lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

because it’s Monday
the alarm sucks, kids are bored,
and fall won’t happen–

the classroom burns hot
from a boiler turned on
two weeks too early

and everyone thinks
it’s a holiday today,
so here i sit. wait

at the Jiffy Lube
with the rest of the world
panning for oil.

this is white privilege.
this is American life.
black gold that burns all.

This Pussy Will Save Us!

October 8, 2016 / lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

it’s a dark world
when a candidate’s words sting
women worldwide

i cannot hear more.
i just want my girls’ freedom
from this dark world.

i want that sweet love
that comes from kitten cuddles.
and no more of Trump.

And Then I Remember

October 7, 2016 / lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

This. This is why I teach. For three years she’s been in my class. She has gotten married. Had a baby. But she still can’t decode words. She still struggles with basic sentences. I know she has more going on in her mind than Bambara and Mali and motherhood, but I haven’t found a way to reach this girl. I haven’t been able to communicate with her in a way to help her understand. But “reliving” 1880s farm chores today, she said, “I got this. We do this in my country.” And today, today, today, she was the best at something. This. This is #whyiteach

Short This

October 6, 2016 / lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

ten years ago, as a young teacher,
i would have killed to have such a flawless lesson.
today?
one component makes me feel like a failure.
ask.
ask why teachers leave this profession in droves.
why we spend hours collecting fake data points to try to prove ourselves.
why every damn day they must be
interacting as if their intelligence
could not be shown in another way.

ask.
ask.
screw the introverts,
the six weeks prior of building up talk,
of transition handouts and forced verbal responses and
Socratic seminars.
this day, this day when i have them
writing more sentences in one period
than they’ve written in their entire
school careers,
i am judged as
not even approaching,
not even close to being good enough?

Ask.
i’ll tell you why.
because with all the hoops and all the hopes and all the reasons i came into this career,
some days,
rainy days like today,
dreary and plagued with doubt,
it sure as hell feels more like
an unsatisfactory career
than i feel like an unsatisfactory teacher.