lost in her paintings
i want them to see beauty
but they just won’t look
Closed Eyes
education
Pink Limbs
sometimes the sunrise
is the best part of the day
(before darkness falls)
At the Right Moment
darkness surrounds us
but a few words can bring light
where it’s hard to find
No Photo for This
images compared:
teaching online, in person
in the same classroom
Pandemic Teaching
One of my students just called me and in his very broken English told me I upset him in class today because I wasn’t on screen the whole time. He was in tears and his father yelled at him. Why wasn’t I on screen the whole time?
Because I was walking around my classroom trying to check in on the twelve kids who showed up today. Because I was trying to get two kids who have done zero work because of their utter terror of technology finally logged into our textbook.
Because I was making a tiny bit of progress with two kids, and breaking another.
Because it’s 2020 and I don’t know how to teach anymore. 💔
But I wore this mask and put up the new background fireworks to celebrate a candidate who literally has the power to change or save their lives and their families’ lives, and I smiled.
So why am I crying now?
Carved Calabazas
new activities
their first time with Halloween
as they search for dreams
Even with Masks, We Smile
they came in numbers.
almost fifty percent. yes.
2020 win.
Snowantine
no snow day for us
but i ski between meetings
beating remote games
Smile and Nod
tried to woo them here
but only a few have come
so this is my life
What Is Left?
hours of phone calls
texts pleading in languages
i don’t even speak
setting up my room
with a yardstick and some hope
ready for today
social media
comments on our lack of space
(century-old school)
2020 wins.
after this, i just give up.
no one came to school.
to walk empty halls
without the student voices
cold. slow. loveless. death.
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