A teacher asked Paul
what he would remember
from third grade, and he sat
a long time before writing
"this year somebody tutched me
on the sholder"
and turned his paper in.
Later she showed it to me
as an example of her wasted life.
The words he wrote were large
as houses in a landscape.
He wanted to go inside them
and live, he could fill in
the windows of "o" and "d"
and be safe while outside
birds building nests in drainpipes
knew nothing of the coming rain.
I just did a similar assignment with my students. I had some reflection questions about their reading and writing. There are on my desk and I didn't read them yet. I could see myself having a similar response. I feel I have wasted most of our class time due to babysitting and classroom management.
ReplyDeleteI'm upset with this teacher because she is not considering where Paul started out the year. Maybe for Paul this is an example of growth. Maybe someone touching his shoulder is an example of someone caring about him. Maybe his home environment doesn't support ideal learning for whatever reason. Or maybe he has an undiagnosed learning disability, or he is learning English as a second language. I feel bad that Paul isn't getting the education or teacher he deserves (Or, my last maybe, maybe Paul is a little turd that is spoiled rotten and thinks he can do whatever he wants so he doesn't try to apply myself because it isn't fun.) That should be a poem!