Thursday, March 14, 2019

Time Well Wasted


gelai red

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” 
                     ― Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ry, The Little Prince


Yes, my friends, you're right. It *has* been a long time.

What have I been doing since November?

Basically a whole lot of everything and an equal amount of nothing. I'm trying to stay flexible and find comfort in going with the flow, but living with uncertainty is not easy for an established control freak like myself. I'm embracing the challenge.

I was going to post a poem by e. e. cummings for my birthday last month, but never got around to it. Still worthwhile advice, I think. Make sure you click on the link to read the second and third stanzas.

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

                   Read the rest HERE.

Michael Levine-Clark


They say that with distance (and age) comes clarity, but the only thing I can truly say with confidence is that, like the little prince, I've missed my rose.



The pull to come back to Today's Little Ditty has been strong, but I needed to make sure that when I came back it would be with an open mind and more realistic expectations of how much time I can spend here whiling away the hours. The Ditty of the Month Club kept me on such a tight schedule, I'm excited to try out some things I never had time for in the past.


National Poetry Month 2019

One of those new things I've been eager to try out is hosting a National Poetry Month program based on Classroom Connections—the series I introduced with Nikki Grimes about a year ago.


There are SO many new poetry books being published recently, I thought it would be useful to show how they can be put to use as mentor texts, with classroom exercises suggested by the authors. I'll be featuring some old friends next month, a few new friends, and several authors I've had my eye on to feature for some time now—I'm delighted to finally have the chance!

In the next couple weeks I'll have a schedule for you, but in the meantime, I hope you'll mention the series to your friends who are teachers. It's going to be a fabulous resource for bringing poetry into the classroom. And giveaways? Oh my, yes. A dittyload of giveaways.


"Birdhouses" by julie (modified)

I've missed you, Poetry Friday!
It's great to be back in the neighborhood.


Heidi Mordhorst is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup at my juicy little universe. There will be many poems relating to the Youth Climate Strike taking place today. Although my post is not applicable, I look forward to lending my support to this inspiring and worthwhile endeavor.



23 comments:

  1. That last line of e.e. cummings poem is gorgeous ❤ Happy belated birthday!
    Your National Poetry Month mentor text plans sound exciting -- looking forward to it!

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  2. Welcome back! I loved the e.e. cummings poem you shared.

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  3. Always happy to read your words, Michelle! Thank you, too, for the e.e. cummings, which is new to me, and I am quite enamored. xo

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  4. Glad you've got your groove back, Michelle! :-)

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  5. "whatever they sing is better than to know" is something to cherish for us, Michelle. Your plans sound like a new venture and I will share when you begin, know my former colleagues will love it! Lovely to see you here again.

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  6. Thanks for the cummings fix this week, Michelle. Nice to have you back and hear about your NPM plans. Looking forward to your posts next month. :)

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  7. Yay, Michelle! It's lovely to see you and it's lovely that you took a break to figure out what you want to do. I think the classroom connections idea is fabulous! And I love ee cummings.

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  8. Time well wasted indeed! Looking forward to seeing your new ideas on the page!

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  9. Re-welcome back, Michelle. Nice idea for next month--can't wait to see who and what, and maybe my class can participate...That Cummings poem was new to me. Have you read this one?
    http://www.lynnungar.com/poems/camas-lilies-2/
    Or maybe it was you who pointed me to it!
    x0x

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    1. Nope, it wasn't me who pointed you to it, Heidi, but it IS quite wonderful!

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  10. Hey! Happy Birthday, little bird, and thanks for the reminder about Classroom Connections. Yikes! Gotta go work on that!

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  11. Always nice to read some e. e. cummings. Thanks for that. Happy belated birthday.

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  12. I add my welcome back to the rest...and joy that you are making sure that YOU are taking care to have writing time too. You are such an inspiration. My school has a fledgling writer's guild going. I am most happy to spread the word about classroom connections. Mwah!

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  13. Love the e.e. cummings poem you shared, especially the second stanza. Looking forward to you classroom connections. And happy belated birthday!

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  14. Belated birthday bounce dear Michelle! Hope it was tasty, with a good waft of wildflowers & birdsong.

    Here, I am often wrong on Saturday AND Sunday, so e.e. cummings & are are nearly simpatico. I loved reading the rest of the poem & think it's a gem, like most of his.

    April! Poetry Month! - you are back in the helm just in time. I will share your CC links to my best teachers, especially a 4th grade Angel in public school in Orlando.

    With the March 15 PF post, I intend for my own blogging at Bookseedstudio
    & on social media to be scant for a time, to splurge on writing time.
    So glad you are baaaaack. We have all missed you/today's little delight terribly.

    Songful near-Spring :)

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  15. Welcome back! I've missed you! Your Poetry Month project sounds amazing (and so important...I'll definitely share about it!)

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  16. Welcome back, my friend. Your new venture sounds wonderful so I would love to tweet it out to my colleagues across the world. Poetry Month Joy coming our way.

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  17. Welcome back and happy birthday! Thanks for sharing the cummings poem. Best wishes for whatever is ahead, from me, whose blog has also been on hiatus.

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  18. Happy Belated Birthday, and welcome back! Love the blithe wisdom and spirit of e.e.cummings - I somehow needed to read this today.

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  19. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us!

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  20. I especially love the last stanza of the e. e. cummings poem, I may have to hang it up somewhere or stick it in one of my many notebooks…
    Looking forward to your "Classroom Connection posts. Glad you found your way back Michelle–I'd been hoping you would pop back in soon. Happy Bee-lated Returns of the Day, and thanks for sharing the lovely birdhouses too! xo

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  21. Welcome back, Michelle! You've been missed. I look forward to your Classroom Connections when they arrive. =)

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  22. Your NaPoWriMo Classroom Connection sounds like it will be amazing! I will be sure to pass it onto my teacher friends. Glad that you're back. :)

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