Tag Archives: borrowed

What teachers make

Posted on February 1, 2011 by catbird2

A poem by slam poet Taylor Mali, with a little help from YouTube. I wonder how I had never heard of this guy before a week ago.      

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I, Too, Sing America

Posted on January 17, 2011 by catbird2

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a poem by Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And … Continue reading →

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Heat

Posted on July 25, 2010 by catbird2

By H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) O wind, rend open the heat,                                                                                                           cut apart the heat,                                                                                                                         rend it to tatters. Fruit cannot drop                                                                … Continue reading →

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Marginalia

Posted on June 20, 2010 by catbird2

By Billy Collins Sometimes the notes are ferocious, / skirmishes against the author / raging along the borders of every page / in tiny black script. / If I could just get my hands on you, / Kierkegaard, or Conor … Continue reading →

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If there is no God

Posted on May 9, 2010 by catbird2

If there is no God,                                                                                                                            Not everything is permitted to man;                                                                                             He is still his brother’s keeper,                                                                                                      And he is not permitted to sadden his brother                                                                             By saying that there is no God. — Czeslaw Milosz

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Words fail

Posted on May 2, 2010 by catbird2

Being a composition teacher requires a lot of imagination. Sometimes it takes fun imagination, like inventing news lines of inquiry or challenging students’ perspectives on a story – or coming up with a quick reply to a smart-aleck question from … Continue reading →

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Control maintenance – teacher’s edition

Posted on April 25, 2010 by catbird2

Machiavelli on the hovering / empowering distinction Toward the end of a library research session with one of my lit classes this week, I caught myself making a third set of rounds among students as they leaned in to their … Continue reading →

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