Jim Asher's Blog, page 3

What Fifty Said

In my first-ever goodreads blog entry on June 6th I opened with some thoughts on Robert Frost’s poem, “What Fifty Said.” I noted that, “As an educator, I find these lines (in the first stanza) quite depressing since the speaker (i.e. the student) had to give up ‘fire for form’ due to a traditional approach of teachers presenting mind-numbing content in an uninspiring fashion.” In light of some of my recent posts concerning the use of poetry in professional development for teachers, I thought that I would revisit that poem.

Of course, at this time of year most schools are out for the summer, and students and teachers are enjoying their vacations; however, school administrators like myself are busy preparing for the 2012-2013 school year – so perhaps a school administrator or two will see this discussion and/or some of my previous posts and incorporate poetry into some of their planning for the new school year. With that said, here is the entire poem by Frost:


WHAT FIFTY SAID

When I was young my teachers were the old.
I gave up fire for form till I was cold.
I suffered like a metal being cast.
I went to school to age to learn the past.

Now I am old my teachers are the young.
What can't be molded must be cracked and sprung.
I strain at lessons fit to start a suture.
I go to school to youth to learn the future.


Of course the opening line of the poem conveys an obvious truth — that youth is taught by those who are “old,” those who have come before them and who, themselves, are educated. However, the remaining lines of the of the stanza reveal that this education – learning “the past” from “the old” – can be excruciating when one must give up “fire for form.” How sad it would be for any youth to be cast into a conventional mold due to the obsolete approach of an outdated teacher. That image brings to mind two quotes from E. E. Cummings:

• I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.

• It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.


Back to the Frost: the tone of the poem turns with the opening line of the second stanza as the speaker reveals that he is now old himself. As the stanza concludes, he notes that he has “cracked and sprung” from his mold as he now “learn(s) the future” from the youth. Hmmm – this makes me wonder just how exhilarating Frost would view – and learn from – the youth of the digital age. Are current teachers joining the collaboration revolution and learning from their students? Are they joining their students as they journey into the 21st Century to become collaborators, creators, publishers, audience, reporters, and digital citizens? This brings to mind yet another quote from Cummings:

• Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.

How Happy Is The Little Stone

In a blog entry on June 15, 2012, I wrote about how I have used poetry in staff development for teachers. This entry includes another example.

First, in earlier faculty meetings, we included reviews of high-yield teaching strategies, elements of engaging lessons, features of “brain friendly” lessons, and aspects of culturally responsive teaching. The previous examinations emphasized how these four areas contribute to the establishment of a safe classroom environment that allows for risk taking, validation, affirmation, and affiliation (a sense that students’ work is valued and shared).

Following a recap of our earlier work, I then projected a quote from Lawrence Cremin:


Education is “the deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to transmit, evoke, or acquire knowledge, values, attitudes, skills, or sensibilities, as well as any learning that results from the effort, direct or indirect, intended or unintended.”


At that point, I conducted a “think-pair-share” and asked each teacher to identify and discuss in pairs the single most important word in the quote. Of course, there could be different possible answers to my question, but after some conversation I told them that in my mind, the key word in the quote is “deliberate.”

Yes, it is true that a person with a natural talent for teaching might be a "good teacher," but by being deliberate with planning, instruction, and assessment – and by being deliberate with high-yield instructional strategies, elements of engaging lessons, features of “brain friendly” lessons, and aspects of culturally responsive teaching – one will become an even better/more effective teacher.

Okay, so here is where the poetry came in:

With that thought in mind (i.e., the deliberate work of a highly effective teacher), I had the teachers work on an activity centered on the poem “How happy is the little stone” by Emily Dickinson:


How happy is the little Stone
That rambles in the Road alone,
And doesn't care about Careers
And Exigencies never fears—
Whose Coat of elemental Brown
A passing Universe put on,
And independent as the Sun
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute Decree
In casual simplicity—


Here are the instructions I gave the teachers:

1. Read the poem and discuss in pairs.

2. Create (in the pair) a "bumper sticker" of exactly 6 words to reflect a main point or theme of the poem.

3. Once your "bumper sticker" is ready, practice a bit of “word association” by posting it by one of four Albert Einstein quotes displayed throughout the room. Post it by the quote which closely relates to the bumper sticker and the theme/idea of the poem. Here are the four quotes:

A. Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
B. We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
C. Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
D. Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Once all the pairs were ready and the bumper stickers were posted around the room, we discussed the poem, the bumper stickers, and the quotes – all centered on "perception" (for at this point, I had also projected a slide of an optical illusion of a man on a horse who appeared to be approaching or leaving a park – it all depended upon how one looked at it). A main point on which we centered our discussion was that teachers could not be like "the little stone"-- i.e., "happy" with the way things are. Instead, they had to be "deliberate" with their approach, with their strategies, and with their positive relationships with their students if they wanted to maximize growth in student achievement.

After all, if a teacher is not deliberate, then he or she might as well just follow the advice of the Cheshire Cat:

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

A Riddle

Some of my recent posts have been about how I’ve introduced and excited kids about poetry –
see my entries dated June 11, June 13, and June 24. Also, on June 18, I wrote about a very quick and easy high impact activity that helps kids feel comfortable in voicing their opinions when discussing and analyzing poetry.

Another very quick but effective activity that supports students having a voice in class discussions involves a riddle: Ask your students, “What is one thing you can sit on, sleep on, and use to brush your teeth?” Allow for plenty of wait-time, and be sure to repeat the question once or twice: “What is one thing you can sit on, sleep on, and use to brush your teeth?”

Once the students have pondered the brainteaser for a bit, give them the answer: “A chair, a bed, and a tooth brush.” Yes, the answer was “as plain as the nose on your face,” as the saying goes* – and yet more than likely students were afraid to give such a response so as “not to get it wrong.” With this lesson (and like the one described in my blog post dated June 18) you can help set the stage for students to feel comfortable in offering their thoughts and views when discussing and interpreting poetry.




*Speaking of noses - if I remember correctly I believe I heard this riddle in the movie "Roxanne" - the spoof of "Cyrano de Bergerac" starring Steve Martin.

The Crescent Moon

Did you see the crescent moon last night? Yes, it was beautiful, but it reminded me of one other strategy I’ve used in the classroom to get students excited about poetry.

Recently I posted two blog entries about how I’ve introduced poetry to students by using two works by E. E. Cummings, “l(a” (see my blog post dated June 11) and “old age sticks” (see my post dated June 13). Students always love the innovative approach Cummings used with the structure and placement of words and letters to create effect and understanding beyond the surface meaning. Students are always excited by his inventive use of language, and they are inspired by their own varied interpretations.

To maintain their enthusiasm and interest, I often follow the lessons on Cummings with an exercise centered around a poem by Emily Dickinson, “The moon was but a chin of gold.” Before I actually share the poem with them – or even the first line – here’s what I do: I project a picture of a crescent moon, and I challenge the class to see if they can figure out the exact image that Dickinson used to describe it. The students are intrigued and begin to offer ideas which could suggest a crescent moon: a canoe; a banana; a hammock; the letter “C”; an apostrophe or comma; and so on. In my experience, the list of ideas can grow quite extensively, but students never guess that Dickinson’s crescent moon is a chin — an image that works beautifully as her metaphor progresses:


The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago—
And now she turns Her perfect Face
Upon the World below—


I will admit, though, that when presenting this poem in its entirety there can be issues with vocabulary and comprehension. However, that’s where the shared experience of reviewing Cummings’ “l(a” will come in handy because the students will easily recall the recent lesson learned about taking time to appreciate and consider concepts that are not entirely obvious from the start. Also, after the other shared experience I explained in my entry on June 18, students are more likely and excited to share and discuss their ideas and views.

I Know Bawdy

When most people think of the poetry of Robert Frost, they probably think of lilting lines about New England settings, rural life, natural phenomena, everyday events, and colloquial speech. Few realize, though, that Frost had a bit of a bawdy side. Consider his poem “The Objection To Being Stepped On”:

At the end of the row
I stepped on the toe
Of an unemployed hoe.
It rose in offense
And struck me a blow
In the seat of my sense.
It wasn't to blame
But I called it a name.
And I must say it dealt
Me a blow that I felt
Like a malice prepense.
You may call me a fool,
But was there a rule
The weapon should be
Turned into a tool?
And what do we see?
The first tool I step on
Turned into a weapon.

I tried my hand at "updating" some of Frost's poems for the 21st century by re-writing them in hip-hop lingo for my book Great American Poems – REPOEMED. The re-written version of this poem starts out like this:


Ayo— saw her on the dance flo
Werkin it. Getting lo lo.
Turn out she an unemployed hoe


Another poem with a naughty nature is E. E. Cummings’ poem “may I feel said he.” It begins like this:


may i feel said he
(i'll squeal said she
just once said he)
it's fun said she

(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she


I also wrote a parody for this poem and that was quite a challenge from the start. Certainly a take-off with a serious theme wouldn’t work, for the original poem might then seem to be the parody. Therefore, a parody warranted humor— but how/what?

My first move was to flip all of Cummings’ “said he’s” and “said she’s” to “he said” and “she said.” With that, I headed in the direction of a spoof about gossip & rumors based on double entendre – but it all seemed too much like the original poem. Then it hit me: I’d use that notorious line, “that’s what she said.” But what would be my theme?

Recently I had written a parody of an Emily Dickinson poem centered on a plumbing problem. While working on that poem, I was amused to discover how many plumbing terms had sexual overtones. Therefore, I decided that my poem would be about a couple repairing a problem with a leaking toilet – and “that’s what she said.”

The internal rhyme structure of the Cummings' poem offered quite a challenge, though (especially since there are few words that rhyme with “plunger”). Hmmm…this reminds me of a time when I came across a bawdy greeting card that stated, “I tried to write a poem about love, but I couldn’t think of a word that rhymed with ‘Venus.’”

Anyway, the final version of my parody turned out to be quite waggish in its own right. It starts out like this:


(there’s sweating she said
water’s jetting he said
check the ballcock she said)
he said that’s what she said

(may i flush she said
it may gush he said
check the o-ring she said)
he said that’s what she said


Finally, while I’m on the subject of racy poems, it might surprise you that even Emily Dickinson penned a few spicy numbers herself, including “Wild Nights!” which opens like this:


Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!


I have a parody of that poem which begins “Wild rice! Wild rice!” However, since I’m on the topic of “bawdy” poetry, I thought it would be more appropriate to conclude with my take-off of Dickinson’s “I'm Nobody! Who are you?” It goes like this:


I know Bawdy! Yes I do!
Do you – know Bawdy – too?
Then Truth or Dare for us?
Do tell! Or tantalize – you know.

How titillating – to be – Bawdy!
How naughty – like a Flirt –
To be somewhat saucy – or seductive –
Like an alluring gelatin Dessert!

My Favorite Geniuses

Yesterday I posted a blog entry about the phenomenon of “genius,” so I thought today I would post a list of some of my favorite geniuses. Yes, there are others – these are just the ones who came to mind as I typed this entry. I’ve listed them in no particular order--except that as I typed them, I put them in albphabetical order:

Aaron Copeland
E. E. Cummings
Emily Dickinson
Thomas Edison
Alfred Hitchcock
Edward Hopper
Martin Luther King
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Georgia O’Keeffe
Pablo Picasso
Sergei Rachmaninoff
William Shakespeare
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Frank Lloyd Wright

Who are some of your favorite geniuses?

A Stroke of Genius

Do you know why Peter Shaffer’s play (and later the movie based on the play) about Mozart is titled “Amadeus”? The story is a variation of Mozart i Salieri, by Alexandr Pushkin where Antonio Salieri recognizes and struggles with the genius of Mozart. Why didn’t Shaffer call his play “Salieri and Mozart”? Or just “Mozart”?

Shaffer titled his play “Amadeus” because “ama” is Latin for “love,” and “Deus” is Latin for “God,” so in fact, his play is titled and is about “the love of God” – certainly a fundamental theme of the play and the central struggle of Salieri.

Mozart was certainly “gifted,” but was he, in fact, favored by some supreme being? And what about other geniuses? Do certain individuals derive higher levels of intellect and virtuosity due to some undeniable level of divine partiality?

The architect Frank Lloyd Wright was certainly a genius, and biographers note that his mother declared even before he was born that her child would grow up to become a famous architect. As a result, she decorated his nursery with engravings of English cathedrals and other celebrated structures to encourage his ambition. So was his genius the product of his environment or his genetics? Nature? Or nurture?

E. E. Cummings is another of my favorite geniuses. I am continually amazed and in awe of his vision and understandings when I review and re-review his poetry. One of my favorites is called “r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r.” At first glance this is not an easy poem to read, and students do struggle with it. However, I always prepare them with a few of Cummings’ more uncomplicated poems first (see my blog entries dated June 11 and June 13) so that when they see ““r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r” they are ready to tackle it.

Cummings’ poem is about a grasshopper and the physical engineering of his body that allows him to leap great distances. On another level, the poem could be about changing, rearranging, and conforming to the environment to accomplish one’s aims and aspirations. Are the mixed up letters at the start and throughout the poem meant to suggest that the grasshopper is undefined, that he is not truly authenticated until he manages to realize (and experience and/or endure) his work? Are you as reshuffled as the r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r? Do you have dreams, aspirations, and objectives that you need to leap to?

Of course, Pablo Picasso – another of my favorite geniuses -- certainly leapt to his work, and “upgathering” and “rearrangingly,” he defined and redefined art and our understanding of art throughout most of the 20th century – from painting and sculpting realistic representations to creating unconventional and experimental figures where shape, style, and form were more important and meaningful than a true-to-life depiction.

So what makes a Picasso a Picasso? That thought inspired my take-off on Cummings’ grasshopper poem. Unfortuately, the formatting properties of the Goodreads' blog site won't allow me to arrange the text here like the Cummings' poem, but my poem reads like this: “Pablo Picasso, who, as he painted, now rearranging objects, forms! Attaining Pablo Picasso to become reinventingly a Picasso.”

So is a genius born, bred, or designated by some higher being? Perhaps it’s based on any and every combination of the three.

A Quick & Easy High Impact Lesson

I’ve posted a few entries in my blog about introducing and teaching poetry to students, and with this entry I’d like to offer up a quick but powerful lesson a teacher can use with students who are, for whatever reason, reluctant to speak. Often times when dealing with poetry, students are hesitant to speak for fear of “being wrong,” and this lesson will very easily show students that it is safe to have a voice in your class discussion.

Here’s what you do:

1. Post the following four numbers on the board:

1991 1919 9191 1993

2. Ask students to look at the numbers and decide which one does not belong with the other three. Ask for a volunteer to give one number that does not belong and to explain the reason why.

3. As student volunteers give their responses, underline the numbers as each is given.


Responses could come in any order, so one student might say that “9191” does not belong.

1991 1919 9191 1993

Be sure to ask the reason why, and the student might say, “because the other three numbers are years.” Of course, “9191” will eventually be a year (assuming the Earth will still be around), so with additional conversation the student might add that the other three numbers all occurred during the 20th century.

Next, ask if there are other possible answers to which one number does not belong, and another student might say that “1993” does not belong.

1991 1919 9191 1993

Why? The student’s reason will be that that number is the only one of the four that includes a “3.”

Ask again if there are other possible answers. A third student might offer “1919”:

1991 1919 9191 1993

This time the reason will be that the four digit number includes a “1” in the “tens place” vs. a “9.”

After this discussion, three of the numbers on the board will be underlined: 1919, 9191, and 1993. At this point, ask if there are other possibilities or just circle the remaining number (1991) and say that the final number could be the answer because it is the only number of the four that is not underlined.

This very quick and easy lesson provides a powerful message – that different answers are fitting and appropriate if and when students provide supportive reasons behind their thinking – and that they can have a voice in the discussion of the interpretive work of analyzing poetry without the fear of being “wrong.”

Word Play

For all of you book lovers and logophiles, why not engage in a bit of daily word play with a host of friendly Tweeps from around the world?

First of all, if you don't know what I mean by "Tweeps," those are people who follow and "tweet" on Twitter-- so if you don't have a Twitter account, register for one today.

Once you have an account, you can join the fun with various word games. There are four that I play. In each case a "word of the day" (WotD) is given, and players just have to "tweet" using the word (i.e., using the word in a Twitter post). You can "tweet" the word in any way you want-- using it according to its actual definition or by adopting it to some clever use of the word.

Here are the games I play:

1. @Loqwacious:

Once you're on Twitter, search for and follow "@loqwacious." Here's how the game is described: "Daily word game. Read all tweets at #lqw. New word each day at 8am EDT. No points; no votes. Clean. Creative. Courteous."

If you follow "@Loqwacious," you'll see the WotD every day. Then, if you play that day by tweeting the word, always end your tweet with "#lqw." That way, other people can search the code "#lqw" to see all of the tweets about the WotD.

Yesterday's word was "broddle": to poke, to pierce. My "entry" in the game was, "I don't have a Facebook account, so to my knowledge, I've never been broddled. #lqw"

Note that I ended my statement with "#lqw." Again, that allows others to see my post -- and I can see others' posts -- by conducting a Twitter search for "#lqw."


2. #ohj

The "ohj" creator says on his website, "OHJ is a twitter-based daily word game. Every day I provide two words. You create a tweet incorporating one or both words. Make sure you tag the tweet with #OHJ or #ohj, so other players can find it easily...Originally, OHJ stood for "Oddly Haunted Journey", because in October 2011, I conceived this as a one month game leading up to Halloween. Now the letters mean something different each month, depending on the monthly theme."

To see the daily words for #ohj, follow @oddlystarry on Twitter.

Yesterday's words were "reprehensible" and "sprkinkle." I posted, "It is reprehensible to bring donuts to the workplace w/out chocolate icing & sprinkles. I've known some to be fired for that offense! #ohj"

In that example, I used both words. However, if you play #ohj, you can use both words or just one of the words.


3. Altwiculate

At altwiculate.com, the site provides this information: "Follow @aLtwiculate and just tweet today’s word in a sentence, phrase, joke, poem or rhyme! Ensure you use the hashtag #ALTwiculate. Lot’s of people play and we want to read everyone’s clever tweets."

As an example, yesterday's word was "niffer": to barter; to haggle. I posted, "Shakespeare's original draft of 'Neither a borrower nor a lender be' was 'Never say niffer.' #altwiculate"

Be sure to check out the altwiculate.com site, though, because there is much more info there along with other game information.

NOTE: The hashtag now used by this game is #ALTWIC.


4. Artwiculate

Artwiculate.com states, "Artwiculate is the Twitter-based Word of the Day game for learning new words. Follow @artwiculate to start playing."

This used to be a scored game where players could vote for their favorites and daily winners were announced. However, at this time, the game is unscored as the game developers are revamping the rules for scoring.

As an example, yesterday's word was "gladiolus." I posted, "How many ‪#Artwiculate‬ tweeters does it take to plant a gladiolus bulb? None! We wouldn't "plant" one-- we'd "ensepulcher" it!"

In that example, notice that I placed the hashtage "#Artwiculate" inside my statement instead of at the end. That's okay with any of these games -- as long as your post has the appropriate hashtag, #artwiculate, #altwiculate, #ohj, or #lqw.

As a matter of fact, sometimes players use words from the various games in the same post -- so one post might use two, three all four of the hashtags.


So if you're not on Twitter, sign up today -- it's easy, it's free, and it's fun! I'm on Twitter as "RouteI0" (I tried to get "Route10," but that was taken, so instead of "10," it's the letter "i" and a zero.) I hope to see you join in all of the fun with the Twitter word play!

A Mystery

Can anyone help me with a mystery surrounding one of Emily Dickinson's poems?

[NOTE: The mystery has been solved. See the 2nd comment associated with this post.]

A few months ago I was in Chicago, and I visited the Poetry Foundation's new building. I spent some time in their public library, and while there I looked through a few books of poetry by Emily Dickinson (I was doing some "research" for my book, Great American Poems - REPOEMED, which includes information on Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily's third cousin, twice removed- at her request).

I came across a few poems I could use in my book and/or with professional development work at my school (for an example of how I have used poetry with professional development, see my blog entry dated June 15), so I typed the first lines into my iPhone so that I wouldn't forget them.

When I returned home, I looked up the poems in The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, published by Little Brown and edited by Thomas H. Johnson. However, one of the poems was NOT in the book: "Fly- fly- but as you fly."

Does anyone know a reason why this poem would not be included in this "COMPLETE" volume of Dickinson's poems? I can't believe this would just be an oversight. Is there some issue with this poem- for instance, debate as to whether or not Dickinson actually wrote the poem?

Do you have some other "COMPLETE" volume of Dickinson's poems? Is this peom included?

If anyone has any thoughts about this, please let me know. In the meantime, I suppose I'll visit a bookstore today and inspect a few other "COMPLETE" volumes of Dickinson's work. However, I won't make a purchase unless "Fly- fly- but as you fly" is included in the book! ; )