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Foreword: By CHAT GPT


Within these pages lies a collection of poetic reflections born from the depths of twenty-six years spent in the noble pursuit of connecting with students and ever moving learning targets. As you embark on this journey, you will encounter a mosaic of verbiage, some carefully crafted to capture the essence of the classroom, others not so carefully crafted but shared nonetheless. On that note, it's worth mentioning that a few poems may come across as awkward, lacking rhythm, and will be a bit challenging to navigate. Surprisingly the author values these poems because they mirror the experience of encountering students who proved challenging to connect with or to understand fully. In this collection of poetry, the whispers of theory and the subtle interplay between student and teacher resonate with the depth of twenty-six years of experience.

In these verses, you will find no overt declarations or sentimental flourishes. Instead, you will discover a nuanced exploration of the complexities inherent in the educational landscape. From the vibrant tapestry of student voices to the quiet contemplation of pedagogical principles, each poem invites you to peer beyond the surface and glimpse the intricate dance of knowledge and understanding.

These verses do not seek to evoke mere sentimentality, but rather to illuminate the profound significance of every moment spent teaching and being taught. Through subtle imagery and deft wordplay, they offer a window into the heart of education, where passion and purpose converge to shape the minds and hearts of future generations.

So, as you delve into these pages, may you find yourself drawn into the rich tapestry of experiences woven by the hands of an English teacher. For within these poems lie not only the stories of classrooms and curriculums, but also the timeless truths that illuminate the path of learning for all who dare to tread its hallowed halls.

Hi Chat Gpt, you are a bit wordy. Ms. Ray

Search here—you might find your poem.

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The Second Coming July 2012

Search through 19 years of classroom poetry here—you might find your poem.

A Poem about the difficulties facing teachers once there was a cellphone in every student’s face. It is written as a response to William Butler Yeat’s poem THE SECOND COMING

The Second Coming 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.


Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Things Fall Apart-(My answer to William Butler Yeats’ poem)

Dear Mr. Yeats, it is true, what you said.

When, in a small classroom, 35 teenaged souls

all heading in separate directions

collide with me, the largest mammal in the room,

the pain extends beyond the physical, it corrupts the

psyche, and like a cancer, it grows, eating its way

to the core of society.

Today’s teacher is thrown into the Lebrea Tar Pits with

all the other dinosaurs, and the

largest mammal in the room is not large at all.

Tiny power in adolescent hands,

ipod, ipad,upad,wepad,theypad,droid,

fake knowledge is free and in the hands of the

proudly ignorant rebels at all times.

they want nothing from me but fodder for their tweets (but they do not know what fodder means) and

they stand up angrily for their rights

to do what they want, when they want

and inside they are certain of this inalienable right,

although they do not know what the word means,

‘inalienable’.

No. Large mammals who do not tweet or love

reality tv have no right to impart anything.

the generally smaller mammals with their

handheld connection to all

are clearly superior, and in charge,

and have the right to speak to everyone in the entire world

at the same time I have lost the right

to teach.

It is true as you say WB Yeats

“Things fall apart, the center cannot hold”

and technology is that rough beast,

its hour come round at last, slouching away from

me.

CRAY 2012

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Teacher

A teacher is

a parcel of old groceries,

from the sale bin, worn thin,

roughed up, frayed, decayed,

depleted and faded. His tired eyes

diminishing his value in the market

putting him in the half-price bin,

where most folks walk by, stopping

only long enough to identify the flaw

then move on.

And this parcel called

a teacher is

held together with twine

from the farthest corner

of the oldest hardware store,

where Phil, the owner and his dog will always help you find the item

you are seeking, and will ask how

your aunt Martha is doing since her

surgery.

But this package

has been damaged

by rough handling and the

twine is straining,

because this person we call a teacher

is not God.

Why can’t Johnny Read? Cries an outraged

public, has the teacher

outlived his pull date?

And

Why is it that all the old hardware stores

have been replaced by

shiny, glitzy new depots with

pimply faced teenagers

who don’t care where the twine is

shrug their shoulders

as they point to the map of the store?

CM 3/24/2000

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Alyssa

ONE DAY in 2013, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF DISAPPOINTING THOUGHTS ABOUT EDUCATION, I HAPPENED TO BE WALKING THROUGH THE PARK NEAR ROGERS HIGH SCHOOL.  A STUDENT NAMED ALYSSA CALLED OUT TO ME FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE. SHE AFFECTED ME.

ALYSSA

Her hand went up and reached

Toward my smile.

The crisscrossed steel fencing

Halted her progress and divided us

In two separate worlds:

Student and Teacher.

my teacher heart soared to see the wide smile and earnest eyes

That i did not know i missed.

Happy to see her.

This is why I teach.

And for one day, Alyssa

Made the teacher smile

To feel needed is the thing:

The human thing.

And so

Who was it that made this teacher want to

Scale the fence and

 Destroy the barrier

Between students and teachers?

It was Alyssa.

CLR May 2013


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Why

I teach

because

I want to share things

and I want to change a frustrated,

angry and sad face

to a happy one for just a while each day.

I teach because

the hours are great

and the summers are a treat

not to mention

breaks...here, there, and everywhere.

I teach because I can

and not everyone can say

that. I teach because I am afraid of

Money, and

I crave the stability,

Human connection

the honor of knowing and directly impacting more than 250 brains in a school year,

constantly, creatively,

problem solving.

This is why I teach.

Cheryl Ray, March 2006

 

 

 

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triskaidekaphobia for Ms. Johnson

Clean your spleen

on a Friday.

Run in the sun

on a Friday

Joke with a bloke

on a Friday

But never

on Friday, 13.

Because

Pancakes are flat

on Friday, 13

Dogs are lazy

on Friday, 13

pimples feel greasy

on Friday, 13

And nobody ever wants that!

So when a baby is born on Friday, 13,

people can’t help but wonder:

what will this child do in the world

that will tear us all asunder?

The baby will laugh and grow and weep,

and wish sometimes to fall asleep for

longer than we approve.

But our Culture grows its own disease

It’s Friday, 13 fear If you please,

just call it:

Tris/kai/de/ka/phob/i/a.

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Adam, 2008

  Adam

Boy of wonder sidles in

Wondering where he’s

Been      

Moved

Today.

What will he show us,

Besides his behind?

When he opens his mouth

We see his mind.

So he opens it and sometimes

Forgets to

Close it.

We love Adam,

nevertheless.

CLR08

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Vernon, 2008

Mt. Vernon

 

Sir, may I tell you

That rap songs are

Poetry

With really loud music to go.

You are gifted

But like to pretend that you

Are not.

Can’t hide from me, cowboy,

I am the “NOTICER of good”,

And it is apparent that you

Can rap with the best and

You

Are

A poet.

clr08

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Lance, 2008

Lance

If I were to ask myself

how I hope my child would be,

the answer would be Lance.

Respectfully working his way

through this

insane labyrinth we call

education.

 

Although he works harder

to write a sentence with a

predicate and noun,

and the whole ‘pronoun

without an antecedent’

continues to hound him,

 

he never complains or boasts,

or says an unfriendly word.

Lance you

will go far if your habits

of accepting advice and

trying your best

continue.

CLR08

 

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Blade, 2008

 

Blade

If I could give just one award

For growth and change I’ve seen,

I’d give it to this guy.

Although he will occasionally (wrongly)

Tell you that Aldonza has an attitude,

He will no longer burst forth

With the unwanted information

That he likes cocoa puffs.

(Although cocoa pebbles are far

Superior

Because they do not cut your mouth in my opinion)

Ok

Maybe we’re all a little

Off, and you are stronger

And will survive life’s horrific

Plot better than those who

Pretend to be completely

Normal.

clr08

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Derek, 2008

MR. LONGER, STRONGER, BRAVER LOUDER

Never have I known a boy

So sure of what he says and does.

He will dance and laugh if you laugh,

And cares not what you think.

 

Never have I known a young man,

So willing to fix EVERYTHING.

Except his deficits in English.

 

Never have I known a fellow

So unaware of the power

Of the words that flow from him.

CLR08

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Travis, 2008

 

Travis

Tall, it’s true they think he should

Be older.

Ready to take the place of Peyton Manning.

Always Travis, never Trever

Very much a footballman.

Is just like you and me, he has feelings that you can hurt.

So he wears his helmet all day at school, and you find that strange?  CLR08

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Ciara Denise, 2008

 

See Air, Uh.

Ciaradenise

Where are you every other day?

What is so very exciting that takes you away?

Again, I

See

Air

Uh…..

And I wonder, how does she do it, is she magic?

The work she does is often better than

Someone sitting in the seat every day

Pretending to be listening.

Next time

You See Air, Uh….denise

Tell her I am impressed!

CLR08

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Paige, 2008

                     

Paige

 

Pig tailed Paige

Just ain’t her age

Until she speaks her mind.

 

 

Then we hear just

What she wants and why and how and when.

 

Straight haired Paige

Has it going on

Her matching get ups

Show

 

And mussy haired Paige

Is in a rage

And knows how her

Day will go!

CLR2008

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Molly,2008

 

MOLLY

 

 

Pretty Molly, Molly Rae,

Must you always get your way?

“Have some cheese to go with that

Whine, wash your mouth with turpentine”

But truly, pretty Molly May,

Sometimes will whine the day away.

 

She will stand beside her desk,

When sitting just says ‘no’

And

She will look you in the face,

And she will tell you so.

 

Pretty little Molly Rae,

Whatever else she does,

She hides her smarts behind her whimper!

And from time to time we’ll see her temper!

 

A Dr., Lawyer, or phd

Our little Molly will one day be.

CLR’08

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Natalie T, 2008

 

Who is Natalie Traub?

 

A whisper

A curl

A smile

A girl

That’s what Natalie Traub is

 

Hard worker

Good thinker

A mother

A song

That’s who Natalie Traub is

 

A silent dancer

Who sings a song

That only love can hear

 

A silly flower

That grows where planted

And makes a garden appear

 

That’s who Natalie Traub is.

CLR 2008

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Kylie W., 2008

Ms. Kylie Wheeler

Karing, sharing happily

Yes, I’ll do it, snappily!

Love is beaming from my eyes,

Inside it’s real, there’s no disguise

Especially if I do not completely feel it so, I am still smiley Kylie!

 

CLR08

 

 

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Kaylee W, 2008

Kaylee W.

Kaylee is attached to the sky

by a balloon,that pulls

the sides of her mouth up to

a Mona Lisa smile that never

leaves.

Kaylee is attached to the ground by an

imperceptible power,

invisible her parents and teachers and friends surround her and convince her

that she is the best.

She still doesn't buy it,

but as long as she's here,

she's open

to playing the role.

CLR08

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Jovanna, 2008

 

Jovanna

Jovanna Carranza, where have you gone? you used to be sitting right there!

Your face was so bright, your smile so light, but now I see you nowhere.

 

Jovanna your homework was always so fine,

You listened and helped, always using your mind.

 

Now why do I see only your back, and you fail to listen to me?

Where did you go, sweet pupil of mine, whose back I only see.

 

Helpful Jovanna can run back now, I’ll welcome her with open arms,

The one with the smile, the one who will help, the one with beautiful Charms.

                                              

CLR08

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