I have always loved to listen and read poetry. I don't understand it sometimes, but that is ok with me. The poem is like a song, it can make me feel sad, happy, calm, and some make me feel at peace. One of my favorite poems is by Sylvia Plath called Morning Song. When you read it one may interpret as a baby's death. But when I read into it more, I now see that it is about a mother and a new born and how she wakes in the night to breast feed her baby. It is so beautiful. Maya Angelou too is a wonderful poet. I enjoyed watching the video and was amazed that she memorized and recited so many poems by memory.
Paul Laurence Dunbar is a poet who influenced Maya Angelou. When she recited his poem It brought up feelings that upset me, due to a situation the happened during my field base. A child was being picked on by a teacher every time he moved, she had labeled him like a caged bird. I ended up getting emotional when I shared my feeling of this poem with Ms. Pickett. Here is the poem:
Sympathy
I know what the caged bird feels.
Ah me, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,
when the wind blows soft through the springing grass
and the river floats like a sheet of glass,
when the first bird sings and the first bud ops,
and the faint perfume from its chalice steals.
I know what the caged bird feels.
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
till its blood is red on the cruel bars,
for he must fly back to his perch and cling
when he fain would be on the bow aswing.
And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars
and they pulse again with a keener sting.
I know why he beats his wing.
I know why the caged bird sings.
Ah, me, when its wings are bruised and its bosom sore.
It beats its bars and would be free.
It's not a carol of joy or glee,
but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
a plea that upward to heaven it flings.
I know why the caged bird sings.
Because of this situation and this poem, I feel that I know what kind of a teacher I hope to be. I don't what to be putting a child down, I don't want to tell them they are better when they are not in class, or that they are bothers. I want all my students to feel wanted and that I care. I hope that none of you fall into that ugly teacher that speaks badly of your students and gossips with colleagues about them.
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I completely agree. We as teachers don't know what that so called (problem child)had to deal with last night. Unfortunately many kids go through unspeakable horrors on a daily basis. When they get to school they bear all that frustration,anger,fear, or who knows what else. I know when I was a child I loved school until 3rd grade. It was then that I entered a wonderful class with Mrs.Cook. I loved her. She was wonderful.Here is where the H-E-L-L was! Mrs. Lavin treated me like I had 3 heads. She ostricized me from all of the other children. My father went up to the school, but to no avail. The woman just didn't like me.She wasn't caring enough to try to find the under lying issue. She just treated me like I was a bad child. I don't think children are bad. I think they have bad situations that mold them into who they are. Because Of the abuse that I suffered at that woman's hands, I'm still affected today. I have made the decision that no matter how much of a so called (problem child)is in my classroom,I will never make another human being,let alone a child feel as alone and horrible as that woman made me feel.One of the nice ,things that came out of the situation was my leaving the school.Unfortunately my best friend (to this day) recieved the horrible treatment after I left.I had a really hard time in school after that. After being made to feel that way, my ability to trust people went out the window. We have to be careful,alot of the time the love from a teacher is the only love a child experiences.I know I don't want to be responsible for breaking a childs'innocent little spirit.
ReplyDeleteI love Maya Angelou. and Sylvia Plath.
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