One of the challenges that I have faced in this class so far is that I haven’t written much, well, anything really, that I could share with my students. It is very easy to write what I am living, but the life that I lead as a teacher, mother of three, PhD student, and at times, cynical teacher, is not very appropriate or applicable to the lives of my students. I want to be able to share with them things that I have read, and I have done this in the past and the students have always been very receptive which makes me wonder why I don’t write more, and then I remember it is because I don’t have a lot of time. But I do like to write, and I do not mind sharing my work with kids. So, my goal for this week’s poetry was to write things that I plan to share with my students. I tried to write about things that they can relate to or appreciate.
My first attempt is entitled, “Today on Facebook” and it is a melding together of status updates from my facebook account. I am fortunate to have five younger siblings, four of whom are still in elementary, middle and high school and so a lot of what is written here are direct quotes, and very close renditions of things that they have written. I believe the students will appreciate the unique attempt to create a poem from status updates (which to them would maybe be a novel concept) and I also hope the students find this poem to be relatable to things they may have written or read on facebook. It was an attempt at using something very popular to capture poetry, something the kids often associate with old, dead, white guys.
Today of Facebook
Chelsea is having a girly day
While in a relationship with Mikey
Who just wants a little respect
From his mom, Amy, who can’t believe kids these days
Logan wonders who invented homework
And Jeremy agrees as he writes his THIRD paper this week
Betsie chimes in and wants to know
Why Facebook didn’t include a link that says DISLIKE
Angie, and seven other friends are attending
Luke’s Surprise birthday party on Saturday at 7
But Dani can’t go because she’s stuck at home babysitting (again)
And Laura says it won’t be the same without her there
Mark is hosting a barn raising in Farmville
But Kenna won’t be there because she’s busy in Fishville
Saving a small manta ray whose fin is stuck in a lobster trap
While Tami just leveled up in Mafia Wars
Holly is having Just another Manic Monday via Facbook mobile
And while Nikki loves that song
Stephanie totally understands that feeling
And Jason is already waiting for the weekend at 9:02am on Monday
Cecilia and 1, 303, 838 others are fans of the film New Moon
While Liu joined the group I love Edward Cullen
Amanda joined Team Jacob and just finished reading
Breaking Dawn and omgstephaniemeyerhurryupandwritesomemore
Brian changed his relationship status to “It’s Complicated”
And Shannon agrees that love is not worth the stress
But Aaron and Beth make it FB official
And publicly share that they are dating
Elaine joined the group Grandparents on Facebook
And hopes to see everyone at her house on Easter Sunday at noon
Erin does not remember a life without Facebook
And Lisa wouldn’t want to
Final Assignment
14 years ago
Wow how fun! My college roommate is a librarian who worked in the children's section of the local library. She often complained about how under-appreciated children's literature was, even though the emotions and content can be as intriguing as adult works. I think you managed to convey that here. It's suuuch a silly topic--facebook--or is it? I laughed at the cuteness of the title, but as I was reading I was really intrigued by how you managed to show the interconnectedness of all the "characters" of the poem (via what appears to be them commenting and interacting with the posts). That's great. Facebook is so ridiculous, but, like you say, do those of us who are addicted really want to remember what life was like without it? Whether we want to admit it or not, we thrive on the connections with other people it helps us maintain, and your poem does a great job of showing that.
ReplyDeleteLisa.. I really like your efforts at writing something you can share with students and more importantly something they can relate to. Even though you're writing about different people, your stanzas make sense and are clear. The one factor I would try to include would be to add more of "today's slang" (whatever that means... :) ); however, you did take these from accounts, so they're accurate representations. I would leave some of your explanations off. The one line about FB official is clear; I don't think you need to explain it again in the next line. But I thought it was really creative idea and a good way to open yourself to your students. Your coherence is strong despite a seemingly tough format. Good Job!
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