Okay, I know it is sunday, but I will be making new postings every friday evening. No promises it will be the book but I will post something. Peace!!

Art work by Danna

This is a beautiful picture of a fox (obviously) sketched by Danna. Libby took a picture and emailed it to me. I'd love to upload it to Danna's blog, but since I am not an administrator on her site, I can't do that.

So...Danna, if you see this, you can copy this and paste it to your poetry!

Good job!

Our Classroom Has No Walls!

I can't believe that our blogging club is ending and summer is here! Where did our time go?
It's hard to think of blogging as an event took place in my classroom, though we've met on Mondays and Wednesdays in room 185. I've gotten to know you writers in a virtual world, one that has no walls or time limits. which is really very nice. Sometimes I prefer to read your lengthy pieces in the comfort of my own home when I have more time to soak in your stories, poems, quotes, and so forth.


And what a talented group you are - all of you. We got a late start this year in getting our laptops and establishing our site, but I'm counting on having more time next year and building a larger community of writers. We can do it. My deepest thanks to the Park Board for providing us equipment and support and encouragement.

So, in the meantime, our meetings are ending for the summer, but there is no reason that you can't share your writings on this site. Drop in occasionally. See what your fellow writers are posting. And most of all, have a restful, joyous summer. Read and write like crazy.






Adieu!

Happy Summer! Happy Blogging!

Ode to My Writing Group or How to Conquer Fear

I wrote this poem to a writing group I was in one summer as a reminder that sharing personal writing is sometimes closely tied to confidence in my writing and trust in the group. It was my way of saying that sometimes I don't have the stamina to take overly negative or personal criticism. It just depends on how I feel, how well I know the reader(s), and what I think of the piece of writing I'm sharing.

Now -after establishing the rules feedback safety in my own classroom - I also ask students to tell their group what kind of responses they want. There is nothing worse than empty praise...unless it's harshly worded criticism.


Ode to My Writing Group…..Barbara James
In collaboration with Dr. Cosmo Turner

If I were five, I’d crawl beneath my bed,
weave myself a cocoon
of darkness and safety
and sleep until the storm subsides.

But I’m not young,
my options not
as simple as the space beneath my bed,
so I keep moving, first one foot and then the other.

Just like that child
who hides away,
I park my car
and disappear somewhere inside myself.

My brakes lights out,
my gas tank low,
there’s little room
to navigate the traffic of my life.

So please... today be gentle.
Bless me…or press with love.
Remember there may be those
who have no voice or passage for this day’s fare.

Sometimes life’s too raw, too real
to find courage to share thoughts…
so I’ve traded in my thin skin for a fur coat and the voice a fine friend:
Dr. Cosmo Turner, PhD (philosophical hound dog)

Pictured on the right

Bogged Down By Internet...But Still Blogging!

Bogged down? Yes, our internet was almost impossibly slow on Monday, but you were patient and we perservered and created new sites despite the challenge. Our main page shows we now have six blog sites, and I am anxious to know you better through your posts, your images, and your writing.

And speaking of that....I'm hoping you'll share with us what inspires you. Where do you get your ideas? What kinds of images, music, film, memories inspire you? And why do you suppose that is? What does that say about who you are?

As to inspiration, Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved, and many others...) said, “As I look back on what I have written, I can see that the very persons who have taken away my time are those who have given me something to say.”

What gives you something to say?

Hello everyone this is Tim Corn's blog, I love the main page, dispite the whole "girly" aspect. Thank you for creating this for us to use as it will expand my fanbase! I hope you visit my blog a lot, because I need some critique on the things that I update to my profile. See you soon!

Getting to Know You...

You know the saying, "You are what you eat." I believe, too, that we are what we read, what we watch, what we listen to, who we hang out with, who are family is, where we are from, where we've been, and dreams that we have. That said, I wonder if you'd take a minute to jot down a few things that make up who you are.

Here's an I Am Poem I wrote several years ago, and it's about my childhood in Prairie Village. It was inspired by this old photo I found. (I'm the shorter girl, leaning over, petting the dog.)

I am from Hoola Hoops and Hop Scotch,
from chlorine and zinc oxide.
I am from bare feet that danced in puddles
of summer rain, sizzling steam off
Scorched sidewalks.

I am from Barbie dolls and tea parties,
from ten cent ice cream cones and long
walks with Freckles.
I am from put your napkin in your lap
and get your elbows off the table.
I am from straighten up and fly right and
don’t come down until your homework’s done.

I’m from rides to the Village on my bicycle,
flute lessons and swimming meets.
I am from the hum of Mother’s sewing machine
and matching Easter dresses.

I am from Jack and Harriett and Margie,
from memories of voices I can still hear
inside my head.
I am from Good Night, Sleep Tight
and Don’t get out of bed!