The Reasons
Why
I don’t want to do this!
My students complain
And ask,
Why should we anyway?
Often I respond
“For the points
Of course.
This is a big part of your grade.
You want to pass,
Don’t you?”
Because it’s all about the grade you get
The points you earn
The quality of your work.
You don’t really need to know
What the characters are like,
Or what themes are in the novels we read.
You can survive without it.
But as teachers we ask you to anyway.
I say, “You need the points!”
I say, “You have to pass!”
I say, “You need to work.”
But what I should be saying is what I truly feel.
Why should you read all of these books, you ask?
You should read them because they will
Change
Your life.
These books can open your mind to completely new worlds
They can take you to places you’ve never been
They can comfort you, scare you,
Make you laugh and make you cry.
When you learn to love reading and writing
like I so desperately
want you to
You will see.
When you find those books that resonate within your soul
You will know.
Words will always be there for you,
Whether they come from someone else’s mind
Or your own.
When you feel so angry you could cry
Or so sad that you could die
You can transfer your feelings onto paper
Push them away from you
Find relief
You can write.
So why do I want you to read and write in my class?
Why should you do this?
Does any of it really matter anyway?
Well, it matters.
I want you to read and write
Because I don’t want you to just graduate,
Or survive,
Or get a good grade.
What I want for you is an experience.
I want you to learn how to truly live.
This is why.
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ReplyDeleteNatalie, Thank you sooo much for sharing this piece! It really hit home with me! You related to me both as a teacher and as a student. I was that way as a student, just getting the grade, and I think school was boring because of it. I do write often to get relief, so this was a great line for me. I think that you will relate to your students and allow them to experience learning, you will be an awesome teacher. --- Whitney
ReplyDeleteNatalie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this poem with us! I have to be honest about the day you read it outside, I was not focused and did not fully appreciate it. After reading it here and really taking it in, I have to admit that it’s fantastic. I can relate with your students, yes yes yes I was that student. It took me so very long to allow the wonders of reading to change my world. I think that maybe you should consider sharing this with them. You may just open some eyes.
Chris
P.S. You are going to be an outstanding teacher.
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ReplyDeleteNatalie,
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed your poem both in terms of its content and in the way it was written. I really feel that some of the line breaks and chunks of thought helped to bring out much of the frustration that we have as teachers when answering the simple question of, "Why do we have to do this?" As you note, it is not always as easy a question to answer as it seems. Thank you.
-Scott
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this poem! I really love how we can feel your passion as an educator coming out! I cannot help but wondering how students would react if this really was your reply to that age old questions of, "Why?" They might realize that there really is a purpose behind school.
Theresa