Last year, many of us chose I Wish You More, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld as a final read aloud, sending our students off with beautiful wishes for their lives. This summer, I was a participant in the Summer Literacy Institute in Merrick, NY. On our last day, the teachers in the group all composed wishes for our students and we created a poem for our hopes for the new year.
Tomorrow is my first day of school and the students start on Wednesday. As I think about the year ahead and the challenges we teachers will face, I thought it would be nice to start the year with my own adapted version of I Wish You More. This one is for the teachers.... I Wish Us More I wish us more "get up and go" than can't get out of bed. I wish us more high fives than hurdles. I wish us more empowerment than compliance. I wish us more line-free times at the copy machine than long waits. I wish us more balance than burnout. I wish us more taking risks than playing it safe. I wish us more hope than heartache. I wish us more celebrations than consequences. I wish us more lifting each other up than cutting each other down. I wish us more open doors than brick walls. I wish us more gratitude than gripes. Thinking of one of my favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz, I wish us more... Smarts to know what is best for our students, Heart to put people and relationships first, Courage to try new things and speak bravely for what is right A professional home to make us feel welcomed and accepted. This year, I wish all of us more. Cheers to the clean slate and the possibilities of a new year!
5 Comments
9/11/2015 05:49:18 pm
I wish us more connections and more words to unite us.
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Kathleen
9/11/2015 05:50:58 pm
Thanks Kevin for visiting our site and sharing your beautiful words! I love your wishes and am always inspired by what you do. Thanks!
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Maria Trucios
9/28/2015 05:52:26 pm
Beautiful! And Thank you!
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Vicki
9/30/2015 07:44:32 pm
Kathy, you are such a gifted writer. This is a beautiful poem.
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Darshna
10/1/2015 07:42:25 am
Way to get us started! Thanks for your rich words and warm wishes!
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LIWP Guest BloggersEach month, a LIWP teacher will share some thoughts on teaching, writing, and life! If you are interested in being a guest blogger, please contact Kathy Sokolowski at [email protected] Archives
June 2020
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Long Island Writing Project