Dedicated to my rhymers

I decided I needed to post to get my worm story off the front entry.

Well, folks, we've made it (almost). I'm in the very last weeks of my student teaching, which also means I'm in the very last weeks of college all together. Who can believe it? Not I!

I've tried my hardest to not let this blog turn into a student teaching journal, but fear that most of my entries revolve around my students.

Alas, here's another one of those entries:

We are working on a poetry unit. Some kids are quite talented poets; others do well to get a "Cat in the Hat" type poem on their paper. I've seen some pretty creative poems; I've also seen some that I know, from somewhere, came from a movie, song, or other poem.

One hour especially is loving the poetry unit. 4th period, my (shhh, don't say) favorite class has taken poetry full-force by the horns and have created some true masterpieces that I'm sorry I have not written. I tell them that they should consider entering their poems into contests, they are that good.

A few boys in the class (ones that make me laugh nearly every day because of the way they say "Yo, Mrs. H!") have gotten the talent of rhyming all of their poems when rhyming wasn't required. They love to rhyme. It comes naturally.

Not only do they love to rhyme, but they love to share their rhymes with me before turning in their poems, just to "make sure it's ok." Of course, their excitement thrills me and I always oblige in reading.

On Monday, we were working on rhyme scheme. 4th hour picked it right up and I knew they would have no problem working on their 15-line rhyming poem.

One of the above mentioned boys got right to work. He sat himself in the back of the room, facing the wall. (He tells me he is inspired by looking at the bookshelf full of Dictionaries, I won't argue). He was as quiet as a mouse (which typically would be difficult for him-- he likes to tape his mouth shut).

I walked around to aid a few slow-starters and then made my way back to this student. Usually eager to talk to me, he refused to say one word and wouldn't even show me his rhyming lines. When I walked by, he would quickly cover it up with his hand.

The class time expired and my eager poetry students turned in their works of art. I was anxious to read his poem, mostly. After they all had left, I rummaged through the papers to find his poem.

When I found it, I read the rhyme with a smile on my face: It was the sweetest rhyming poem I'd ever read, dedicated to ME. (I would type it here for you to read, but I left it on my desk) I do remember, however, that it detailed how much this student enjoyed me as a student teacher. It gave me a good chuckle, but just about brought a tear to my eye.

After reading that poem, I realized that there are quite a few students that I've grown close to.

I will miss them.

Love you all.