Tuesday, February 26, 2008

8: unexpected truths i have learned while teaching
NOTE: this is kind of an experimental combination English/ASL poem. If you know English, you will get some meaning; if you know ASL, you will understand other meanings. As I said, it's an experiment, so who knows if it's successful?




your job
is to give them chance after chance
(so many of them
have had no chances(or
(at least) none, yet))

do not look at them
as anything other than people(such is
hard. The system's
designed to reduce them
numbers. Pizza. Traces;
though you touch their lives
but briefly
each one's the center of a world

stop look-down
point center under around no people 1 that-all(understand
hard, set-up
analyze, breakdown, here-numbers, here-pizza. Fade;
doesnt'matter short slow-pass-each-other
themself yourself same center globe


remember
the class is Language Arts
not English; this
gives unexpected flexibility
(and you have two languages
to work with. Twice
the examples)

remember
class itself title sentence art
English-alone not; means
merge-can-spread
(plus, show double-language,
double-knowledge)


inside-understand
yourself pull-from-inside, out, give
chance, chance, progress.
(too many out-there, nothing,
chance, chance, take, take, pull-inside,
hide-away)

No comments: