Poetry Friday is hosted by Renee at No Water River
Walking down the hallway to my classroom this morning, I found a crumpled up project lying right in the center of the corridor....as though it was placed there carefully, intentionally, in the hopes it would be found and unfurled. It was a wonderful project, really, illustrated with care and imagination...but full of spelling errors, each of which had been circled in red. There was lots of red. ..which drew my attention to the grade, also in red: D+ And, right next to that, was a
I'd mark with the Sunshine
by Kalli
Dakos
If I were a
teacher,
I wouldn't mark in red,
because red reminds me
of blood that
oozes out of cuts,
and fire engines that
rush to fight blazes
so hot you could
die in them,
and STOP signs that
warn you of danger.
If I were a teacher
I'd mark in yellow-
for corn muffins,
mustard on a fat hot dog,
gardens of dandelions,
and sunbeams that
dance on daffodils.
If I were a teacher,
I'd throw out my STOP pen,
and I'd mark with
the sunshine itself!
To give light to an A,
Warmth to a C,
and hope to an F.
I wouldn't mark in red,
because red reminds me
of blood that
oozes out of cuts,
and fire engines that
rush to fight blazes
so hot you could
die in them,
and STOP signs that
warn you of danger.
If I were a teacher
I'd mark in yellow-
for corn muffins,
mustard on a fat hot dog,
gardens of dandelions,
and sunbeams that
dance on daffodils.
If I were a teacher,
I'd throw out my STOP pen,
and I'd mark with
the sunshine itself!
To give light to an A,
Warmth to a C,
and hope to an F.
So poignant a story, Tara. I know someone who writes comments in capital letters when they are not good comments. I've seen them; they overpower the paper. I love the poem. A mentor a long while ago showed me how writing comments in pencil was so much less powerful, & the comments were meant to be hopeful, just as the poem says. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteUgh. This makes me want to write a poem about teacher comments too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the story and poem, Tara. It's so important to inspire hope whenever possible. Feeling sorry for that student today . . .
ReplyDeleteWow, what a powerful image - the crumple discarded project (and a bit of this child's self esteem) in the middle of the corridor. Maybe Kalli Dakos poem anonymously left on the offending teacher's desk would give a subtle hint to future grading practices? Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I did when I became a teacher was purchase every color except red for grading. 23 years later I grade in pink, purple, blue, green, orange, and any color but red. Grand reminder about the perspective of our students.
ReplyDeleteOh my. I'm struck by the tear the student drew on the paper. I'd feel the same way. At some point you have to look at intention and work to foster that.
ReplyDeletewww.mentoringinthemiddle.blogspot.com
I'm with Maria -- I NEVER grade in red!!
ReplyDeleteLove the response poem you found. Will you sneak it into that child's locker?
Very sad. I remember that feeling all too well from being a student myself! We had one professor in graduate school that we used to say "opened her veins" on our work. Ugh.
ReplyDelete"I'd throw out the Stop pen and write with sunshine itself." Love this! So sad and yet so true that some teachers still believe that negative comments will "change" the child. All it does is devalue. On a writing project, I use sticky notes rather then write on their work.
ReplyDeleteMy preferences are purple and green pens. Since I have been working as a poet-in-the-schools, I no longer have to grade papers, just give feedback. I like Margaret's idea of sticky notes. I wonder what the student learned from this process? Could the teacher have said, "I see that you worked very hard on this project, but..." and given him/her a chance to correct errors? Grading is a complicated issue. Thanks for your thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher from Jamaica. One main thing that our classrooms suffer from, is the low self esteem the students possess. One major cause is the attitude and approach teachers take on learning. Red ink is like the universal trend for most of our teachers to mark with; i never took time out to understand too, how much of an impact negative comments and grades, could have on the esteem of students.
ReplyDeleteI am now sensitized to certain things; to always intertwine a bit of hope where i see failure and like Tara and Maria :-), use colours that depict happiness, cheer, HOPE!!!!