While Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “Poetry,” came to me recently, it speaks to the oldest part of my teaching soul: the artist I want to be. We often hear that teaching is both a science and an art. I agree. There must be precision and deliberateness and empirical evidence, the “proof” of what we do. But there must also be invention and nuance and unbridled passion if there is to be artistry. In this poem, Nikki Giovanni writes about poetry, but really she’s writing about the invisible moments of a teaching life that eventually reveal themselves in the bursting epiphany of a learner.

Words may be the poet’s canvas, but my poems walk through the classroom door each day. My ink comes not from a utensil, but from a teacher’s craft. Nurturing their verse may require me to be as “gentle as a teardrop” or “strong like the eye” that sees “center” amidst classroom chaos. My invention, too, takes space, but it’s in the silence, the listening, that I speak most loudly. And like the poet who is “pulling loneliness around,” “ignoring the weary wariness…to compose a poem no one understands” I am compelled to find the right rhyme or cadence, the image that illuminates or the syntax that knows. Poet-teachers are humble. They exist so that learning thrives, so that poems learn to write themselves.

Inevitably, if we write our poems well, their “energy,” “song,” and “joy” will leave us “wrapped in our loneliness.” Yet, we’re not alone at all. We’re surrounded by the humility of letting go, so that others may learn.

– Sarah Brown Wessling

Poetry

–  Nikki Giovanni

poetry is motion graceful
as a fawn
gentle as a teardrop
strong like the eye
finding peace in a crowded room…

Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Over the past thirty years, Nikki’s outspokenness, in her writing and in person, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely read American poets, she prides herself on being “a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English.” For more on Nikki Giovanni, please see her website.  For “Poetry” and the rest of this version of her bio, see AfroPoets.net: Poetry Soothes the Soul.  Click here, for her bio in her own words.

We are delighted to have two of Giovanni’s poems – “the drum” and “ego-tripping” – in Teaching with Fire. 

 

Sarah Brown Wessling

Sarah Brown Wessling is a 19-year veteran of the high school English classroom. While a member of the faculty at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa she has taught courses ranging from at-risk to Advanced Placement and has served the department and district in a variety of leadership roles. Sarah is a National Board Certified Teacher since 2005 and in 2010 was selected as the National Teacher of the Year. In that capacity she worked as an ambassador for education, giving over 250 talks and workshops in 39 different states as well as internationally. Currently she maintains a hybrid teaching position which keeps her in the classroom and allows her to write, speak and work on teacher leadership initiatives around the country. Sarah is Laureate Emeritus for the non-profit Teaching Channel, where she writes, “Ask Sarah,” a weekly advice column for teachers. She is an author of Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards and has launched her own blog, Open Teaching, at sarahbrownwessling.com.

Many thanks to Sarah for this reflection and for writing the poignant Afterword in Teaching with Heart. 

 

 

Seeking Submissions:

Is there a poem that helps you think about your work as an educator? A poem that makes you see yourself, or your students, in a different way?  Let us know! Send us your submission and we’ll work with you to create a blog post.

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