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More About This Title Teaching with Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach
English
"Teaching with Fire is a glorious collection of the poetry that has restored the faith of teachers in the highest, most transcendent values of their work with children....Those who want us to believe that teaching is a technocratic and robotic skill devoid of art or joy or beauty need to read this powerful collection. So, for that matter, do we all."
?Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage Inequalities
"When reasoned argument fails, poetry helps us make sense of life. A few well-chosen images, the spinning together of words creates a way of seeing where we came from and lights up possibilities for where we might be going....Dip in, read, and ponder; share with others. It's inspiration in the very best sense."
?Deborah Meier, co-principal of The Mission Hill School, Boston and founder of a network of schools in East Harlem, New York
"In the Confucian tradition it is said that the mark of a golden era is that children are the most important members of the society and teaching is the most revered profession. Our jour ney to that ideal may be a long one, but it is books like this that will sustain us - for who are we all at our best save teachers, and who matters more to us than the children?"
?Peter M. Senge, founding chair, SoL (Society for Organizational Learning) and author of The Fifth Discipline
Those of us who care about the young and their education must find ways to remember what teaching and learning are really about. We must find ways to keep our hearts alive as we serve our students. Poetry has the power to keep us vital and focused on what really matters in life and in schooling. Teaching with Fire is a wonderful collection of eighty-eight poems from such well-loved poets as Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Billy Collins, Emily Dickinson, and Pablo Neruda. Each of these evocative poems is accompanied by a brief story from a teacher explaining the significance of the poem in his or her life's work. This beautiful book also includes an essay that describes how poetry can be used to grow both personally and professionally.
Teaching With Fire was written in partnership with the Center for Teacher Formation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Royalties from this book will be used to fund scholarship opportunities for teachers to grow and learn.
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THE EDITORS
Sam M. Intrator is assistant professor of education and child study at Smith College. He is a former high school teacher and administrator and the son of two public school teachers. He is the editor of Stories of the Courage to Teach and author of Tuned In and Fired Up: How Teaching Can Inspire Real Learning in the Classroom.
Megan Scribner is a freelance writer, editor, and program evaluator who has conducted research on what sustains and empowers the lives of teachers. She is the mother of two children and PTA president of their elementary school in Takoma Park, Maryland.
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Gratitudes xi
A Note to Our Readers by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner xiii
Introduction by Parker J. Palmer and Tom Vander Ark xvii
Hearing the Call 1
Bob O’Meally’s“Make Music with Your Life” submitted by John J. Sweeney 2
Marge Piercy’s “To be of use”submitted by Katya Levitan-Reiner 4
Pablo Neruda’s“The Poet’s Obligation” submitted by William Ayers 6
Gabriele D’Annunzio’s “I pastori”submitted by Susan Etheredge 8
Emily Dickinson’s“The Chariot” submitted by Judy R. Smith 10
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar”submitted by Marj Vandenack 12
William Stafford’s “The Way It Is”submitted by Lisa Drumheller Sudar 14
Walt Whitman’s Preface to “Leaves of Grass” [Excerpt] submitted by Lori Douglas 16
Langston Hughes’s “Dream Deferred”submitted by Heather Kirkpatrick 18
Marian Wright Edelman’s “I Care and I’m Willing to Serve”submitted by Linda Lantieri 20
Cherishing the Work 23
Billy Collins’s “First Reader”submitted by Sandra Dean 24
Gary Snyder’s “Axe Handles”submitted by Curtis Borg 26
David Whyte’s “Working Together”submitted by Jani Barker 28
Marcie Hans’s “Fueled”submitted by Betsy Motten 30
William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” submitted by Sarah Fay 32
George Venn’s “Poem Against the First Grade”submitted by Theresa Gill 34
Jeff Moss’s “On the Other Side of the Door”submitted by Lamson T. Lam 36
Lydia Cortés’s“I Remember” submitted by Sonia Nieto 38
Robert Frost’s“Nothing Gold Can Stay” submitted by Troyvoi Hicks 40
Gary Blankenburg’s“The Mouse” submitted by Ellen Shull 42
Lewis Buzbee’s“Sunday, Tarzan in His Hammock” submitted by Dan Mindich 44
On the Edge 47
John Milton’s“Paradise Lost, Book VIII” submitted by John I. Goodlad 48
Stephen Sondheim’s “Children Will Listen”submitted by Don Shalvey 50
Al Zolynas’s “Love in the Classroom”submitted by Ron Petrich 52
Billy Collins’s “On Turning Ten”submitted by Chip Wood 54
Li-Young Lee’s “The Gift”submitted by Kelly Gallagher 56
Mary Oliver’s “The Journey”submitted by Marian Mesrobian MacCurdy 58
Yehuda Amichai’s “God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children”submitted by Shifra Schonmann 60
Jellaludin Rumi’s “The Lame Goat”submitted by Michael Poutiatine 62
Linda McCarriston’s “Hotel Nights with My Mother”submitted by Wanda S. Praisner 64
Lucile Burt’s “Melissa Quits School”submitted by Leslie Rennie-Hill 66
Holding On 69
Denise Levertov’s“Witness” submitted by Robert Kunzman 70
Octavio Paz’s“After” submitted by Catherine Johnson 72
Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese”submitted by Elizabeth V. V. Bedell 74
William Butler Yeats’s “Everything That Man Esteems”submitted by Betsy Wice 76
May Sarton’s “Now I Become Myself”submitted by Amy Eva-Wood 78
Annie Dillard’s “Teaching a Stone to Talk” [Excerpt]submitted by Libby Roberts 80
David Whyte’s“Sweet Darkness” submitted by Jeanine O’Connell 82
Rubin Alves’s“Tomorrow’s Child” submitted by Sarah Smith 84
Donald Hall’s“Names of Horses” submitted by Laurel Leahy 86
Judy Brown’s“Fire” submitted by Maggie Anderson 88
Margaret Walker’s“For My People” submitted by Tracy Swinton Bailey 90
In the Moment 93
Elizabeth Carlson’s“Imperfection” submitted by Glynis Wilson Boultbee 94
David Wagoner’s“Lost” submitted by Fred Taylor 96
Wendell Berry’s “A Purification” submitted by Rick Jackson 98
Marge Piercy’s“The seven of pentacles” submitted by Sally Z. Hare 100
Pablo Neruda’s“Keeping Quiet” submitted by Catherine Gerber 102
Gary Snyder’s“What Have I Learned” submitted by Perie Longo 104
Wislawa Szymborska’s“There But for the Grace” submitted by Lesley Woodward 106
Derek Walcott’s“Love After Love” submitted by David Hagstrom 108
William Stafford’s“You Reading This, Be Ready” submitted by Lucile Burt 110
Edgar A. Guest’s“Don’t Quit” submitted by Reg Weaver 112
Making Contact 115
Charles Olson’s“These Days” submitted by John Fox 116
Donna Kate Rushin’s“The Bridge Poem” submitted by Debbie S. Dewitt 118
Seamus Heaney’s“The Cure at Troy” [Excerpt] submitted by Jim Burke 120
Virginia Satir’s “Making Contact” submitted by Dennis Littky 122
John Moffitt’s “To Look at Any Thing” submitted by Angela Peery 124
Jellaludin Rumi’s “Two Kinds of Intelligence” submitted by Marianne Houston 126
Adrienne Rich’s “Dialogue” submitted by Adam D. Bunting 128
Galway Kinnell’s “Saint Francis and the Sow” submitted by Libby Falk Jones 130
Maxine Kumin’s“Junior Life Saving” submitted by Thomasina LaGuardia 132
Gary Soto’s“Saturday at the Canal” submitted by Steve Elia 134
Adrienne Rich’s“Diving into the Wreck” submitted by Penny Gill 136
The Fire of Teaching 139
Wislawa Szymborska’s“A Contribution to Statistics” submitted by Elizabeth Meador 140
E.E. Cummings’s“You Shall Above All Things” submitted by Mark Nepo 142
Mary Oliver’s“The Summer Day” submitted by Caren Bassett Dybek 144
Ranier Maria Rilke’s “Archaic Torso of Apollo” submitted by Rob Reich 146
Robert Graves’s“Warning to Children” submitted by Ali Stewart 148
Wallace Stevens’s“The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain” submitted by Samuel Scheer 150
Langston Hughes’s“My People” submitted by Mary Cowhey 152
nikki giovanni’s“the drum” submitted by Sam Grabelle 154
nila northSun’s“moving camp too far” submitted by Tom Weiner 156
Czeslaw Milosz’s“Gift” submitted by Suzanne Strauss 158
T. S. Eliot’s“East Coker” submitted by Stephen Gordon 160
Naomi Shihab Nye’s“Shoulders” submitted by Marcy Jackson 162
Bettye T. Spinner’s“Harvest Home” submitted by Linda Powell Pruitt 164
Daring to Lead 167
Rabindranath Tagore’s“Where the Mind Is Without Fear” submitted by Tony Wagner 168
Barbara Kingsolver’s“Beating Time” submitted by Susan Klonsky 170
Thomas Jefferson’s“Passage from a Letter to William Charles Jarvis” submitted by Theodore R. Sizer 172
Robert Herrick’s“Delight in Disorder” submitted by Edward Alan Katz 174
Rainer Maria Rilke’s“I Believe in All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken” submitted by Tom Vander Ark 176
Langston Hughes’s“Mother to Son” submitted by Joe Nathan 178
nikki giovanni’s“ego-tripping” submitted by Janice E. Jackson 180
Anne Sexton’s “Courage” submitted by Wendy Kohler 182
William Stafford’s “Silver Star” submitted by Jay Casbon 184
Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” [Excerpt] submitted by Sandra Feldman 186
Vaclav Havel’s “It Is I Who Must Begin” submitted by Diana Chapman Walsh 188
Marge Piercy’s “The low road” submitted by Parker J. Palmer 190
Tending the Fire: The Utility of Poetry in a Teacher’s Life by Sam M. Intrator 193
About the Courage to Teach Program 213
The Contributors 215
The Editors 225
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— Johnathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage Inequalities
"When reasoned argument fails, poetry helps us make sense of life. A few well-chosen images, the spinning together of words creates a way of seeing where we came from and lights up possibilities for where we might be going . . . . Dip in, read, and ponder; share with others. It's inspiration in the very best sense."
— Deborah Meier, co-principal of The Mission Hill School, Boston and founder of a network of schools in East Harlem, New York
"It is said in the Confucian tradition that the mark of any golden era is that children are the most important members of a society and teaching the most revered profession. Today, fear, anxiety, overwork, and under-appreciation characterize a great many professions, but few more so than teaching. Realism tells us that the journey to regain our sanity regarding children and teaching will be a long one. Passion tells us that the path to the future is the one we tread here, now. The editors of Teaching with Fire say it is to sustain teachers. I say it is to sustain us all— for who are we at our best save teachers, and who matters more to us than the children?"
— Peter Senge, author, The Fifth Discipline
