Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sweet: Slam Poetry and Taylor Mali's Tribute to Teachers

With the 2010-11 academic school year closing, I dedicate this post to all the teachers I've had the pleasure of working with and learning from.

 


This piece is a slam clip of Taylor Mali - teacher and slam poet performing his poem, "What Teachers Make."  My daughter sent this to me a while ago and want to 'pay it forward' to all the parents and teachers who work with their kids to help make them the best they can be.

A note on slam poetry: Slam poetry is a poetry competition in which poets recite original work which is then judged by selected members of the audience. Slams feature a broad range of voices, styles, and content (although many challenge some 'absolute' authority), and scoring is based on both performance and the poem itself.  Poetry slams are now being successfully introduced in schools (particularly inner-city and urban schools) as well as performing venues to further motivate and reinforce kids' literacy skills.

One more gem on proofreading and editing: "The The Impotence of Proofreading"- also by Taylor Mali. Note that this is NOT for kids- as there is some adult content in it but it's intelligent and well worth your time as it clearly illustrates the importance and the difficulty of editing. I hope no one takes offense - that is not my intent and I apologize if it does.  I just couldn't help myself:




I would love to dedicate the comments sections to stories of your favorite teachers or favorite teaching moments, although always feel free to leave questions and posting requests!

44 comments:

  1. I've seen the 1st one before, even used it somewhere, but the second is hysterical! Trying to figure where to use it...

    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  2. Love them both! Great choices for the T Day! Love starting the day with a laugh! Hope you have a great week!

    Sylvia
    ABC Team

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  3. I am so glad you liked them! I've been waiting a while to use them.

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  4. A great T post. Teachers are Terrific...I know because I was one.

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  5. Terrific post! Many parents have no idea how caring good teachers are...and how hard they work. (I was a teacher.)

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  6. And they could certainly teach us some about humour. nice one.

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  7. I can't seem to comment on your post so I'm trying this as anonymous. Sue of photowannabe
    Love your tribute to teachers.

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  8. Loved these. One of my favourite teaching moments was when one parent came to thank me for giving her child confidence. She told meö when discussing her worries about her child with another parent, that parent told her not to worry, that her daughter would be soon in my class and İ always gave my pupils confidence.

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  9. Terrific, terrific! A bright spot, to be sure!

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  10. Thank you for these brilliant videos. They remind me of the British series "Allo, allo..."which is set in France during the war. There is a French looking policeman, who is an Englishman trying to speak French, which he can't. The result is that he mispronounces every word. Instead of message, he says: I must give you a massage"...You should see it, it's very funny.

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  11. Great idea for T day. I'm 54 years old but I still remember my third grade teacher and she's my all time favorite even including some I liked a lot in college.

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  12. Oh Meryl! I'd seen the first one written before but not "performed" and it was excellent! The second piece had me screaming (LITERALLY) in laughter here all by myself - because I'm a writing teacher and have also taught proofreading skills. OMG! Thank you SO much for the dilitefl laffs!

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  13. The whole time I was smiling! Great post!

    "T"

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  14. These Two slam poetry clips are Terrific! My favorite Teacher was my grade 12 English Teacher and last year we reconnected so I could Thank him for being a Tremendous influence on me. I am forwarding these clips to another fabulous Teacher, one of my best friends now Teaching kids in BC.

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  15. Marvelous, Meryl! Lots of serious thoughts presented in an hilarious way, - smiles and guffaws!

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  16. Hard to believe another year is passing! I am finding that the years go faster the older we get. What a shame! It is the younger years that need to go and the 30's and over in slow motion!New follower thru GFC and because of the blogger issue last week it has messed up my signing in the comment section but not the joining of sites, go figure! So, I will have to use another way to sign in. Sorry about that.

    Mary@http://mmbearcupoftea.blogspot.com

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  17. I've had a lot of good teachers. It's a shame I didn't keep in touch with them.

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  18. So true, so true!!! The impotence of proofreading!! Too many rely on spell check (guilty). It is a difficult task and takes sharp eyes.
    I also forgot to include in my post about the on line auction for the Oaxaca Street Children that is about to begin.
    Perhaps you will visit my other blog to find out more about it:
    http://molokaigirlstudio.blogspot.com/

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  19. My favorite teacher was my sixth grade teacher. She was a wonderful teacher. I still think of her often, and that was more years ago than I want to remember.

    I loved the videos, so funny. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. Both video's were excellent, that last one was a riot! Sort of reminded me of the book Eats Shoots Leaves. Loved it :)

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  21. Definitely impotent, he has such a smooth delivery. I like to look at text in a different format than I wrote it in, surprising how that can pick out the mistakes.

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  22. great tribute thanks for stopping by I am now following you.

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  23. Made me remember my favorite teacher... my teacher in 3rd grade from whom I learned a lot of songs and values in life. When I was in college, she passed away :( I miss her a lot!

    Thanks for dropping by my site! I liked your blog. It's full of information :)

    Spanish Pinay

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  24. Thank you for coming to my blog! I'm a new follower... and I'm a teacher too! Excited that you found me. :-) Looking forward to reading more.

    Mahalo,
    TracePoo
    http://www.amauimommy.com

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  25. Really funny clips. I particularly liked the second - just one misplaced or extra letter or word can make all the difference to the meaning.

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  26. awesome t post.
    Thanks for telling what is slam poetry.
    Cheers.

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  27. Teachers are so important and so under appreciated by our states. I can remember each of mine and they always were so devoted and taught because it was their passion not their jobs.
    I found you on the cup of joe hop and am now following you on GFC

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  28. Thanks for the follow and glad I could make you 'happy'!! I am now following...love your blog. I was a teacher for 41 years, really loved my job, am just recently retired. thanks for the encouraging words:)

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  29. Thanks for coming by Mel Dreams Often! I'm your newest follower.

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  30. Hi! Following you from Mingle With Us
    Blog Hop! I hope you visit me and return
    the follow!:0)

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  31. both works of art. thanks for sharing these. :)

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  32. Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog and following. I'm here happily returning the gesture! I enjoyed your post and both clips very much. I'm not an educator, but I can certainly appreciate the relevence of Mr Mali's very well chosen words and I've been a fan of slam style poetry for some time.

    Looking forward to checking in here often!
    ~Mrs B

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  33. Oh I remember being an absolute heathen child! An I can't believe my teachers made it through the day with me! They're definitely some amazing people, Great post!

    Found you at the weekend blog hop and am glad I did, am a happy new follower :).

    www.marleeindebt.blogspot.com

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  34. great choice! sorry for the late visit...great to be here!

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  35. Great tribute! :)

    I'm your newest follower from the Finding New Friends Hop! I hope you'll stop by my blog www.mommydigger.com and give me a follow :)

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  36. New follower from the hop! I'd love it if you could stop by and follow back! I also wanted to invite you to our Super Stalker Sunday hop! Hope to see you link up on my blog!

    Have a great day!

    April @ Mama on a Green Mission
    http:/greenmissionmama.blogspot.com

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  37. Love this! What a great blog! Following ya back : )

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  38. I'm hoping to 'assistant' teach at my children's charter school next year. This blog is an important one. Great inspiration!

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  39. Thanks. As a teacher I really appreciated it.

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  40. Hi! I'm a new stalker from the Super Stalker Sunday Hop! Thanks so much for linking up with us!

    Hope to see you again next weekend!
    Kortney
    www.kortneyskrazylife.com

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  41. First of all, love the blog title! Second, I remember my freshman high school history teacher vividly. She would sit on the desk and sort of pose and lay across it. Very dramatic and I still remember her classes to this day. Thanks for the follow. Followig you back.
    Debbie from nofiltermom.blogspot.com

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  42. Thanks so much for dropping by my blog, I am here to return the favor and will certainly be back often. Have a fantastic weekend!

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