The poet Rumi wrote, "Let the beauty we love be what we do." With a new school year underway, many teachers are drawn to their classrooms by just that sense of love.
We're thinking about it at Morning Edition, too.
"I love my job, and my job, of course, is to change the world, one word at a time," says NPR's Poet-in-Residence Kwame Alexander.
Morning Edition asked listeners to send us poems describing their hopes for the coming school year.
And in came more than 400 poems — from parents, students and teachers. In one, a student vowed to listen more intently to their teacher. In another, the writer imagined learning to drive this year. Many submissions from teachers echoed a singular promise: to be there for their students — and for themselves.
Alexander took submissions and stitched them into a community-sourced poem — embracing all the anxiety, anticipation and excitement that the first days of school can bring.
Read Alexander's poem, titled This Year Shall Be Different or listen to it above.
This Year Shall Be Different I want to teach my children there is a hopeful future still ahead And that kids like themselves — dogged and bent and quirky and kind — Are going to make it. I want to Wipe away their tears Confront all their fears Step into the need Give them voice and choice, seek to employ a house of greater joy. Then stop good teachers from leaving. Because We are scaffolding somebodies a sweeter society
This year, I promise to Paper over the stain on the wall Find one more student desk from the hall Replenish the band-aid supply by the door Stash spare snacks — peanut-free! — to be sure Sort and organize the knowledge of centuries into a learning management system; Grade the papers, monitor the anxiety; Organize your backpack when papers come unfurled Sit with you as you rage against the world Focus on the big questions in a culture of fast answers.
You see, This year I've got colleges to tour teachers to bore, math to do Teachers to woo Essays to write Sources to cite shoes to tie Important people to look in the eye
Quizzes to complete, try not to make a mistake. Got to learn to drive, learn to slam the brakes My room is a mess, I have a bed to make.
Daily habits to teach Parents I'll need to reach And as soon as I get a minute I just may ask an author to visit
I've got friends to make Long tests to take A's to pursue a new hairdo homework to do, so no haiku sports to play exams to slay birthdays to celebrate And debates to moderate meals to make breaks to take There are dreams to believe And goals to achieve And all the while I need to keep my smile
This year I have to learn from my oversights So life can be full of many delights I have a great many doors to open. Lessons to plan — make them engaging. Kids to care for — make them feel welcome. Communities to build — make them feel safe. This year I'll smell the grass and the leaves, breathe the air that blows through the trees Take a step back, and realize that I also have myself to please.
This year I'll try to make many quick decisions. And try to be hopeful to avoid any mental collision. Reach young children. Be a star. Get down low. See eye to eye. Be in the know and by and by Turn on the air purifier, Open a window to set free yesterday's air. Make this room be a place where we ignite possibility.
It's been a week and I've already labeled all the folders, arranged our chairs in fours Laminated calming posters, hung a hall pass by the door A neighbor's old armchair, a soft pillow to hug I put them in the corner next to the donated rug I finished my Compliance Training in the nick of time Checked out the pristine Wellness room, our new paradigm I've printed out the rosters, found the copy room Sent the boss my syllabus, including links to Zoom I've got chocolate in my desk and coffee pods on the shelf This year we're going to do it: take care of our mental health
This Year Shall Be Different I will wait in line, Raise my hand, be respectful, listen to my teacher. learn the new curriculum welcome my students I will thrive because...
I want to show them that they are worthy, That no skin, muscle, heart, mind, or way of loving makes them less worthy, that the world is full of beautiful variety, that the loss of any one is grievous to all,
that listening is a gift to the other, that speaking is an act of courage, that believing is as vital as breath that discovering is more important than knowing that loving is more important than being right
But if I had to choose just one thing I think I'd be happy if I could just be with friends and somehow some way, find myself again.
This community poem was creating using submissions by (in alphabetical order):
Liam Alsbury, San Luis Obispo, CA
Mary Arguelles, West Reading, PA
Shannon Daly, West Hartford, CT
Diane Fingers, St. Peters, MO
Neva Foy Neva, Fort Collins, CO
Jing Qiu, St. Louis, MO
Eva K. Sullivan, Silver Spring, MD
Brett Vogelsinger, Bucks County, PA
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