I am from kid cuisine meals
and pink jelly sandals
McDonald's happy meals,
and the kids toy with it
I am from a home
where Barney was on the television everyday
yelling at my mom
to "pretty please but Barney back on"
singing along to the "I love you song"
I am from a "swamp yankee family"
where driving 20 minutes is f a r
and Rhode Island is the only place they know.
I am a granddaughter
with a grandmother
who poured her soul into teaching
saying "you'll be perfect for this one day"
I am from a blended family
where having two bedrooms at two houses,
a step-mom and a step-dad,
is normal to me
I am from parents who put me first,
who support my hopes and dreams,
no matter their relationship to each other
I am from the moments
where family time matters most
where blood does not always define who is family
but that of love,
can define a family.
Hi Cassie! I really enjoyed reading your poem and I can totally relate to a lot of what you write here. The pictures really help getting your message across and I couldn't help but remember my own jelly sandals when I was a little girl. The personal details you added about your grandma influencing you to teach and your home life help give the reader a better sense of who you are and what is important to you - family!. Overall, this was really well written and I'm glad we have class together again!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Allie! I am glad you can relate to the jelly sandals too! Sometimes it's the little things such as sandals that are one of the best memories of childhood. Glad to be in class with you again as well!
DeleteHi Cassie,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the emphasis on family here! I can relate, I have a half sister and my family is complicated, but yet it feels so normal to me too. I'm also thinking about how your passion for family can serve you as an ELA educator -- connecting to students' families for sure! And also like developing units that focus on families in texts, or in writing assignments. There's so much there, so rich and dynamic and complex...
Definitely connecting with students' families, so important! I want students to know that even though their family may not look like their friends family, it is unique to them and it does not change them as a person. I look forward to being able to incorporate the different types of family dynamics in the classroom.
DeleteCassie,
ReplyDeleteAs a mother I can only imagine you singing that Barney song repeatedly. My kids did too and I know every lyric to that song still. My grandmothers passed before I was born but I realize how special your bond is with yours and how much you love her. It is exceptional to know you will follow in her footsteps. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life with us!
Love that your children watched Barney! It seems to be the "old" show now but I still have my VHS tapes that I am saving for when I have children.
DeleteThanks for reading!!
I've always held to the belief that blood is really irrelevant when it comes to family. If you think it and feel it, then you are family. Nuff said. On that note, I truly think you're unique background (like mine with being autistic) puts you in a very unique place to teach your students about the potential out there for alternative family structures to the traditional nuclear family (which is half-dead in today's world anyway) mold and how that's okay to be in instead. Have you considered at all how you can incorporate that into your teaching at all? Because I think you're definitely in a uniquely privileged position to be able to talk about that.
ReplyDeleteI agree, blood is irrelevant in terms of family! I look forward to being able to incorporate the aspect of family with my students which could be done through lots of academic work in the classroom. I want the students to know that not everyone has the same family dynamic and that no matter what their family may look like, it is unique to them. As Dr. Benson said in his comment above, this could be achieved through a writing activity. I would love to give the students an opportunity to write about their family, as it is very important to me.
ReplyDeleteHi Cassie,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the items, songs, and familial details you chose to include. It is funny what stands out from our memories of childhood; the jelly sandals, happy meal toys, and the purple dinosaur all give me a sense of a warm youthful innocence. It also seems to me like you were nurtured and bonded by all the members of your blended family, and that you realize the invaluable worth of that!