Poetry Slam Happening Tonight.... Mesa

Poetry In The Round
Date:	May 8, 2008 10:39 AM
Subject:	ATTN: Phoenix Area Folks, Poetry Event Tonight!
Body:	I believe Jonathan (host of Poetry In The Round) is planning on slamming tonight...it's been a while. Come out and support! : ) Some high school kids from Prescott are making the journey out tonight, so come show them what poetry means to the valley! Thanks, Klute, for providing the info for me to steal: Mesa Poetry Slam.... TONIGHT! The Mesa Poetry Slam has risen like a mighty Phoenix from the ashes of... Look, just come to the poetry slam. Get your poetry there, not from a Myspace bulletin. Always free to get in, only $1 to slam! What: The Mesa Poetry Slam When: Tonight, May 8th, at 8:00PM Where: The Essenza Coffeehouse, 1350 S Longmore, Mesa Why: Slam, poetry How: However you can. Call (480) 461-0445 for more info!

Another class ends....

We said good-bye and farewell. My students brought this cake in on the last day of class along with another for my two daughters and I to take home. I was very touched and dreaded the last day of class. I could tell it would be a sad day for some whose initial facial reaction told me it was going to be a sad day. I had spent the last four months with my ESL students and we made good distance in the classroom.

They did a great job on their final assessments and that evening, I drove home in my silent but boastful happiness and cried. Yes, I’m a rookie and I know how to handle good-byes, but their growth, and their future lives were incumbent on how well I did my job. The human in me, taught with heart and soul. I did my best and used every teaching strategy I knew. It was like watching your child walk for the first time again….. and the littlest difference made a world of a difference. I cheered them, encouraged them, and did my best to inspire them.

The last day of class I talked with every student individually and from them I learned their stories of disappointment, gratitude, well-being, and how hard they studied and practiced on their own. Some say they did it for me, others said they did it for their families and for me, I prefer to believe they did it for themselves… they were a wonderful and respectful group of people and because of them, my cup runneth over…

You never know how you will affect others around you, a simple gesture, a pat on the back, a good word of encouragement changes lives. I may never see them all together again, those two classes, but the memory of their stories will stay with me always.