2007_10_01_archive

World Teachers' Day

Today is World Teachers' Day, an opportunity to recognize teachers and

their contributions around the world. World Teachers' Day was

inaugurated in 1994 to commemorate the signing of the UNESCO/ILO

Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers on 5 October 1966.

More than 100 countries currently celebrate World Teachers' Day on the

5th of October."

Celebrate the day with these poem gems.

Miss Lee and Mrs. Fuller

by Cheryl Miller Thurston

Miss Lee's rows are straight

and her cabinets are dusted.

Her blotter is fresh

and her shades are adjusted.

She always has staples

and Elmer's and tissues.

She never misplaces

a pass that she issues.

Mrs. Fuller does.

Miss Lee's books have covers;

she hasn't lost any.

Her milk money forms

come out right to the penny.

Her class in assemblies

is quite in control.

She never miscounts

or forgets to take roll.

Mrs. Fuller does.

Miss Lee has a gradebook that's neat,

not a smear.

Her lesson plan book

is complete for the year.

Her duties for playground

or lunch never tire her.

She never has principals

trying to fire her.

Mrs. Fuller does.

Miss Lee sees no value

in things that don't fit.

Her warmest remarks

run to "Quiet" and "Sit."

She never sparks passion,

excitement or dreams-

She never sees minds that are

bursting their seams.

Mrs. Fuller does.

from: Thurston, Cheryl Miller. 1987. Hide Your Ex-lax under the

Wheaties: Poems about Schools, Teachers, Kids, and Education. Fort

Collins, CO: Cottonwood Press.

And just to remind us about our colleagues in education working with

children around the world, here's a poem from the former

Czechoslovakia that offers a classroom moment that is typical, no

matter what the language of instruction may be!

Napoleon

by Miroslav Holub

Czechoslovakia

Translated by Kaca Polackova

Children, when was

Napoleon Bonaparte

born? asks the teacher.

A thousand years ago,

say the children.

A hundred years ago,

say the children.

Nobody knows.

Children, what did

Napoleon Bonaparte

do? asks the teacher.

He won a war,

say the children.

He lost a war,

say the children.

Nobody knows.

Our butcher used to have a dog,

says Frankie,

and his name was Napoleon,

and the butcher used to beat him,

and the dog died

of hunger

a year ago.

And now all the children feel sorry

for Napoleon.

from; Nye, Naomi Shihab. Comp. This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems

from Around the World. Four Winds, 1992.

For more poems, check out the Poetry Friday Round Up hosted this week

by WhimsyBooks.