Emergent Bilingual Poetry Translanguaging

Bilingue Emergente
Emerging from the Cocoon
By Maureen Ucles


Soy bilingue
Emergente
Not an emergency
Just me
I am
An emergent
Bilingual

Like the sound of
it
Kinda distinguished
Distinguida
Gave me an excuse
To be
Me
Solamente

All these years
batallando
con uno o otro
en mi mente
Mind games
It's one or the other
Ingles o Espanol
Watch it son
You might
get some
Spanglish
In your orejas
Stop that
This instant
But now?

Hey I am
beyond a disease
I am
Bilingual Emergente
Sounds sort of
elegant
Elegante
sofisticado
Ya know?

Not that dumb
after all
No burros allowed
in my crowd
You get me?
Say yes
Dile si,si, si (can't get the accents on Blogger)
Perdon

Ah!
 just my mind
Readin' off the English
Thinkin' in Spanish
What comes out of my mouth?
I am hungry
tengo hambre hombre!
Now famished!
Ya know?
Just chillin
Toma la suave
'Cause carne asada
Just met some burgers
and papas fritas
Mezclando con orgullo
cause ya gotta know
I am bilingue emergente
Proud to be
Simply
Simplemente
ME!

Me and My Memes!

I just found a new toy.  This toy cannot be bought on line with Amazon or at Toys R Us! No, this toy is meme making!  I find it such fun! I recently went back to my site for making memes https://imgflip.com/memegenerator and I found out that other people on this site actually look at my memes.  One person responded to two of my memes.  They were really funny!  I never thought or considered that a meme could answer another meme. I leave you with the original meme that I created and the response meme.  Then I left you with a few of the memes that I created today.  Fun!

My Original Meme

Response to my meme (see photo above)

My original meme

Response to my meme (see koala meme above)

My new meme

My new meme

My new meme

Coffee

Coffee

by Maureen Ucles

Boy

sure could use

a cup of coffee

right about now

cup of hot, hot

coffee

Boy

right about now

sure could savor

some coffee

with cream

half and half

with a pinch

just a pinch

of cinnamon

Boy 

right about now

sure could use

some coffee

at the STAR

or in the HOP

perhaps

some blond

grande

with tons of 

cream

pinch or two of

cinnamon

or 

hazelnut brew

Boy O' Boy

sure could do

with some coffee

to shake cobwebs

away

drink in

some inspiration

motivation

just a cup or so

will do

coffee

Rainy Day Blues-Poem

Rainy Day Blues

By Maureen Ucles

Rainy day,

Rainy day,

Messing with my moods

don't wantcha

to stay

I'm trapped

inside

all day

all stinkin'

day

Rainy day

Rainy day

Go on

Go on 

Your merry

little way

No time

No place

to go out

and play

just inside

four walled silence

Rainy day

Rainy day

Couldn't you come

some other day?

when I am working

in the office

 laboring with my

thoughts

hearing 

pitter patter

of 

your smatter-

-ings

Rainy day

Rainy day

No soup 

on display

potato

or 

tomato

with basil

or grilled sandwiches

with cheese

melting away

pickles on the side

Please,

Pretty please
 sugar or Truvia
 on top

just stop 

it all

go away

Rainy day

Rainy day

got me in a

 gloomy

kind a way

wanna say

just go on

your way

don't rain
anymore

on my parade

or

vacation

Rainy day

Rainy day
Dreary
Yucky

Melancholic
Disgusting
Unsettled
Blue

stuck

in this zone
some kinda hue

  interior room

 closet

calling out

sky's a fallin'

down

ominous

dark gray

purple, green

baddest front

you've ever seen

rainy day

rainy day

release me

let me
let me
 go

The Quiet and Coffee

From https://www.facebook.com/QuietRev/photos/a.884557304936766.1073741828.666744410051391/888924987833331/?type=1&theater


I love to read quotes and see images from Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution page on Face Book.  If you are interested in visiting this page, please click on the link provided: https://www.facebook.com/QuietRev

I went to IHOP yesterday for dinner. I went by myself. I am an introvert so being alone is not a problem. I have found myself going to IHOP and coffee houses because I know that I can sit down and order bottomless cups of coffee  and read my books. I sometimes go there to read and write. Yesterday I was reading a book about poetry.  I was completely caught up in my own world, so much so that the waitress didn't want to interrupt me to give me the check.  She said, "You looked so into your book, that I didn't want to interrupt your reading."

I love to do this.  There's something about sitting down and reading in a coffee house. I really enjoy doing this. Sometimes words will start popping out and I will have to get my notebook out to write down my thoughts.  Coffee, books and my notebook.  No other place that I like to be to connect with the Quiet inside of me.  Susan Cain, in her book Quiet, speaks about the introverts need to reconnect and find some quiet time to rejuvenate. Going and having coffee and me time, definitely does the trick for me.  That is why I picked the poem to share.  I connect to it in many ways.

Poetic License-Shirley McPhillips

I started reading Poem Central by Shirley McPhillips.  I am on the second chapter.  I like it so far.  I thought it funny that she provided a poetic license. Now that I have this license, I can free up my poetry.  I will post more, as I read.

Memes and Writing

As I worked with some young writers the other day, I shared a writer's secret with them.  I shared the use of thoughts shots.  The idea of thought shots comes from Barry Lane.  You can look him up on YouTube and go to Discover Writing to find out more. He has a wide variety of books about teaching writing and writer's craft.Thought Shots PDF  http://www.discover-writing.com/

I showed these young writers how I can add thought shots to my writing to make it better.  By adding thought shots readers are allowed into the mind of the writer or character.  What was I thinking?  What was going on in my mind or the character's mind?  I gave them a few examples from other student produced writing and asked them to listen for it as I read my first draft the second time.  I highlighted it each time that they said that they heard a thought shot.  I also added a few more thought shots as I plodded along.  I then invited the students to add some thought shots of their own.  It was quite amazing to see them in deep thought.  You could hear a pin drop in the room as revised their writing.

What does this have to do with memes?  I thought about memes the previous day.  What if I began a lesson on thought shots and I started it out with memes? The memes are a kind of thought shot.  You have to read the character's face and read the thoughts of the character.  It is a kind of thought shot.  Then I thought I would bridge it over to my writing by asking, "How can I show what I am thinking in my personal narrative?"  Then I would show them the use of thought shots.  

Last night, I googled memes and how to make them. I found a website where you could upload a photo and then add captions to the photo. https://imgflip.com/memegenerator This website also had some examples of what people has previously created.  I played around with a few. Here is what I came up with: (please keep in mind that I am an amateur at this):

Very Young Author

A teacher from my staff development shared with me a video created by one of her students. This young boy created a book, took photos and made a digital book. He added his voice to narrate. I thought it was so cute.  What about you?  Just goes to show you what our kids can do when given the opportunity. The teacher shared with me that he did this all on his own!  She said he was super motivated.

Yesterday

I got a chance to work with some really great educators and colleagues yesterday.  We went into some spectacular classrooms in kinder and first grade.  These educators, that allowed us a glimpse into their wonderful classrooms, should be commended for all the hard work that they do.  I was amazed at their dedication, work ethic and devotion.  I could tell just how much these teachers care for their students and their learning.  Wow!

This got me thinking about our teaching profession.  We all work extremely hard to do and be the best that we can be for our students.  Sometimes teachers, who are doing such a stand up job, may not realize the great impact that they have on their students, teams and campuses. They may not know just how appreciated that they are. They come in everyday and do their job to max, stay late in the evening and at home preparing for the days ahead. The job in never ever done.  I witnessed this yesterday.  I gave a teacher a compliment. Her room was so inviting. It was like a palace of learning. I would, without any hesitation, put my daughter in this class. I complimented her on this wonderful environment. She deflected the comment and gave others the praise.  I then asked her to please accept my compliment.  Finally, she agreed.  Wow! That was so neat to see. Such humility.

We teachers dig in day after day and work so very hard to find anything and everything to motivate and guide our young readers and writers.  It is such a joy and privilege to be able to do what we do on a daily basis.  We hold such wonder in the palms of our hands all year long and then the wonders move on to blossom and grow somewhere else.  I have such admiration and respect for everyone who call themselves teacher.  It is truly a labor of love and dedication.  Sometimes we don't get the respect that we are due in society as a whole, but that does not matter in the long run.  There's nothing better than seeing that light bulb go on and the excitement in the eyes of these wonderful children.  I love teaching and am proud to be a part of a profession where we motivate and inspire young minds to reach beyond their expectations. I am proud to be called TEACHER!

My Experience with Blogging

 All day long I kept thinking about my blog Just Write, Baby! 1, 2, 3...Go! For the past week, I have been transferring my posts from my previous blog to this one.

Going through the process of copying and pasting, brought back memories of posts past. I would stop, read, and reflect on my journey. What I am learning, through this post relocation process, is that I do love to write.

Why did I start a blog in the first place?  I wanted to have a place to hold some of my ideas and thoughts.  I also wanted to invite other contributors to join me. Many of these people were friends

 Through blogging, I discovered that I had a lot to say. The more I posted, the more ideas would come. Writing became a welcome friend that helped me explore ideas. I may not have explored these ideas, if not for the blog. Blogging also gave me a voice and more motivation to write.

 E. M.  Forster was purported to say, "How do I know what want to think, until I see what I say?" I really connect with this.  It makes perfect sense to me. Through blogging, I have been able to explore so much in my writing. I can see what I want to say by crafting my many  posts.  My posts start out this way and end up that way. Sometimes, the end result is a polar opposite of where I started. I love that when this happens. Oh, the places you'll go!  Blogging daily has helped me realize something important about myself: I was born to write. (This is my epiphany. You may not agree. For me, it is true.)   I am more motivated than ever to let the words fly. I am happy to continue this journey with Just Write, Baby! 1...2...3...Go!  I hope you will join me.