Seconds

Seconds

Staring down
the barrel 

of red funky 

looking monkeys

intertwined

trying to climb

get out of here

to where?

Lights flashing

Staring 

 sling shot

not flinching

looking through cylinders so dark

not very amusing

pain

pain

stretching for miles

 minutes

nape of my neck

 to my finger tips

losing feeling

weightless

Staring
machine-like
robotic 

monsters

in the periphery

suddenly

out of nowhere

ready to pounce

on their prey
crashing

brakes failing

moving forward

G forces uncontrollable

slow motion

seconds

Waiting

staring down

looking in

wondering where

it all began

so weightless

useless

timeless

numbing
then

writhing

pain

Today

Today

by Maureen Ucles

Today is special

because of you

only 

because of you

Today

a day like no other

I became
your mother

Eighteen years 

so long ago--
yet

seems like

yesterday

Would I be a good mom?

Could I be a good mom?

What will you look like?

Who will you become?

Questions raised

 news of my pregnancy

ever so elated

Kicking

moving

fluttering

waiting

anticipation

Now eighteen

Wow eighteen!

truly you have blossomed--

determination

compassion

creativity

sensitivity

caring

hard worker

never giving up
not even once
perseverant

simply you
simply
beautiful
wonderful

Elizabeth

All these years--

blink of an eye

kinder--

now graduating?

How?

Blessing

gift

laughter

tears

making it

surpassing dreams--

more to be

realized

future's bright

you got it right
 make me so 

insanely proud

to call you
mine

my baby

sweet heart

my soul

you are

above all 

 hope and joy

Happy birthday!

young lady

eighteen years 

and counting...

QEP Professional Books-Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations

Catherine at QEP Professional books showed me the new Poetry Friday Anthology by Wong and Vardell. I have shared some of these poems about holiday and celebrations with some of my students. They really liked them, along with the pocket poems.  This is another great resource from Vardell and Wong because the poems are in English and Spanish.  I have included QEP's link and a screenshot of their website.  I highly recommend this company. They have so many great resources for educators. The QEP ladies are always so nice and helpful. Anytime I have needed anything, they took the time to help me find things and guided me to newer resources.
QEP Professional Books

Jeff Anderson's Visit and His New Book Zack Delacruz-Me and My Big Mouth

I know this is a long time coming, but never late than never, right? I think it is about time that I finally posted some of my reflections about Jeff's visit back in 2014. Thrilled is how I felt when I heard that Jeff Anderson was going share his knowledge and expertise with many teachers and coaches. When some consultants visit, I can take them or leave them. Not with Jeff! Nope he is highly respected and regarded in the language arts community.  We were not disappointed in the least. He had so much to share about expository writing. Because we experienced the writing together, many of the things that he had taught us had a high stick factor. He was engaging, hilarious and nothing but fun!  Those are my kind of staff developments!

I really liked how he showed us authentic mentor expository text. We used these examples and tried them out on our own. This was very engaging.

Jeff Anderson and Maureen Ucles

In addition to that, I loved the idea of power writing. I have used this with my students. We used it the other day with our reading responses. They were so jazzed about it.

Overall, the day was great. I wasn't bored one time and I took copious notes. As I was going through my photos from my phone, I found a few that I want to share. It was an honor having Jeff join us in SBISD and to get to talk to him. He is a great guy and fantastic staff developer. His books are nothing short of fantastic. Now he is an author of a middle school novel. (See below.)

Jeff Anderson's new book to released in August, 2015

http://www.amazon.com/Zack-Delacruz-Me-Big-Mouth/dp/1454914998

 It will be out soon and I will definitely buy a copy to read and share with my students. It's pretty cool to say that I know the author! Pretty darn cool!  Thanks Jeff!

For more information about Jeff Anderson, go to the link provided:

http://www.writeguy.net/

https://twitter.com/writeguyjeff

Ample Revised

I remember writing this poem after spending an evening with Alana Morris putting together stress balls at Panera. She was helping me make stress balls out of rice and nice balloons for my Abydos Writing certification presentation. We sat and put together a number of these rice stress balls that  evening. We received some very interesting looks from the people dining that night. Alana brought her rice tin. I brought a bag of brown rice. Alana didn't know if the brown rice would suffice because all she ever used was white rice. I am glad I didn't buy any Uncle Ben's Wild Rice. That would have been interesting. I wrote this poem (Ample)  after spending time with my good friend. I certainly missed working with her. We shared an office closet for 6 1/2 years. I never thought that there would be a day when I wouldn't see her daily. Now, when I get a chance to see her, I am overjoyed. The memories flood my mind. There are numerous memories. The fondest ones are the late evenings working on projects and eating Domino's Pizza. I also remember making numerous trips to Murphy's Deli and getting her the stuffed veggie pocket and Grandma's Peach Iced Tea. Those were the days. Who knows, maybe someday we can work together like that again. I certainly hope that we can in some form or fashion. I feel that way about all the people that I worked with at the SBISD's Administration Building. Many have moved onto places like Austin and  the Bayou with a cute little dog named Archie. They may even be from Michigan and that is okay. There is ample room...ample.


Ample

by Maureen Ucles

So nice

to hear your voice

thoughts

laughter

Pick your brain--

Just be--

Delightful

So nice

to see you

once again

expressions

genius

locura...

Nicety

Just plain relaxing

shooting the breeze

collaborating

satiating

my brain

bouncing ideas

puts me at ease

Engaging

Ya know--

we gotta

do this again

Soon...okay?

Ample

Ready to Roll

Ready To Roll

By Maureen Ucles

Ready to roll

down the road

 shake the dust

off my feet

to languish

in some other
place

Ready to roll

wipe the cobwebs free

bring creativity back

to me--

where it belongs

More than ready

seeing things clearer

deeper hues

sparking lights

more than ever before

ready,

simply ready

Ready...
set...
go!

New Trail of Breadcrumbs Site by Gretchen Bernabei

Gretchen Bernabei has launched a new and improved Trail of Breakcrumbs site called Trail of Breadcrumbs-- Tools for Tracking the Movement of the Mind.  You really should check out her site. It is full of great writing resources!  I took a screen shot so you can see what the site looks like now.

I am going to peruse this site often.  I will post more, when I get some time to do so.   You can also find the site on Twitter at Trail of Breadcrumbs.  Hope you find it as helpful as I always have.

Shake It Off!

I was driving to the bank today. I finally put on Taylor Swift's song Shake It Off. I had heard it a time or two, but not in its entirety. I downloaded it the other day from iTunes. I had such a great time listening and dancing to it in my car!  It was rather fun. I wish I had downloaded it when it was very popular about 8 months back. Oh, well that is me, always late to pop culture!  I downloaded Happy in the Summer. But...better late than never. I am going to make a playlist and put Shake If Off, Happy, and Ariana's Grande's Problem.  I can definitely see myself listening to these songs on my way home, especially in June, when traffic is horrible!