Tuesday, September 7, 2010

First Day of School Poem

I wrote this poem to introduce my classroom to my students.

Now

This…
This is the NOW.
Not the then, not the soon, not the past or the future,
not the could have been or the might still be
This is the NOW.

Who you are right NOW is the reason I am here.

I’m not here to talk about
what you did
how you ranked
who you don’t like
why you don’t care
That’s not why I’m here.

I’m not in the position to decide
who you’ll be
what you’ll become
where your path leads
why you will succeed
That’s not why I’m here.

I’m here for the NOW.

“OK, so…what do we do NOW?” You ask. “What is this all about?”

Well…this is not about YOU
but it’s not about ME either.
This is about US.

It’s about respect; it’s about community; it’s about caring for each other;
It’s about … oh – blah, blah, blah, blah!

You’ve heard this all before!
NOW, we’re gonna own it.

This is about moving forward
not backward, not backsliding, not backpedaling,
not back anything!

This is where we’re
responsible for our actions
AND
accountable for our choices

This is where things make sense;
where nonsense is not welcome.

This is about creating a place that has
what we need
what we want
and what we hope for

THIS IS THE NOW.

So,
let’s do this
let’s be this
let’s become this
Because no one else is gonna do this for us.

This is ME. This is YOU. But…this is really US.

And it’s time to get started.

just…

about…

NOW.

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