It has certainly been a challenge to create and administer interesting, fulfilling and also engaging lessons for my students in fifth grade online. I have worked hard to learn new technology like the google hangout and screencastify and flipgrid and, well, there are so many possibilities out there, it will overwhelm even the most tech-savvy teacher in the district. New things are coming out constantly so you have to keep up, and then you have to chase down students, and yet you are required to "do no harm" so you don't want to ask too much of them either..here are a few more thoughts I have had over the last several weeks since I last posted about this complex situation.
1.) I have learned how difficult it is to hold students accountable if they aren't even there in front of you, live, and you might not be able to get a hold of them. If they don't want to be found, it is very easy for them to ghost you or disappear as soon as you try to find them.
2.) I have learned that it may not even matter in the long run, so just keep calm.
3.) I have also learned, however, that you have to at least keep trying to connect with them, in positive ways, and you might occasionally have success with one or two.
4.) I have also learned that if you keep your nose clean and your head down, and your mouth relatively quiet, you can survive in every way.
5.) I have learned that throughout this time all alone in my home office, I am never, never bored, there is always something to do, to learn, to see, to witness, to explain, to understand, to process.
6.) I have learned that I am becoming more and more impatient with other people wasting my time, which is mostly online these days or by zoom calls.
7.) I have learned that there is nothing more important than my family, all of it, some of which I was born into, some of which I have created over the 61 years I have been alive. And I thank God for them every day!!
8.) I have learned that you really just have to take care of yourself, because no one else will, and others will possibly take advantage of your kindness and generosity if you don't take care of number #1 first, that being said, being generous during this time is the only way to be, all the way around. Patience, patience, patience.
9.) I have learned that the discipline that I have acquired over the years with my studies of dance, drama, working out, singing, piano, writing, reading, and other creative pursuits, all of those ways I have disciplined myself are working to my advantage since I began working from home.
10.) My own company is really quite delightful and enduring, and my home is a great sanctuary for me.
Friday, April 24, 2020
Thursday, April 16, 2020
COVID -19 RONDO
COVID 19- RONDO
SECTION A- TUNE DAY-O COVID, COVID 19, WASHING MY HANDS AND I WANT TO LEAVE HOME
COVID, COVID 19, CLEANING MY CLOSETS JUST SO I WON’T ROAM
INSTACART IT CAN TAKE ALL WEEK
JUST LET ME SHOP I WILL WEAR A MASK
ALL THIS FEAR IT WILL MAKE ME WEAK
AT LEAST AT LUNCH IN THE SUN WILL I BASK
SECTION B-TUNE: ERIE CANAL- I’M KEEPING MY DISTANCE AGAINST MY WILL
HOW MUCH LONGER CAN I BE ALONE
I TEACH ONLINE ALL DAY AND NIGHT
I GET DRESSED UP JUST SO MY CLOTHES WON’T GET TIGHT
WE ALL TRY HARD TO LEARN THIS STUFF
OF COURSE, WE NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS FLUFF
BUT NOW IT IS A WAY TO SURVIVE
KIDS COME TO THE MEET, AND THEY WILL THRIVE
SECTION A- TUNE- DAY-O COVID, COVID 19, WASHING MY HANDS AND I WANT TO LEAVE HOME
COVID, COVID 19, CLEANING MY CLOSETS SO I WON’T ROAM
INSTACART IT CAN TAKE ALL WEEK
JUST LET ME SHOP I WILL WEAR A MASK
ALL THIS FEAR IT WILL MAKE ME WEAK
AT LEAST AT LUNCH IN THE SUN WILL I BASK
SECTION C- TUNE- OH SHENANDOAH- AND STUDENTS, I LONG TO SEE YOU
IN REAL LIFE AND IN REAL TIME
WE ARE MISSING PIANO TIME AND THAT’S A CRIME
BUT AT LEAST I CAN TEACH YOU TO RONDO RHYME
SECTION A-TUNE- DAY-O- COVID, COVID 19, WASHING MY HANDS AND I WANT TO LEAVE HOME
COVID, COVID 19, CLEANING MY CLOSETS SO I WON’T ROAM
INSTACART IT CAN TAKE ALL WEEK
JUST LET ME SHOP I WILL WEAR A MASK
ALL THIS FEAR IT WILL MAKE ME WEAK
AT LEAST AT LUNCH IN THE SUN WILL I BASK
SECTION D-TUNE-STAND BY ME- WHEN THE GROCERIES HAVE COME
AND YOU WAITED ALL DAY
AND YOU WERE DOWN TO YOUR LAST OLD CRUST
I STILL WASHED THEM ALL DOWN WITH SOAP AND WITH TRUST
I CONSUMED ALL KINDS OF TREATS
FOOD AND MUSIC WILL STAND BY ME, YES THEY WILL STAND BY ME
DURING THE PANDEMIC, THEY WILL STAND BY ME
SECTION A-FINAL TIME- DAY-O- COVID, COVID 19, WASHING MY HANDS AND I WANT TO LEAVE HOME
COVID, COVID 19, CLEANING MY CLOSETS SO I WON’T ROAM
INSTACART IT CAN TAKE ALL WEEK
JUST LET ME SHOP I WILL WEAR A MASK
ALL THIS FEAR IT WILL MAKE ME WEAK
AT LEAST AT LUNCH IN THE SUN WILL I BASK.
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Home for the Holidays
Home for the holidays
Cliche, cliche, cliche
The past is not present
Yet triggers abound
Old photograph,
Accumulates dust
VHS of The best
Of Louis Frank
Family banter
Brings up bile
Of the ultimate past
Reinforcing the game boxes
With tape
Wearing headdresses
For a laugh
Teasing small children
The gift wishes
Include Barbie
her pink automobile
Bribing one of us
So the choice of tree
At the Christmas farm
Will finish before dark
Will allow us
To drink hot cider,
Obligatory cinnamon sticks, sooner
Biggest tree
Arguments abound
Let the lights go
Honoring
Honoring for Andy
It never gets old
Honoring you
Honoring her
Has it really been that long?
It seems but yesterday
Because the memories
Are so strong
Her voice ringing in my head
Her kindness weighing on my heart
With dark news
The generosity of one
Taken from all of us
Way, way, way too soon
Then, you and I
Never able to look at each other
For so long
It separated us
It was massive
The weight of it
The power of it
You just can’t shelve it
You never grieve
All at once
But there you are, again
one more year
Older
Yet she never grew older
Which will keep us
From also getting older
Because we can keep
Honoring you
As we honor her
Susan Frank
April 5, 2018
Christmas
THE HOLIDAY
How is a person
Supposed to celebrate
The holidays
When there is so much pain
In this world
How is a person
Supposed to be joyful
When you are so far away
From the life that you desire
How is a person
Supposed to believe
In the miracle birth
The red clothed fat-bellied guy
With the eight tiny reindeer
When children are starving
Millions are homeless
Racism is never ending
The world is a hostile place
I will tell you
The smile of a child
The first hot sip of a maple latte
The light of a million stars
on the early morning walk
The laugh you get from a great joke
Told in desperation
For a moment not to be lost
The gratitude of a friend
Whose jewelry you bought
The money you spent
That goes to a good cause
The time you know
Will be yours and ours
When they come home
To spend it with you
The holiday
Appreciate the moment
The holiday
Appreciate the time
The holiday
Appreciate the love, always
The Most Impactful Day of My Life
THE MOST IMPACTFUL DAY
BY SUSAN FRANK
PERHAPS THIS WAY
SOME THINGS
WON’T CHANGE
Yes
It is true
How do you choose
One day
That has impacted you
More than any other
Especially
At my age
Yes
I am old
Relationships
So many
Weddings
Children born
Grandchildren
Graduations
Illness
Loss
Betrayal
All full of impact
Yes
But to choose one
I can say
It may always be
The day we brought
A Christmas tree
To our friend
With all the singing children
From her classes
We stood around the tree
Outside her home
Snow falling
Or that is how I remember it
We sang carols
We decorated the tree
My tears turned to ice
I looked at our mutual friend
It was all we could do
To keep on singing
And not fall apart
It has been eleven christmases
Since we have lost her
But the day remains
Etched in memory
In all we might do
To keep her close
To keep her with us
To never let her go
She is with us forever
Because of that day
Because of that memory
Because of that love
APRIL 5, 2019
You Two, Incorrigible
You Two, Incorrigible
April 14, 2015
It’s us against them
nowadays
It never used to be
that way
It was just
us.
Snowglobe us.
Peeps, animal crackers, lunch, laughter
us.
Children’s problems
Family issues
us.
But we had it all-under control
just us.
Now,
We don’t know how
to think about anything.
If we spent the amount
of time
it would take
to process everything
We would be more processed
Than all the Cheezits
in a supersize box.
She came to me
in my dream,
you know.
She was youthful
Beautiful
Her voice,
as we remember it,
Sassy, tough,
Full of conviction
Strength of thousands,
Strength for all of us.
just us.
Us.
She told me
Not to tell you
I am sure she knew
that I would
After all,
it was never me,
then you,
then her,
It was always,
Us.
When I did tell you anyway
I am sure she knew
I would;
When I did anyway
We laughed,
We ached,
But we laughed anyway.
The two of us
We laughed
imagining
She would be shaking her head in heaven.
She’d say,
You two,
Incorrigible.
Chaos Theory poem 2011
Chaos Theory
Upon the occasion of another birthday
April 5, 2011
Chaos theory claims connection
with creativity
Issues in infancy indicate imagination
a writer’s paradise
Yet those who have sought control
Meticulous measure
Color compulsion to combat anxiety
Breathing focus
All these pale in comparison to chaos
of thought, of action
Family dysfunction, fantasies to fruition
Wall postings
Tell truth, tell all, testimony of mental torture
As caretaker
All information breeds chaos to wellness
As of wellness
A lifetime of attempts to order a chaotic world
Sixteen measure phrases
Rondos, variations, ostinatos
Patterns, continued
Motions, choreographed
Alliteration to allies, annual installments
Poetry for prayer
Form becomes art
Creativity breeds connection
Connection becomes communication
Communication turns chaos into creativity
Chaos as creativity?
Ah, no-
I differ in this regard
Creativity creates communication
a form of prayer
A creative answer
a letting go of order in a chaotic world.
I read one morning- Another Poem of Remembrance
WE THRIVE ON IT
By Susan Frank
April 8, 2016
In celebration of all our rituals together
As they may disappear..
I read one morning
Silent sustained reading
A quotation that brought me
Back to us
The quote was this:
“We survive by ritual”
We don’t thrive on it
We don’t ask for it
We don’t run with it
We don’t live by it
We Survive by it.
The rituals have changed
So much over the years
How can we imagine
That we thought
They wouldn’t change?
And now,
On the edge of another
Possible change
You, all these years
Later
Is it really time?
RITUAL
We survive by ritual
Peeps, animal crackers,
Yellow Snoopy lunch boxes
Annual poems on birthdays
Morning cafeteria chats
Reminiscences of times beloved
Lunches of many colors
Dreams of cures
Laughs over tastes, stories,
A phrase, a gift, a child’s folly
We survive by ritual
Mourning our losses
Shared grief
Chances deteriorated
Notes of condolences
Fighting together
For what is right
Owning up
To our falls
Mistakes
Having our voices heard
If only by each other
Loving Topo Gigio
Him loving us
We shall always survive
By ritual
It embraces us
It envelops us
It consumes us
It welcomes us
We wear it as armor
A coat of comfort
A shawl of solidarity
And I ask again,
How will I continue my course
Of ritualistic survival
Upon your leavetaking?
Alone By My Side- Remembering Betty
Alone, By My Side
April 5, 2020
To add to the collection
Not just another year
A year like no other
I try to take a positive view
She would want that
The laundry always clean
And folded now
Rested,
A car, idle, no risking my life
On the highway
My closets
Clean, organized,
Unneeded documents
Shredded
The air less polluted
No commuters
Classical music nourishes
All day long
Late afternoon walks
For sanity sake
I talk to myself
Which is really to her
All day long
Alone by my side
What would she say?
She would shake her head
That mellifluous, vulnerable voice,
“What has transpired?”
She would say
She would be among those
Who need to shop for groceries
Between six and seven am
Compromised immune system
Indignant, she’d be
But she would share her supplies
Of paper products
With us
Single-ply
We would have long conversations
On the phone
As we always did
We would find ways to laugh
Even about this too.
But the other day
A roll of the coveted white
Just fell off the back of the toilet
No provocation
Was it perched in a precarious position?
Or was she talking to me?
Rooting for me?
I prefer to believe the latter
I talked back to her
You are right, I laughed
There will be enough
And I will be good enough
For my students this way
And this too shall pass, she said
As she always did before
With so little noise
So few distractions
No laughing children
No hand blower roaring
From across the hall
No loudspeakers
Calling indoor recess today
No piece of cake delivered
To celebrate a child’s birthday
She speaks to me
Loud and clear
She says,
“You have no idea
How fortunate you are
A job, your health
A beautiful home
Children who stay in touch
With photographs and videos
All day long”
She was always right
And it isn’t as though
I didn’t always know that
I did, I Do
We knew her
We loved her
We KNOW her, in fact
And we LOVE her still
We do know, one more year
How fortunate we are
For
As alone as we are
She is
For another year
By our side.
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