A few kind words

Tuesdays at Two Writing Teachers!

I think I could listen to Chris Lehman talk about poetry all day. The past two Saturdays I've enjoyed taking a break from my usual morning languor to dive deep into poetry with his group of TeacherPoets. Each hour flies by, a flurry of reading, writing, listening, and tweeting. Each hour leaves me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to spark renewed vigor in our writing workshop. Each hour reminds me of the atmosphere of joy and purpose I want to create in my classroom.

Last week, Chris made my day when he tweeted me about my reflection on our first session:

Words are so powerful. Even though he's never met me, he could see my enthusiasm through my writing. And with a short reply, he made my day just as much as he claimed I'd made his.

Then, on Saturday, I almost fell out of the bed (That's right, bed. I won't pretend I'm sitting in a chair at 11:00 on a Saturday!) when this happened:


I couldn't believe it. Right there, in front of everyone, in the midst of all the talking and tweeting and reading and writing, he interjected that I "wrote an awesome blog post" and thanked me for my "energy"!!!

For that minute, I was really special. He noticed who I was. He remembered my post.
I mattered. And I wanted to work even harder. That's the power of a few kind words.