Feyen Times Newsletter 003

hello.

Harper and I were sitting outside a few days ago when a bee decided it would stop by and join us. Poor thing picked the wrong people, and I am terribly sorry I have passed along my fear of the insects to my children (no living thing was harmed in the incident). However, after a brief freak out and subsequent calm down, the two of us decided that after a long, hard winter, now that the sun was out, it sure felt nice to sit outside, so we stayed where we were. Harper and I would literally sit with our fear.

“That gives me an idea,” Harper said and opened her art journal to the prompt: “Create a mystery.” Here is what she made:

It is true I passed along my fear of wasps, hornets, and Dear Lord now the Murder Hornets, but maybe that’s OK to admit our fears, our worries, our sorrows – as long as we’re willing to sit with them (in the sun, perhaps) and consider what we can create from these heavier things. I hope I’ve passed that along, too. (Note that nobody said you had to create an answer – just a mystery.)

This month, I led an online book club over at Tweetspeak Poetry. We discussed the wonderful book Wild Words by Nicole Gulotta. This and L.L. Barkat’s Rumors of Water are the two most formative, joyful books on writing I’ve read, and it was a pleasure to write about Wild Words.  I wrote five essays and I might be wrong, but I think it was some of the best writing I’ve done this year, and that’s because I took a good long look at some frustrations and fears I’ve had for a while but wasn’t sure how to articulate them, or what to do about them. Gulotta’s book gave me the space to do that.

You can find the essays here.

There is a lot in the world to be afraid of. There is much to be furious and sorrowful over. I’m hoping I don’t run from the sting of these feelings, and instead, do my best to let them fly around, perhaps rest on my shoulder, and see what mysteries they have to offer me.

read well.

This month I finished Secrets in Summer by Nancy Thayer – a delightful, fun read. Perfect for summer. I also finished Micheal Card’s book: A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching Out to God in the Lost Language of Lament. My confession is this: I haven’t been going to church since Easter because I hate watching it on TV.(I suppose I should say I haven’t been attending to church since Easter.) Anyway, instead I ride my bike to Washtenaw Dairy, buy a dozen donuts, the Sunday New York Times, and come home and read that along with Micheal Card’s book. This month I’ll devote my Sunday reading to another book like this, but this has been my church ritual. I think Job, David, Jeremiah, and probably Jesus (the men Card writes about) would be OK with my decision.

I would also like to offer a few book suggestions with activities for middle and high school students (and maybe us, too) for the summer:

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes – If I were teaching this in a middle school class, I would use this story to teach how to write a research paper. Students would need to research and write about young men like Emmett Till, Tamir Rice, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless others who brutally lost their lives because of racism.

To Kill a Mockingbird + The Hate You Give Harper Lee, Angie Thomas – In my dream classroom, I would teach these books side by side and do a compare/contrast of plot, character, and theme. I would also encourage my students to consider why it is that stories like this are told so well from a child’s point of view. Flannery O’Connor once mocked Harper Lee’s book because she thought it was a children’s book, and I’m not trying to raise St. O’Connor from the dead and have her murder me with a bull, but I would want my students to see the power they hold in the way they see and understand the world. It is their responsibility to share that perspective. I think I’d have my students write a fiction story modeled after these books.

On The Come Up, by Angie Thomas – I’d want my students to study what poetry does in this book. Poetry is a character in this story. It is a powerful, fierce, grace-smacking character. We would have poetry slams every Friday in my classroom. We would listen to Kwame Alexander read his poems, and I would require all students to submit their work to him over at NPR because he is the poet-in-residence (that has to be the coolest job there ever was).

After Tupac and D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson – We would study Tupac’s music; something that would never be allowed in schools, but since we’re not in school, how about it? How about we try to learn the poetry of Mr. Shakur?

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson – She writes “How to Listen” haikus throughout her memoir, and I would have my students practice the same. I think writing a poem about how to listen would be a great way to start. For all of us.

offerings.

I have completed another round of Writing Pep Talks, and Jennifer Batchelor made them gorgeous for me. This one comes with guided journaling, a suggestion for how to keep a writer’s diary, and a goal setting page. And of course, you get ten writing pep talks written by me. You can find them here.

This Monday, I will begin my first Writing Critique Group. This is a small group for writers who have a manuscript or a set of essays they are working on. We’ll set weekly goals, read a common text (and hopefully apply those concepts to our writing), and critique each other’s group. This course will last six weeks, and I hope to offer this throughout the year. I believe there are two spots left, if you’re interested.

In a few weeks, I will begin another course, called “Do Not Take My Picture and Do Not Write About Me on Your Blog: Writing Motherhood when the Children Are Older.” This is a course designed for those who believe there are still stories to be told when our children grow older, but aren’t sure how to go about telling them. I have a bit of experience with this kind of writing, so I thought I’d design a course.

local.

For high schoolers, summertime means babysitting, life-guarding, and for some of us, shelving books at a library, or working at a grocery store doing your best not to look at people strangely when they come in to exchange the Friday  Sun-Times for the weekend edition of The Chicago Tribune. (How do  you get those two newspapers mixed up? Also? No, I can’t exchange YESTERDAY’S NEWS for today’s, m’am.) Alas, this summer will not offer such jobs, so teens will need to get more creative than they already are. Meg Brady of ReWrap is already on it. Adorable “forever bags” (I love that description she used on an Instagram post), these are great gifts, or even great gift bags that you’ll use again and again. Give a gift, support a teenager, support the Earth. Win-win-win.

the teacher and the twirl girl.

Twirl is still available for free on Kindle, if you are the e-reader type.

I don’t know if I’d call The Teacher Diaries or Twirl summer reads, but I am confident in saying that you can, in fact, read them in the summer. It would be just fine to do that.

On Twirl: Callie Feyen’s stories possess that uncanny quality of drawing you close like the most familiar friend and yet surprising you like the very best tales always do. Her writing is at once warm and precise, comforting and sharp, and always, always leave the reader hoping for more. Callie Feyen is a masterful and generous story teller and I will be the first in line for whatever she gives us next.

On The Teacher Diaries: I love that Callie takes what can feel old, elusive and difficult and brings it new life. She reclaims Romeo & Juliet through a process that honors the story, respects her students while sharing of herself and her story. We are given the gift to create. To be part of something new coming into being. This gift is not easy nor does it come without risks, limitations, disappointments, confusion, defeat, and loss. Callie does not approach this lightly rather she continues to seek connections and growth, scene by scene, living one experience at a time. The classroom community is the soul of the education system. A classroom where students are challenged, held accountable, and loved. Callie has given us a few bold strokes on the canvas. I hope that others can build on those strokes in their own creations. I certainly will.

Summer doesn’t begin for several days, but the bees are out, and they’re ready to play. Time to get step outside and see what it is we can do with all that we must face.