Teaching with Heart

Each and every day teachers show up in their classrooms with a relentless sense of optimism. Despite the complicated challenges of schools, they come to and remain in the profession inspired by a conviction that through education they can move individuals and society to a more promising future.

In Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach a diverse group of ninety teachers describe the complex of emotions and experiences of the teaching life – joy, outrage, heartbreak, hope, commitment and dedication. Each heartfelt commentary is paired with a cherished poem selected by the teacher. The contributors represent a broad array of educators: K-12 teachers, principals, superintendents, college professors, as well as many non-traditional teachers. They range from first year teachers to mid-career veterans to those who have retired after decades in the classroom. They come from inner-city, suburban, charter and private schools.

The teachers identified an eclectic collection of poems and poets from Emily Dickinson, to Richard Wright, to Mary Oliver to the rapper Tupac Shakur. It is a book by teachers and for all who teach.

The book also includes a poignant Foreword by Parker J. Palmer (The Courage to Teach), a stirring Introduction by Taylor Mali (What Teachers Make), and a moving Afterword by Sarah Brown Wessling (Teaching Channel).

Where Teaching with Fire honored and celebrated the work of teachers; Teaching with Heart salutes the tenacious and relentless optimism of teachers and their belief that despite the many challenges and obstacles of the teaching life, much is possible.

A Note to Our Readers by Sam M. Intrator and Megan Scribner xi

Foreword by Parker J. Palmer xxi

Introduction by Taylor Mali xxvii

Relentless Optimism 1

Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” reflection by Randi Weingarten 2

Fleet Foxes’ “Helplessness Blues” reflection by Stephen Lazar 4

Marianne Williamson’s “A Return to Love” [Excerpt] reflection by Rachel Willis 6

Edgar Lee Masters’s “George Gray” reflection by Mel Glenn 8

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” reflection by Kaitlin Roig 10

Rudyard Kipling’s “if” reflection by Andy Wood 12

Loris Malaguzzi’s “No Way. The Hundred is There.” reflection by Tiffany Poirier 14

Gerald Jonas’s “Lessons” reflection by Julie A. Gorlewski 16

Taylor Mali’s “What Teachers Make” reflection by Kevin Hodgson 18

Teachable Moments 21

Rainier Maria Rilke’s “All will come again into its strength” reflection by Gregory John 22

Richard Wilbur’s “The Writer” reflection by Emily Brisse 24

Theodore Roethke’s “The Waking” reflection by Nora Landon 26

Emily Dickinson’s “’Tis so much joy! ’Tis so much joy!” reflection by Lily Eskelsen García 28

Paul Boswell’s “This Splendid Speck” reflection by Christine Intagliata 30

Stanley Kunitz’s “Halley’s Comet” reflection by Rob Maitra 32

Emily Dickinson’s “If I can stop one Heart from breaking” reflection by Annette Breaux 34

John O’Donohue’s “Beannacht” reflection by Emanuel Pariser 36

D. H. Lawrence’s “The Best of School” reflection by Tom Vander Ark 38

Beauty in the Ordinary 41

Fernando Pessoa’s “To Be Great, Be Entire” reflection by Vicki Den Ouden 42

Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Famous” reflection by Safaa Abdel-Magid 44

Pablo Neruda’s “In Praise of Ironing” reflection by Cindy O’Donnell-Allen 46

Louise Glück’s “Aubade” reflection by Kent Dickson 48

W. H. Auden’s “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” [Excerpt] reflection by Jamie Raskin 50

Stephen Crane’s “LVIII” reflection by Liam Corley 52

Mary Oliver’s “Crossing the Swamp” reflection by Maureen Geraghty 54

Philip Levine’s “What Work Is” reflection by Holly Masturzo 56

Walt Whitman’s “Section II from ‘Song of Myself’ ” reflection by Jennifer Boyden 58

Enduring Impact 61

Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness” reflection by Hannah Cushing 62

Margaret Atwood’s “You Begin” reflection by Karen Harris 64

Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Please Call Me by My True Names” reflection by Ruth Charney 66

William Stafford’s “Deciding” reflection by Michael Poutiatine 68

Li-Young Lee’s “Eating Together” reflection by Wanda S. Praisner 70

John O’Donohue’s “Blessing: For Presence” reflection by David Henderson 72

Tara Sophia Mohr’s “Your Other Name” reflection by Lianne Raymond 74

Jim R. Rogers’s “Good Morning!” reflection by Jane Zalkin 76

Galway Kinnell’s “Saint Francis and the Sow” reflection by Kirsten Olson 78

The Work Is Hard 81

Antonio Machado’s “VI” reflection by Michael L. Crauderueff 82

Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” reflection by Kathleen Melville 84

Calvin Coolidge’s “Persistence” reflection by April Niemela 86

Sharon Olds’s “On the Subway” reflection by Lori Ungemah 88

Anonymous’s “Work Gloves” reflection by Tom Meyer 90

William Stafford’s “Next Time” reflection by Leanne Grabel Sander 92

Emily Dickinson’s “We grow accustomed to the Dark—” reflection by Rachel Fentin 94

Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” reflection by Ronald Gordon 96

Wislawa Szymborska’s “Life While-You-Wait” reflection by Veta Goler 98

Tenacity 101

Tupac Shakur’s “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” reflection by Jose Vilson 102

Philip Levine’s “M. Degas Teaches Art & Science at Durfee Intermediate School, Detroit, 1942” reflection by Laura Roop 104

Mel King’s “Struggle” reflection by Susan Rodgerson 106

Langston Hughes’s “Theme for English B” reflection by Paola Tineo 108

Irene Rutherford McLeod’s “Lone Dog” reflection by LouAnne Johnson 110

Billy Collins’s “On Turning Ten” reflection by Will Bangs 112

Edgar A. Guest’s “It Couldn’t Be Done” reflection by Glendean Hamilton 114

Lao-Tzu’s “On Leadership” reflection by Larry Rosenstock 116

William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus” reflection by Caridad Caro 118

Feisty 121

Rumi’s “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing” reflection by Hugh Birdsall 122

Mary Oliver’s “The Poet Dreams of the Classroom” reflection by Katie Johnson 124

Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son” reflection by Ron Walker 126

Jane Kenyon’s “Otherwise” reflection by Alison Overseth 128

Richard Brautigan’s “The Memoirs of Jessie James” reflection by Stephen Mahoney 130

Marge Piercy’s “To be of use” reflection by Amy Christie 132

Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” reflection by Mary Beth Hertz 134

Olive Senior’s “Colonial Girls School” reflection by Dena Simmons 136

The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell’s “An Innocent Freedom Writer” reflection by Kayleigh Colombero 138

Moment to Moment 141

Bill Holm’s “Advice” reflection by Teri O’Donnell 142

Katha Pollitt’s “Lilacs in September” reflection by David S. Goldstein 144

Herman Hesse’s “The Ferryman” reflection by Rachel Boechler 146

Mark Nepo’s “The Appointment” reflection by Judy Sorum Brown 148

Captain Ed Davidson’s “Footprints by the Sea” reflection by Sandi Bisceglia 150

Rumi’s “The Guest House” reflection by Richard H. Ackerman 152

Chuang Tzu’s “Flight from the Shadow” reflection by Mark Bielang 154

Thomas Merton’s “In Silence” reflection by Thomas A. Stewart 156

Derek Walcott’s “Love After Love” reflection by Tim Ryan 158

Together 161

John Daniel’s “A Prayer among Friends” reflection by Melissa Madenski 162

Maya Angelou’s “Alone” reflection by Nina Ashur 164

Stephen Dunn’s “The Sacred” reflection by Dan Mindich 166

James A. Autry’s “On Firing A Salesman” reflection by Brian Dixon 168

Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to make much of Time” reflection by Cordell Jones 170

Lucille Clifton’s “blessing the boats” reflection by Kathleen Glaser 172

Raymond Carver’s “Happiness” reflection by Dennis Huffman 174

X. J. Kennedy’s “Little Elegy” reflection by Kenneth Rocke 176

Mel Glenn’s “A Teacher’s Contract” reflection by Harriet Sanford 178

Called to Teach 181

Gary Snyder’s “For the Children” reflection by Julia Hill 182

Maya Angelou’s “The Lesson” reflection by Jovan Miles 184

Gregory Orr’s “It’s not magic; it isn’t a trick” reflection by John Mayer 186

Judy Sorum Brown’s “Hummingbirds asleep” reflection by Sandie Merriam 188

John Fox’s “When Someone Deeply Listens to You” reflection by Nell Etheredge 190

Alexis Rotella’s “Purple” reflection by Leatha Fields-Carey 192

William Stafford’s “The Way It Is” reflection by Donna Y. Chin 194

Langston Hughes’s “I loved my friend” reflection by Margaret Wilson 196

Wendell Berry’s “The Real Work” reflection by Amy Harter 198

Using Poetry for Reflection and Conversation 201

Afterword by Sarah Brown Wessling 221

Center for Courage & Renewal 223

The Contributors 225

The Editors 241

Gratitudes 243

Credits 245

THE EDITORS

SAM M. INTRATOR is principal of the Smith College Campus School, and professor of education and child study at Smith College. A Kellogg National Leadership Fellow, he is the author/editor of seven books, including The Quest for Mastery: Positive Youth Development Through Out-of-School Programs.

MEGAN SCRIBNER has three decades of experience editing books, reports, and essays, including co-editing two other poetry anthologies with Intrator: Teaching with Fire and Leading from Within. In 2012, she received the Takoma Park Azalea Award for School Activist and continues to be active in her community.

Royalties from this book help create more Courage & Renewal resources and programs for educators.

“‘Warn the whole Universe that your heart can no longer live without real love.’ Those words from the poet Hafiz are the reason you must buy this book, as the best possible field guide to accompany you through the brambles, over the chasms, up and down the treacherous slopes that every teacher with heart traverses every day of the year, while carrying society’s most sacred trust.”

—DIANA CHAPMAN WALSH, president emerita, Wellesley College

“As a poet and a teacher, I’m always looking for what is essential and how it can be of use. Teaching with Heart inspires and models the use of what matters in life and community.”

—MARK NEPO, author of The Book of Awakening and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen

Teaching with Heart honors the heroic optimism of teachers and their belief that despite the many challenges and obstacles of the teaching life, much is possible. The book is a collection of ninety treasured poems, each accompanied by a teacher’s brief personal reflection on how poetry helps them make sense of the challenges and possibilities in their work. Teaching with Heart is the highly anticipated sequel to the wildly popular Teaching with Fire, and like the original it will guide, renew, and inspire teachers.

Written by and for teachers of all levels of experience across the entire educational spectrum, Teaching with Heart explores the gamut of emotions teachers experience—joy, outrage, heartbreak, and hope—helping teachers to make sense of the ups and downs, and to stay invested and inspired, especially during difficult times.

This anthology includes a rich variety of poems from Emily Dickinson, to William Stafford, to Maya Angelou, to Mary Oliver, to Tupac Shakur, and moving commentaries that speak directly to everyone who teaches, exploring the questions, challenges, and triumphs that lie at the heart of the profession.