Oscar the Grouch Living In a trash can Waiting… For Elmo My dear friend While I Rot in Trash Telling people I won’t clean up I’m waiting for… Elmo My dearest friend Continue reading Oscar The Grouch

When you’re at a Cubs game And you feel the loudness and excitement At the Cubs game, one crack of the bat And the whole world loves baseball Cubs is the team to root for And you well know it Continue reading Cubby Love

Flowers are pretty Flowers smell good There are so many kinds There are roses, daisies, sunflowers And many kinds more… There are many colors, too Pink, white, red, yellow And all the colors you want I love flowers I love flowers I hope you love them too!!! Continue reading Flowers

I am from tall grass From the sound of the birds I am from waterfalls From bears and bobcats I am from the beaches From the long waves that hit my feet hard I am from mountains From the snowy tops Of cliffs I am from friendship Forever friends I am from death From the top of heaven Never to be seen again I am from books Crazy adventures Sad deaths Always to be forgotten Continue reading Where I Am From

What is the gym doing while we are gone? Is it wondering where all kids have gone? Is it wondering where all the bouncing balls have gone? Is it wondering where the voices have gone? Will anyone know? We don’t know What the gym is thinking Continue reading What Is The Gym Doing While We Are Gone?

When you are at home, school is lonely and sad. There are no more yells of cheerful people playing, no talking, not even the normal learning is done. It just sits there empty, sad and gathers dust. It dreams of normal times but when it wakes, it is alone again. Continue reading When You Are At Home

Running, playing ball Fast fast fast Woofing Barking Hop hop leap. Chewing on the carpet Oh no no Woofing Barking Hop hop chew. Peeing on the carpet No no no Woofing Barking Hop hop no. CHOMP! Whine whine whine Woofing Barking Hop hop ouch! Continue reading The Dog

What if they can see me? What if they know? What if they think it’s weird? What if they get mad? What if they . . . They’re not. Continue reading Anxiety

Turns off the lights, groans goodnight. Pencils sharpen, books tidy up. Whiteboards write “When will the kids come home?” Cubbies snuggle, books read themselves once before bed. In the science room tests are going on. Kaboom! A vial explodes. In the music room a lullaby is being played. In the gym the basketballs are ending their game. And the soccer balls are getting ready to sleep. Soon everything is asleep. Desks groan, whiteboards sniffle and the rest of the school snores goodnight. Continue reading Goodnight School

5-339 classroom is on a corona-cation. With no kids to look after and no teacher to organize its cabinets and shelves. No custodian to clean the extra tiny stuff. The 5-339 classroom is free to do what it wants, even if it makes a mess. The classrooms have the school to themselves. They threw a big end of the year party with Abby and Jeremy’s classrooms. Even though they love the alone time they miss the kids and teachers. The kids they got to know and love, will never see them again. They think about this for a long time … Continue reading The 5-339 Classroom

It writes all day It writes all night It takes no breaks It never takes a rest It will just work for days It will never see the sky Only the paper My Pen Continue reading The Pen

Eraser What would you do without an eraser, No one will be able to change their words. And, we won’t have anything to fidget with! Erasers come in all shapes and sizes, Smooooooth and rough, BIG and small. When you use it, Tiny, Teeny Erasers are made Like grated cheese. But one day that one eraser will be erased. Continue reading Eraser

Blank Vast whiteness Nothing in sight Trapped and remote A space Where you can Think A place Where you can breathe No colors No sounds Just thoughts No sun No moon Just air No way out No way in It is just there Can not see it Can not touch it It is just here Frightening Yet calm No distractions Or People Or things No smell No feel It is its own Existence Is not Controlled Can not be Controlled A physical Space An abstract Concept It is Everywhere And Nowhere It is Bright And Dark A paradox That Should … Continue reading Nothing

What can our classroom be doing, With nobody there, The books dusted in the corners of shelves, With nobody there, The little pencils, With nobody to use them, All the markers, Without people to use them, What can happen there, when nobody is there. Continue reading A Classroom Alone

I’m anxious I’m nervous It’s been ten weeks Now it’s time I’m going solo Ready to fly I’m scared I’m afraid But there’s nothing in my way A new experience I may be soaring But so is my confidence inside Continue reading Soar

I wake up to see out my window, birds perching on the branches chirping to each other. There are not a lot of people outside like there usually are. The ones I see are wearing masks. I look over the buildings and I see Lady Liberty. I look around my room. I see my unmade bed, I see my desk, and my headphones and my computer. I feel so much and sometimes I feel nothing. I think about how wonderful the world is, and I am mystified. Continue reading Wednesday Morning Poem

Dusty floors Empty halls Falling papers off the walls Silent playground Lunchroom too No music in the music room Empty closets Crowded desks Unused promethean boards Blue paper hospital masks Continue reading School

Classrooms When the kids go home and the day is done the classroom does something unexpected. It comes to life: pencils and pens, crayons and rulers, chapter and picture books, notebooks and workbooks alike; they all come to life ‘cause they party all night until day, when they go back to sleep. They stay still and wait to come alive and take flight and party all night once again. Continue reading Classrooms

With my long neck, I look around I see a caravan Full with people in a crowd I look down and get closer so they can feed me Because I really need some food I begin to walk away to the elephants But the caravan comes with me anyway Continue reading Giraffe

We used to make friends with a click But now the click is making friends for us We used to hold books to our faces and read But why do that when the face has a screen Addictive it is Productive it’s not We used to know what it feels like to touch To feel But our generation doesn’t find it real We do not touch the apples in the garden any more Why do that when you can order deliveries from a store We used to read books and talk to friends But that came to an end Continue reading Touchscreen (Inspired by Marshall Soulful Jones)