Who Were You Born to Be?

I was born an artist. I know that for sure. Later I became a writer and a teacher but always an artist.

I have noticed as creatives sometimes we forget who we are. We think that our passion, our creativity is something we leave at home for the hours before and after work.

I have believed this sometimes. I’ve gone to work and I’ve left my writing behind and I’ve come home to work related planning.

But then there’s those moments in between.

Lots of moments!

Lots of hours where you aren’t in touch with your true passion!

And it doesn’t mean that your job isn’t the best job in the world. It IS the best job that suits your needs.

But, it probably still has room to add more of you. Bringing more of yourself to work is called “Job Crafting”.

What is Job Crafting?

“By definition, job crafting is how an employee reframes their work, physically, socially and cognitively. It is ‘…what employees do to redesign their own jobs in ways that foster engagement at work, job satisfaction, resilience, and thriving’ “ (Berg, Wrzesniewski, & Dutton, 2010). From – https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/job-crafting/

How Do I Job Craft to Reflect More of Who I Am?

For me it means bringing my art into the workplace. In the past I have created work journals. I profiled this process on one of my older blogs. I buy a lined journal and add my own calendar. Originally the calendar was created on index cards, but now I use a basic lined scribbler to keep all of my originals. I use a process of hole-punch dots from magazines, a series of cut-up images and letters. I add the calendars lines using colored pens.Then I photocopy over my original to give it a smooth finish.

I love my calendars! I know, that is completely nerdy, but that is me…completely nerdy.

I love looking at my calendars. It reminds me of my inner artist.  

It is not just a work journal with a pretty calendar. I also use it as a traveling writer’s notebook. I can keep a list of neat things I overhear in the hallways and classrooms. I record different story ideas or just insights about the students I’m with. It is a record of my work and my art.

This year I made  a 10 month calendar, yet I never went and got a photocopy of it for my journal. I just never made the time. I ended up buying a day-timer. It was nice and had stickers but it did not serve the same purpose as my home-made journal.

It wasn’t the same at all.

In fact I missed looking at my homemade calendar and just reflecting on my creative life.

The trigger to make a new one came recently from a struggle with my writing life.

Lately, I have been anxious about my writing. It was just not clicking. I had all these notes and yet I couldn’t make a breakthrough. My husband said, do some of your art. And I thought yeah that’s what I always did when I was most upset or stressed and in fact art got me through my cancer battle nearly 20 years ago.

It is what I tell my art students all the time, “Art is a wellness tool and it is important to keep it up. keep doing it even if it’s just simple artwork.”

Though I can create realistic portraits, this paper collage fulfills me in a way that is very zen and meditative.

Instead of using the old calendar, I decided to make the calendars full size so this meant a new notebook. Those who know me know that a new notebook is always something that I look forward too.

I found this one at Indigo and it fits so perfectly with what I was doing, “Fill you paper with the breathings of your heart.”  

Here are the three pages I created. I love them! Note they are much more vibrant in real life. They are different than before because I have included focus words for each month. 

How Else Can You Job Craft?

You can job craft your current job to include more of yourself. For some people that can go beyond a journal to include things that you have in your work space: a special frame, a picture, a color that speaks to you, music and special scents. I think we need to recognize that we need to pursue these things because they keep us in the zone, aligned. Sometimes these objects start a conversation, helping others discover what they may have not discovered about themselves and that’s why I’m sharing this today.

It took a few days to get this calendar together but it is so important for me to continue doing this for myself and really for the others in my life.

How can I say and talk about creativity when I leave it behind? When I don’t show how important it is to actually be your authentic self day in and day out no matter where or who you are.

Just remember to bring more of yourself to the workplace and to job craft your reality.  You will become a much more balanced person for the universe and for all of those around you.

Until next time,

Love Coach Clark

Why do I read business articles? Because they are often the source for amazing ideas to use in the Language Arts classroom.  This Forbes’ article about the Limerick Butler poet Stephen Clare inspired my take on Fresh Poems in the Classroom.

Stephen Clare sets up his typewriter and creates “fresh” poems for people in under 10 minutes.

He requires two things to create poems… a WHAT and a WHO

• WHAT is the topic for the poem?
• WHO is the poem for?

The customer talks to him as he writes. Stephen’s creative process determines the length and the structure of the poem, he lets the poem take the lead.

This magic can happen in the classroom too! Here’s how!

Setting Up This Experience in the Classroom

Immerse students in poetry. Explore many different kinds, not just ones that rhyme.

Here are some handy lists.

30 Books of Poetry for Young Readers

20 Best Poetry Books for Kids

Practice writing poems together as a class. Model first as a teacher (I DO, STUDENTS WATCH), then together as a large group and in small groups (WE DO TOGETHER) and then as individuals (YOU DO ON YOUR OWN).

After writing a few different types of poems, set up students in pairs to write “Fresh Poems”.  Encouraging students to share topics that are meaningful to them and to carefully consider who could the audience of their poem could be. This opens the audience to other students in the class and in the school, in addition to other school staff and to family at home.

However, reality is that writing a poem without scaffolds can be challenging. While some students can listen to another student’s ideas and create a poem, most cannot. Here are some ways to support the student writer of “fresh poems.”

Have poem templates for students to use with prior instruction of how to create with them.  These are the same templates students have explored in class to write poems.

Consider an organizer for holding the ideas of the student “customer”.  One option is to have a paper for students to make a jot list or perhaps a series of boxes on a page for students to create quick drawings with/without words.

If you have access to Google Apps, perhaps have the student “customer” speak into Google Docs using the voice typing feature found on the toolbar under “tools”. The benefit of  voice typing is that the poet can use these captured words, already typed into a doc to create the poem without worrying about the initial step of idea capture.

Finishing ideas can include no tech, meaning hand printed on a page.  It can also be low tech, using a word publishing technology to create a polished poem using typed words and found images. A high tech option would be using BookCreator, to include pictures and words in an eBook format.

Here are some other places online to create or learn how to write poems.

Poster My Wall

Poetry Templates from READWRITETHINK.org

Poetry Templates from Teach-nology

Using Google Slides to Make a Poster

How to Write Free Verse Poetry

Enjoy this process, make tweaks as you find out what works for your students. I think it is important to emphasize the beauty in the personalized gift of writing. Celebrate these newly created poems by bringing in those that are receiving the poems. As an extension, set up a FRESH POEM REQUEST box where students can fill out a form to request a fresh poem. The form should include, the name of the person requesting the poem, the topic for the poem and for who the poem is for.

I look forward to hearing how you used “fresh” poems in your classroom. Please make note in the comment section.

Here’s a bonus for you! I created this Poetry LiveBinder and you might find it helpful as you explore poetry in your classroom.

Until Next Time,

Coach Clark