Senioritis
Seniors trying to graduate,
Writing essays and reading books,
Every seat was taken when I first
walked in the room.
Their ears are open,
Their minds are eager.
One more English class, one more
year!
One more English class, one more
year!
The teacher eases her way
throughout the room.
She eases her way into their
minds.
She fills them with knowledge.
She fills them with direction.
Everything is clear now, clear as
only water can be.
Now they can get to work.
Silence takes over as they focus
on their work.
Only a faint sound of music
coming from the students headphones echoes in the room.
They get their work done.
They get good grades.
Days fly by,
Work gets graded,
Their progress reports say
they’ve done well.
Their work all gets done and
nothing is late.
The teacher is happy,
And so are they.
Days keep flying by.
Students are late,
Students are absent.
That essay was due a week ago,
that essay was due a week ago.
That essay is now late.
There are empty chairs,
There are empty minds,
No longer do these students care.
No longer do they try.
They all want to graduate,
They all want to leave.
How long is this class, how long
is this class?
Can I just go back to sleep?
Get your head up… Get your head
up,
There is no sleeping in class.
Trying to save these kids grades,
Trying to save them from falling
behind.
They keep trying, keep trying.
They try to stay awake,
They try to do all of their work,
They try to turn their work in on
time.
They try to focus, they try to
care.
One more English class, one more
year!
One more English class, one more
year!
In the end they're just trying to
graduate.
Thank you for sharing. This poem has powerful emotion throughout it. At first, the possibilities seem endless. It felt exciting! And then just as it does in real time, it switched. Suddenly what felt so promising and reliable became just the opposite. Instead of joy, there was distrust and uncertainty. I really enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteGabi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I feel like this poem captures the emotions that all seniors (ourselves included) feel during their last year of school. The repetitive nature does emphasize the hoops we have to jump through, but that we know we must persevere to see the end result. You also used several literary devices that you could use to demonstrate to your students how they can incorporate what they've learned in English class into their creative and more personal writing assignments.
Best Regards,
Lindsay
Oh how I remember senioritis from high school! I have now had the honor of witnessing this right of passage as a student teacher. I know your poem focuses on multiple aspects and emotions that mirror our own experience as student teachers. Thanks for effectively highlighting the excitement and wonder of seniors and their last year and in some ways their first.
ReplyDelete