Frost Revisions

Nearly two years ago, one of my colleagues was sharing how she had been exposed to drafts of Robert Frost's poetry and what a profound impact it had on her. As a lover of Frost's poems, she was used to reading them as a finished product in all their glory. Seeing the poems with words scribbled out, numerous corrections and edits, and frequent searches for the perfect word reminded her that Frost was not simply inspired by a muse as he sat down and composed beautiful poetry. Alas, he was human. A human who needed to scratch, scrape and claw his way through his poetry to find the perfect words. The lesson my friend learned was that Robert Frost had a growth mindset. He didn't do one shot poetry; he worked and struggled to improve, revise, and grow.

The best thing about this realization from my friend and colleague was that she didn't keep it to herself. Like all good educators, she not only learned from her experience, she shared it with others so they could grow too. I happened to be one of the people she shared it with. It made an impact on me and sparked my thinking. I wrote it down in my list of blog ideas and there it waited...until now.

As educators, we know the importance of having a growth mindset and that excellence doesn't happen by chance, but by hard work and endurance. However, I think sometimes we forget that truth when we think of the "giants" in fields like Byron, Dickinson, and even Frost. We may think of them as people who had a natural gift for writing and forget that they put blood, sweat, and tears into their works to make them so great. When we share these examples with our students, we can show them that ALL people need to work for improvement. And when you are feeling frustrated with your own writing skills, perhaps this story of "Frost Revisions" will remind you that nobody is perfect...at least the first time.

Robert Frost reads "The Road Not Taken"

PEARLS OF WISDOM from ROBERT FROST 

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and thought has found words."

"Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense."

"In three words I can sum up everything I've leaned about life: it goes on."

GREAT EDUCATORS TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER

Jason Gribble

Julie Mytych






UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, January 30: Student of the Month Assembly 9:05 am
Wednesday, February 1: Achievement Team 8:20 am (Boggs)
                                        ALT Meeting 3:00-4:30 at Central Office
                                       Diane's Retirement Party 5:30 - 8:00 pm
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                                  PTA Meeting 6:30 pm

Thursday, February 9: Collaborative Learning Time 7:50 am
                                    Elementary Principals Meeting 1:00-4:30 pm
Friday, February 10: Daddy Daughter Dance 6:00-8:00 pm

Wednesday, February 15: Achievement Team 8:20 am (Merchant)
                                         Founder's Day Banquet 5:30-7:30 pm
Thursday, February 16: DATA DIVE Meetings in LMC (rotating subs)