This was originally published on my blog for the Center for Teaching Quality, Musings of a Red Headed Teacher. Shout out to Stephanie Bikowski and Jim Osborn of Hillsborough County Schools for being the best haiku partners a girl could ask for.
Confession time: I wasn’t always attentive at faculty meetings (gasp!). I used to sit in the back of faculty meetings on Tuesday afternoons, mind swirling with a thousand things for my to-do list, trying to pay attention, but not always the best at doing so. And sometimes, I would participate in a team bonding activity in the back of the media center of Burney Elementary School in Plant City, Florida. A nerdy team bonding activity. What were we doing?
We were writing haikus!
So our haikus were about happenings in our day, our assistant principal’s love of shoes, or what was served in the school cafeteria that day for lunch. And in honor of those wonderful haiku writing sessions and the fond memories that come from them, here is an array of back to school haikus, from some of my favorite teachers across the nation.
Cup of coffee, spilled.
Dress ripped putting up poster,
Welcome back to school! (My submission, MA)
Expectant faces,
Wondering what is in store,
September delight. (Sarah Frenette, MA)
Blue sky summer gone.
Halls trampled by sneakered feet.
Now - take a deep breath... (Cindi Rigsbee, NC)
School buses arrive.
Rooms ready, teachers waiting...
Retired-warm memories. (Sue Creekmore, FL)
Kids faces smiling
Teachers missing their fliplops
Summer goes too fast! (Michael Dunlea, NJ)
First day nerves flare up.
Empty halls echo. And then
Kids arrive. All’s well. (Angie Miller, NH)
Dreamers fill our seats
Hoping, believing, wishing
For a dream keeper. (Jennifer Walker, OH)
Sleep? What is?! Nerves? Check.
No clue what to expect. But.
Certainty of love. (Bill Ivey, MA)
Two stupid bomb threats
Threatening my sanity
And students’ learning! (Anonymous administrator)
First project assigned,
Where’s the gift card from Michaels?
Oh why, teacher, why? (Kelly Flynn, MA)
I forgot my lunch
It is ninety degrees out
Need deodorant.
Part 2 to come on Thursday! Want to play along? Leave your submissions below...
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons and Endlisnis