I have been having fun reading some of the posts and comments from days gone by here at the Write 6×6. Thank you all for the fun and inspiration. I was especially influenced by The STEAM Hub’s work with Haiku poetry. I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve always been comfortable with syllables, almost effortlessly babbling my way through the day one syllable at a time. At a recent education conference, a colleague from Japan reported that if we’d only pay attention, we’d learn. At first I felt a chuckle at the obviousness of this, but in time I began to see the profoundness of it. How much of our lives is spent without attention? This semester, I began on day one by asking my students to “pay attention.” No matter how frighteningly complex, drearily mundane, or fabulously fresh our educational task, learn. Our successes and our failures, our laughter and our tears, they provide teachable moments. Pay attention, and one moment at a time, we find our way to all that we desire, for that way is paved with learning. Here’s the set of sobering syllables:
