Heart Mapping in a Post-Election World

November 8 was officially my first day teaching AVID. It was also election day. I was able to avoid too much election day discussion because it was an AVID tutorial day, and the kids were occupied with their group work. 

November 9, however, I knew there would be questions galore. I teach at a high diversity middle school which includes many immigrant families, many Mexican families, many Muslim families. Based on earlier conversations, I was already aware that many of my students and their families were afraid. 

I did not want to get bogged in negativity and anger. I did not want to deal with the upset and depression. So upon waking up to the election results, I made a last-minute decision to spend the day creating heart maps and focusing on the positives in our lives.

The Heart Map assignment chosen comes from Georgia Heard's The Awakening of the Heart, a book about teaching poetry to children (that's a road I still have yet to venture down). The only instruction I gave my students was to fill their hearts with things that matter to them, things that are important to them. I drew an example and filled mine with things to make them giggle: Diet Coke, Snickers, failing students, elements of the AVID classroom... (And throughout the day, I was hijacked and students added to my heart. For some reason, they all wanted to be included within the walls of my heart.)

I was really impressed with the work the kids ending up producing. Not every heart was a traditional heart symbol. One student knew how to draw a heart organ, and many students asked him to draw one for them. The concept was the same, but the approach was slightly different, adding a creative edge I had not considered on my own. That's a significant part of the reason I enjoy open-ended assignments; there is no right or wrong.


The benefits of heart mapping:

• As a teacher, I learned a great deal about my students. Building rapport is high on my list of must-dos for an effective and successful classroom, especially under the circumstances of taking over for a much-loved teacher mid-year.
• The information contained within the heart map can be used for making connections to readings and as writing springboards.   
• There are no language or cultural barriers to creating a heart map.  
• Students are afforded choice, something they do not often get much of in school.  
• Heart mapping can be done at any time of the school year.  

Even though this work was done my first week in a new classroom environment, one student included me in her heart map. Hers is a class I had already been in on almost a daily basis, and she had the benefit of getting to know me sooner than the majority of my new-to-me students. She said, "I drew you with a ladder because even though you are just getting started in AVID, I know you are going to climb the ladder and be a great AVID teacher."

And that folks, is why we do what we do. 

How will you use heart mapping with your students? 

Where is poetry hidden in your life?

This weekend, I had the honor of being able to attend the Rose F. Spicola Forum in Reading at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas (the perks of being enrolled in a cohort program). The two keynote speakers were Georgia Heard and Naomi Shihab Nye. 

I have no shame in admitting that I am not a big poetry fan. Sure, I filled journals with teen angst-filled poems about boys and friends and loneliness when I was younger, but I have never considered myself a poet. Sure, I get a kick out of Shel Silverstein and "Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout", but I do not consider myself a strong poetry teacher. But listening to Heard and Shihab Nye inspired me to find my poetic side. 

In Heard's speech, she discussed finding hidden poetry in our lives. She began by asking the audience to make a list of places where we might find hidden poetry:

• my workouts
• my classroom
• my students
• my pets

Heard then asked us to take one of our ideas and make a poem out of it. The assignment was not about writing at the level of a professional poet but of expressing ourselves through poetry. If I cannot write my own and be comfortable with whatever I can produce, how can I expect my students to do so? 

Both Heard and Shihab Nye suggested carrying around a small notebook in which to track observations about the world. After leaving the forum, I headed straight to Walmart to buy myself a little notebook and some cute new pens (may as well indulge). 

Being in a poetry mindset, I found myself aware and taking notice of the world around me - at Walmart. And there is so much to observe and write about at Walmart!

From this list, I heeded Shihab Nye's advice. I chose some of the items on my list and created a new poem. 

From here, I am already planning ahead in my brain, determining how to use this in my class this year and next year (I am always thinking ahead). I am not worried about my talent - or lack thereof. I want to be able to go through the process in order to be a better teacher. Maybe I can ignite a passion in a student and end up watching them become the keynote speaker at a future conference.