CATE & the Sirens Journey

"I plan to present Sirens at the California Association Teachers of English Conference." There was no plan at the time, only what seemed like a logical hope.
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Working with the editors at Jamii Publishing, it was suggested that I put footnotes with the poems. I never expressed it, but internally, I felt uncomfortable ...and it was interesting to hear a well-established poet announce her dislike of poetry with footnotes at a writer's workshop... I took note and thought about how, at one point, I might have agreed, but the Sirens journey requested to be clearly identified - and the answer served well. 

​One of my colleagues was eager to teach the poems to her class. The footnotes were an opportunity to provide historical background. Invited into her classroom, I saw how the issues addressed were points that could be explored even further.... 

​It was at this point that I was grateful for the footnotes and those footnotes were a springboard to creating unit lesson plans - research - technology and providing my colleague with a myriad of options for teaching some of the concepts. It was more than exciting as she shared the growth and talked about her appreciation of the rigor, the engaging resources and most importantly student learning. Footnotes - technology - website - zoom. With her feedback and conversations with students - that unplanned declaration became a planned presentation.

Sirens and the CATE presentation were a perfect combination that I couldn't have planned in my best dream. ​

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