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Limiting oneself to always and never denies one the right to evolve and grow. Being ready for a change, making adjustments and tolerating new situations and groups is the essence of growth.

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Independence Day

After lunch, she went into her room to have some school reading. It was mid of November, and the country was celebrating Independence Day. As usual, military shows prevailed, and scouts performed as ideal patriots.

However, things were strange that day, and it was marked by a grey sky. Everything was lifeless and gravely silent.

With a heavy heart, she pondered through the pages, but couldn’t keep focus. Sometimes, she could be bipolar: a workaholic or a coach potato. Commonly, she had her own spells of daydreaming and laziness.

Creating her virtual world, she transcended her reality and played different roles. This virtual world was one sanctuary to which she rushed every now and then.

An adventurer in the apple orchards or a builder of a hut made up of canes was one childish role played by her not to forget the fake secretary with a broken phone and a pile of English magazines, in addition to a musician playing what then seemed to be a harp. She had creative veins but simple means. Plain she appeared to others; however, a thinker she was.

“Lend me a hand,” her mother’s voice brought her back to reality. Reluctantly, she went.

“Dad is late,” her worried tone echoed around.

That day marked an eternal shift in the life of that innocent creature and “independence” gained a new connotation. That day “Dad” didn’t return, and they kept waiting him and still are.

That day, daydreaming didn’t suffice, and made-up scenarios hardly lightened the heart ache.

That little creature kept telling herself all night long, “They are mistaken; he did not die! Sure, they’ll call us to justify any sort of confusion, and he’ll be the one to justify and narrate what happened.”

A 13-year-old girl turned into maturity with a blow. That day innocent dreams were shattered. Left with a mom and three other siblings to take care off, she was exposed to the evils of life while being defenseless. Tolerating a one-parent family was extremely challenging!

That little creature was creative in the way she tackled hardships, and the way she kept the memory of her Dad. At times, when she had a blurred memory of her Dad, remorse creeped in and took hold of her soul. She refused to let go of her Dad but it was a must. Yet, having a new start could NOT be achieved without being literally independent. Letting go of the event and of her Dad’s incomplete sketch in addition to the infinite times that Dad should have been beside her was a must.

Eventually, a compromise was made. That creature kept her Dad’s memory by becoming independent. That day she learned to celebrate “Independence Day” in her own way.

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What if dolphins and whales mingled

And had their own oasis in

Sparkling, entwining droplets

Which hold

a myriad of secrets with rainbow creatures.

Water droplets

echo the joys and fears of sail men,

the giggles of tiny ,joyful, innocent souls,

souls that once were and are still suspended in beams and arrays.

They go whirling round and round

in search of Hurricanes

-hurricanes that Spring up, as open channels or one-way tracks-

For they are royal mighty escorts

of these entrapped souls who longed to step beyond heaven.

The foamy waves go

waving, curling, and splashing

savage and seducing

Eyeing the souls while being soaked in

As in a womb or tomb.

Ravishing the way,

marines astray.

There be aware!

Venture not.

Currents, a facsimile they create of our beloved ones

Gone long and for long.

Witty, cunning, and majestic the sea is in essence,

it can be a devil lurking at the surface

or a ravishing mermaid.

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Summer is in its blaze

Its rays, which make shadows giggle,

are silky, soothing and soul penetrating.

Light air particles tweet around,

Whisper and murmur:

“Our Godmother the mightiest,

A symbol of gaiety and freedom.”

Now and then,

Jupiter and Mars pay our godmother a service

Around orbits they meet,

A call to be paid for humanity’s sake.

Having a ghostly presence,

The sun’s eyes, gaze and observe

The tiny giggling creatures.

A great witness she is of our evolution.

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Tides meet me ashore,

A summer night, a marvelous sight,

The soothing breeze calms me down, and I a summer ballad chirp.

Then,

Darkness creeps stealthily wearing a wild smile ,

It opens black holes through which I transcend reality

And escape the universe’s interminable rhythm and time.

Every summer I chirp on that sandy shore

causing the Earth crust to shake.

What if I turned crusts into pieces?

What if I reversed the equator and the poles!

The pacific would be then lakes and the underworld can be discovered,

Wild wanderings and mental presentations.

I hear inner thoughts rattling,

Immersed I become.

Two great processes are on the go,

Self-realization and awareness raising,

I can reach my ZPD

Vygotsky, a man of thought.

The verge is reached, unexplainable transcendence.

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Based on the requirements of our course, I was asked to write a free-verse under the guidance and supervision of my professor. It was an interesting and self-enriching experience for I was able to express my thoughts regarding my favorite season and my selected painting in a free-verse .The recommended approach was ‘creative writing’ which we have already discussed in class and had some readings about .Our reference was Hyland’s chapter (2003) “Writing and teaching writing” in addition to Starkey’s (2013) that depicts the skill of writing poetry.

Writing a poem entails many issues that should be taken into consideration. These issues can be summed up as following: Beginning and ending lines as well as stanzas, having end-stopped lines or enjambments, creating rhyme, using figurative language, and having the correct diction.

My poems which  I have written can be used in my classes to focus on creative writing. Tenth and eleven graders can be stimulated to express themselves and be creative. While writing, they would have the chance to relate to their personal experience, attitudes or opinions about various issues. My role would be to provide my learners with a positive learning atmosphere and guide them without having any daunting views. My feedback would primarily entail their ideas instead of form because learners will write a free-verse.

Writing a free verse would be the main teaching outcome, and the teaching objectives can entail: having correct end-stopped lines or enjambments in addition to effective diction. My free-verses can aid in reaching the selected teaching outcomes. These free-verses can serve as a warm-up activity. Free-verses will be read in class while learners listen. Or, they might have silent-reading. Later, learners have to write a similar free-verse about a topic of their choice. Certainly, accuracy would be fostered but for the sake of clarity and coherence. Moreover, learners have to think of their readers. Tenth and eleven graders should make it possible for readers to comprehend and engage with their writings.

In pre-writing phase, learners must be introduced to some guidelines through checklists. Knowing guidelines keeps them on track, and helps learners know the expected outcomes. For illustration, learners can smoothly begin and end lines correctly by referring to the checklist “Lines and stanzas” in Starkey’s chapter (2013). Besides, this checklist aids in assessment on my part as a teacher and on the learners’ part. Besides, peer feedback can be fostered because learners can use this checklist to assess their classmates’ work. Certainly, the guidelines in the checklist must be discussed in class before initiating the writing process.

Concerning diction, learners should first select their intended audience and answer the following questions: Who? What age? Cultural background? Degree of knowledge about the selected topic? Having a clear idea about their audience would dictate vocabulary words, sentence structures, figurative language, rhythm and pauses. And, learners can be halfway the spectrum fluctuating between plain and high style. They should keep in mind the correlation between the words they choose, the tone they need to convey and the selected topic. The checklist in Starkey’s chapter (2013) “Diction, syntax and the language of poetry ”would serve the purpose and help the learners assess their work.

References

Hyland, K. (2003). Second language writing. New York: Cambridge university Press.

Starkey, D., (2013). Creative writing: Four genres in brief (2nd ed.).Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

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Class Room Implementation

Learners are exposed to narrative writing in lower grades, so they are already familiar with the structure and genre. However, writing a short-short story needs much planning .Learners have to include all story elements. Besides, they should know at which point to start their short-short stories and which details to include about the setting, characters and plot. Having unneeded details can make readers slip away and quit reading. Additionally, learners might not be aware of the fact that short-short-stories might have no resolution even if the plot embraces a conflict or a rising action. Therefore, my short-short-story will be a humble kick-start for my learners .It can be used as a model of a short-short-story. Learners can follow this model to have their own stories. Besides, it would be beneficial to analyze the model and its structure. Analyzing the model will aid learners in structuring dialogues.

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One main axes of knowledge is “ intellectual Humility” that is based on Socrates’  belief- seeking knowledge springs from one’s acknowledgement of one’s obliviousness (Bouhlal, 2023).

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We can all be a Phoenix!

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Setting goals whether short- or long-term ones is definitely an intrinsic axis of a good life, for being goal-oriented lends our life purpose and value. However, Aristotle said 2000 years ago “ Well begun is half done” ;hence, setting achievable goals increases our chances of materializing those dreams.

Set your goals and make them happen.

(n. d.). Action for Happiness.

https://actionforhappiness.org/take-action/set-your-goals-and-make-them-happen

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One study conducted by Boyraz & Lightsey (2012) on the impact of positive thinking revealed that positive automatic cognition impacted positively one’s approach to stressfulness. Persons with high levels of positive thinking had higher meaning in life and the opposite was true.

Reference:

Boyraz, G., & Lightsey, O. R., Jr. (2012). Can positive thinking help? Positive automatic thoughts as moderators of the stress–meaning relationship. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82(2), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01150.x

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Resilience is correlated to a number of personality characteristics such as having a survivor mentality, effective emotional regulation, problem-solving skills, self compassion and social support. In other words, resilient people can experience as much stress as others do; however, they employ the aforementioned healthy coping skills in order to mitigate stress and harness more strength.

Cherry, K. (2023, May 3). How resilience helps you cope with life’s challenges. Verywell Mind. Retrieved June 11, 2024, from https://www.verywellmind.com/about-us-5184564