Where I'm From

Time: 8:07 a.m.

What I am doing: Procrastinating

As I sit here doing everything other than going to Curves like I am supposed to (it is the dreaded weigh and measure day), I was visiting a fellow teachers' blog about her writing territories assignment she is making up for her kids the first week of school. Now for those of you who do not teach, a writing territory is part of your life that only you can write about. The kids make lists of all sorts of things in their lives that could be interesting writing starters (seeds) and post them in their notebooks so on the day when they are sitting there with nothing to write about, they have a whole list of ideas to turn to. So, this blog post reminded me of a writing project I had my 6th graders complete last fall. We wrote Where I am From poems. I created my own to model for the kids, and then they wrote one about themselves, then interviewed a family member and created one for them so we would have parallel poems. The kids loved it and the parents loved getting to spend actual real live face time with their prepubescent child.

You are asking where this is going? Well, I thought for the fun of it, I would share with you my poem. Call it a meme of sorts in poetic form. Mine inspired a whole group of teachers to write one of their own. It gives you a great opportunity to reflect on yourself as a child growing up in whatever decade that might be. Thanks to teacher and author Nancy Atwell for the basis of the idea. Maybe this will encourage you to create one of your own. It was a lot of fun tripping down memory lane. Hope you enjoy my trip and maybe it will spark an interest or memory in yourself.

WHERE I AM FROM…

I am from Barbies, Mad Libs and Clue
Playing soccer with the boys, running like the wind, Alley Wiffleball in gym and cheating at Spotlight
I am from albums, 8 tracks, cassette tapes & CD’s
Madonna as a Material Girl, Michael Jackson in Thriller, Hair bands and the Go-Go’s
I am from Crushin’ on Tom Cruise as Maverick in Top Gun, loving the brat pack and Molly Ringwald, Harrison Ford in Star Wars and Indiana Jones
I am from dancing with Kevin Bacon in Footloose, Friday the Thirteenth and slasher films, ET phoning home
Wishing I lived like the kids on Family Ties, The Cosby Show & Growing Pains
Not like the kids from Roseanne, Married with Children or the Simpsons
I am from Pop Rocks to Zotz, collector Pez dispensers to Razzles (first it’s a candy…then it’s a gum)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, reading Lord of the Rings and Nancy Drew
I am from blowing up Julie’s mom’s first microwave oven, cordless phones, and the rise of Apple Computers
I am from Nixon and Watergate, Jimmy Carter and his peanuts, Reagan as a president (not an actor)
I am from 26 years in Washington State, with a sprinkle of California (like gag me with a spoon you know), Idaho and New York thrown in
Mount Saint Helen’s erupting, the Pepsi Challenge, and the space shuttle Challenger flaming in the sky.
My life is like a bad 80’s movie with a splash of chick flick thrown in
Even though life in the 80’s may have been the decade of excess, today, I still Want My MTV.

Kelly Christine Neal