At the end of the course participants prepare a final learning statement.

Here is a poem one participant, Peggy Sapphire, wrote:

I        

       Peggy Sapphire  11/30/05

Going out on a limb

no other way but alone

no companion

no home

but the one

I make within

take within

an early sense

of climbing the wrong tree

a step away

from offering farewells

apologies

to myself

this familiar territory

of going in the

wrong direction

but for a hand-hold

a breath of compassion

from a listening stranger

who kept my tears of defeat

where they

belong

unshed unneeded

and I resolve remember return recognize release recommit recall refrain regain retract revolve reclaim  relearn renew recover retrieve reconnoiter remake remove resume restore resist reduce reform relate resonate rewrite respect reflect

and I unlearn unify understand undo unhinge unleash unfold unwind unmask unhinder unfurl the knowable fathomable

and I am

unchartered 

unbowed

unaccompanied

to where the fruit is.

Thou

You come in hammering rains

and sit with puddles at your feet

metal roof roaring above

you strain to hear my voice

Your handshake like a promise

that you forgive me

though I have talked

when I should have listened

have forgotten my way

through stages you

knew were there

though you didn’t know

their names

You’ve placed your faith

in Espiral Maná

in the teachers who practice here

who come to you

and ask again

and again

your name

your work

your family

your dreams

then leave

before you are ready to

say good-bye

You come on foot,

on thick-wheeled bikes

and coughing motorcycles

hitching rides in pick-ups

after a day in someone else’s garden

hauling someone else’s fruit 

fixing other cars  fixing your own

teaching a class, attending a class,

bringing milk and cheese

from your cows,

feeding your babies, tending

your business

and all the while

you carry

a purpose

like a seed of corn

in your own fields

you sing songs

in English

you collect CDs

and memorize

‘knock knock knockin’

on heaven’s door’

you read U.S. magazines

and see yourself

driving a new car

that you bought

with the money from your

American job

you see that English

is what some tourists speak

and you want

to speak to them

for a new and better job

in Costa Rica-

maybe La Fortuna

or San Jose

but always home again

to El Invu where life is

peaceful and safe

a new house for your family

en su futura

you have dreams

you make the words stretch

your tongue your ears

follow sounds

you hear in classrooms

of Espiral Maná

I will I was I want I won’t

she is he will I like

I think    I can

Thank you

See you tomorrow

con mucho gusto

and you run into the night

and on every night

you have taught me

that without you

there is no teaching

If I don’t know you

there is no reaching

where you live

where you dream

If I don’t listen

you can not teach me

where to find you

Teacher you say

Teacher what is

you ask   you remember  

you practice   you listen and listen

again going deeper

you speak putting teeth and tongue

and lips in new synchrony

of word and sound and stress

and breath   you join meaning

and form and context and purpose

you bring small books folded to fit

into back pockets, plastic covered sheets

for lists  spellings   phrases

sentences pulled off densely written white boards

old calendars of past years rich with empty

pages for today’s lessons

you use     you use     you use

and tomorrow again

and again waiting for January’s teachers

and with purple

all around you

you are flying

on your own wings.

It

I waited

I waited afraid

my mind blank with tension

I watched him

and then him

and her

and them

and could not

see myself

I closed my eyes

at night

when there was

no one to see me

and I waited

to see myself

I wrote and thought

and drew and cut

and read and planned

and spoke and listened

and was heard

and re-wrote

and re-planned

and re-thought

and re-drew

and re-vised

and visited my well-known

well-worn orbit around

the World Of Doubt

If you asked

I’d have said

Yes! Student Centered!

No Teacher has the answers!

Yes to Inquiry! Mistakes are gifts!   

Collaborating pairs breed

learning and confidence

Learners Teaching Learners Teaching Teachers

Teaching themselves

And if you asked I’d have said Less is More

yet I struggled with the Titan of Teacher Talking Time

Meta-Language gushed and multiplied

thoughts escaped my mouth

swirled    cluttered and finally

extinguished those tentative voices

sitting like hostages

I worried every word of Clear Instruction

until they were the finest threads

of classic Chaos and Confusion

Revelations were offered an evening at a time

and in honor of my brave peers

I sat silently spitting words on my page

dissecting their moments

staring at Learners

aware

of parts becoming the sum of the Whole

of the Whole becoming the shape

of TESOL

every element like gears in elegant synchrony

Brenda Ueland’s listening becomes the key to

simplifying the task for one student differently

than for another while Rodgers confirms

that I will see students learning

and that my seeing “must be learned and practiced

on a daily basis”

Moran reminds that my Knowings begin with me

that I must immerse in doing or remain superficial

that there is always a reason why which may derive

from a time in which I never lived

and have no way to “know” but to accept.

I have been seen

as a Learner by Learners-

age has changed its meaning

wisdom has lost its longevity

pride and competition have been

revealed for what they are

I have been seen

as a Teacher by Learners

inexperience has been accepted

intention has been received

as authentic

I have been seen

as if I were transparent

and I have been.

Guile on any level doesn’t survive

in the ethers of TESOL

and that is fine.

Darwin would be at home here.