Saturday, April 25, 2015

MzTeachuh: Educational Links 4/26/15

MzTeachuh: Educational Links 4/26/15: Research Shows Kids with ADHD Can 'Squirm to Learn' http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/research-shows-kids-with-adhd-can...

Educational Links 4/26/15

Research Shows Kids with ADHD Can 'Squirm to Learn'

http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/research-shows-kids-with-adhd-can-squirm-to-learn/ 

More Quality Time Is the Best School Weapon In the Battle Against Poverty

Research Shows Kids with ADHD Can ‘Squirm to Learn’ - See more at: http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/research-shows-kids-with-adhd-can-squirm-to-learn/#sthash.qSenWvmZ.dpufFive-Minute Film Festival: 8 Podcasts for LearningMore quality time: Schools’ best weapon in the battle against poverty

http://hechingerreport.org/more-quality-time-schools-best-weapon-in-the-battle-against-poverty/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HechingerReport+%28Hechinger+Report%29 

Young Women on the Spectrum 

http://www.specialneedsdigest.com/2015/04/young-women-on-spectrum.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FLUdSt+%28Special+Needs+Digest%29 

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Education Cases

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/04/15/us-supreme-court-declines-to-hear-education.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EducationWeekSpecialEducation+%28Education+Week%3A+Special+Education%29 

Classroom Management Techniques: Partner with Parents 

http://www.teachhub.com/classroom-management-techniques-partner-parents 

Teacher’s Guide to Polling in the Classrooms

http://www.edudemic.com/the-teachers-guide-to-polling-in-the-classroom/ 

Can Foreign Language Immersion Be Taught Effectively Online?

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/04/21/can-foreign-language-immersion-be-taught-effectively-online/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29 

 

MzTeachuh: Mama, Let's Take A Walk

MzTeachuh: Mama, Let's Take A Walk: 'The Stroll,  Madame Monet and son' Monet Did you go on nature walks? Mother's Day, Sunday May10

Mama, Let's Take A Walk

'The Stroll,  Madame Monet and son' Monet
Did you go on nature walks?

Mother's Day, Sunday May 12.

MzTeachuh: Somebody Come and Play!

MzTeachuh: Somebody Come and Play!: Weeee I'm freeee! Nanny nanny boo boo you can't catch me!  C'mon, silly, let's play! You can't be so...

Somebody Come and Play!

Weeee I'm freeee!
Nanny nanny boo boo you can't catch me!

 C'mon, silly, let's play! You can't be so grown-up and important all the time....

 Okay, I'm guilty, too, of being way too busy and important with grown-up style activities when I really should  just chill-out with the kids, whether in my home or in the classroom. Our inner young/fun person needs to come and play with our actual young/fun persons.

 Jona K. Anderson-McNamee and Sandra J. Bailey wrote a great article on this subject, "The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Development."

http://msuextension.org/publications/HomeHealthandFamily/MT201003HR.pdf 

Here's a good quote: "Your child needs time with you to relax and play. Playing with children builds lasting bonds. Playing allows parents to appreciate the uniqueness of each child. Playing with children can also be a stress reducer for over-worked parents. Laughing and relaxing are important to your own well-being."

 http://www.schoolsparks.com/blog/four-rules-for-playing-games-with-your-children

My turn. 1, 2, 3, 4.....

These  “Rules” for Playing Games with Your Children are very practical. Of course, all of our children are above average intelligence, but all kids go through a developmental process that places them at a certain emotional and skill level.

Anthony T. DeBenedet, M.D. and Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D, both extreme experts in their fields, wrote a book called, The Art of Roughhousing. I had no idea it took such advanced degrees to goof off with your kids; I wonder if it takes a Masters to tickle.

Here are some great thoughts from the book: 

Roughhousing is physical, which means that it integrates our bodies with our brains, and promotes physical fitness, release of tension, and well-being. 

Looks like so much fun, I wish I was at the lake.

“Roughhousing is play, which means that it is done for its own sake, it is joyful, and it flows with spontaneity, with improvisation, and without any worries about how we look or how much time is passing by.  

Roughhousing is interactive, which means it builds close connections between our children and ourselves, especially as we get down on the wrestling mat and join children in their world. 

Roughhousing is rowdy, which means that it pushes us out of our inhibitions and inflexibilities. Rowdiness is not dangerous, as long as we have the safety that comes from knowledge, close supervision, and carefully paying attention.”


Moms have a say, too, though I'm not sure about the sticky floor part; not that a sticky floor was never a frequent reality in my kids' growing up years. The author has a degree in Recreational Therapy.


http://www.playwithyourfamily.com/2011/09/good-moms-have-sticky-floors/
FB here we come!

 I remember taking walks, playing cards, singing, listening to stories, swimming, telling jokes--we are validated as real and important people by these moments in our formative years when the most valuable resource- time- is given to us. Why would someone play with children? We love them. They are cute. Its fun.

The PS22 Chorus sings an update of the Sesame Street classic "Somebody Come and Play" as a bounty of red balls and children launch in every direction celebrating the connection between music and play. Conceived, produced and directed by NELA Film.

"Somebody Come And Play" PS22 Chorus on Sesame Street! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftjs-BoWRYk 

Like your portrait?

MzTeachuh: Who Loves You Through Thick and Thin?

MzTeachuh: Who Loves You Through Thick and Thin?: Dorothea Lange, Dust Bowl Photos Your mom does. Mother's Day, May 10.

Who Loves You Through Thick and Thin?

Dorothea Lange, Dust Bowl Photos
Your mom does.
Mother's Day, May 8.

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: "A Rose By Any Other Name W...

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: "A Rose By Any Other Name W...: Roses in Stratford-Upon-Avon Romeo's speech, the balcony scene But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is ...

National Poetry Month: "A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet"


Roses in Stratford-Upon-Avon
Romeo's speech, the balcony scene
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
Thank you, William, for the wonderful thoughts. And inspiring some profound music, too



Jefferelli's version
Music and song from "Romeo and Juliet."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FHpmn-KYec






 And Tchaikovsky and a ballet, too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upyQMC-ioKE




Shakespeare lives.
Thank you, William.

MzTeachuh: Every Teacher Is A Reading Teacher

MzTeachuh: Every Teacher Is A Reading Teacher: Your credential could be elementary or secondary. Your classroom could have algebra all over the board, or pictures of the Civil War on th...

Every Teacher Is A Reading Teacher

Your credential could be elementary or secondary. Your classroom could have algebra all over the board, or pictures of the Civil War on the wall. Your students could be taking Cornell notes on the scientific method. You are still a reading teacher.

Creative visuals for Pre-algebra. Math 7
 Effective teaching includes opportunities for auditory and visual instruction, throwing in activities to solidify the lesson through verbalization by the students in teams and maybe kinesthetic involvement also, like my math teaching collaborators, creating a foldable pamphlet. Many students in the US are now learning English as a second language, and what teachers in the higher grades would normally assume the students had down solid in reading may be necessary to introduce.
http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/ELLResearchBrief.pdf

Reading academic language (or actually, any material) is a new experience for many kids. They were not exposed to the basics of reading the English language. And let's face it, English is a booger to learn, full of rules and then rules that don't apply. Ay yi yi!

http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/about_reading/

Connecting words and symbols.Math 7
A word rich environment never goes out of style, no matter what grade. Hurrah for the word wall! The students can see the words, and the importance of words, and correct spelling. And  in our world learning is increasingly auditory, so kids have marvelous working vocabularies of words and concepts from the Discovery Channel or the History Channel--but have never seen the words written down. Therefore, they usually don't recognize hundreds of words for which they know the meaning because they've only heard the word, never seen it written and connected it with the meaning. And the reading skills necessary to access the word may not be in their skill set.
http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/acskills/auditory.html
http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learningstyle.htm
It is interesting to find out your personal learning preferences, and help students to identify her own.
 http://www.personal.psu.edu/bxb11/LSI/LSI.htm

What can a teacher do without sacrificing crucial academic time? Give kids lots of opportunities to read, read, read. Every teacher has new vocabulary at the beginning of the chapter. Take a minute to
Academic vocabulary in plain view.Science 7
write the word, syllabicate the word, decode the syllables for the kids, and then have them repeat it. Having students syllabicate, decode and read make the kids less anxious about words with several syllables. I know that literacy coaches with reading certificates can get high and mighty about the precision of syllabication, but if you're teaching a seventh grade science class that is having difficulty with the academic vocabulary--just go for it! Quick and dirty--infer in fer, support sup port, formulate for mu late....and if the students don't remember the essential decoding phonics--what the hey-- just tell them the sound er makes, or what silent e does, or when two vowels go walking the first does the talking. For heavens sake, if they need it, they need it! It truly doesn't take long for kids to catch on to decoding. And reading is so very empowering.
http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/fluency/
http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/phonics/

Power lessons handwritten on giant sticky notes. Social Studies 8
 Lessons to SYLLABICATE  DECODE CONTEXT are used for kids to analyze unfamiliar words in passages. They could be reading along, then boom! an unknown word of scary length. What's a kid to do? Skip the word? NO! Syllabicate the word, sound it out, then read the surrounding context for clues as to the meaning. There are many, many techniques for reading comprehension. But reading fluency also needs to be addressed, and most instruction is supposedly completed in elementary. Frequently the kids need to be reacquainted with decoding and it is so very empowering for the students to read words fluently; the brief and frequent reminder to syllabicate, decode and read is totally worth the time and effort for all teachers.
Reading advice displayed in Math 7.
 http://www.readingrockets.org/article/3479/

 Every teacher teaches reading. It is a privilege for me to collaborate in classes where literacy is propagated and honored. My colleagues train constantly for perfection of methods, and meet very frequently to co-plan lessons. What a huge job. What a huge privilege.

The last three years in our middle school I have collaborated with several math teachers, usually seventh grade. They incorporate all methods for the kids' progress in language, reading, and writing as well as Math standards. It is amazing how thoroughly they coordinate instruction for all students (including my students.)



MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: I've Looked At Clouds From ...

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: I've Looked At Clouds From ...: Please feel better, Joni.  JONI MITCHELL /// 10. Both Sides Now - (Clouds) - (1969)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i7WceS--p4   ...

National Poetry Month: I've Looked At Clouds From Both Sides Now

Please feel better, Joni. 

JONI MITCHELL /// 10. Both Sides Now - (Clouds) - (1969) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i7WceS--p4 


 Bows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

Oh but now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From WIN and LOSE and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

MzTeachuh: Gen Ed/Special Ed Teamwork

MzTeachuh: Gen Ed/Special Ed Teamwork: Inclusive Classroom   What do General Education Teachers Need To Know About Special Education? http://www.schoolpsychologistfiles...

Gen Ed/Special Ed Teamwork

Inclusive Classroom

  What do General Education Teachers Need To Know About Special Education?

http://www.schoolpsychologistfiles.com/2008/11/what-do-general-education-teachers-need-to-know-about-special-education.html 


Types of Learning Disabilities


http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities 


Welcome to SERGE



Special Education Resources for General Educators




The General Ed Teacher’s Guide to the Inclusive Classroom 

 http://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/inclusion/the-general-ed-teachers-guide-to-the-inclusive-classroom/

Collaboration Between General and Special Education: Making it Work

http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=1097

Why Do I Have a Special Ed. Kid in My Class? 

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-do-i-have-special-ed-kid-in-my-class.html 


IEP Meeting? Do I Have To Go? 


http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/iep-meeting-do-i-have-to-go.html?spref=bl 


"Inclusion: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions from the NEA"  


http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.faqs.inclusion.htm

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: Poem #19

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: Poem #19: Pieter Brueghel, Kermesse (1567-8)  The Dance William Carlos Williams In Brueghel's great picture, The Kermess, the dan...

National Poetry Month: Poem #19

Pieter Brueghel, Kermesse (1567-8)

 The Dance

William Carlos Williams

In Brueghel's great picture, The Kermess,
the dancers go round, they go round and
around, the squeal and the blare and the
tweedle of bagpipes, a bugle and fiddles
tipping their bellies (round as the thick-
sided glasses whose wash they impound)
their hips and their bellies off balance
to turn them. Kicking and rolling
about the Fair Grounds, swinging their butts, those
shanks must be sound to bear up under such
rollicking measures, prance as they dance
in Brueghel's great picture, The Kermess.

Friday, April 24, 2015

MzTeachuh: Who Helped You Take Your First Steps?

MzTeachuh: Who Helped You Take Your First Steps?: 'Farmstead" Van Gogh Mom, and, alright, Dad, too. Sweet painting by Vincent. Mother's Day May 10.

Who Helped You Take Your First Steps?

'Farmstead" Van Gogh
Mom, and, alright, Dad, too. Sweet painting by Vincent.

Mother's Day May 14.

MzTeachuh: The Greatest Rock Poet, Nomination #7

MzTeachuh: The Greatest Rock Poet, Nomination #7: Heart of Gold Neil Young-- he might still be searching. Neil Young - Heart of Gold   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fXaC07X5M8&am...

The Greatest Rock Poet, Nomination #7

Heart of Gold
Neil Young-- he might still be searching.

Neil Young - Heart of Gold

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fXaC07X5M8&feature=related

Heart of Gold
I want to live,
I want to give
I've been a miner
For a heart of gold.
It's these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
For a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
For a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
For a heart of gold
I've been in my mind,
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching
For a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
For a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

Keep me searching
For a heart of gold
You keep me searching
For a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
I've been a miner
For a heart of gold.

MzTeachuh: Educational Links 4/25/15

MzTeachuh: Educational Links 4/25/15: Oh No! What Did I Sign? 6 Simple Takeaways From 32 Years Of Teaching http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/teacher-advice-turning-32-y...

Educational Links 4/25/15

Oh No! What Did I Sign?

6 Simple Takeaways From 32 Years Of Teaching

http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/teacher-advice-turning-32-years-into-6-simple-takeaways/ 

Can Self-Directed Learning Work for Underprivileged Children?

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/04/24/can-self-directed-learning-work-for-underprivileged-children/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29

How Adaptive Learning Technology Can Help Transform U.S. STEM Education

http://www.edudemic.com/adaptive-learning-technology-can-help-transform-u-s-stem-education/ 

Why Would Anyone Let Their Kid Play Football or Anything Else?

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/work_in_progress/2015/04/why_would_anyone_let_their_kid.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

Finding, Creating and Sharing Digital Teaching Materials

http://www.bamradionetwork.com/edtechchat/ 

 Oh, No! What Did I Sign?

http://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/?p=12559&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheWrightslawWay+%28The+Wrightslaw+Way%29

Oh No! What Did I Sign?

In Australia, a School Designed to Excite and Engage

http://www.edutopia.org//blog/australia-school-designed-excite-and-engage-suzie-boss?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29 

 Unshakeable: Innovate and adapt to make teaching an adventure

 http://www.theorganizedclassroomblog.com/index.php/blog/unshakeable-innovate-and-adapt-to-make-teaching-an-adventure

We Need to Keep Planting Gardens #earthday

 http://www.lisadabbs.com/2015/we-need-to-keep-planting-gardens-earthday

 

MzTeachuh: Music To Take A Deep Breath To

MzTeachuh: Music To Take A Deep Breath To: Water Lilies Red, Claude Monet This music ran 5:17.  There now, can't you think better? Debussy: Arabesque I (1888)  http://www...

Music To Take A Deep Breath To

Water Lilies Red, Claude Monet

This music ran 5:17.  There now, can't you think better?

Debussy: Arabesque I (1888) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Qi4jLtigc

MzTeachuh: MzTeachuh's Top Posts of the Week 4/24/15

MzTeachuh: MzTeachuh's Top Posts of the Week 4/24/15: Educational Links 4/20/15 http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/educational-links-42015.html?spref=bl Teaching Is... Maki...

MzTeachuh's Top Posts of the Week 4/24/15


Educational Links 4/20/15

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/educational-links-42015.html?spref=bl

Teaching Is... Making A Kid Feel Uniquely Important 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/teaching-is-making-kid-feel-uniquely_19.html 

Got Equity? 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/got-equity.html 

Greatest Rock Poet (#1 Nomination Again) All Along the Watchtower 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/greatest-rock-poet-1-nomination-again.html 

ADHD Epidemic? 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/adhd-epidemic.html 

Educational Links 4/23/15 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/euducational-links-42315.html 

National Poetry Month: Not To Be Morbid Or Anything... 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/national-poetry-month-not-to-be-morbid.html 

Who's Praying for You? 

http://melanielinktaylor.mzteachuh.org/2015/04/whos-praying-for-you.html?spref=bl 

 Virgin in Prayer by Giovanni Battista Silva

 

 

 

 

 

MzTeachuh: Diversity in the Classroom

MzTeachuh: Diversity in the Classroom: Preparing for Diversity: Resources for Teachers http://www.edutopia.org/blog/preparing-diverse-classroom-resources-matt-davis?utm_sourc...

Diversity in the Classroom

Preparing for Diversity: Resources for Teachers

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/preparing-diverse-classroom-resources-matt-davis?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-diverse-classrooms-huffpo-quote 

Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Resources for Leveraging Diversity in the Classroom

http://mep.berkeley.edu/classroom 

 Races Relations Seeking Harmony

Lesson Plans & Teacher Resources

http://racebridgesforschools.com/wp/?page_id=1248 

Rethinking Conversations on Race Among Educators

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/rethinking-conversations-on-race-jose-vilson 

Seven Ideas for Revitalizing Multicultural Education

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/multicultural-education-strategy-tips-andrew-miller 

Creating an Anti-Racist Classroom

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/anti-racist-classroom-danielle-moss-lee 

 Empathy: The Most Important Back-to-School Supply

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/empathy-back-to-school-supply-homa-tavangar 

My Multicultural Self

http://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources 

Multiculturalism and Diversity

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/multiculturalism-and-diversity 

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activityarch.html

 

 

 

MzTeachuh: Teaching Is Asking the Right Question

MzTeachuh: Teaching Is Asking the Right Question: 1. Socratic Questions http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/socratic_questions.htm 2.  Plan Classroom Discussions at Least as C...

Teaching Is Asking the Right Question

1. Socratic Questions
http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/socratic_questions.htm

2.  Plan Classroom Discussions at Least as Carefully as Lectures

http://www.uww.edu/learn/diversity/classroomdiscussions.php 


3.  Leading Scintillating, Stimulating,

Substantive Class Discussions


http://www.columbia.edu/cu/tat/pdfs/discussions.pdf


4.  7 Ways to Use Questions and Manage Class Discussion


This is what I think.

http://www.sc.edu/cte/guide/classdiscussion/index.shtml 


5.  Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom


http://iteslj.org/questions/ 


6.  Engaging Students Using Discussions 


http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/Classroom_Activities/discussion.html 


7.  Talking to Think: Why Children Need Philosophical Discussion 


http://www.teachingthinking.net/thinking/web%20resources/robert_fisher_talkingtothink.htm

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: Poem #16

MzTeachuh: National Poetry Month: Poem #16:  This is the longest poem I have chosen to quote--be glad it's not The Wasteland. T. S Eliot is considered the eminent poet of the l...

National Poetry Month: Poem #16


 This is the longest poem I have chosen to quote--be glad it's not The Wasteland.
T. S Eliot is considered the eminent poet of the last century.
The metaphors are intoxicating.

1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

 by T. S. Eliot
        S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse

A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,

Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.

Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo

Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,

Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.

LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats        5
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question….        10
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,        15
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,        20
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window panes;        25
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;        30
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

In the room the women come and go        35
Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—        40
(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)
Do I dare        45
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,        50
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
  So how should I presume?

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—        55
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?        60
  And how should I presume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
Is it perfume from a dress        65
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
  And should I then presume?
  And how should I begin?
.      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets        70
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
.      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!        75
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep … tired … or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?        80
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,        85
And in short, I was afraid.

And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,        90
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—        95
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
  Should say: “That is not what I meant at all;
  That is not it, at all.”

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,        100
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:        105
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
  “That is not it at all,
  That is not what I meant, at all.”
.      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
        110
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,        115
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old … I grow old …        120
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.        125

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown        130
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
After reading this poem in 1970 in college, I deliberately chose no to 'measure out my life with coffee spoons.'
The Italian passage at the beginning is from Dante's Inferno:

 If I believed that my answer would be
To someone who would ever return to earth,
This flame would move no more,
But because no one from this gulf
Has ever returned alive, if what I hear is true,
I can reply with no fear of infamy. 


Was Eliot a British poet or an American poet? He immigrated to the U.K. But he didn't say he measured 'I measured out my life in teaspoons but coffee spoons.' He was, afterall, born in St. Louis Missouri.

T. S. Eliot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot