Every day at school, I try to help my students feel welcomed and wanted in my classroom and in my heart.
I especially try to do this for my immigrant students, for I know they often feel unwelcome and unwanted in the wider world around them.
I hope the last things they remember as they drift off to sleep at night is, “Mr. Barton is glad I am here.”
I really, truly am.
Today, in writing workshop, we wrote Diamanté Poems.
These kinds of poems make the shape of a diamond and compare and contrast two different subjects
My example for my students was a Diamanté Poem comparing and contrasting immigrants and the Statue of Liberty.
As I wrote and shared this poem, I looked out into the earthy brown eyes of my kids from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia and Peru and saw - how else can I describe it - a sparkle as if I had uncovered a diamond in the deepest parts of their hearts.
Immigrant
Courageous, Hopeful
Migrating, Hardworking, Learning
Working for a better life,
“Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me”
Welcoming, Crying out, Uplifting
Mother of Exiles, Humble
Statue of Liberty
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