How hard do you work? Would others around you agree? What do peers think of you as a worker? What do your parents think about your work ethic? Do teachers see you as a student that works your hardest? On a scale of 1 - 10, how would you score yourself as a worker?
As we study poetry in Reading Workshop, and look at To Be of Use , these questions came to mind. This poem is a favorite of teachers because there is absolutely nothing teachers admire more than a hard worker. This is also a character trait discussed frequently in Reading Workshop.
To Be of Use
Written by Marge Piercy
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.
Comments are allowed to be in the form of poetry.
Image from http://darrenhardy.success.com/2009/06/hardwork/
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18 comments:
I think that I work fairly hard. I would think that my hard work would compare with a person who is stuck in the mud and is trying to get out. When I do work hard I usually work at a medium speed. Sometimes if it is something that I am not good at like math I will go slower. If it is something that I am good at like Social Studies I go faster. If the stuff that I'm doing is hard I will probably try harder. If I try something and don't succeed then I should just try harder.
work I work my hardest all the time so I don't know how my scale is so I will not know I will have to think about it. If I did grade my scale it would honestly would be a 6 or 7, because I try my hardest but just could not be a 10.I'm not good enough to be a 8-9-or 10. That is why I pick 6 or 7.
I work hard most of the time but sometimes I get bored or I am tired and I just won't work as hard as I can. I know everyone doesn't work as hard as they can all of the time. Everyone gets bored in there life once and a while while they're writing.
If I scaled myself from 1 to 10 I would scale myself at a 8 because I don't usually want to work as hard as I can. I think other kids think I work and I know some people that work hard and some that don't.
I know my parents think I work hard because I have good grades. Also when I do my homework I hardly ever ask them to help me do something.
I do think that the teachers think I work hard and like I said they know occasionaly that I will take it easy some days when I don't feel good or something it.
Working is not a punishment,
It's a way of life,
You can jump in and grasp it,
Work is only hard when you make it that way,
Do not complain, it makes it all the more difficult.
Pick it up and fumble it around a bit so you can get it's direction.
Follow it around like a little pet dog and play with it on your free time.
I am a hard worker.
I jump right in.
People agree that I am what I am, a hard worker.
I try not to whine, it makes the job go more slower.
Work is every day life, deal with it.
Work can only be hard when you make it hard.
Slackers. I don't like slackers.
Get the job done right the first time. Don't be lazy.
Do what has to be done to get the job right.
Don't give up, hard or not hard.
When I work I would give myself a solid 8 and a half. I would give myself an 8 and a half because I don't always work as hard as I can. But I do try hard most of the time.
Work
Work may not be so fun,
You may get stuck in the mud,
You want to quit,
The mud might be hard and you won't fall,
You get tired of getting stuck,
Again and again,
Deeper and deeper,
When will you stop,
Only you will know.
Working Hard
I work hard each and every day,
to try to make my grades better in school.
When my friends ask me for help I do the best I can, most of my friends would agree that I am a very hard worker,
I am always up for a new challenge,
I think that work is hard sometimes.
I jump right in when something need done.
When I work hard is shows.
When the work is hard I don't give up I keep trying harder.
The work will be hard if you make it harder.
There is nothing you can't do.
All you have to do is put your mind to it.
I think I work fairly good
on a scale from 1 to 10 I would say I work at a 8.If I'm good at what I'm doing I go fast like in Science,and Reading but if I am not good at it like Math I will go slow.
On Your Mark, Get Set, Strike
Volume set on full blast.
Eyes wide and focused.
Ready to strike like a cobra stalking its pray.
Ready to ask questions.
Eager to get an A.
Taking my time and doing my best.
Ready to learn at all costs.
I consider my self as a hard worker.On a scale from one to ten I would give me a nine because there are times when I might be a little tired so I might slack off a little.I love school so try to do my very best every day I walk through the school doors until I walk out(unless I have homework then I do my best until I get that done).
I don't see me has a hard worker but people tell me all the time that I am. But that is there option. I try to do my best on everyone of my grades,homework every thing that I try to do I just don't do very good on anything.
Megan,
Head down
eyes on the prize
being created
on your computer screen.
Your comment poem shows
what your teachers see
A hard worker
leading by doing
A hard worker shows that they are a hard worker, A hard worker never gives up,
I see myself as a hard worker because I try my best on everything. Even on hard work I try my best to be a hard worker.
Are you a hard worker? I ask myself that. You should ask yourself that.
I am a hard worker,
Sometimes the work I do is complicated,
Other times it's easy.
When I have something I need done,
I get it done.
Sometimes you just want to quit working.
If you put your mind to it,
you can get it done.
If I would rate myself,
it would be a 6 or 7.
I work hard sometimes but not all the time, most of the time I jump in so I would rate myself 7 at working. I know
I don't work my hardest but on test I try. Sometimes I don't know what I am doing so I hide under the raider.When I do have a good idea what I'm doing I work hard. I work as hard as an average student.
I try to work hard,
so I can get a good grades
My teachers might give me an eight or nine, and that's fine.
My mom would probably give me a seven,
because I hate to do chores,
but I do them anyway
On a scale from one through ten,
I would give myself a nine,
because I try my very hardest,
and take my time
I work hard most of the time,
When something comes that seems hard, I work my hardest to get the job, accomplish.
Sometimes I don't think I really, work hard but, my parents tells me great job,
I like to work hard because,
I get a thank you,
and it makes me fill good about myself.
Whenever a task comes up,
it sometimes seems easy,
then I would take it easy,
So when I work hard,
I would consider myself a 8,
My parents will probably,
score at a 7,
My teachers might score,
me at a 8.
I work hard
most of the time.
I try hard
but
there's some thing's
I don't get.
It doesn't make any sense
not to work hard.
I'd say about
an 8 but
I can do a
little bit
better but
I just hate
some stuff.
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