The Triangle of Thought

Two years ago we were freshman.

The first day I stepped into my new class rm 235

It was public speaking.

The ceiling flourished of color,

With the wonders of outer space, it gave us a new eye,

Who knew that the 60 days 
Would go soaring by?

DAY ONE:

We were told to walk to the front of the room one by one,

To just simply look at the people around us,

Not to say a word, but to conquer any existing,

Unwarranted fears within us.

We were all mute, yet a tingling sensation of discomfort lingered throughout.

But yet we did it.

One by one we silently ventured to the front,

When the adversity was over, we could not wait to discuss.

DAY TWO:

We drew two triangles today,

Maslow and Aristotle were their names–

I am not making this up, the papers now held in my hands,

Just in case you needed a claim.

I sectioned the shapes into many pieces,

Just like the poem I now construct,

From human needs, to speaker, to audience or to purpose 

In the articles we read,

The rhetorical strategies were taught early enough.

“Where did you learn this Mr.F?”

We would question his claims,

For it was made of the simplest materials but all glued in the perfect way.

It was like pure genius,

Like telling me every word I have ever read was

Composed of the same 26 figures arranged in a different way.

You may have already known that, but I assure you know it even better today-

And his response was:

“I know another gifted English teacher, whom with every conversation I go ‘wow’”.

Okay, we said.

That’s all we had to say.

We did not know this teacher, 

Or why he made our own so engaged–

We didn't know, until now.

DAY A FEW DAYS LATER:

Today we switched classrooms, to visit the great teacher’s that my own adored

I was kind of confused, but I went with the flow,

So we walked into this new classroom

With styrofoam rainbow pieces on the floor.

Those pieces are turned over now, so the gray is all you can see anymore.

Oh, another thing, 

Then the walls were once white like the rest.

Lacking the gorgeous mural of Aristotle, now on the side-

Mr.S helped make that wall the best of the best.

A lot has changed since two years ago,

That day my class sat in the same chairs as we do now,

Reading random posts on a random teacher’s blog,

Wondering why it was of significance at all.

Then Mr.F told us how valuable blogs are.

That it was one of the geniuses this teacher had suggested.

That if we were to ever have him

It would be a fantastic experience 

He full-heartedly recommended.  

TWO YEARS LATER:

It’s funny how the world circles around.

Spinning day by day, our experiences always tend to meet.

Now I have my own blog 

That maybe other freshman pay a visit to see.

I guess Mr. F was right, 

Mr.S is one of the greatest teachers to be.

And his blogs are a wonderful idea,

A gift that many students have now.

So there it is– from DAY ONE of being mute,

To DAY 60 I learned how to speak.

And now DAY WHO KNOWS WHAT, 

I have moved on to the class where we learn to blog and think.

We learned to be humans,

Not test subjects assessed on.

We have learned to go beyond boundaries

Boundaries that teachers constantly stumble upon.

He has made us better human beings

Remember all those reflections we did!

It wasn't that kind of forced knowledge; 

We always have laughs and grins.

So far I have revealed two corners of the triangle,

The purpose of this length piece you may ask?

And that is THANK YOU, for everything no other teacher has taught

Mr.F was right all along when he said “Mr.S is a teacher you must have.”

Mr.S is the reason why I wrote this lengthy piece

And trust me when I say the speed at which I wrote was very decrease–

Point is, too many people are questioning,

When it is what we have learned we should cherish.

We should applaud the concepts we learned

And although we may miss, THANKFULNESS is what should flourish.

On the last day of public speaking “Best of luck” my teacher wished,

And those are words I pass on to a teacher we hope to be amidst.

Thank You for being a fantastic teacher. 

I hope you got to read this.