Teaching with Heart Book Giveaway!
All paid subscribers and those whose submissions are selected for posting (by 6/13) have a chance to win "Teaching with Heart" autographed by Parker J. Palmer, Taylor Mali, and Sara Brown Wessling!
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Month, our May Book Giveaway is a copy of Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach autographed by Parker J. Palmer (Foreword), Taylor Mali (Introduction), and Sara Brown Wessling (Afterword).
See below for more about Teaching With Heart. But first, a few notes.
What are the Book Giveaways?
Each month, we will have a drawing for an autographed book written by an outstanding author. The winners are picked randomly, notified by email, and announced here.
Many thanks to the authors who generously donate their books for the Book Giveaways! Interested in participating? Check out the “Calling All Authors” section at the end of this post.
Who is eligible?
The Book Giveaways are our way of saying thank you to paid subscribers and those whose submissions are selected for posting on Building Bridges Word by Word.
Paid Subscribers. This is a reader-supported publication, powered by volunteers. Your support helps to keep us going!
Those whose submissions are selected for posting. We provide a space where we can read each other’s stories and discover what we may have in common. But we can’t do it without you! Recognizing this, all those who have their submission selected for posting are given a byline for their post and are eligible for the Book Giveaways. To learn more about how to participate, click below.
Congratulations to the winner of the April Book Giveaway!
Congratulations to Mary Bricker for winning an autographed copy of Carrie Newcomer’s Until Now: New Poems and her CDs Until Now and A Great Wild Mercy. Many thanks to Carrie for her generous donation, her terrific reflection on Cornell West’s quote, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public,” and her support of our efforts! For more of Carrie’s wonderful reflections and beautiful songs, we highly recommend subscribing to her A Gathering of Spirits Substack.
Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach
Teaching with Heart honors the heroic optimism of teachers and their belief that despite the many challenges and obstacles of the teaching life, much is possible. The book is a collection of ninety treasured poems, each accompanied by a teacher's brief personal reflection on how the poem helps them make sense of the challenges and possibilities in their work.
The diverse group of Teaching With Heart contributors represent a broad array of educators: K-12 teachers, principals, superintendents, college professors, as well as many non-traditional teachers. The anthology includes a rich variety of poems from Emily Dickinson, William Stafford, Maya Angelou, Mary Oliver, Tupac Shakur, and many others.
Teaching with Heart is a book by teachers and for all who teach. It also has universal appeal and insights for all people and professions.
Reviews of Teaching with Heart
Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach is the most poignant book that has come across my desk in a long time…. I am having trouble finding the right words to describe my feelings about this book. I opened it at random and was drawn in. Hours–and a few tears–later I emerged, feeling stronger personally and more optimistic about education’s future. I wish I could afford to buy copies of “Teaching With Heart” for all the teachers I have interviewed in my 40 years of reporting. – John Merrow, Education Correspondent, PBS NewsHour, President, Learning Matters, Inc. Read the full review here.
As a poet and a teacher, I’m always looking for what is essential and how it can be of use. Teaching with Heart inspires and models the use of what matters in life and community. – Mark Nepo, author of The Book of Awakening and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen
Paired with poetry that has stood the test of time, the reflections of these educators remind me of the sheer volume of good people–strong people–that share this profession. In an era where teachers are sometimes devalued by society, it is important to let these strong voices anchor us, to help us refuse to be swept away by a current of negativity. This book does that. It’s an anchor, and a beautiful one at that. Amy Hertz, “Book Celebration and Review – Teaching with Heart. Read the full review here.
Here’s a suggestion for the summer. If you care about learning, teaching, schools or parenting, get a copy of “Teaching with Heart… The book contains some of the most majestic, memorable writing I’ve ever read. Whether as a parent, grandparent or educator, you’ve probably experienced the exhilaration, and sometimes frustration, of working with youngsters. You’ll recognize, identify with and enjoy the complex array of emotions described here. – Joe Nathan Column, Director at the Center for School Change. Read the full review here.
For more reviews, the Table of Contents, and other details about the book, see Teaching with Heart, Fire, and Poetry.
The Editors of Teaching with Heart
Sam Intrator and Megan Scribner (Building Bridges Word by Words Substack) co-edited Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within, and Teaching with Fire. These are not your typical poetry anthologies, rather than just a collection of poems, they capture the spark that occurs between the reader and a poem. They were inspired by one of Sam’s favorite assignments that he used to give his high school students when he taught sophomore English:
“Find a poem or a song lyric that you turn to for meaning, guidance and inspiration. Bring your poem/lyric to class along with a one-page commentary explaining how that poem matters to you.”
The assignment was magic. It invited teenagers to put into words why they would listen to “Run Around” by Blues Traveler 18 times in an evening. It also provided a forum to explain why those epic lines
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the differencespoke to their sense of wanting to influence the direction of their life and identity.
The text – normally the foreground in a high school English classroom – was flipped to the background. What mattered most was how the poem stirred an inner conversation, shone a light on something meaningful, or helped lift up or clarify a sense of what is or what is possible.
This unique invitation became the model for Teaching with Fire, Leading from Within, and Teaching With Heart. For these books, Sam and Megan asked teachers and leaders to write of their special relationship to their favorite poems, to describe how they turn to them for companionship, solace, and wisdom. The contributors shared how poems can mark a special moment on their journeys in life and work, can help them remember and reconnect with what brought them to their work, or chide them to dare and dream dangerously about the power of their vocation.
Teaching with Heart inspired Building Bridges Word by Word
Through these books, Sam and Megan worked with hundreds of teachers and leaders as they reflected about their work and life in relation to a cherished poem. The books have been very successful, out selling most poetry books.
Though two of the books are directed toward educators, readers from all walks of life have shared how the reflections in all three books often resonate with their own life experiences, sometimes in surprising ways.
Lane Wallace reviewed Leading from Within on her No map. No guide. No Limits blog. She wrote, “to unexpectedly stumble onto something that jolts you into seeing the bigger picture again is a gift, wherever you find it… [such as] stumbling onto the quiet wisdom of others who have had to struggle for courage and perspective in adventures and battles of their own.”
These insights became the premise of Building Bridges Word by Word.
How to be part of Building Bridges Word by Word
We invite you to be part of this bridge building effort by writing a short reflection (up to 250 words) on a favorite saying, quote, song, or poem that is meaningful to you. By posting your stories on the Building Bridges Word by Word website and sharing them here on Substack, the project reflects the rich diversity of our country and our common humanity. Click here for more information on how you can participate.
Calling All Authors
We hope you’ll join the other fine authors who are participating in our Book Giveaways. It’s a great way to promote your book!
Benefits of participating
If you choose to donate a copy of your book to the Book Giveaway, your book will be:
Highlighted in our Substack newsletter
Promoted on our Substack on our Book Giveaways tab and on social media
Promoted on the Building Bridges Word by Word website
Included in the ongoing list of Book Giveaways
Book promotion includes:
● Image of your book cover
● Book description
● Author bio
● Author website (optional)
● Purchase book link/info
In return, we ask that you share our Substack publication and the Building Bridges Word by Word website with your networks and mail an autographed copy of your book to the winner of the drawing.
Interested? If so, please respond to the questions in the Book Giveaway Submission Form and email your answers (and any questions you may have) to us at buildingbridgeswbw@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!