The Dreaded Years
My 7th and 8th grade years were spent at Magee Middle School. I absolutely hated this school. It was a big, old, three-story building with graffiti written all over the walls. The school was infested with gang members and we weren't allowed to wear hooded sweatshirts or baby blue clothing as these were what the gang
members wore. I saw drugs being passed around the classroom hallways as well as fights breaking out continuously. I hated the atmosphere I was surrounded by so it led to a slight depression. I kept a diary where I shared my daily struggles and what happened each day at school. Nobody at school new about the depression I was going through so writing at home about it was the best way. I never wrote about depression at school because I didn't want others to ask. Poetry was also a way for me to escape the hardship I was going through. We practiced different types of poems in class and then I worked on them at home. I wouldn't share my poetry with others because I was embarrassed and didn't think they were as well as some of the poems my peers were writing. Other students in my class were more than willing to open up and express their struggles through poetry. I envied them for their willingness, but it was not my personality to express my hardships through poems in class. I wish that I was able to go deeper with my poetry, but like I've said before, I was scared as to others might think of me. I do however, like some of these poems because of the humor. All students should try writing poetry even if they are uncomfortable with it.
I feel that if I had been a member of Atwell or Christensen's class, we would have had the community established, as a result I would have been willing to express my depression through poetry in class and be able to discuss it without feeling ridiculed. I feel that these poems are relatively good for the middle school level, but I feel I could've gone deeper and expressed some of my emotions that I was going through at the time. I feel that I've grown as a writer to express myself and allow others to experience my struggles and know that we are not alone. We all face many obstacles.
Here are more poems I wrote in middle school.
Wacky Watermelon
By: Alexa Surdell
The wacky watermelon waited in the water
It wanted to float in the waves
But the water was well below warm
So off went watermelon to wishy-washy world
At wishy washy was sad sister snail
She sat sobbing about her stitches
When the watermelon saw snail he stopped sobbing
Tiny Timmy talked to sister snail and wacky watermelon
He tried to tell her to toughen up
Wacky watermelon and snail wobbled their way home
Simile
By: Alexa Surdell
Excitement is as birght as lightning
It sounds like people playing the flute
Excitement tastes like fresh strawberries
It smells like a fresh baked cake
Excitment looks like flowers blooming
Excitement is as crimson as roses
Excitement sounds like birds chirping.
Excitement tastes like brownies
Excitement smells like white tulips
It makes me feel like I'm on top of the world.
Stages of Life
By: Alexa Surdell
Infant
Excited baby
Pooping quicky crying
Fluffy snuggly pilllow
Quietly
Sleeping Slowing
Childhood
Green packback
Kicking hardly punching
Fun bright playground
Running
Fast furiously
Busy
Preteen
Wild people
Obnoxious wildly shouting
Bad naughty brats
Lunged
Hopping awkwardly
Busy
Teen
Mean teen
Making out always
Mushy yucky kisses
Kissing
Talking nonstop
What about other students
At the time, Magee Middle School was a very diverse school and I was able to learn a lot about various cultures, which is the only positive experience I can ever recall having in middle school. All kinds of languages were being spoken in the school, particularily spanish. These students were ESL students and automatically placed in the special education classes. I felt it was very unfair for these students because they didn't necessarily need these services. They didn't get the same writing experiences that my peers and I were exposed to. They weren't allowed to create beautiful poetry or even start to write essays.
members wore. I saw drugs being passed around the classroom hallways as well as fights breaking out continuously. I hated the atmosphere I was surrounded by so it led to a slight depression. I kept a diary where I shared my daily struggles and what happened each day at school. Nobody at school new about the depression I was going through so writing at home about it was the best way. I never wrote about depression at school because I didn't want others to ask. Poetry was also a way for me to escape the hardship I was going through. We practiced different types of poems in class and then I worked on them at home. I wouldn't share my poetry with others because I was embarrassed and didn't think they were as well as some of the poems my peers were writing. Other students in my class were more than willing to open up and express their struggles through poetry. I envied them for their willingness, but it was not my personality to express my hardships through poems in class. I wish that I was able to go deeper with my poetry, but like I've said before, I was scared as to others might think of me. I do however, like some of these poems because of the humor. All students should try writing poetry even if they are uncomfortable with it.
I feel that if I had been a member of Atwell or Christensen's class, we would have had the community established, as a result I would have been willing to express my depression through poetry in class and be able to discuss it without feeling ridiculed. I feel that these poems are relatively good for the middle school level, but I feel I could've gone deeper and expressed some of my emotions that I was going through at the time. I feel that I've grown as a writer to express myself and allow others to experience my struggles and know that we are not alone. We all face many obstacles.
Here are more poems I wrote in middle school.
Wacky Watermelon
By: Alexa Surdell
The wacky watermelon waited in the water
It wanted to float in the waves
But the water was well below warm
So off went watermelon to wishy-washy world
At wishy washy was sad sister snail
She sat sobbing about her stitches
When the watermelon saw snail he stopped sobbing
Tiny Timmy talked to sister snail and wacky watermelon
He tried to tell her to toughen up
Wacky watermelon and snail wobbled their way home
Simile
By: Alexa Surdell
Excitement is as birght as lightning
It sounds like people playing the flute
Excitement tastes like fresh strawberries
It smells like a fresh baked cake
Excitment looks like flowers blooming
Excitement is as crimson as roses
Excitement sounds like birds chirping.
Excitement tastes like brownies
Excitement smells like white tulips
It makes me feel like I'm on top of the world.
Stages of Life
By: Alexa Surdell
Infant
Excited baby
Pooping quicky crying
Fluffy snuggly pilllow
Quietly
Sleeping Slowing
Childhood
Green packback
Kicking hardly punching
Fun bright playground
Running
Fast furiously
Busy
Preteen
Wild people
Obnoxious wildly shouting
Bad naughty brats
Lunged
Hopping awkwardly
Busy
Teen
Mean teen
Making out always
Mushy yucky kisses
Kissing
Talking nonstop
What about other students
At the time, Magee Middle School was a very diverse school and I was able to learn a lot about various cultures, which is the only positive experience I can ever recall having in middle school. All kinds of languages were being spoken in the school, particularily spanish. These students were ESL students and automatically placed in the special education classes. I felt it was very unfair for these students because they didn't necessarily need these services. They didn't get the same writing experiences that my peers and I were exposed to. They weren't allowed to create beautiful poetry or even start to write essays.
Oh how I love the 5 paragraph paper
This was also the time the five paragraph paper was instilled into my head. We had to write five paragraph papers in all classes. I don't recall ever writing something that meant a great deal to me. We usually got marked down in 8th grade when we didn't have an introduction paragraph, three middle paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. My writing consisted of what the teachers wanted me to do. They typically assigned us something to write about. I asked a friend who attended another middle and she informed me that this is something they were focussing on heavily in the middle school grades as well. There was never the idea of choice. I remember many of my classmates really struggling with writing in our middle school classes. If these students would have had the option to write about something of importance to them with an audience, I think many of them would have found writing to be more enjoyable. In this particular paper on the left, it reminds me of a typical 5 paragraph paper. There are a certain amount of sentences in each paragraph, and each paragraph addresses a new topic. I received an A on this paper, but after reading Atwell and Christensen's books, this paper would have been strengthened if I would have had a real audience with a real purpose. This paper just sort of rambles on about a bunch of facts. What about my ideas and beliefs?
I even remember a time when I wrote a paper for a girl on my basketball team. She gave me ten dollars and I agreed to do this for her even though I didn't necessarily want to. I got a perfect grade on the paper for this student and the teacher never found out that it was me who wrote it. If this student would have had something meaningful to write about, maybe the likelihood of her wanting to write the paper would have been greater. Luckily for teachers, I was one of those students in middle school who would write, regardless of what the writing pertained to. I even got made fun of for doing my writing. This was a time when middle school students thought it was "cool" to slack off in class and get bad grades. This would never have been acceptable with my parents so I always did my best.
I even remember a time when I wrote a paper for a girl on my basketball team. She gave me ten dollars and I agreed to do this for her even though I didn't necessarily want to. I got a perfect grade on the paper for this student and the teacher never found out that it was me who wrote it. If this student would have had something meaningful to write about, maybe the likelihood of her wanting to write the paper would have been greater. Luckily for teachers, I was one of those students in middle school who would write, regardless of what the writing pertained to. I even got made fun of for doing my writing. This was a time when middle school students thought it was "cool" to slack off in class and get bad grades. This would never have been acceptable with my parents so I always did my best.
These are some words I would use to describe writing when I was in 7th and 8th grade.