Teacher Spotlight: Jessica Tuttle of North Smithfield High School

 

Who I am…

     My name is Jessica Tuttle and I am a high school English teacher at North Smithfield High School in North Smithfield, RI. Although I have been teaching in NS for 6 years, I have been an English and Writing Teacher for 21 years. For 15 years, I was a college professor and a member of the English Departments at the University of Rhode Island and Salve Regina University. Although I loved teaching college students, I decided to become certified in Secondary Ed English because I knew my experience at the college level would benefit high school students for the demands of college writing. I also longed to be a part of students’ daily lives, which was a facet that was missing with college students since they were only with me for a short amount of time and only for a couple days during the week. What drives me as an English teacher is allowing students the opportunity to explore themselves through literature, and by reading other writers, giving them chances to find their own voices in writing.  I want my students to “get curious” about themselves and explore their passions, drives, and unique identities. I find that weaving in various modes of discourse, such as narrative, film, art, poetry, and informational texts, make teaching English not only fun, but intellectually engaging. 

The Project…

      In my 10th grade Honors English class, we completed a Poetry Unit that centered on the theme of Identity and the choices we make in life that help us find our purpose. One of the assignments called for students to read Robert Frost's poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." They completed several different tasks with this poem, but the project I am submitting is the project that culminated the unit where students had to show their understanding of rhyme scheme and meter, draw on the thematic significance of Life's Choices and Identity, and write their poem with the title (taken from the last line of Frost's poem) "And Miles To Go Before I Sleep." In their poem, they had to detail where they would want to go and what they would want to do before their "woods fill up with snow."  

Why this project was meaningful…

    Who are we and what are meant to do in this life? These are philosophical and existential questions we have been tracing since the start of the school year. From Plato to Joseph Campbell, my sophomores have been exploring what various writers throughout the centuries have thought about these questions. They have done Personal Quest Projects and explored the ways various characters in literature have made choices (both purposeful ones and nihilistic ones) that shape who they become. In doing so, students have been called to reflect on their own personal choices: How do the choices we make bring us to where we want to be in life? How does the Universe guide us? How do our morals and values reflect these choices? In what ways does our ability to shape our life’s path empower us? For this submitted project, students contemplated the moment of pause in Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” to see that the traveler in the poem pauses in the snowy woods for a reason. Although his purpose is one that reflects destination (“But I have miles to go before I sleep”), he wishes to enjoy the peace, tranquility and beauty of the snow covered woods if only for a moment. Like our own lives, busy with deadlines and assignments, jobs, and obligations, students were asked to write a poem, inspired by Frost’s, that asked them to pause and think about the “miles to go before [they] sleep” -- their life’s purpose/things they wish to accomplish before their “woods fill up with snow.” 

Student Poetry

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

        By Caitlyn Roden

With miles to go before I sleep

I dare to stop and not just weep.

The ones I’ll miss as time will part,

So many things I’ve yet to start.

Before my woods fill up with snow,

I want to travel to and fro.

To see the ocean’s gleaming light

With whales all colored black and white.

To go to pride with ones I love

With rainbows all around, above.

Atop my roof, while there I sprawl

As warmth begins to rise and fall.

To see the sun, the moons, the stars,

With floating lanterns off to Mars.

Green ribbons dancing in black skies,

No other sight distracts my eyes.

I want to dance while in the rain;

And picnic in the blades of cane

With ones I love and can’t let go,

As flowers around start to blow.

My time is sadly almost through; 

There’s so much more I want to do.

To watch the view with ones I love,

As light starts shining from above.

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

            By Kara Farmer

A bucket list Is filled with things

You especially want to do,

So let me share my bucket list,

Of traveling the world with you.

I’d like to visit the sunny beaches

In beautiful Hawaii

I want to see Africa

and giraffes on safari.

I want to travel to Alaska 

To see the northern lights.

I want to visit France

For some pastries and a bite.

I want to cruise the Caribbean

And see the sea so blue.

I want to see the pyramids 

Of Egypt too.

A bucket list Is filled

with things you especially want to do,

So let me share my bucket list ,

Of traveling the world, with you

And Miles to go before I Sleep

By Domenick Neri 

Life is a mountain that all people must climb,

To do all the things we desire before we run out of time.

No matter what you do, or how hard you try time will not go by slow,

So before it runs out one must find a purpose in life, something they can define

There's so much I want to do so much space where I need to grow,  

I want to ski in Colorado, and see the mountain tips covered in snow.

I want to settle down in a place to raise a family, 

I want to look back at life and see all the amazing people I came to know.

I want to travel across the world and fly internationally, 

While keeping those I love close to live happily.

One Day I wish to have kids and teach them how important time can be,

I want them to know time can run out fast, and they must not live life lazily.

I want to go to college and earn a degree, 

As well as go on a cruise and travel across all seas.

But most importantly in life, I want to be remembered for what I did,

I intend on living my best life and that's a guarantee.

                                              And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

By: Ethan Geoghegan

What do I want to do before I go?

What should I do before I go?

Both questions I myself would love to know.

However, there are a few ideas I have in mind.

I would love to travel the world, and witness beautiful sights.

Hike up the tallest mountains, and witness great heights.

See all my favorite artists in concert.

While being surrounded by all of the lights.

I’d love to move up north and be in the snow.

Have a wife I admire and cherish.

Eventually raise kids and watch them grow.

Stand outside my nice home feeling the wind gently blow.

I’d love to have fun and take care of my family and friends.

Always be positive and tie up all loose ends.

Go skydiving and feel myself descend.

Go to space and see how the universe will never end.

Travel to Italy and see the Eiffel Tower.

Eat all the best pizzas in New York and devour.

Go to England and watch Manchester United.

Buy the biggest firework in the world and watch it be ignited.

When will I go?

A question I will never know.

However those are a few examples of what I’d love to do

Before my woods fill up with snow.

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

By Brennan Drolet 

I would climb the highest mountains.

No limit but the sky.

I would do everything I’ve always wanted to try.

I would pack my things and fly ‘round the world.

Wouldn’t need a reason why.

Maybe I’d go to Aruba.

Or perhaps a trip to Cuba.

Somewhere warm, under the sun.

A place that’s exciting and filled with fun.

On the other hand, maybe somewhere cold like Alaska.

On the way, I could make a stop in Nebraska.

While I stare into the snow,

I’d think of all the places I’d like to go

Where next? El Clasico in Spain?

Or maybe some hiking in Ukraine?

Wherever I went, one thing would be clear.

I would live life to the fullest there.

I would be adventurous,

Explore high and low,

Until my woods fill up with snow.

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

By Bethany Marsella

I see the beauty in the snow

The dark silence holds future glow

This natural scene I admire so

I’ve things to do before I go

I wish to travel near and far

I wish to meet a circus star

I wish to drive in my own car

I wish to learn to play guitar

It’s quite the list but there is more

To repeat things I’ve done before

Laying in the sun by the shore

Or sitting campfire with a s’more

I must be quick to reach my goal

With miles to travel with my foal

The evening looks as black as coal

I search ‘round but there’s not a soul

Before the woods fill up with white

And darkness takes over the night

I’ll take in this last calming sight

And recall times when it was bright

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep 

           By Nia Powell 

Before I reach my forever sleep, 

I hope to fulfill some promises I must keep. 

I hope to go down a successful road, 

To be happy, no stress, and live very old.  

London, Ghana, Tokyo and more,

Just to name some places I want to explore, 

To learn about cultures in all of these places 

Eat, relax, and learn some new faces. 

I still have a very long ways to go,  

But I hope that one day when I am old, 

I may look back on the miles I’ve gone, 

And be at peace and happy with what I had done. 

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

 By Olivia Sukaskas

To run through a field of flowers,

To feel the solid ground beneath,

To sit and stare at stars for hours

To hear rain trickle down on trees,

To touch the flowing ocean current,

The waves that move just under me

To be bathed by the sun’s long rays,

My skin caressed by their warm touch,

To watch a fire’s telling blaze

Do things that make me feel alive

Before the waves well up and crash

When it’s too late to swim or dive

To feel alive is what I’d do

Before the waves pull me down too

And the currents darken in hue

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

By William Sullivan 

In a band, I’ll strum a tune,

In the summer heat of June.

Me and my guitar,

Playing under the pale moon.

I’ll travel lots of places,

And see many new faces.

Moving coast to coast,

Exploring lots of spaces.

Music, friendships, highs and lows,

This is how I want to grow.

All of this I want to know

Before my woods fill up with snow

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

By Colin Verboort 

                                                        The story of life goes like this

Live, breathe, and die

Live with bliss

Or pass through life with one big hiss

But there is more to life

Than just living

Simply existing will not suffice

At least try add a little bit of spice

Before I kick the bucket

I would like to go scuba diving

Or maybe learn to control a puppet

No, not like a muppet

I’d like to see Australia

Jump out of a plane

Learn to use power tools and other paraphernalia

And roam in a pink field of azalea

But you see

There are many things I’d like to do

Before my time flees

There are still miles to go until I sleep, can't you see?