My parents were teachers.  Dad taught history, and Mom taught English composition and literature.   I played school when I was a child.  Math and science are hard, but I don’t remember learning how to read. I still read as much as I can.

I studied and worked in special education for 20 years.  Then a chronic illness changed my ability to sustain the physical work.  It was also time to return to Wisconsin for my mother’s old age.  I am well within the quiet small town life we enjoy now.

At the same time, I did not realize what a missing piece teaching was in my life. 

The Haiku Foundation gave me an opportunity to write lesson plans.  I cannot think of a Mother’s Day gift my mother would enjoy more than knowing I am using my teaching gifts again.  My mother also encouraged me to learn a form, and that’s how I began with haiku in the early 1990s.

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The latest plan at The Haiku Foundation:

Sharing Haiku Lesson 1: Book of the Week.

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It is interesting how in a way I am in my mother’s literary world, and I also enjoy learning about haiku history.   The haiku lessons I am writing also reflect my work in special education, and include adaptations so all can participate.  The goal is for all students to have a positive experience with poetry.

In loving memory
Harold and Enola Borgh

Ellen Grace Olinger