Inspiration: Have you ever noticed that friends can be a big help when you are frustrated or feeling like a failure? Why is that? Well, friends want to take away your pain, but positive words or saying “not everyone is good at X” are not always helpful in making your friend happy and healthy. As a friend, you can do better by asking questions and problem-solving.

Take a look at this infographic about mindset; you can click on it to make it larger:

Mindset
This infographic comes from Big Change (big-change.org).

Write a poem to someone who needs support working through a setback, a challenge, some frustration. The person needs your help to stick with it, find resources, get some help to work through it. You might ask him/her about what the struggle is teaching them, what they should do next, and who can help and how. Here are some ideas:

  • A teammate is frustrated that he is not starting or getting the events he/she wants. What would you say or do to help him/her work through, stay with it?
  • A friend throws his/her controller in frustration with a video game refusing to play it with you anymore. What would you say or do to help him/her work through it and try again — strategies, resources like how-to videos, watching you, etc.?
  • A sibling just started a sport/hobby you already do well (e.g., soccer, violin, cooking, make-up, sketching) and is frustrated by not doing it as well as you. What would you say and do to help them see that it takes time to get better and that it is not about being like you but about developing their own way  (or something like that)?
  • A classmate is acting out for attention or out of boredom because he/she can’t find meaning in or connect to the lesson. What do you say/do? What strategies can you share to help him/her work through it.
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Matt

“Do you need help”
“No”
“Are you sure”
“Yeah”
*Goes home crying*

Jose

My brother was sad
our grandpa just past away
i tried and tried to cheer him up
Finally until i told him some advice
he wiped the tears and then hugged me
and told me thank you for helping me
and that was the last time i saw him cry

Karen

Friends
The ones you trust the most
When your in pain they help out the most
The are like siblings
You love them like they are
Never treat them bad

Nicholas

I like it it think it is very good

Emma

I see a little girl in the library
As she throws down her book.
I walk over there
And pick up her Cat In The Hat book, asking her,
“Why did you throw your book?”
“I don’t know how to read it.” She says
“Do you want me to help you?” I asked, sitting next to her.
“Sure,” She said, as she started to read it
And then I helped her with the part she was stuck on.

Giancarlo

Believe in yourself
And that’s the place to start
As long as you believe
Nothing can drag you down

Karen

I liked how the whole poem was short yet it’s very inspirational

Nick

We have to stop fighting
People fight over color
Pieces of paper called money
And more room
But
What if we all worked together
We could be the future
If we continue this we will be the past
Lets be a change for each other

Ashanti

Support..
I know you’re someone I will always be able to go to.
Having someone that likes to see me accomplish things is the
best
Just like you.

No matter what the situation is I know I have your support.
There isn’t many people like you
and I know that when
I’m about to tip over you’ll be right there to catch me ,
Thank you bestfriend.

Leilany

Support.
I have always been someone
Who knows they can do something
without the support from others.
But I know from experience,
That not everyone is like this.

When I see that my brother is frustrated,
He gives up.
But when I give him advice,
Or tell him to keep trying,
He realizes,
That he can do it

Sometimes,
Support is what fuels us,
And motivates us to keep going.
That is why it is important to always be there for someone;
Whether it’s family, friends, acquaintances, or even strangers.

Khari

you can
believe you can
say you can
and you will

Ashanti

I like how you said “say you can and you will” because it’s saying how if you’re positive about something you can do it.

Jasmine Plata

Supporting
others
even
though,
I had
to do
a couple
of sacrifices.
“Okay, I AM NOT PLAYING ANYMORE.” My cousin
cried.
The wii control
bounced off the bed
and I see it soaring through the air.
I stand up and lean over and grab
it
midair.
“Yeah…so..umm no. Look, lets do one more game.”
I place the remote in her hand and sat down.
I saw a countdown appear on the screen,
3
2
1
GOOOOO!!!
I moved my tank around and blasted the enemy.
LEVEL 2
We played game after game.
I realized my cousin was loosing REALLY
badly to me.
I stopped and paused the game.
I saw her turn her head,
sweat rolled down her face.
I showed her a tip to shooting.
I smiled and un paused the game.
We continued and at the end it was about to declare the winner.
“Jasmine is our WINNER” then our score appeared on the screen.
This time she was almost at our score.
I saw a smile appear on her face
with determination.
I laughed and this time I was
interrupted by,
“Hey….rematch?”
On our next game I realized that we were almost at a tie and I glanced over at her and saw how hard she was trying.
I felt my heart leap with a genius idea.
Even though I should have won that game….
I might have “accidentally” bombed myself.
It was worth to see a smile of victory and see all of her hard work
ish
pay off.

izzy sernel

support

you always keep me steady when I’m about to fall
helping me to stand tall.

I can talk to you about everything
and know that you will not say anything.

You always know what to say
and can tell what I’m thinking with even a text of just hey.

When we talk my mind gets cleared
and I know that I shouldn’t have even feared.

Getting your advice makes me happy
and helps me to not become sappy.

I’m thankful to have you as a friend
who always has my back to the very end

I’m always here to talk to you
I hope are relationship sticks like clue

Thanks again for your support

Alyssa

I can relate to the part where you say, “I’m thankful to have you as a friend, Who always has my back to the very end,” because I have many friends that have been by my side since what seems like forever, and hope that those friendships will never end. They always have my back, and I don’t know what I would do without my closest friends.

Colin

Supporting others
If you help others
with all your might,
To achieve goals
within your sight,
The strength you serve
from their sights,
Will pull you up
to greater heights

Ashanti

I liked the part where it says “The strength you serve
from their sights,
Will pull you up
to greater heights” because I think it’s true.

Mik Mieczkowski

(Not based on a true story)
As the controller collides with the carpet,
My friend screams “I’m not playing with you if you play like that!”
Sure exploding the other player by ramming into them can enrage,
But it is a strategy like no other. After all the score was 7-1
“Come on! Don’t be like that”, I tell him.
“If you play more you will get better, and you can beat me”
We go into training.
A few weeks pass, and my eyes shatter to see that I’m getting destroyed.
“Hey, I’ve been practicing!”

Emma

Sometimes we need
To support
Our friends
And even
Out enemies.
If they need help,
We help them back.
If we need help,
They help us too.
I think that’s what
Makes the world work.
Just a little support
Kindness, love,
Can make someone’s day
And then the whole world’s.

Cʜʀɪsᴛᴏᴘʜᴇʀ Sᴇɢᴜɴᴅᴏ

I hate group projects
I like to them alone
Sometimes I see them
just getting owned

We worked on a poster
a teammate gave up
he made a fit
I told him to shut up.

I told them we needed to work
I gave him some space
I told him to not worry
because we would finish the race(not literally xD)

Rieley

” the rumors aren’t true”
My friend says
Who should I side with?
The whole school
Or someone I know to be true?
This is breaking her
And nobody believes her but me
Sometime
All you need is support

Ariana

The line that really stuck out to me was ” all you need is support” because sometimes you just need that one person you know is there for you. They always agree with you and support your decisions. I’m glad that we all have that one friend that supports us through it all. I really liked your poem.

Jasmine Plata

I really liked your poem and this is true. This happens so often in school that you have no idea what to do. A rumor starts and eventually all these kids will know and start asking you about weather its true or not. I liked the line where you said,”Who should I side with?
The whole school
Or someone I know to be true?
This is breaking her” You made this into pathos and when you said “this is breaking her” I could feel how sad and upset she was.

Daraley

Anyone barely supports me in anything .
Whats the deal anyways ?
i do something fail , people watch me as i fail and they “Next time . :)”
Is there really a next time ?
im just tired of my friends not supporting me .
its cool , they want to do bad things and they support me on that ,
I’ve done bad things but i don’t plan on doing it again
im not making my mistakes again .
i promised to my mom that i would actually do good in school .
No one was there beside me when i had family problems
nobody was there when i was in the hospital
no one was there when i was crying and telling me everything was going to be okay
i just have friends .
i support my friends and i help them everyday .
a least they have others friends too that support them like me .

Abigail Zimmerman

I see support in a new way after reading your poem because our friends sometimes tell us that we may do well next time, but often, they never really give us advice or support. For example, the line “i do something fail , people watch me as i fail and they “Next time . :)” emphasized how they encourage us and the line, “No one was there beside me when i had family problems” shows that they don’t really provide much support.

Sophia

You see the name on the list of horses next to the “unrideable” horse
You ask your trainer to change because your so nervous
But she says no
You get him out of his stall and bring him in the arena
You tighten the girth and everything is going well
You mount and he walks ahead away from the block
The stubborn horse stops
You click him forward
But he won’t go
He gets so angry
He throws a buck
Your in the dirt
It’s okay
because you need to get back on
Or next lesson will be scarier than this
Get back on because you care
Get back on because it’s the sport

Ruben

just as i see my owner leave every day
just as i see my owner on the light screen
i just don’t get it humans are so weird
humans are just undefinable
why cant they just be simple
why is the question that i ask my self every day

Steven Paul

You know that is probably what dogs or pets thinks of us, The phrase “Just as I see my owner on the light screen” It is making me think about a lot of things, it is odd. But until I read “why can’t they just be simple” I had never really considered the way our pets think of us.

Sophia

When you wrote “humans are just undefinable,” I felt realization because humans are very undefinable, you never know what they’re thinking or feeling until they share you can’t define a human, because humans are human.

Anette

Support
supporting others is you are there right my someone side and helping them or pushing them,
Means being there not matter what mood you are in you are there,
supporting them even though they have hurt you in some way,
Pushing them,
Helping them,
Doing everything you can,
You love that person right?
Support them….

Jarely

Your words” Means being there not matter what mood you are in you are there, supporting them even though they have hurt you in some way,” really moved me because a true friend would do this. A friend has to be there for the person they care about and relates to me because I try to do these things too.

Sergio

Friends take away the pain
In you
They hunt the pain down and destroy it
Friends
They make you feel special
Friends
Heal the pain inside you
Friends

Rieley

I like how you wrote, ” they hunt down the pain in you and destroy it.” I think this was a good way to express how friends make you feel.

Kevin H

This poem is really true especially when you said “heal the pain inside of you” friends are their for you but not all them they care for you and they will do anything for you

Michael

Dear friend,

You can do anything,
you can do the impossible.
You can do what ever you set your mind to.
Anything you can dream of,
you can do.
You can do anything you want to do in life.
You will be happy.

Becca

supporting others means being there
means being that friend that will listen
always there to talk
to help through tough times
and make the hard times better
and the good times much more fun
be that supporting friend

Kevin H

Feeling down
Sometimes in life you’re not going to have your best days
Sometimes in life you’re not going to be happy
Sometimes in life you’re going to be hurt
And you are going to need people to be there
Who are you going to trust more you’re friends or adults
And one day that day will come will come when you people by your side
No matter what there is not way to be escaping that
No way to escape having bad days
Just like there is not way of escaping death
Its going to happen but you have to try to not happen right away

Sergio

I like the way Kevin you said ” Feeling down which made me feel that we all have a day when we feel down sometimes.

Nico

Pain
pain isn’t meant to hurt you it’s meant to make you stronger
pain is just weakness leaving the body
pain ends its just a matter of time it could be 1 minute 1 day 1 month or 1 year
it has to end sometime.

Sergio

Your words” pain isn’t meant to hurt you it’s meant to make you stronger” really moved me because they relate to me when I feel the wort pain possible I think it will make me stronger.

Michael

I like your take on pain. Your first line is very strong.

Benjamin Watford

Create an anchor
for yourself
So you can restrain
yourself by
your knowledge of
yourself

Kaitlyn

¨I´ll never be as good as you¨
The words I hear from across the room
I know like this she´ll never bloom

I walk to her side
Bright and kind eyed
And explain to her what I once was told

Practice makes (almost) perfect
For there´s no such thing as perfection in any sport that you play
You need to work hard
and things will come through
Especially when someone might be better than you

But don´t let that stop you
You just have to push through
The hard times
The good times
The happy too
Show everyone that you can too

Emma N.

To all students,
children,
adults
Your future lies ahead of you,
you only got one shot
to make your future
as YOU want it
don’t let others tell you how to do things

McKinley

The phrase “You only got one shot,” got me thinking because if you mess up your present, you can’t really go back to fix it, but you can leave it in the past. I see and understand my presence in a different way now because it just becomes the past. Great poem!

Claudia

I like when you said “your future lies ahead of you, you only got one shot to make your future” because it tells people that they should make the best out of there lives and make it count. Also is the text you say to all students, children and adults which means no matter what age you are its never to early or ever to late to start your future .

Brenda

I like the part where you said that we only have one shot and that’s really true. We have only one chance at life, so we have to make it count.

Aliyah

success
sometimes you hear people tell you positive things
you hear people tell you to not give up
or to keep trying
but trust me
it’s hard
trying your best
when all you wanna do is give up
And I know it may not mean much coming from others
Which is why you have to tell it to yourself
Tell yourself
That you can make it
Tell yourself
That all you need to do is persevere through it
That’s what’s needed
To be successful

Jacqueline

You’re really great at giving advice! When you said telling yourself that you can do it is a big step towards success it got me feeling like i could also do anything by just being myself, accepting the problem & believing in myself.

Ayanna

i love the advice your giving because so many people give up because others dont believe in them but i love how ur telling others that they dont need anyone else to believe in then they just need to believe in there selves the part i like is when you say ”Tell yourself that you can make it tell yourself ”

Malik

heres the situation, you’re in a soccer match and your down 5 : nil and your friend says he is gonna quit and go home even though your only in the first half. What do you say and why? I would scream at him and tell him to man up and say don’t quit you wimp, we can still come back! But thats just me, so please leave your answer in the comment section and please like and subscribe.

Dylan M

I feel like the person who wants to leave sometimes, as I just have no hope in situations. I’m just glad I’m not in your soccer team! XD

Dylan M

Don’t even think about it.
You are not.
Some people might think you are,
but you are not.
I know.
I’ve seen.
I know you can always do it.
You are not the person that gives up.

Maddie

I love the library
Hundreds of shelves
Thousands of books
Millions of words
In just one room
But what’s the point?
If it doesn’t make any sense
This girl sits with a book
Her tiny hands on her head
I walk over to her and sit down
I ask her her name
And reply that it’s pretty
She looks at me and smiles
I look at the book she’s cast aside
I told her I like cats in hats
Her eyes laugh
I ask her if I can read it
She nodded and handed it to me
Then the sun did shine
It wasn’t too wet to play
So we sat in the library
All that cold, cold yet happy day

Emma

A clever line is, “her eyes laugh” because it puts an image in your mind.

Emma

^^^I noticed you used the technique of descriptive text in the phrase “all that cold, cold yet happy day,” it’s effective because it also puts an image in your mind.

Anathea

(This is a supportive text conversation I had with one of my friends I am blessed to have)
“Please be honest”
“Ok”
“Was my original song good?”
“YES!!”
“Really? Are you sure”
“Did You not hear me ask when’s it gonna be on iTunes”
“Thank you, I just don’t think I’m good enough”
“BUT YOU ARE!”
“Thank you”
“Np”
“I’m so lucky to have a friend like you”
“?”

Alyssa

Helping a friend;

I have to be that helping hand,
When my friend (s) might not be feeling grand,
Who, What, Where, When, How?
“For me to help you, I will need to know now,”
“Don’t listen to what people say,
There is no need,
You just have to be brave.
No matter the situation,
I will always have your back,
Even when giving advice,
Is something I lack.

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