For anyone who teaches at any level (especially literature or language arts), this post is full of wisdom and inspiration.
For anyone who is not a teacher, this post is full of wisdom and inspiration *and* insight into what happens in classrooms every day. Those who can (with few resources but wit and hope and love), *teach.*
This gives me hope. I’m also mindful that many institutions throttle this very creativity in the name of alignment and standardization. You illustrate what real discovery looks like. We need more of this in education.
I don't know where you are teaching, but this kind of freedom in the classroom is so rare where I live. This made my throat go tight, remembering some of the teachers I was lucky to have, some of the teaching I was once able to do. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thank you to Tara Penry for restacking this post! I love everything about this! What lucky lucky kids to have such an engaged, perceptive, curious teacher. This is what education is all about - discovery, sharing, creating. I watched the Brooks "Prisoner" poem video with a tear in my eye - the poets and exonerees, and even John McCain, sharing their appreciation for the poem. So moving. This one's a keeper. Thanks for all you do.
First. Billy Collins would be so delighted in the deviations your lessons took. I assume you know all about Poetry 180.
Second. Enormous kudos to you for helping kids find the poetry magic. I took a summer school class in poetry in second grade. I remember writing haiku's on giant newsprint pages out in the school parking lot baking in the sun. Certainly not as inspiring as what you have achieved but poetry has stayed with me all my life thanks to a passionate teacher.
Third. Is there a way to form a poetry club that you can lead for whichever students want to keep reading, writing and discussing poetry with you? It could grow with students from future classes and maybe even some students who didn't study poetry with you. It would be a shame for this group of avid poetry readers and writers to suddenly fall into a literary void next year.
Fourth. How nice that your school system permitted this passion project. So often teachers are locked into curiculum that no longer lets them follow their students in this way and to generate an excitement for learning. I had a teacher in 4th grade who was a bit of a hippie. She diverted us from the usual ciruculum and did about six weeks studying southeast asia (during the winddown of the Vietnam War.) We never talked about war or the ravages to our GIs, but instead we learned how to grow and husk rice. The geography of SE Asia. What their languages and religions are. A few of their divergent traditions. A cultural, ecological, and geographical tour. She was passionate about it and it mattered at the time. I've never forgotten it. Kudos to your school system! How lucky for the kids.
What an amazing learning journey you brought the students on. A true example of student leading the learning process, and the teacher being the guide. It is not a "fail" at all, in fact the exact opposite.
Adrian, as so many others have pointed out here in the comments section, this is such a gift to your students, and they’re lucky to have you as a teacher. I never really had a proper/fun introduction to poetry when I was younger (then again, I was homeschooled, so…). By the time I became an adult, I had convinced myself I hated poetry. I’ve only discovered it in my thirties, and it’s been an absolute joy. I feel like poetry has enriched not only my reading life but my writing life as well (in a variety of genres). When I teach poetry, I have my students start the unit by reading Collins’s poem “Introduction to Poetry” (which they respond well to). I’ve also started experimenting with excerpts from Ben Lerner’s The Hatred of Poetry, which has led to some really insightful conversations with my students. Anyway, really wonderful post and inspiring teaching. Thank you!
I actually started this poetry unit by sharing that same Collins’ poem! It’s a great poem. My students loved the idea of torturing a poem with a whip. Have you seen this animation?
I love, love this post. Every word.
For anyone who teaches at any level (especially literature or language arts), this post is full of wisdom and inspiration.
For anyone who is not a teacher, this post is full of wisdom and inspiration *and* insight into what happens in classrooms every day. Those who can (with few resources but wit and hope and love), *teach.*
This gives me hope. I’m also mindful that many institutions throttle this very creativity in the name of alignment and standardization. You illustrate what real discovery looks like. We need more of this in education.
I don't know where you are teaching, but this kind of freedom in the classroom is so rare where I live. This made my throat go tight, remembering some of the teachers I was lucky to have, some of the teaching I was once able to do. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thank you to Tara Penry for restacking this post! I love everything about this! What lucky lucky kids to have such an engaged, perceptive, curious teacher. This is what education is all about - discovery, sharing, creating. I watched the Brooks "Prisoner" poem video with a tear in my eye - the poets and exonerees, and even John McCain, sharing their appreciation for the poem. So moving. This one's a keeper. Thanks for all you do.
First. Billy Collins would be so delighted in the deviations your lessons took. I assume you know all about Poetry 180.
Second. Enormous kudos to you for helping kids find the poetry magic. I took a summer school class in poetry in second grade. I remember writing haiku's on giant newsprint pages out in the school parking lot baking in the sun. Certainly not as inspiring as what you have achieved but poetry has stayed with me all my life thanks to a passionate teacher.
Third. Is there a way to form a poetry club that you can lead for whichever students want to keep reading, writing and discussing poetry with you? It could grow with students from future classes and maybe even some students who didn't study poetry with you. It would be a shame for this group of avid poetry readers and writers to suddenly fall into a literary void next year.
Fourth. How nice that your school system permitted this passion project. So often teachers are locked into curiculum that no longer lets them follow their students in this way and to generate an excitement for learning. I had a teacher in 4th grade who was a bit of a hippie. She diverted us from the usual ciruculum and did about six weeks studying southeast asia (during the winddown of the Vietnam War.) We never talked about war or the ravages to our GIs, but instead we learned how to grow and husk rice. The geography of SE Asia. What their languages and religions are. A few of their divergent traditions. A cultural, ecological, and geographical tour. She was passionate about it and it mattered at the time. I've never forgotten it. Kudos to your school system! How lucky for the kids.
Thank you for the resources- I never would have found them in my own - and for your honesty about how teaching what you love can go awry.
What an amazing learning journey you brought the students on. A true example of student leading the learning process, and the teacher being the guide. It is not a "fail" at all, in fact the exact opposite.
Adrian, as so many others have pointed out here in the comments section, this is such a gift to your students, and they’re lucky to have you as a teacher. I never really had a proper/fun introduction to poetry when I was younger (then again, I was homeschooled, so…). By the time I became an adult, I had convinced myself I hated poetry. I’ve only discovered it in my thirties, and it’s been an absolute joy. I feel like poetry has enriched not only my reading life but my writing life as well (in a variety of genres). When I teach poetry, I have my students start the unit by reading Collins’s poem “Introduction to Poetry” (which they respond well to). I’ve also started experimenting with excerpts from Ben Lerner’s The Hatred of Poetry, which has led to some really insightful conversations with my students. Anyway, really wonderful post and inspiring teaching. Thank you!
I actually started this poetry unit by sharing that same Collins’ poem! It’s a great poem. My students loved the idea of torturing a poem with a whip. Have you seen this animation?
https://vimeo.com/184030466
I’ve heard of Lerner’s book, but haven’t had the chance to read it. I’ll check it out! Thanks for commenting.