I found the above image online when looking for self- portrait poems and I think it’s a really good visual illustration for how poetry works and how we can view it for our students/ classrooms.
Poetry Reflection
My personal feelings about READING Poetry are not where I would like to admit. I really do not enjoy reading poetry because of the format. Sometimes poetry can be hard for me to understand and sometimes it can be hard for me to convey meaning from the poem. I don’t think that I spend as much time reading poetry as I do on normal text. When I read regular paragraph literature I read slowly and take my time to comprehend what I am reading. I feel like when I read poetry, in my mind I know that it’s a shorter text so I feel as though I don’t have to put as much effort into reading it. Which is a large factor in being able to understand and gain meaning from the poetry.
My personal feelings about WRITING Poetry are lighter than my feelings towards reading poetry. I think that this is because when I am writing, there is no specific format or type of poetry that I am writing. When I am writing poetry, there is no pressure to meet certain requirements
My personal feelings about TEACHING Poetry are that teaching poetry is going to be hard… I feel like if I see poetry as confusing at times, that my students will also view poetry as confusing at times. But I also view it as having the opportunity to teach students about the beauty and value of expressing their words through poetry so that they don’t feel about poetry the way that I do.
My criteria for how I know I’ve read a really good poem is when I am able to convey meaning and I am able relate to the poem in some way.
I think I (could) create a “Poetry Environment” in my classroom by giving students ample opportunities to observe, draft and create. I want students to be able to use their senses as they experience writing. In order to create a poetry environment, I think students need to be comfortable and excited about writing poetry.
Poetry Mentor Texts
Connections to course readings…
After reading Firefly July and All the Small Poems and Fourteen More as well as Brown Girl Dreaming, I feel well equipped to give students quality literature to help them mentor their own poetic writing. I think that providing students these sources of literature can really help them to “awaken” their hearts to reading and writing poetry. 😉 I also think that The Poem Farm by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is a magnificent resource for us to show our students. One of my favorite parts of this site is that she has audio files that students can listen to of herself reading her poems aloud. I think that this is very powerful for students as they are learning the power and movement that poetry can have. She also reaches students personally by including their work on her website- this is very important for our students to see that others their age have written and published their writing on a real authors website!! I was really moved by Georgia Heard’s introduction in Awakening the Heart where she compares poetry to bread. Her opening discusses how anyone can do poetry- which is critical for our young students to understand but even more critical for teachers that are teaching poetry to understand. We can tell students that poetry lives inside of them. I wish that I hadn’t had to wait until college to have a professor instill this idea in me…. Thanks Dr. Frye 😉 I am inspired by the idea that poetry is everywhere- that it is in our voices and our students conversations. I’m grateful for Heard’s message in her book.
Self Portrait Poems
What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali
You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write.
I make them read. read. read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful,
definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never
misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math
and hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you’ve got this,
then you follow this
and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this.
Here, let me break it down for you, so you know
what I say is true.
teachers make a __________ difference! Now what
about you?
I chose this poem because I think it reflects a huge part of my life- teaching. Often times a big question that I get is “What will you make?” in regards to money. Quite frankly, I want to tell them that it is none of their business, but if I could find the right words to tell them- it would be something like this poem. From now on instead of falling into the trap of talking about money and benefits- I am going to tell people that I make a difference. That I make kids think and wonder. That I make them practice being a good friend and kind human. I chose this because I feel as though it lines up with who I am and how I view teaching. I want students to give it their best and keep trying even if they fail.
Listening to Grown Ups Quarreling by Ruth Whitman
standing in the hall against the
wall with my little brother, blown
like leaves against the wall by their
voices, my head like a pingpong ball
between the paddles of their anger:
I knew what it meant
to tremble like a leaf.
Cold with their wrath, I heard
the claws of the rain
pounce. Floods
poured through the city,
skies clapped over me
and I was shaken, shaken
like a mouse
between their jaws.
I chose this poem because I can connect it to my personal life experiences. My parents divorced when I was at a young age and even though I was so young, I can remember certain times when they would argue at home and my brother (who is two years younger) and I would overhear them arguing. They never blatantly argued in front of us- but we knew what was happening. On into my teenage years my mom and dad would argue every time they saw each other. My parents divorce is something that I have never quite gotten over- it’s something that shakes you. And for that reason, I chose this poem because it shows the true heartache a divorce can cause.
Where does poetry hide for me? What I believe poem…
I believe in Jesus Christ and God.
I believe in the Bible and Heaven/ Hell.
I believe in prayer and kindness.
I believe every child is innocent and deserve the best from adults.
I believe in a good education and leaving home to find your best you.
I believe in working hard and never giving up.
I believe in giving second chances and always staying true to you.
I believe in southern hospitality and home cookin.
I believe in my dad’s tender heart and my mom’s desire to be perfect.
I believe in first impressions and doing kind things for others.
I believe in humanity and positivity.
I believe in everything happens for a reason and laughter is therapy.
Poetry Reflection (*Revised after reading)
After reading, my personal feelings about READING Poetry have transformed a little bit. I found that I enjoy reading children’s poetry because of the format. Like I said before, sometimes poetry can be hard for me to understand and sometimes it can be hard for me to convey meaning from the poem, BUT, Firefly July helped me to see that poetry can be simplistic. I also think that now I better understand that there is also no right or wrong way to read poetry. I think that poetry is largely about the connections you make and how it makes you feel. With that being said, I now appreciate how poetry can allow you to feel emotions that maybe another genre wouldn’t.
After reading, my personal feelings about WRITING Poetry have transformed as well. Like I said before, I think that I like writing because there is no specific format or type of poetry that I have to write. When I am writing poetry, there is no pressure to meet certain requirements and I think this is a great motivation write. In addition to this, I learned that you can write a poem about LITERALLY anything. I feel like much of the pressure of thinking of a decent writing topic has been relieved. I think that before I read these sources, that I had to have some intense or extravagant and emotional topic to write about. But now, I have decided that is absurd and I can write about something as simple as my peanut butter and banana wrap I am eating for lunch.
After reading, my personal feelings about TEACHING Poetry have changed from fearing it will be hard. I still see it as having the opportunity to teach students about the beauty and value of expressing their words through poetry. I want to teach students that poetry does not have to be hard- that it can be as simple as writing about their animals, family, favorite toy, etc. I think that teaching poetry using Firefly July for younger students or Brown Girl Dreaming for older students will help make poetry a more enjoyable experience for students.
After reading, my criteria for how I know I’ve read a really good poem has stayed the same… that is when I am able to convey meaning and I am able relate to the poem in some way or another. For example, when I was researching self-portrait poems, I think that both of the poems I chose are really good poems because I can personally connect to them.
After reading, I still think I (could) create a “Poetry Environment” in my classroom by giving students ample opportunities to observe, draft and create. I want students to be able to use their senses as they experience writing. In order to create a poetry environment, I think students need to be comfortable and excited about writing poetry. I think that using mentor texts in my classroom will help to create a good poetry environment where students feel comfortable with writing and reading poetry.
Resources:
- Link to Poetry Farm Website http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/
Ms. Wild's Thoughts 