Poetry Resource Link for Teachers

I have heard guffaws by some when poetry is mentioned - but I plead with you to not pass it by when it comes to your teaching!

Here is just one site of many that can help us as teachers to utilize and create poetry in the class room:

Writing with Writers - Scholastic - Poetry Link

Further Ruminations Upon Reading..

One of my favorite aspects of the Dornan et al. reading is how it zooms in on practical strategies, time-proven activities and truthful accounts of where teachers can go astray. When the text speaks to me earnestly about how a possible activity can fail, I appreciate the candor. Often these textbooks write case study after case study of idealized situations where each child prances through the aisles of desks with rosy cheeks and polished writing in their hands. This text seems to offer truthful tips about what works now and how it is different from what failed in the past.

Being “in” on this “new” type of teaching is exciting. On the one hand, we are recipients of years of trial and error research. On the other hand, we are acknowledging that we are entering a changing field. There is new research out almost everyday suggesting one or more ways teachers can modify their classrooms and or teaching styles to benefit students learning. This also eases my trepidation and assures me that I will not be the first to have an activity fail nor will I be the first to have a strategy succeed. I am learning, as the writers of this text had to learn, through reading, experience and modification.

Suggestions like: “write with your students as a practicing member of the classroom community. Share your struggles and successes so they can see that all writers go through the same difficult but rewarding process of drafting and redrafting a piece until it is just right” (70) are invaluable.

Tom Romano, Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers

I’m not sure what I am more excited to do: teach the multigenre paper or listen to Count Basie. This type of writing is so exciting and alive. I LOVE the idea of switching genres. The first example in the book proves how fast-paced and gripping it can be. In the case of a sales woman at Nyman’s, it is much more interesting (to me) to take a varied look at all aspects - customer, salesperson, pressures, performance, consumerism, etc. – and work through them with poetry, prose and dialogue. I think it is easy to see why students and teachers alike would enjoy this type of writing.

Think/Write #1

Are you a writer? What situations tell you that you are or are not a writer? Describe your experiences with writing that have shaped your self-perceptions as a writer.

The answer to this question, as of late, is rather bittersweet.

Most of my writing - lately (for the last year) - has been all about, regarding, for or in school. That wouldn't be such a bad thing if it didn't leave a type of gaping hole in my heart. You see, I love to write songs and poetry. I love to write stories and letters and reviews and ramblings. Some of the more open ended writing I have done throughout this program has likely been 2AM blathering on the internet to someone I disagreed with (or agreed with).

It seemed to be so much easier early on. I usually get to the 2 or 3 page mark and begin wondering if what I am writing is any good or worth my time. This is a horrible thing to do and I really must stop. It is always a good thing to write. I think that the more you practice, the more you flex your muscle, the better.

I love this quote: "We not only learn to write, but we write to learn" (Dornan, et al. p.7).

This makes me think of times when I was so furious with someone I would write a long letter to them - detailing the minutiae that bothered me and often flying off the handle - really letting them have it. The act of writing that letter (as we all likely understand) was therapeutic in itself. Writing through your emotions can help you develop a better understanding of where you or someone else is coming from. Sometimes you crumple up that bitter sheet and feel like your problems have alleviated. Other times you don't get through it and realize that you do, in fact, need to talk to the other person to work out your issue. Either way, the writing took you to the new level.

We write to learn.

And So It Begins...

I am immersed in the Wiggins and McTighe reading for CI 5481 at the moment (nestled into my spot at Nina's on Grand sipping a warm caramel latte), so I should probably wait to delve into my CI 5461 blog...

That said, I think UbD and backward design is crucial in teaching writing and will be a good partner for our CI 5461 class!

Just thinking about enduring understandings surrounding writing as opposed to facts or trite memorization is very helpful.

I think back to my 12 years of 5 paragraph essay being drilled into my skull. Through the years it became evident that the 5 paragraph essay really could be turned into anything as long as you grasp the Intro/Body/Conclusion aspect, etc.

Anyway, happy blogging!