i was just talking to someone last night about our classes and i am wondering if i ought to change directions with my t-r. my thinking for this is that i should research something i am passionate about. honestly, in april and may, i'm passionate about finishing the year and preparing my students. like the author of this week's article mentioned, i, too, really get to know my students at this time of the year and research is the absolute last thing on my mind.
here's what i was talking about with my friend for almost 3 hours yesterday (also you should know that i talk about this all the time---the problem is: is it research-able?)....i have a personal theory (that sounds even sillier on the screen here than when i tell my friends out loud) that poetry is best taught in 8th grade. here's why: i think they are not "too cool" to do the weird things i ask them, but they are just mature enough to do the weird things i ask them. next year, they will be "low man on the totem pole in high school" and obsessed with appearing cool and finding their way around their new school building to worry about trying new things in class. i am upfront and honest with the kids about this. they seem to like the theory i have of them so they try really hard to do fun and weird things, like laying under a tree to write a transcendental poem about trees or life or whatever.
also---and here's where my passion is---i teach a "special ed" class where everyone hates paper: paper is the enemy. they don't like to read what is on it and hate hate hate to put anything on it. hate hate hate it. but they do it daily for me because there are no rules for what they write (morning/daily pages). lately they even like to read them out loud and try to out-do one another. they also reeeeeally dig poetry. it, too, has no rules or right answers in my class----as long as they can explain themselves and their opinions about it. so, for instance, if they read whitman or thoreau, they can say it's about their big toe as long as they have sustantial evidence for their reading of the work. so i give them shakespeare's sonnets and e.e. cummings and kerouac and they blow----my----mind with the things they say and think and even the resource II kid (a.k.a. "gain" in our school, which is a self-contained special ed class-----usually----but the teacher is a good friend of mine and she sends me some of her kids for social reasons, usually, but when we read cummings, this kid took OVER the discussion). she corrected other kids and defended her thoughts about a short poem. and just for background knowledge, this kid used to hide in her jacket or run away any time someone even said hello to her in the hall. this is 2 years later, i understand, but she dominated the discussion. really. other kids in her resource class are autistic or have down's syndrome, etc. she is identified as "speech language"....issues talking. not the other day.
and they all did that. i heard yelling and "no...it's this way because it says this and i can imagine this in my head and i think those letters are like that and that word is on its own line because of this...." what? they read (on average) 4 years below grade level and they are tearing APART cummings and kerouac. i told them i really could only explain maybe 3-4 poems out of a packet i gave them and it was their job to tell me the rest. my "average" classes try to do this, and usually do well, but not with the passion these kids showed me the other day. towards the end of it, i thought of recording it, but it was waaay too late. i give them art to look at and they ask me to turn it 90 degrees or upside down....different way of thinking.....but these are also kids who detest abstract ideas....but they get art and poetry???
then, instead of racing out the door or somewhere else in the room at the end of class, i saw their heads in their packets as i tried to tell them one more thing before they left. i stopped mid-sentence and just shut up and watched them----all of them---even the kid who butts heads with me daily----all at-risk kids-----all of them----reading and tuning me out.
who knows? it's may. maybe they just like the change of pace from the computerized reading program (yuck) that the district purchased for them to use ad-nauseum (sp?).....i don't know...but this seems to happen every year, though i don't have much to go on as far as statistical info....maybe it's the short text they like....or knowing i don't know all the answers....or it's my own passion for the genre....who knows....but is it researchable? i could get a survey together this week and ask the kids......
my point (and there is one somewhere) is....my at-risk kids (aren't they all?) really get into poetry....they amaze me with what they say and try.....can i research why that is? or is it just something that is and isn't something to prove or anything? it's on my mind a lot and therefore something i thought i should look into further, but how? thoughts?
4 comments:
Steph - SOOOOO glad to see you've re-joined the pack! You've been sorely missed!
I think the topic is TOTALLY researchable and a great idea. I'll bet there's going to be a ton of stuff out there in reference to brain reseach that might reinforce your idea. As an art teacher I found much of the same feeling. My opinion is that this is the age/grade where students really begin to develop their personal voice - and what better way to express that voice than with poetry. Logically once you recognize the abstract concept of voice you gain a better empathy for understanding voice in another context - like the work of other people.
Some questions I thought of that might help pinpoint the abstraction are:
- Which of the following are most interesting for you to read: poetry, an essay, a short story
- In which of the following genres is grammar and spelling LEAST important: poetry, an essay, a short story
- In which of the following genres is the author's voice most strong:
poetry, an essay, a short story
- If you had to describe the feeling you have being with your favorite person which of the following would work best: poetry, an essay, a short story.
Seems like all of the above could be followed by a why. In outlining some of my questions I really would wonder if it is the conventions (is that the right word?) or lack thereof, that make poetry a more accessable literary form. Hmmm - I'D like to know more about this topic, maybe because I have a sense that much of the freedom that I equate with poetry translates directly to art.
You go girl!
Thanks so much, Natalie! I never realized how much I thought about this topic until I sat down and was trying to force myself into researching the former topic I thought I'd do (reading levels and age, etc....). That's not where my passion is and it doesn't intrigue me as much as this topic. I worried, though, that this was waaay too abstract and not research-able.....thank you for helping and prompting me with more questions...that's just what I need to narrow or reword what it is I mean by all this.....you're a life saver! Now to make up a survey (which I think is totally do-able).....!!!! I appreciate it! As you can see, I take a reeeeeeeeally long time to process something like this. You would've thought I'd have learned by now, after doing the same exact, frustrating thing with my master's thesis! Ha! :)More questions to follow, I'm sure! I may need to pick your brain more later! Lucky you! :)
Kerouac and cummings in eighth grade! Awesome! I have such a hard time with poetry, I find it fascinating that you've found a way to bring it home to these kids. Another great reason to protect individuality and flexible curriculum.
BTW, it really hit me when you were writing about the mandated reading program you have to teach. Kids who love to read will learn to read better and better as they consume more and more great stuff--no matter what level they're reading at. With NCLB, we can't forget the importance of inspiring kids, of making them understand why it's so cool to be a good reader and a strong writer.
Kudos for doing a tough job, and doing it well!
Jason--thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement...I am really a research mess and am glad to hear your comments about poetry. It's a crazy phenomenon, teaching the proverbial hard stuff to the crazy 8th graders...they really get into it...they like that there are no rules...it's amazing...unfortunately, I changed my topic so late, I didn't do any field research. Also, this is a year where I did not really get to teach but one week of poetry to the "lower" class (stupid label...I need another one---resource? skills?) so I didn't bother to survey them. They got the drive-thru version of my very favorite unit...my new boss keeps hinting that the canned program might go away for me next year, which makes me want to buy him a car (if I could afford my own)...but I don't know...and I also feel a fraction of the canned thing is good for the kids and is computer based, which reminds me of the conversation you and Natalie were having on the mother blog about computer-based work...the kids who struggle really got into it, but I don't know if it's because of the program or because the lady that runs the lab with the program gives them all candy and gum and lets them run around all hour...I lie to myself about these things and tell myself it's the fun, interactive reading program they like, not the zoo the lab becomes when they're in there...
Anyway, thanks a lot for your input and maybe I'll pick your brain a little more about this stuff later!
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