so...how does my research or reflection still matter in my current classroom? well, i think it's still relevant because every year, the students i meet hate, hate, hate poetry and find it either too boring or too hard for them to understand....and forget, forget about writing it! no way jose! that stuff stinks and i have nothing to say and wouldn't say it that way, anyway...
it makes me sad but then excited to show them the coolness of poetry (and maybe some of my slight, but totally under-control obsession with it--totally normal--i know lots of people with poe and shakespeare action figures that TALK to them when no one is around...what?)
i think this question of mine about the skills kids getting poetry is important also because they never seem to realize how cool they think, that they think in such an out-of-order (but not wrong) way that some things come totally easy to them. when they say some things, they don't get why it's so awesome and i try to stop to tell them that. sometimes i tell white lies (but maybe they're not) about something being "advanced" or "high level". i don't think i'm lying, but i might not be exact or 100% accurate if, say, some educational theorist were to walk into my classroom (thank goodness i don't know any).
i guess what i'm saying is that this is important because kids are. i get new kids every year. i don't see them the year after i have them because they go to another building and i really can't know how they're doing unless they come to visit. i think a lot of kids need someone to tell them how smart they are, even if it looks different. i think i work with a lot of people who do this or who want to do this, but it's easy for me to remember to tell them since poetry is #1 on everyone's "i hate to write this stuff" list. i don't know.
why would it be important to someone in my session at the conference? maybe because some people who teach were like my kids and it's on their list of "i hate to teach this stuff" list. or maybe they were the types of student who fished for the right answer for everything. i like the idea of coming up with more questions with every guess made....i think it's hard for some folks to not have a right answer. i'm not sure. it's not like i don't "quiz" kids on lit terms and examples of things....i just never ask "what's the poem all about" on a quiz, really, unless it's a short answer type of thing....hmmm...i think i need more journaling on this or something...i don't seem to be getting anywhere with this week's focus for the deadline draft!
sorry for the "freewrite" here....any thoughts? what about the situation in your own schools? how do the kids respond to poetry? how about the skills kids? how do the teachers approach it? i realize i may be a little fanatical, but...some people i work with actually like teaching grammar and root words! yuck, i say! so, it seems to be the same...we all have our favorite things...hmmm....more later...
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
what DID i do? gooooood question.
so. this week i'm supposed to tell you what i did in the hopes of furthering my question. well, i guess i've taken a closer look at what the heck i actually DO. this is what i have so far. tell me if there's something missing or if this is not at all what is helpful to someone at our conference.
for poetry in the 3rd quarter, i begin convincing the kids that they can do poetry during the first week of school with a little creative writing, most of which i have shamelessly stolen from hundreds of unsuspecting colleagues over the course of several years. nice. the kids do all sorts of writing about themselves and what they think about things for about 1-2 weeks. already, having no rules upsets many of them. when drawing something, they panic and blurt out random things like, "what does it have to look like? what color? which way should my paper go? can i color it in?" these are poetry questions pretending to be writing questions. a poetry question would sound like, "how many comments do you want me to make in the margins? how many metaphors should there be? does it have to rhyme? (gag)" and the ever dreaded, "what is this poem about?" YOU TELL ME! already so much panic all over the place. so i guess i start off with the kind of abstract thinking required 3-4 months down the road right off the bat. (it's also kind of fun to freak them out with no rules about writing....fun to see their faces try to figure out what you secretly MEAN by that.....hahahahahahaha!). sorry. obviously, it's been a long day.
so throughout the year, we vote on answers as a class tries to agree on the climax of a story/movie, we debate about censorship, we write a lot of weirdo abstract daily pages and about art, we yell, we draw, sometimes we sit and take notes (yucky, but reality), we move around a bit here and there and eventually, magically, thinking happens. boundaries are formed (redirecting what is appropriate banter in a debate might sound like, "ok. no. you can't call him stupid an ugly and throw a pen at him just because he thinks censorship is a good idea. that's a no. try this......")
i don't know how it happens. i think i may have to really pour over some lesson plans (sticky notes and lists all over the place) to see what we're doing cognitively. this year, since we're kind of required to use curriculum maps, some of this is set for us, so i'm supposed to be covering certain things in preparation for poetry during 3rd quarter. maybe i'll look those maps over. maybe i'll just ask some kids....though it might be too late for the conference to direct my questions at poetry in isolation....maybe i'll just ask about the pace, set up, and expectations of the class in terms of the things we read and do and write about in here? interest poll?
not very detailed, i'm afraid. but, there is some direction in terms of reviewing past lessons, calendars, and notes i've taken over the last few years to see what exactly prepares some of the kids to think for themselves in poetry settings. overall, i try to brainwash them into believing they know a lot and ought to use it and use it often....i may have to think more about how that happens. it's just something i always do, i think. this is a good metacognition activity! (so, now it's been a long day AND i'm having a irreversible nerd moment. sorry.)
any suggestions? what would be helpful if YOU were sitting in my session (good luck there! ha!)....? what kinds of things are helpful? should i include all the crazy data, data, data i pour over to see where the kids are with reading and writing, etc., sort of? hmmmmmmm........
for poetry in the 3rd quarter, i begin convincing the kids that they can do poetry during the first week of school with a little creative writing, most of which i have shamelessly stolen from hundreds of unsuspecting colleagues over the course of several years. nice. the kids do all sorts of writing about themselves and what they think about things for about 1-2 weeks. already, having no rules upsets many of them. when drawing something, they panic and blurt out random things like, "what does it have to look like? what color? which way should my paper go? can i color it in?" these are poetry questions pretending to be writing questions. a poetry question would sound like, "how many comments do you want me to make in the margins? how many metaphors should there be? does it have to rhyme? (gag)" and the ever dreaded, "what is this poem about?" YOU TELL ME! already so much panic all over the place. so i guess i start off with the kind of abstract thinking required 3-4 months down the road right off the bat. (it's also kind of fun to freak them out with no rules about writing....fun to see their faces try to figure out what you secretly MEAN by that.....hahahahahahaha!). sorry. obviously, it's been a long day.
so throughout the year, we vote on answers as a class tries to agree on the climax of a story/movie, we debate about censorship, we write a lot of weirdo abstract daily pages and about art, we yell, we draw, sometimes we sit and take notes (yucky, but reality), we move around a bit here and there and eventually, magically, thinking happens. boundaries are formed (redirecting what is appropriate banter in a debate might sound like, "ok. no. you can't call him stupid an ugly and throw a pen at him just because he thinks censorship is a good idea. that's a no. try this......")
i don't know how it happens. i think i may have to really pour over some lesson plans (sticky notes and lists all over the place) to see what we're doing cognitively. this year, since we're kind of required to use curriculum maps, some of this is set for us, so i'm supposed to be covering certain things in preparation for poetry during 3rd quarter. maybe i'll look those maps over. maybe i'll just ask some kids....though it might be too late for the conference to direct my questions at poetry in isolation....maybe i'll just ask about the pace, set up, and expectations of the class in terms of the things we read and do and write about in here? interest poll?
not very detailed, i'm afraid. but, there is some direction in terms of reviewing past lessons, calendars, and notes i've taken over the last few years to see what exactly prepares some of the kids to think for themselves in poetry settings. overall, i try to brainwash them into believing they know a lot and ought to use it and use it often....i may have to think more about how that happens. it's just something i always do, i think. this is a good metacognition activity! (so, now it's been a long day AND i'm having a irreversible nerd moment. sorry.)
any suggestions? what would be helpful if YOU were sitting in my session (good luck there! ha!)....? what kinds of things are helpful? should i include all the crazy data, data, data i pour over to see where the kids are with reading and writing, etc., sort of? hmmmmmmm........
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