Poetry For Those Who "Can't"

Poetry is not my strongest nor favorite topic when it comes to writing. I can truly appreciate poetry and I can admit I really enjoy reading poetry. However, like many others, writing poetry may not come so easily. Christensen's approach to poetry in her Teaching for Joy and Justice, is a lot like poetry for dummies. She breaks down concepts and different teaching strategies to show students that poetry is a lot more accessible than they may think. This reading is the first time I have read a text about education that focuses in on the 'how' in teaching a lesson regarding poetry. This topic is something I feel would be very difficult for me to tackle because of the all too common push back once you mention the word poetry. Most think of the classics that build the cannon: Shakespearian sonnets, Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson poems. Christensen breaks down the walls of teaching poetry by finding new ways to show the relevancy of poetry and the power it has without obsessing over the the specifics. She develops a more student centered approach when teaching poetic devices and recognizing them in their work. Christensen's concrete examples of how to teach these skills with step by step rationale through the lesson made the chapter extremely accessible.

I completely agree with Christensen that in order to encourage students to indulge in poetry, they need to feel comfortable in the classroom. Christensen hits the nail right on the head when she expresses how students feel discouraged and not represented when their surroundings including curriculum, do not reflect who they are. I completely agree that if students have nothing to connect to their own personal backgrounds and experiences, how will they have the ability to dig deep into thees assignments. As teachers, we have to find ways to create a classroom where everyone feels they can express themselves in a low stakes environment. Her approach to creating discussion around the students topics as a group allows students to recognize that many students face similar challenges as their other classmates. It's as if you build a community that acknowledges their differences but shows that despite these differences, they will always have something in common. I find that it brings a sense of humanity into the classroom because many do not realize how similar they really are. I think that it also connects to our responsibility as educators to create a space where your students can recognize this and apply it to the world around them. Especially in 2018 where our culture dehumanizes people of color, immigrants, and those who do not "fit" the mold. Poetry has immense power that can give voices to those who are not heard. Poetry has the power to,

"Reclaim parts of our lives that society has degraded, humiliated, or shamed" (Christensen 15). 

Christensen provides a great example of creating this student centered authentic learning where you present a poem performed where she recommends leaving the "teacher talk" on the back burner and let the students "feel it".  The video I have linked below was a poem where I was instructed to do just that. "Feel it". After falling in love with the piece, my dance teacher had the brilliant idea of creating a dance piece to his words. It became an entire lesson that she did not expect to have so many layers! We sat down and went through the poem line by line to determine where the emphasis was and what phrases were crucial to single out in movements. The piece flourished and was so well received that it branched out into a full fledged "change the world" campaign that the students took over. Students created days with different positive themes that they would plant "seeds of goodness" all around the school. It was something that has stuck with me after high school and every time I hear it I find myself feeling like I just took in a breath of fresh air. Its a beautiful piece. Finding these gems regarding real world, modern interpretations of poetry, light that fire that I believe many students are missing. Words are powerful and we need to show our students how strong they can be.

Sharing and Responding

Writing whether it is for an academic paper or a creative writing piece, can be a difficult thing to share with others. It may be awkward or nerve racking for some individuals (including myself) therefore it is crucial to have purposeful strategies when encouraging students to share and provide feedback for each others work. After reading Elbow and Belanoff, "Sharing and Responding" I really enjoyed the way they laid out the many different strategies to brainstorm, give feedback, ask questions, etc. Some of the strategies that really resonated for me was the "summary and sayback". Using this strategy allows you to really reflect on your writing to see if what you are actually trying to say is clearly being received by the reader. Using your own words allows the writer to see if the main points are concise enough to pinpoint after reading. I tend to do this with a friend before submitting a paper because I find it reassuring if they are able to tell me what my main points and purpose of writing the paper before I have to explain anything regarding the paper. It tells me that the paper did the talking and I constructed my argument clearly. Another great strategy was the "believing and doubting". Doing this in pairs allows students to play the devils advocate as well as bring new information to the table. It reminds me of my First Year Writing course of "introducing the naysayer" lesson that refers to adding a counter argument into your paper which then you prove to either not have sufficient evidence or provide other evidence as to why this claim is irrelevant to your argument.   Both I find to be very affective and strategies that I have used with friends when attempting to edit/revise a paper. It creates a low stakes, collaborative environment to share ideas and give constructive criticism without feeling attacked or negatively judged on your writing.

The Remix I've Been Waiting For

Let me first start off by saying WOW. After reading Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: The remix, it felt as if I can put a name to what I always preach about in my education classes. Having culturally relevant pedagogy completely changes how you teach in your classrooms. How many times have you heard a classmate say when you were in school, "when are we ever going to use this? or how is this important?". This article is just what you need to understand what it means to teach RELEVANT material. The question is what is culturally relevant material and why must we implement this? According to the article, the key to culturally relevant pedagogy is collective empowerment. It, "reconstructs knowledge for students needs, providing relevant references empower students intellectually, socially and emotionally, and it validates students regardless of race, ethnicity, economic status, or their academic level. It "levels the playing field" if you will. (see what I did there) I believe the word validates is a key word in describing culturally relevant pedagogy. It creates an environment where students are able to resonate with the material and are present in the material. After reading the article I realized this connects to my practicum seminar in regards to what our responsibilities are as educators. We are responsible for our students to, "develop their literacy, numeracy, technological, social, and political skills to be active participants in society" (Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 15). If we want our students to be active participants in society, we must empower our students to recognize the "powerful voices of those who are generally overlooked in the texts and curriculum of American Education; [this] welcomes students' voices, demands their reflection, and pushes them towards the discovery of self" (Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 14). 

                             A way we can empower our students is by developing their critical literacy by connecting to relevant topics that they are able to connect with. This was a huge YES moment for me. The article refers to Ernest Morell and how they were able to connect a classic poem with a hip hop song which would then be analyzed, have a written analysis, response writing and composing (18).  I agree with this idea of pulling something that they are extremely familiar with and being able to show them the relevance of poetry and the role it plays in creating our current songs they hear on the radio. This is a great way to bring in different voices, and then connect it to an even larger level of how pop culture music affects their conceptions of themselves and their social world (18). There are so many voices that are left out of the curriculum that can be connected to many different pop culture references.

An example of this could be connected to the Colin Kapernick explosion after Nikes face of their new campaign is the 'disgraceful 49er's football player who dared to take a knee during the national anthem'. Encouraging students to look at the many different perspectives of all players involved including many different high schools who are participating in the movement of kneeling during the national anthem, can create an even larger conversation for example:

• Why is he kneeling?
• Are his actions patriotic?
• Why would Nike use this campaign as a political statement?
• Is Nike using this in an ethical way?
• Do you support his efforts? Why or why not?

The list goes on and on. But the main take away is that they are able to take something extremely relevant in their world and bring it into a more analytical, reflective and create a moment to have response writing on a topic that tackles the hard conversations of racism and police brutality we are facing in America. If you cannot tell by now, I completely resonated with these articles and annotated several times 'YES!'. Knowing your students backgrounds and being "culturally immersed" as they put it, changes the entire dynamic of your classroom and creates an open learning environment that becomes more student centered to their own benefit.

Just Begin? How Do I Do That?

Beginning this post embodies everything Cameron and the NCTE committee talks about. The inevitable fear of beginning any piece of writing whether it be digital or physical writing with some writing implement. Cameron's suggestion on "just beginning" can be very difficult for some students. As for an undergrad aspiring English teacher, like myself, just throwing your thoughts out there can be a very practical way to get your ideas down and then revise when necessary. The main issue is that many students regardless of what grade their in have this innate feeling that in order for their writing to be "good", it has to be perfect. Basically, "we try to do it 'right'. We try to sound smart. We try, period" (The Right to Write Cameron 3). We must find a way, "To resolve a tension between writing as generating and shaping ideas and writing as a final product (NCTE). Both Cameron's piece and NCTE's article convey that writers of today are held back by doubt and fear of their writing not being "good" enough. Writing is not strictly for receiving credit but should be viewed as a a tool for thinking and an act of discovery (NCTE).

                                            

We find it necessary to have, "validation from others that [we] are writers. The [writers] passport is stamped in ways that indicate they are writers" (The Right to Write Cameron 7). Without this, we are unable to associate ourselves with being a writer. I relate to this notion that it is difficult to recognize yourself as a writer because of these "myths" that subconsciously make you feel as though your writing will never be as valued as these accredited writers. By simply writing, you are a writer. It is important to tear down this high pedestal of what it means to be a writer to show students there is room for them. The NCTE article also agrees that writing is a process. You do not just wake up one day and are an incredible writer who articulates with ease. It comes with practice.  With this practice, we must challenge the way we engage students in their writing to not only become better writers. I personally agree with the NCTE article that we have to show relevance and make connections to the social and cultural aspects of writing. Students feel as though writing is not important until we incorporate writing into their lives. A great example of this is a RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) below.

                                  

Using this method, you take on different perspective, gear your writing towards a particular audience, and use different modalities to convey a specific topic. In doing this, you allow your class to become more student centered and give the students more choices. NCTE puts it, "you must include ample in-class and out-of-class opportunities for writing, including writing in digital spaces, and should involve writing for a variety of purposes and audiences, including audiences beyond the classroom" (NCTE).  Using this strategy also helps students understand that their is different forms of writing and when to appropriately use them. Not all writing has to be academic writing where, "we are inclined to a rather pedestrian prose denuded of personality and passion, perhaps an even a bit elevated in tone as if writing is something to be done only of the loftiest of motives" (Right to Write Cameron 3). Creating a different formal for students to use allows them to recognize there are other ways to write and will allow students to bring it into their individual lives and encourage them to hopefully use writing in their daily lives. With this in mind, it is also imperative to teach the fundamentals of our "pedestrian prose" of our academic writing. The message I have taken from these readings is to find the balance of encouraging your students to be avid writers as well as reminding your students that writing is an ongoing process.