Annnnnd another one.

I decided to read chapter six for this week, which was entitled Poetry Fusion by Jeffrey Schwartz. I feel as if  I am not very well-versed in teaching poetry, so I was excited to see that there was a chapter dedicated to poetry and technology integration. To begin, I really appreciated when he said, “To teach reading and writing in a global world, we need to follow our students’ lead into a new understanding of media as text” (93).  I like this because of a brief conversation we had in Tracey’s class on Tuesday, about how students are so accustomed to the teacher being expert on a subject and the student is there to learn from them. I think it really boosts a student's confidence and makes them feel competent when they know that they have plenty of information to offer...even to the teacher! (gasp). 

But, I digress, What I really liked about this chapter was the way that the author melds together media and poetry. His use of audiopodcasts to foster a love of poetry that is more intrinsic rather than extrinsic was powerful-- and it reminded me of the “My Favorite Poem” project that we did in Jim Hatten’s class. With poetry, it is easy to get hung up on the language while reading it.  The language can also disrupt a students understanding if they are putting so much intellectual effort into pronouncing and reading the poem with the correct flow that it takes away from their overall understanding of the work.  While listening to the project we did with Jim, it was so nice to hear my classmates read poems that had otherwise only been read through my voice. Throughout this project, students are constantly forced to revisit the work and challenge the ideas they’ve already formed about the meaning.  This project also gets students to think metaphorically and grapple over ways to visually represent abstract ideas. It sounds awesome…I wish I could have done this in high school!  Listening to a text is not only a good method with poetry, but is something I plan on doing during my teaching of Night in April to my students at Edison.  . 

Speaking of Edison, I find it SO unfortunate that all of these super sweet activities I am learning about really will not be able to take place due to lack of resources. It makes me so frustrated that some students are not provided with the tools that others take for granted. Grrrr.

Short and sweet this week, I know. But I got a unit to work on GOSH DARN IT!  


Here is a link dedicated to cool new ways a teacher can teach poetry, and ideas for boosting a student's confidence for writing!