Poetry Experiences
Before this semester, I was not a big fan of poetry because it intimidated me. I struggled with feelings of self doubt about not having the vocabulary and not being poetic. I feel like I have made a complete 180 degree turn from those feelings and now use poetry to express things that I don't know how to talk about. I like the way it liberates me to write in short phrases but say so many important things. I'm thankful for the way poetry has made me look at life in a new way. Anything can be a poem and anyone can be a poet. That's so awesome to me, I can't wait to share poetry with my future students. Although being quarantined was not a part of any of our plans, I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to observe and participate in teaching poetry from people who I consider to be experts.
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Please watch these videos if you've ever questioned why we need poetry.
These books have inspired my own writing and my future teaching. Awakening the Heart left me feeling ready to teach poetry and create a classroom environment that inspires poets. Firefly July and All the small poems and fourteen more are the perfect mentor texts for teaching students that poems can and should be written about anything. Everyone is a poet, we just have to open our eyes and observe closely.
Every time I read it, this book reminds me that I can be a poet. I love the transformation the student makes from not wanting his poems to be traced back to him because he does not think that what he's writing is poetry. He transforms into a more confident writer and inspires readers to borrow craft moves from other poets. I relate to this experience, unfortunately I was much older when I underwent this thought transformation. I am now proud of my poetry and even conquered a fear of reading it aloud. Following the reading, I was bombarded by sweet feedback from students and professors. It was a good first experience reading my poetry aloud. I have really grown as a writer and a poet which makes me so excited to get to teach poetry next year. So many students hate poetry, but I feel confident they won't hate this kind of poetry.
I'm using this blog to promise to myself and future students to never make poetry something that feels like torturing a confession out of someone. I want to experience poems without searching for meaning that could be assessed on a standardized test. There is so much more to poetry than that. Thank goodness I know that now and I can set my hateful feelings about poetry aside. I have grown to love poetry and through that valuable experience I believe I can help my future authors do the same.
Thank you
Thank you poetry for opening my eyes to a new world where I take time to observe the beautiful little things. Thank you poetry for giving me somewhere to put the feelings that I haven't quite processed yet or that are too hard to talk about. Thank you poetry for giving me ideas to inspire my future students who may feel overwhelmed by writing or reading big texts. Who knew line breaks could alleviate so much anxiety. Thank you poetry for bringing me comfort, I now love to write and read you.