Poetry Reflection
As I begin to reflect on my feelings towards poetry, I realize that I am fairly skeptical. As a student throughout school, I always felt nervous and anxious towards poetry assignments. I specifically remember dreading the moment that I came to a poem during an EOG test. I am unsure why these feelings arose throughout my time as a student. However, they have shifted throughout my time in college. The book that solely changed my feelings on poetry is Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. I remember several poems in the book pulled at my heartstrings unlike any other poems I had ever read. While I am still not generally inspired to read a book of poems over a fiction novel, I no longer dread reading poetry. However, I do still feel uncomfortable in writing poetry. I often feel like words get "stuck" in my head when I attempt to write poetry. In order to successfully write poetry, I have to use mentor texts! I always need inspiration in order to compose a piece of poetry. So my reservations about poetry lead me to the important question.....
How will I TEACH poetry?
If I am being completely transparent here, I am pretty terrified to teach poetry at this point. I wish that I had a strong passion for reading and writing poetry, but it has just never been my "cup of tea". However, I know that Dr. Frye is about to change my opinion and transform my view because she's just that remarkable! My current plan to teach poetry is to use lots (and lots) of mentor texts! "As mentor texts become part of the writing community, they inspire students and teachers to set goals that will help them continually reinvent themselves as writers" (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2017). In order to successfully teach poetry, I know that I need to keep practicing! I also have a goal to start reading at least one poem a day. In order to grow a passion for poetry in my students, I need to be passionate! I will create a poetry environment by reading poetry allowed to my students regularly and exposing them to various types of poems.
Course Readings
"It's the emotional environment that matters in making a poetry environment."
-Georgia Heard
This week, I read the first three chapters in Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard. I was specifically captured by how Georgia Heard discusses successful poetry environments. I have been nervous about creating a "Poetry Environment" in my classroom considering I do not have a strong passion for reading poetry. However, I have several takeaways from my course readings that have helped ease my mind. The strongest goal I have for my future classroom is to create a strong emotional environment. "A classroom environment can send out messages: that all of our students' lives matter; that every voice is worth listening to; and that students can take risks in writing poems about whatever their hearts urge them to write" (Heard, 1999). I strongly believe in creating a community in my classroom where all voices are heard and all students are respected. Heard explains that this is the foundation to creating a successful "Poetry Environment". Once students feel safe, the poetry writing process will become less challenging as the young poets learn to "express their deepest feelings and experiences through words" (Heard, 1999).
Georgia Heard also discusses the three layers of reading poetry. Considering that I typically struggle with reading and writing poetry, this section was specifically beneficial to me as a student and educator. Heard discusses the three layers of reading poetry as:
Choose poems to read that are immediately accessible, nonthreatening, and relevant to students' lives--encourage reading projects that will invite all students into the world of poetry.
Help students connect personally to a poem by guiding them toward finding themselves and their lives inside a poem.
Guide students toward analyzing the craft of a poem, figuring out how a poem is built, interpreting what a poem means, or unlocking the puzzle of a difficult poem.
A goal that I have for myself is to read poetry more often. I need to grow my passion for poetry so that I can share this with my future students. I decided to reflect on the three layers of poetry that Georgia Heard describes in Awakening the Heart. I thought back to how the book Milk and Honey was the first book of poems to capture my heart. I realized that the last time I read this story was over three years ago and sooo much has changed for me since then! I decided to go grab this book off my bookshelf and re-read the captivating poems. The poems in this story are relevant to my life and I can connect with them on a personal level (layer 1 and 2 as described by Heard). My feelings toward reading poetry have already changed after re-reading the words of Rupi Kaur. I found myself searching Amazon for more of her poems.
After being inspired by the words of Georgia Heard and Rupi Kaur, I felt lead to start writing a poetry piece of my own. Firefly July is a beautifully illustrated text that features poems focused around the four seasons. all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth features several poems about everyday wonders and encounters. I used the work of Janeczko and Worth to act as a mentor text for my poetry writing. While I still struggled, I found myself enjoying the process of writing a poem!
As I grew a few seeds of passion for reading and writing poetry this week, I feel more at ease when I think about teaching poetry. I plan to grow this passion so that I will be a successful teacher of reading and writing poetry! Here are a few poems that really captured my attention and pulled at my heartstrings this week:
-Robert M. Drake
(Beautiful Chaos, 2013)
-Valerie Worth
(all the small poems and fourteen more, 1994)
-Rupi Kaur
(Milk and Honey, 2015)
Selected by Paul B. Janeczko
(Firefly July, 2014)
References
Drake, R.M. (2013). Beautiful Chaos. Vintage Wild.
Heard, G. (1999). Awakening the heart: Exploring poetry in elementary and middle school. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Janeczko, P. B. (2014). Firefly july: A year of very short poems. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Kaur, R. (2015). Milk and honey. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Worth, V. (1994). All the small poems and fourteen more. New York, NY: Square Fish.