Like many of my INLA friends I, too, am not the biggest poetry fan. When I was in high school, we rushed through the poetry section in all my grades. I never really understood what was going on because by the time I started to wrap my head around it, we moved on to something else.
Even thought I do dislike poetry, I do agree with Jago that "students need poetry" (75). There are so many literary devices that student need to learn and understand that are found withing poetry such as rhyme, metaphor, simile etc. Jago really beat it into my head that is is very important for students to think and come up with their own conclusions about the poem, rather than me, the teacher, just tell them what the poem means.
I found Jago's break down on how to do difficult poems extremely helpful. I like her example for "Meeting at Night" by Robert Browning. I like how she used figure 5.1 to help break down the poem. She had the students identify the imagery in the poem, then collectively point out the imagery together. She allowed them to break down the poem using a literary device.
I am hoping that even though I am inexperienced with poetry, I hope to be an effective teacher when it comes to poetry.
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I will encourage you to write some poetry yourself if you haven't already. I know that seems like such a silly concept for someone to be telling you, but I think that's how I really got into poetry. And, I know we all have those days where we need to get something off our chest and sometimes we don't know how, well poetry is a great way. I think once you start seeing your own work come together that you will have a better appreciation for poetry that has been written throughout the years. I do, however have no doubt you'll do great teaching it in the future!
ReplyDeleteAnna - I think your post brings up a good point. Unfortunately, as teachers (it seems) when we are nervous about covering a topic, we rush through our instruction without providing learning opportunities for our students. I think Kevin brings up a good point - consider writing poetry and see if that experience helps you understand the genre and process of writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice. I will have to give poetry a try.
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