Resistance to Poetry

I hate poetry.

Hmm. This statement seems inaccurate. I love music and what is music if not poetry. I can also rhyme pretty well to the point that I wrote over 40 stanzas just last weekend to jump start a LIVE CLUE game in which I was murdered and my students must uncover who killed me, with which weapon and at what location. I also write poetry in my spare time. So, "I hate poetry" definitely seems wrong to say.

I guess it's more accurate to say that I hate poetry in an academic setting. I don't want to teach it. I hated learning it.

That is, of course, until I read these pieces.The most impactful was Christensen's chapter on poetry. My first reaction was doubt. I have witnessed many educational experiences that generate the same concepts Linda speaks of; "courage, hope, strategies and allies". But never had I seen poetry do that.

Reading the stories her poetry prompts created were inspiring.I tried to imagine my students' responses to each of them as I feel I know my nuggets pretty well.

Who were you raised by?
Similarly to Linda's students, many of my nuggets have absent fathers, but many also have absent mothers. Many are being raised by "other" guardians while some have less-than-traditional but equally-important two parent households. I know them, the families. However, not from the mouths of my students but from parent-teacher conferences. Some students even still think I don't know. For example, I have one student who still refers to his parents as mom and "dad" even though in reality, he has two moms. He fears people bullying him about it despite our school's forward thinking. I worry that other students might feel the same and wonder if this poetry exercise would bring out the same companionship as it did in her students.

For my people:
My school talks about race frequently, however, this is mostly I’m the upper school (high school) level. My middle schoolers may have indirectly had to think about race and hereitage but never directly. This prompt would introduce that question and I honestly don’t know if my babies would be able to answer. Many of them are mixed like me. Many think there is only black and white. Many question what Latino falls into. But this prompt I think would inspire them to think about their race without making them IDENTIFY it. I can name my people because they are everywhere and I think my kids can say the same thing.

Pain into Power...
To be honest, this prompt scares me. I’ve shared with my students some of my pain, homelessness, poverty, discrimination. However, I’ve shadowed some of the others that I worry are too much for them; sexual assault, criminal charges, etc. I know some of my kids have it rough. I know they have custody battles, suicide survivors and death of parents. But this could raise more questions about tricky topics. Though I’m willing to handle these tough topics (it’s one of the reasons I became a teacher), some middle schoolers are blissfully ignorant and is it my place to shattered their mirage. Isn’t that the job of the parent? That brings me the question, how old were Linda’s students?

Poetry through Literature:
This seems to be the easiest to align to my current curriculum. I’m itching to try it out.

My resistance...
Christensen gave millions of examples of beautiful poetry. Now all I want from her are actual lesson plans. If only there were more resources like that out there that are so hard to navigate through. *wish list*