My Experiences with Poetry

I’ll admit, my experiences with poetry this semester are probably a little different than what they would have been had we been in class in person, but that’s to be expected. However, I think that there have been certain things that I actually think that have been incredibly rewarding about it that I don’t think we would have gotten had we been in class. Mainly, being a part of the Literacy Casts have allowed us to see some really fantastic modeling on how to teach online. Never in a million years did we ever imagine that we would be in a position like this. Now, it’s looking like this could become a part of our reality in the future, so having the opportunity to experience how to teach poetry in an online setting has been priceless. In addition, having somebody like Adrian Rice come on and interact with the kids was so unique. There is something special about the creditability that a “real” poet brings as opposed to traditional teachers and seeing the kids, and even the teachers from the Academy and my fellow Graduate students, responded to him differently. The authenticity that he automatically brings is really lovely to see.

As for my other experiences with poetry this semester, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities to explore all sorts of different types of poetry, as well as the chances to model poems after other poems. When you look at poetry from a teaching perspective as opposed to a learning about it as a student or enjoying it as a reader. I still enjoy doing those things, but I’ve really come to enjoy all of the things you can do when you’re teaching poetry as well. Particularly all of the different devices that I sometimes forget even have names that the kids on the Literacy Casts get so excited about pointing out get me excited to use some of the strategies to get my future students excited as well.

Perhaps my favorite part of all of the different poetry things I’ve learned about this semester would be my newest favorite poet that provides my newest favorite resource, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater and her Poetry Farm. From the first poem Dr. Frye showed us right in the beginning of the semester I was hooked, and the fact that I can go onto her website (http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com) and find not only new poems often, but writer’s notebook ideas and potential lesson ideas make it an invaluable resource for a future classroom.

Overall, being able to set aside time to sit down with some poetry this semester has been a really nice thing to be able to do. From being introduced to new poets to being taught how to teach different aspects of poetry, the lessons I’ve learned these past few weeks are going to carry over into whatever classroom I end up in next year.

Thank you so much for everything Dr. Frye. I can’t imagine what the last year would have been like without you. You have worked tirelessly to make this transition into online learning as seamless as possible and I know how much we all appreciate that. What we have learned will carry all of us far in our careers.