Poetry Friday - On Choosing

      Elizabeth Steinglass hosts our Poetry Friday this week with a lovely poem reflecting upon her life, "Why I'm Here". Be sure to visit to read it and then follow the links to others sharing poetry.

    

         The week stretches on, the news fills with more and more, strange responses that I find hard to understand. How can he think that? Why would she say such hurtful words? What makes them so fearful? Who taught them those beliefs? And in my own life's connections, I wonder if each one I question ever, ever was given the chance to think for him or herself? Sometimes the answers I hear are "That's just the way it is." I taught many years in a school that valued choice above any other academic requirement. Each chose what to study, how to approach it, how would each show what was learned. 

          These students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida are making choices right now, how they want to fight to make change, how they want to ensure that #neveragain is a hashtag that will be remembered. They "choose" to act, they know there will be consequences and it seems that there already have been, both good and bad. They are discovering the kinds of adults they want to be. That's what kids learn when they're given choice, they consider options, and choose. Growing up, the choices become more complicated, become more connected to living beings, yes, more complex. They figure out personal priorities, who the choices will affect, not only themselves but others--family, friends, strangers. I am sad that I learned of these fine young women and men in these horrific circumstances, but I am glad to know of them and their actions. I hope many, many of us will give them support.

           Robert Frost helps me collect my rambling words. I hope it will add to your own reflections, too, about 'choice'.

THE ARMFUL

Robert Frost

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns—
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once,
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with, I will do my best
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road.
And try to stack them in a better load.

Slicing Ideas

       I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community today. It's always a pleasure to read what everyone writes about their lives.

"A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow." - Ovid

        I've seen more than one teacher share this week that students will be having more choice in more than one thing this coming school year, where they sit, what they read, what they write, etc. And as my path wanders through blogs I read, I have also seen several write about ideas (in choice?), their origin, what one does with them, how to get the most of them, and on. So I began to wonder  how I would handle ideas? What would I say, would there be some criteria like in the case of classroom spaces, would it be reasonable? For older students, would it be good to have a conversation about what works in the classroom, and what may not? 
         I taught in a progressive school. Students had a lot of choice, but there were different expectations set, sometimes by students guided by the teacher, sometimes by teachers, with student guidance. For example, if there was a set of criteria for writing personal narratives, mentor text examination and discussions created some backing for what they looked like, and broad interpretations were included. However, sometimes there were structures in place, say, in a debate. They were researched by students, procedures set by students, and evaluated by students. I was a participant only as a member of the crowd. 

Tabula Rasa

It's The Beginning of the fifth year of Ruth's and Stacey's The Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life challenge, and my second year.  It's my first anniversary!  I am proud of myself, but also proud of all who chose to keep going and keep writing and keep thinking through this year in the group.  I'm looking forward to more fun everyone.  Thank you Stacey and Ruth for staging this challenge.  

           When I was in the classroom, in writers workshop and in our unit work, I shared, gave some lessons in poetry, and conferred with those students who wanted to write poetry, but for about 10 specific weeks of the year, I met with a poetry group, those students in my class who wanted to devote more time to poetry, and to write in a supportive group who loved poetry. 

The group varied from about 10 to 15 students and it was actually more fun with a smaller group, more time to share and talk about each others’ poems.  The structural plan varied little.  We met; we each shared a poem by someone else and told why we liked it.  Students were to put the poem in their writers notebooks and record a little of why.  By the end of the group, students had at least 10 poems they had found they loved, and sometimes were able to see a pattern of their favorites. 

 Once we began to meet, it was a pleasure to give a brief mini-lesson, usually with a poem I wanted to share, to share their ‘outside’ poems, and then spend most of the time reading the poems we had written.  During that period, I modeled how to comment and give support to the authors and sometimes there was a pertinent point I could add about something or other about poetry.  Perhaps it was about word placement for emphasis, or enjambment, some poetic device. 

One part I loved was that I collected his or her newly written poems the morning of the group meeting and made a poetry packet for everyone for the meeting.  It is powerful to see one’s words, to read them, and to have the audience be able not only to listen but also to see the poem.  Usually I had the student read twice, and then we commented.  Sometimes it was for a line we thought was wonderful, sometimes we were so touched, we sat silent for a minute, and sometimes, it was to suggest movement of a word, or a re-working of a sentence. 

Every group member was there to write poetry, enjoy poetry, feel supported as we wrote, and to improve our writing.  I did not have a specific agenda for the group but followed their lead in what they liked and where they seemed to be in their writing.   Remember I had taught them about half of the year already, and some I had for more than one year.  The group was led through choice and each improved by their engagement with many different poems by different authors, both those shared and classmate-written, and with their personal writing.  I learned too, and sometimes used a student’s model to write my next poem.  Others sometimes tried an idea I had shown. 

            If you are reading through this, I hope you are connecting my group description to the Two Writing Teachers’ Slice of Life Challenge that begins today.  We choose to take the challenge, we write, we take ideas from others and try that kind of writing, we observe styles and, sometimes innately, incorporate them into our style.  We support through comments, and at the end, we have experienced exceptionally wonderful examples of good writing from those who are passionate about it.

            I loved my poetry groups and miss them very much.  Blogging and being part of the Two Writing Teachers slicers and more recently the Poetry Friday group (who overlap some) have been substitute groups I value.  More importantly, I hope that you as teachers see the parts of a writing group that are so important in any classroom.  One writes, shares, receives support from and gives support to others, and works hard to get better.  That’s it.  It doesn’t take a written curriculum to do that.  It’s all about choice.