If you get the chance to watch this TED talks video I think it is pretty powerful. I used this as an opening warm up activity and discussion creator for class this week. I wanted to express the fact that beginning teachers will have the opportunity to teach such a diverse group of students. That is a priviledge and a challenge as some students are dealing with life and school is just something they have to do to get through life. That is where the power of poetry comes in! With its different forms, simplistic to complex, I believe that all students can find some success with this form of writing. Not only that but writing poetry can be fun, and therapeutic, and inspiring, and motivating. It would be a shame to leave poetry out of the classroom syllabus because the teacher does not like poetry or is not really that great at it. There are countless websites to support poetry with great ideas for classroom teachers - finish off with your very own poetry café complete with finger snapping! Listen to Malcolm London for a little insight to how his life has been shaped by his diversity.
Malcolm London: High School Training Ground
http://www.ted.com//talks/malcolm_london_high_school_training_ground
This is a truly powerful and impactful poem by Malcolm London. I love that poets have the capacity to speak truthfully and openly about situations that other people might not have the ability to express so frankly (i.e. teachers on educational systems). I completely agree that poetry should not be left out of the classroom, especially lessons where the students get to make up their own poems. Reading poetry is very nice, but coming up with your own and sharing that is even better. It gives students a sense of pride.
ReplyDeleteI also like this comment on the TED talks feed: " American people are highly visionary, knowing exactly where they want to go, what aim they are striving for." What this speaker was saying is that even though people might come from bad backgrounds, even though capitalism is not the best, even though the American way can seem like a constant competition--the point is that we are resourceful and everyone has OPPORTUNITY. They just have to grasp hold of it like Malcolm expresses so poignantly.
Norine,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. Very impactful!