After spending a few days thinking about the conference I
started to think about what I actually experienced. Did I have fun? Yes,
surprisingly so, I usually don’t enjoy these types of conferences but this one
was actually very informative. I guess that’s what I think I’d been trying to
get at: what did I learn?
I
learned in my first seminar that you don’t have to be ‘ready’ to write poetry,
you can simply sit down and start. The first seminar was by far my favorite
event of the day. We were presented with five different types of poems, and
some student made examples of them (which were excellent!) and a short time
limit of ten minutes to read the directions and write a poem. After ten minutes
we’d move on to the next poem and the clock would start again. I was shocked, ten minutes is not enough, I thought but
sure enough each time I was able to spit out a rough (very rough) draft of a
poem. Now will I use these poems in the future? Maybe, I’m taking a poetry
writing class right now and I could always use them there, but I’m not sure
that was the point of the exercise. I think what I learned is that sometimes it’s
okay to just sit down and spill out a very rough draft of something and now
worry about what comes out. In the much of badly written words I might be able
to find a few diamonds. That seminar really showed me that writing doesn’t
always have to have a final purpose in mind.
The
other seminar I went to involved making up characters and acting them out. I
liked that one but ended up enjoying the first one more. I’m not much for
acting, I don’t particularly enjoy it, but it was fun enough. I learned that
you can make a funny sketch in a matter of minutes. I really enjoyed watching
everyone’s characters, they were so weird and funny. Christopher’s character
was particularly fun to watch, especially when he freaked out over getting his
pen stolen. It was definitely an interesting experience.
I would
definitely use the poetry one in a classroom someday. I think it is important
to show students that writing is a process and sometimes it’s good to get over
the fear of writing, as Professor Cook would say, a shitty first draft. I’m not
sure about the acting one though. It was fun but I think it would have to be
edited heavily depending on the age group that was in my class.
It's cool that you learned how to write a short poem. I actually developed a lesson plan for my 406 class where I'm going to teach how to write a haiku sooo it's good that you can actually learn something from writing a poem. I hope my less plan works out.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very cool to write creative pieces quickly, like these 10 minute poems because it shows students that poetry can be quick rather than a dreadful long process. Much like our writing in class, students should see that it is okay to have an incomplete piece, or a "crappy" first draft of a poem. Nothing is perfect and we need to really teach our students that! Often students get too stressed with which words rhyme better, or look better and this may be why students are stressed when it comes to poetry or other creative writing forms. Students might revisit these short pieces, or they might leave them as they are. Its simply a way of experimenting with writing in a "safe" way.
ReplyDeleteJoey, I also enjoyed the first workshop. I viewed it as a great way to expose high school students to a form of literature that many often have difficulty creating. As someone who can relate to the "poetically challenged" high school student, I think by giving them the opportunity to "play with poetry," doing so in a low-stakes environment, you're only increasing the odds that they develop an interest. That workshop, I felt, was all about choice. If you didn't feel good about a certain form of poetry, you knew that you had the opportunity to go to something else in a few minutes. By not being forced into doing something one way, your creativity is able to flourish.
ReplyDelete