I'm struggling. I am a tired, tired first year teacher. When I leave school at the end of the day I'm spent. I realize that I have to adjust my rear-view mirror in the afternoons because I just cannot sit up as tall as I was in the morning. I fail...miserably. I cannot get the attention of my students when I want to. I can't possibly summon the energy to teach another period 11 chaos class. My students will not love poetry like I love poetry. I cannot make kids enjoy reading......I am not the super teacher I want to be.
But I can still try. And when a single student, at the end of a random Monday afternoon, comes to me and says: "Miss Willis I really liked that poem we read...and can you come to my soccer game tomorrow?" I know that I make a difference in the life of a child and to me I have already reached success.
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2 comments:
aawww... hang in there!
I know it's two years too late, but an idea came to me while reading this post. I assume a lot of the kids in the class listen to music of some kind. How about using song lyrics as a way to introduce poetry? Talk about the different stanzas and verses, have them read lyrics from their favourite songs, compare writing styles, etc. And from there, move into classic poetry...
Just my two cents! (I'm writing this idea down for myself, for when I am finally a teacher!)
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