Poems, Pens, & Pools

For three weeks, I had the pleasure of facilitating a professional development workshop with middle and high school teachers from Pasco County.  On June 6^th, rather than reporting to the beach, they headed back to school.  During the academic year, teachers are pressed for time to write.  Sure, classroom teachers compose e-mails to parents, complete district mandated paperwork, create lesson plans, and draft recommendation letters.  To have the time and space to sit down and truly write, though, is a rarity.  This is unfortunate.  All teachers, even math teachers, ought to be teachers of writing.  And, teachers of writing must be teachers who write.  If all educators are called to lead by example, all educators should write.  State officials, district school boards, and school administrators must recognize and honor the time and space needed for a person to immerse him/herself in the experience of writing. 

My time with the Pasco teachers underscored the power writing has to bring people together.  When students and adults are given an opportunity to write for the sake of writing (not for a score), when they can write about people loved and loathed, events swell and shabby, songs that compile their life’s soundtrack, and foods reminiscent of times around a special table, the words they marry in order to capture their memories often move readers/listeners to the core.  Why, during the academic year, aren’t our students and teachers given enough of the time and space needed to compose writing that evokes emotion, helps them heal, encourages meaning-making, and isn’t attached to high-stakes?  Would giving such time and space actually lead to higher scores on high-stakes tests because the negative feelings about writing would diminish? 

This summer, educators, parents, and students can engage in writing activities that may give them the kinds of writing experiences we all stand to benefit from.  Writing activities that can bring us closer to others and position us to better understand the self.  Writing that can be fun under the Florida sun.  There are a couple of poem activities that I encourage all of you to try.  They make for writing experiences that any family can share.  Turn off the electronics, play some steel drum beats, grab a pitcher of lemonade, and put pen to paper.  Beyond the learning (not necessarily academic) that will take place, I am confident that familial bonds will strengthen.

First, is a “Where I’m From” poem.  There are myriad ways one can approach the poem.  Perhaps it can be used to learn more about the family history.  You are the author, so you decide.  Sprinkle the poem with words that are authentic to who you are and where you are from.  Look through old photo albums and trinket boxes for added inspiration.  Visit this website to read about the history of the “Where I’m From” poem, see examples, and get a template: http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html.

Next is the “Change” poem.  It’s a form I first read of in the Freedom Writer’s Diary.  I have written a few myself, and I have read many powerful ones by former students.  Several Pasco teachers composed “Change” poems, eliciting both giggles and tears.  Visit the Freedom Writer’s website (http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/site/c.kqIXL2PFJtH/b.2260037/k.93F0/Teacher_Tips.htm#lessonplans), and scroll to the bottom of the page until you see the “Toast for Change” lesson plan.  Downloading the file will give you the template for the “Change” poem.  Writing the poem is a healthy way for us to be vulnerable with people we trust.  It is a way for us to poetically express goals and share them with others.   

Engaging in motley writing activities, and being fully immersed in the writing experience, left the Pasco teachers feeling reenergized and refreshed for the 2011-2012 academic year.  Their teacher tote bags are replete with writing plans, both new and revised, they are eager to share with their next crop of students.  First, though, I trust that they will delight in taking their beach totes to the shoreline, indulging in a non-scholarly text, and writing down summer 2011’s best daiquiri recipe.

by Tara Payor (tafsu21@aol.com)