Pedagogy Forum, Week 1

Teaching poetry is something that has never come natural to me. I actually feel like I do more harm than good. When Dr. Davidson was talking about some of the way poetry is read to students, it was like he was pointing right at me. I know he wasn't, but it didn't change the fact that I was that guy saying, "this is what it means." I probably taught that way, because I wasn't comfortable with the material, so I had to throw some smoke and mirrors in front of the class to avoid being found out. In all, I probably spend less time with poetry than any other teacher. I teach just enough to get by and hope my students are able to comprehend enough to make logical guesses on their standardized tests.

As we work in this class, I feel like I will evaluate my stance on poetry and how I approach it in class. I feel part of my problem stems from the fact that I was a newspaper reporter for a few years. The only poetry I read was "Baseball's Sad Lexicon":

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double –
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Granted, I love the history of this poem and do teach it on occasion. Side note, all three of Tinkers, Evers and Chance made it into the baseball Hall of Fame based on the popularity of this quick poem. So, I guess there is poetry I do feel comfortable teaching.