I dipped my toe in the poetry water, so to speak, this week with my students actually producing poetry in class. We've spent about three days looking at modernists poets and others, and today I tried to use the latin translation. I have to say it was interesting to see what the students came up with. Some of them, of course, were unwilling to attempt this translation with any seriousness, but this didn't take away from the experience.
One thing I did differently from last night was how we talked about the poem once we wrote it down. I had 11 different students come up and write one line from their poem and it was great to see them draw connections after we finished writing everything on the board. They saw a poem take shape from non-sense. Later in the class, I had students already drafting different version of their peom, without me even prompting them to do so. I have to say I'm very encouraged at the results so far, and I'm really excited to see where this might lead me and the students.
If you want more writing calisthenics, just come see me. I'm amazed and encouraged, however, with your own versions of these assignments. Let me know if you use one that seems particularly helpful.
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