My poetry class – new course for me – is off to an amazing start. So, I’m sharing it all: what I did, how it went, what my poets had to say about it.
I’ve worked hard on opening days / weeks of all my courses because they set a tone, establish motifs, build community, and generate intrigue.
This one was no exception, and I need to get it down “on paper” for the record for me, and to share with you. And because – inevitably – there will be not-so-great days and I’ll want some good days to reflect on.
For now – on to the good times!
The Plans
Day 1
- After a cheery hello, it’s this: “Raise your hands if there’s someone here you don’t know / know well.” As this is a mixed grade course, I am unsurprised all hands go up, but all hands go up in my same-grade courses, too.
- Out into the hall we go, opposite one of those folks in two lines facing each other for an elementary-school-line-to-lunch-looking meet & greet. I keep this going for ~10 minutes by calling out random topics / questions when there are lulls in conversation.
- I then inform them all they’ve just met their “Bulla Buddy” for the semester, and they will be each others’ sounding boards, champions, “I-was-out-what-did-I-miss” resources, and hey – a new friend. Smiles, laughs, shared pictures of pets, and awkward moments later, they exchange contact info and come back into the room.
- Spread throughout are collections of poetry, mostly contemporary, and most brand-spanking-new. Students roam around, picking up books, reading a bit, looking for one that’s intriguing.
- They then find their buddy, and read them the poem they’ve settled on, or the last one in their hands when I call for them to share.
- Me: “Thank your buddy for the convos today, wish them well for second semester, and see you all tomorrow!”
Day 2
- Questions & Inventions – I pulled out the things that make me happy: chart paper and sticky notes. I invited students to help me design our journey together with the following questions:
The last question isn’t pictured, but asked: What do you hope to look back on and say “I’m proud I____ / I’m glad we ____ / I accomplished____.”
Students up, talking to each other, idea-storming, excitedly putting their hopes and dreams out there for me to use to build our course. So fun!
Stay tuned for Part II for Day 3’s “Dear Ms. B,” and me learning how it went and what they had to say about it.
I’ll leave you with this teaser: this teacher is one happy camper 🙂
“I’ve worked hard on opening days / weeks of all my courses because they set a tone, establish motifs, build community, and generate intrigue” (Bulla, PFD, paragraph 2).
The first few days of a course absolutely set the tone and culture for the rest of the semester. I couldn’t agree more with Bulla. Looking at this blog post, it really seems that Bulla is creating a classroom based on student autonomy and collaboration. I loved that the first poem that they read to another student was one that they picked out themselves. So often, students are just presented with poems and told to analyze them. This sets the tone for a class that cares about student voices and focuses on developing individual enjoyment of poetry. The post-it posters also point to a classroom that values student voices. While these are common, I loved the addition of students writing on each others post-its if desired. I think it adds an element of collaboration and validation that will make students feel safe to share in the upcoming semester. I think these opening activities did just what they set out to do: introduce classmates to new peers, introduce content, and establish a positive and collaborative classroom community.