Today, I wrote a poem. And I don't write poetry.
Now I'm not saying that I've never written poetry. With enough coercion (and the threat of a grade hanging over my head), I wrote poetry for school. I even won a poetry contest in 6th grade. I was excited.
But today we were asked to do things that terrify me. 1) Draw and 2) Write Poetry.
And we had to do both.
However, I'm actually really proud of the poem that I wrote. It's not earth shattering. It has a very, very childish feel to it and a simple rhyme scheme. But it was honest. And I liked that.
It's amazing to me (as a teacher) the level of anxiety I still have about certain aspects of composing. Poetry and drawing actually make me physically nervous. My junior year of college we had to do body biographies and show them to someone via skype in our class, and I literally begged my professor not to make me share it.
And I'll have students that feel the same. Students that it takes everything in them to get up and riff. To speak out in class, to answer a question. The riffing circle highlighted others' anxieties within the class and the responding even more. We all have areas about which we are uncomfortable. We all have "trouble spots." And we as teachers can enhance or minimize students' anxieties.
Why is school such an anxious place?
I like your question Carrie..."Why is school such an anxious place?" I think a lot has to do with what we do while we're "there." Not necessarily the "with" as much as the "what." Make sense? Wondering myself what would happen if we re-visioned the "what"...would school be a calmer place to be? Thanks for sharing your reflection and thanks for "listening" to my reply.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me to ind of pinpoint and mull over my fears/worries sometimes, I think. Especially, if I can do that in an at least semi-safe and low stakes kinda place. I like to talk about how completely hard it is for me to revise. Especially when I have something I am happy with and sort of done with. Going back and changing those words that I have so carefully crafted is such a struggle for me. I am literally scared sometimes to move or change what I have... scared that whatever "good" was in the writing will be completely gone the next time around.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... anyway, thank you for highlighting this bit of risk-taking in your day!
@Tony -- I think you're right about the problem being with the "what" of school. What do we do in school? We take tests, are graded, etc. If we re-visioned the what, I think school would be much calmer. There would be less anxiety because there would be less to be anxious about. Thanks for your response.
ReplyDelete@Lacy-- Revision is hard for me too. I feel like I might mess it up or make it worse, and sometimes I do. Thanks for your reflection on your own issues.
I am wondering if school is such an anxious place (at least when it comes to writing) because, as with your poem, the best writing is honest writing. It take courage to be honest on paper because you have to be accountable to what you write. It's even scarier when you know other (especially peers) are going to read it because insecurities can tell us that people might respond negatively to our honest writing, and that may seem like they are responding negatively to us as people.
ReplyDelete