Jaci's Writings For the Soul

   Poetry... where do I begin? I have never been a fan of poetry. My high school self would say "I hate poetry" but I realize now that hate is such a strong word. I strongly disliked poetry, mainly the poetry we did in class. It was boring and outdated, to say the least. They were always the same kind of poem- with rhyme and iambic pentameter. I always dread poetry weeks. Poetry was something I could never get a handle on. Choosing English as my concentration meant I would have to teach my students poetry at some point. I was nervous how I would get my students interested in poetry when I, myself, aren't interested in poetry.    My SED 407 professor had us come up with a dream unit, one that we would want to teach if we didn't have to worry about state standards, and parent push back. It took me a couple minutes to think of something that I would want to teach my students and that's when it hit me. I tried thinking what would get me interested in poetry, at least...

   Dr. J asked us why we were at the conference. I wrote down "because Dr. J made us". That was the truth. When we were first told that it was a mandatory conference, I was reluctant and didn't want to go. However, as we got closer to the conference, and we were moving along in the semester, I was getting excited about the conference. I was excited to learn about new writing techniques both digital and the traditional paper and pencil.    The first workshop I went to was called Empowering Students using Ira Shore's Problem Posing Writing for a Democratic Classroom. Amanda Scott was the presenter. During this workshop, we learned how to help students compose essays through a series of questions. This seminar also presented us with ways in which students can revise and work together to create a group essay.    The second workshop was very interesting. It was digital storytelling. We were presented with a variety of ways in which students can develop their ...