February 25, 2017
We begin this stint in China by speaking to a compilation of local librarians from English speaking schools in the city. A seditious bunch for sure headed up by our host Kendra Perkins who arranged and organized our first three days in Shanghai with the precision of a – well, a librarian.
January 14, 2017
So armed with bags of pretzels we brought our two groups together for a little collaboration. The break down ended up with an officer at a table with six students. We had the officers and students talk about their experience writing poetry about personal conflict.
November 20, 2016
The National Council of Teachers of English is probably my favorite conference that Sara and I attend. Not only do we get to attend a myriad of sessions, collecting ideas and learning about research we can bring back to the schools we visit – we have a lot of fun! We presented on writing across the […]
November 14, 2016
There were so many welcoming folks we were overwhelmed with hospitality and smothered in traditional Brazilian hugs at every turn.
August 25, 2016
Visiting family in Virginia and the lead story on the D.C. noon news is that 8 people die per day in OH from opioid overdoses, more than 3000 this year. Watched my home state fall in line with other troubled places in the world, Italy, Syria, Nigeria, and . . . Ohio. Just finished […]
August 17, 2016
“What I love and always get out of your presentations is that poetry is not only a form of writing or art to express emotions, but it can be a vehicle for showing learning.
May 30, 2016
We all come into this world crying, “me, me, me.” Insistent cries of my bottle, my grapes, my toys gradually (hopefully) grow into a feeble understanding of the concept of compromise. We call this turning point adolescence. Teaching adolescents requires that we help awaken kids to the awareness that there is a world on the […]
May 13, 2016
Poetry scares teachers – how do we teach it – and more problematic for instructors, how do we interpret and or grade it? Ought we beat it with a hose as Billy Collins laments, “…tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it.” Or should we just let it exist floating in the air like a balloon attached to our heart by a strand of silk, ephemeral and too precious to critique?
April 11, 2016
“I’m too busy to have the poet visit my classroom.”
March 15, 2016
Somewhere along the way we teach young adults to hate poetry.
