It's Poetry I Teach

A month ago, I taught a poetry unit, and so my students were forced to write it. After they wrote about 10 poems, I forced them to create it into a book, reflect on their style as a poet, and be decorative.
I thoroughly apologize to students who hate all of the latter activities.

But I'm an English teacher.

And I love poetry.

And so they will, too. Naturally.

Anyway, I'm also quite vain, so I see the very best of what my students have written and take complete credit for it.

But my favorite parts of these poetry books have been the dedications and the selected quotes. More or less, I'm proud of them for their work and thoughtfulness.

Also, this may be illegal to blog their writing, but I'm doing it anyway.

Student 1
Title: Poetry from a Sophomoron
"Dedicated to my dear friends that make our English class so much fun even though we may be getting in trouble, being annoying, or being too loud. And also to my teacher Miss Boman, for showing us the depths of poetry and teaching us with 'all the knowledge of the universe'."
Writing poetry is the hard manual labor of the imagination. ~Imanuel Reed

Student 2
Title: Due Monday! Read pg. 1-12 or Megan's Poetry. Have a Great Weekend!
"To my English teacher, Miss Boman, who has taught me more about poetry than I ever thought I would want to learn, and also to my crazy classmates for giving me the motivation to write amazing and heartfelt poetry."
Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them. ~Dennis Gabor

Student 3
Title: A Poetic Journey
"To those who were forced to write poetry for a grade, and are unwilling to admit that they almost enjoyed it."
A poem can have an impact, but you can't expect an audience to understand all the nuances. ~Douglass Duncan

Student 4
Title: Taking Life One Day at a Time
"To my family and friends who inspire me to write random poems and show me it's okay to be yourself."
Music is the shorthand of emotion. ~Leo Tolstoy

Student 5
Title: The Undefined
"To those who understand the feeling of being serious while having fun at the same time."
Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Student 6
Title: Make Your Mark
"To those who believe that the written word is essential to life."
Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out. ~J.K. Rowling

Student 7
Title: Book of Wonders
"To my friends who helped me with rhyming my words. Without the help of those wonderful people, my Book of Wonders would not be what it is today."
Non typical/Forget what lyrics say/What movies portray/What magazines imply

Student 8
Title: ________Mae's Poetry
"To country music, my inspiration for writing and to Miss Boman for pushing us to write."
Every man dies. Not every man really lives. ~William Wallace

Student 9
Title: A Waterfall of Words
"To all those kids who do not enjoy poetry and want to be free and stay young."
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. ~Robert Frost

Student 10
Title: Random is Key
"To my awesome class that helped me get through this tough poetry unit. Also to my mom who was dedicated in helping me with most of my poems. With my classmates who made poetry fun, and something that I will remember forever."
Sometimes questions are more important than answers. ~Nancy Willard

Student 11
Title: Just Words
"To those who actually like poetry...those who like writing because their voice is too quiet to be heard."
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss

Student 12
Title: It's Poetry!
"To all the people that influenced any of these poems. Thank you for your uniqueness, and allowing me to write about you."
Howd con Ih dew it. ~Kayla

Student 13
Title: A Ginger's Tale
"To my fellow classmates who made this poetry unit enjoyable. Also, to my teacher Miss Boman for teaching me and my classmates."
What is my life, if I am useless to others? ~Wolfgang

Student 14
Title: All the Poems
"To all the peole who think they're terrible at poetry - just read mine."
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss

Student 15
"To all the poetry lovers of CCHS. Hope you enjoy this as much as I had fun writing it."
O captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Ris Up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills. ~Whitman

Student 16
Title: Le Rage Book!
"To my best friend in the whole world, who had no effect on this book."
Life is a long preparation for something that never happens. ~William Butler Yeats


There you have it: a number of students' inspirations and thoughts.

I get to teach that :)