The Cure for the Winter Blues: Creativity

Shape poetry, or concrete poetry, has always been one of my favorites, an oldie but goodie.  A nice break from the grind of annotating, grammar practice, and literary analysis, I sensed my students needed a break.  We have been practicing found poetry for an upcoming assessment, and today I followed my gut: give the students the time to create and reflect outside of any text.  

We started by looking at examples, of course, and then I asked the students to share their most prized possession.  My chat exploded.  The students in front of me came to life.  The hybrid environment was awake, and my students laughed at what probably seemed an exaggerated amount of excitement about shape poetry.  The most exciting part?  Listening to their most prized possessions.

These included: the hockey stick I scored my first goal with; the football my grandma gave me before she passed away; my album collection; my Xbox remote; my drawing pencils.  

I chose to write my poem about the globe my dad gave me for my birthday in third grade.  It was one of the first globes that included the bumpy topography of mountains.  The water isn't blue.  Instead, the water is golden wheat, which I found to be profoundly academic.  It invited me to memorize as much geography as I could.

I shared these memories with my classes, modeling freewriting, encouraging imagery, and figurative language.  I described its wobbly stand and created a metaphor: its continents, one big jigsaw puzzle piecing our world together.

I shared links on how to create shape poetry with Photoshop, Slides, and Adobe, and of course offering how I would create my own: with the paper and colored pencils in my classroom.  Their products?  Stunning.

I do not need to plead my case for creativity with fellow Slice of Lifers.

I had a similar experience with my senior Creative Writers on Friday.  We participated in a virtual field trip titled The Mind of a Writer through the American Writer's Museum here in Chicago.  The focus was American Songwriting.  We played Name that Song, a game that included a nod to Bob Dylan, Nina Simone's tribute to Lorraine Hansberry, some history behind Woody Guthry's This Land is Your Land, the profound poetry in Tupac's Dear Mama, and a song I have never heard of by Prince titled Baltimore.  I forgot I was the teacher.  I became a student on a field trip.

My students were an absolute delight.  They were engaged, polite, and, of course, creative, playing with words on a collaborative Jamboard, asking questions, even taking a few risks.

What is the cure for the winter blues?  

Creativity.

It never fails.  

My final assessment for the third quarter offers the students a choice between a found poem and a shape poem based on Born a Crime.  Not only does creative writing put standardized tests to shame, but you really see what our students know and what they can do.  Their grit and how they see the world becomes transparent, and this is why English teachers bond with their students in so many ways.  Even the quiet students connect. 

Can I get an Amen?