Contextual Factors
District, community, and school factors.
According to the DeKalb County School System’s website,
Chamblee High School is one of the oldest schools in DeKalb County, established in 1917 with
about 100 students. Today, Chamblee's diverse student population is made up of three groups:
resident students from the Chamblee High School attendance area, optional transfer students who
come from all areas of the county, and high achiever magnet school students who are academically
gifted and also come from all areas of the county.
The mission of Chamblee Charter High School is to foster excellence and equity by fostering the
social, moral, and physical growth of every student. Chamblee Charter staff will assure that each
learner develops his/her potential through an education process that emphasizes creative and
student-centered learning, a safe orderly environment, active community participation, and
leadership.
Magnet program for high achievers
Broadcast video curriculum and production lab
National Wildlife Federation habitat
Army Junior ROTC program
Cox Enterprises mentoring program – Partner in Education
Peer Helpers program
19 Advanced Placement courses offered
Competitive Math, Science Olympiad, and Robotics Teams
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Marti Macon-Gee is our 2003 Teacher of the Year
Award-winning band, choir, student newspaper, and yearbook
2001 Georgia School of Excellence
Siemans Award for Science, Math and Technology, Urban Winner
Among the highest SAT scores in the state - Fifteen National Achievement Finalists-2003 - Ten National
Merit Finalists-2003
One National Hispanic Scholar - 2003
State Runner-Up in Girls’ Track – 2003
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Elete 8 Boys’ Basketball – 2002
90% of the Class of 2003 qualify for the Hope Scholarship
The school system is taking many positive measures to meet the needs of students. For the last ten
years the DeKalb Board of Education has funded the PSAT, a preliminary to the SAT, for all 10th
grade students. Now the Georgia Department of Education funds the PSAT for all 10th grade
students and the DeKalb Board of Education funds the PSAT for all 9th grade students. PSAT
results are then used to counsel students and to encourage them to take more rigorous courses.
Students who took the PSAT in the 10th and 11th grades averaged 997 on the SAT. DeKalb's SAT
seminar, a two-week summer workshop which started in 1984 with 54 students, attracted nearly 700
students this year who invested two weeks of their summer break in preparation for college entrance
examinations.
The Scholastic Achievement Test is not part of the DeKalb County School System's standardized
testing program. Participation in this program, under the direction of the College Board, is an option
which allows the individual student to assess potential for success in the first year of college.
Making comparisons among, or ranking teachers, schools, districts, or states on the basis of test
scores alone is invalid and strongly discouraged by the College Board. In April 1995, the College
Board recentered the score scales for all tests in the SAT program to reflect the contemporary test
taking population.
Classroom factors.
The classroom is a cinderblock box. One wall is approximately 60% windows,
which overlook a courtyard, and face other classrooms. Evidence of tree life can be seen
just above the facing classrooms. Light is provided by multiple fluorescent fixtures as
well as naturally, through windows.
Classroom technology includes a computer with internet access for the teacher;
television, VCR, and DVD; overhead projector; and CD player. Other resources, such as
projectors that can display Powerpoint presentations, are available form the school’s
Media Center.
In the two classes studied for this project, parental involvement has been minimal.
Out of a total of 29 students, one parent has met with me in person regarding her
daughter’s progress. Other parents have called, emailed, or entered the classroom to
inquire about a sick child’s homework or make-up work.
Classroom rules and routines are consistent and straightforward. Respecting
others in the classroom is our cardinal rule. This rule can and has been broken in a variety
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of ways, but generally students are respectful of their peers and instructor. Late papers are
not accepted. Class preparation is expected; pop quizzes are occasionally utilized to
ensure and measure preparation. The routine of the class varies, but is posted on the
board daily, in the form of objectives. In addition to objectives, other pertinent
information about each class may be posted, as well as reminders about upcoming tests or
due dates.
There is no set “grouping pattern.” Students are allowed to sit in whatever seat
they choose. Occasionally, their seating patterns must be modified to minimize talking to
neighbors. The classroom is arranged in the classic arrangement: rows of desks facing a
blackboard (or whiteboard, as the case is here), with a teacher’s lectern between students
and board. The lectern is used mostly to hold teacher’s books and papers; the class is
discussion-driven, and I move about the class freely.
Student characteristics.
The 29 students in the classes utilized for this study are ninth-graders. Most are
fourteen years of age. Sixteen are girls, thirteen are boys. The race/ethnicity breakdown is
11 whites, 2 Latinos, 6 Asian or Indian, and 10 African-American. I am unaware of any
“special needs.” Acheivement and developmental levels encompass a wide range.
Writing, for example, is one indicator of the range of student ability and achievement.
While these students have been denoted “Gifted,” some have major grammar, usage and
syntax problems, while others can write a well-developed essay with nary a misplaced
comma. Emotional or maturity development is likewise variable. While these are
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adolescents, they rarely comport themselves without maturity and dignity within the
classroom.
While approximately 8 of the 29 students are not American-born, only a fraction
of that number appear to have difficulties related to English as a second language. That
said, their ability to have learned English as well as they have – in sometimes a period of
only four or five years – is astonishing. By the time these students graduate, I expect their
writing to be on par with or exceed their peers.’
I have identified no exceptionalities among these students, unless “gifted” is
considered an exceptionality (and I would not apply that term lightly or across the board).
There is a range of learning styles, and class activities and assessments are varied to
strengthen deficiencies as well as utilize assets.
Instructional implications.
The diverse ethnic makeup of these classes is a factor in selecting material. For
example, one question that could be utilized in any lesson, with any piece of literature
studied, is What does it mean to be an American? Or, what is an American? Students can
utilize their own diverse family history and personal experiences to reflect on or
determine what a piece of literature might mean in relation to those questions.
Another implication is the small class size (13 in one class, 16 in the other). This
factor of low student-teacher ratio allowed a greater degree of one-on-one student-teacher
time. Also, each student had to contribute to discussion. An unprepared student had a
hard time disguising lack of preparation (compared to, say, a class of 30 students).
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Analysis of data.
Based on the data provided by DeKalb County, as well as my own observations,
these classes are not typical among others at the school. The abilities and achievements of
these students is above average. Like many students in DeKalb County, many of these
students face difficult situations – such as single-parent households – but few seem
stymied by circumstance. If one or two of these kids isn’t President one day, I’ll be
disappointed.
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Learning Goals
After successfully completing the poetry unit, students will be able to:
1. Identify conventions and technical aspects of poetry (such as meter or rhyme
scheme, as well as forms such as sonnets, villanelles, and blank verse);
2. Identify and synthesize the relationship between form and content in poetry,
(and, by extension, in other literary and artistic forms), as well as the
relationship between meaning and other factors such as historical context;
3.
Define poetic and literary terms, and identify their usage in poetry;
4. Analyze the meaning of any poem, by applying and adapting skills listed
above.
The learning goals listed above are consistent with the following ELA High School
Ninth-Grade Literature and Composition provided by the Georgia Department of
Education:
1. The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of the structures and
elements of fiction and provides evidence from the text to support understanding.
2. The student identifies and responds to differences in style and subject matter in
poems by a variety of contemporary and canonical poets.
3. The student identifies, analyzes and applies knowledge of theme in literary works
from various genres and provides evidence to support understanding.
4. The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to
contemporary context or historical background.
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These goals are appropriate in terms of development, pre-requisite knowledge, and skills
for a variety of reasons, in addition to their concordance with state standards. When
developing the lesson’s objectives, the question I wanted to answer was, How can I
develop a unit that will provide students with close-reading and analysis skills that can
be applied in a variety of situations and contexts? The objectives will enable students to
analyze any poem they may read in their lifetimes. Further, the analytical skills applied to
poetry can easily be applied to other genres of literature and art. Because poems are
generally shorter than other types of literature, however, students can analyze many more
poems in a shorter period of time.
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Assessment Plan
Overview: Each learning goal will be assessed individually and comprehensively.
Students’ prior knowledge will be formally assessed through a quiz on students’ ability to
identify literary techniques found in “From the Dark Tower,” by Countee Cullen.
Students will also be informally assessed based on discussion of the same poem. This
poem incorporates many conventions and techniques of form, such as Italian sonnet,
rhyme scheme, ambiguity, tone, iambic pentameter, metaphor, analogy, and theme.
Students will be asked to identify, on paper, as many literary terms as they can (Learning
Goals 1 & 3).
Based on the pre-assessment results, I can then determine the content of the
following lessons. While the pre-assessment quiz will be graded, the grade will not be
entered into the grade book: students’ final grade will not be affected by an assessment
used only to determine prior knowledge.
Students will be assessed throughout the unit in a variety of ways. One formal,
critical analysis essay on a poem of the student’s choice (in cooperation with the
instructor) will be assigned. Poems will be assigned for homework reading nightly, and
will be discussed during class the next day. While not easily assessable, students’
contribution to class discussion will be essential to an exciting and engaging intellectual
environment. Tests and quizzes will contain numerous types of questions to assess
student understanding of learning goals. For example, multiple choice questions might be
suitable to assess Learning Goals 1 and 3, while short answer and essay questions are best
suited for Learning Goals 2 and 4. Written assignments also include the writing of a
poem in a poetic form. For example, one way to best understand the technique – and
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difficulty – involved in creating a sonnet in iambic pentameter is to write one. In this
case, students would not be expected to write a work of great complexity and creativity.
Rather, students would be assessed on their ability to write a 14-line poem in iambic
pentameter. To complete a variety of traditional and non-traditional assessment tools,
students will be asked to create a Powerpoint presentation as a visual corollary to any of
the poems we study in class. Here, students should think in terms of “illustrating” a
poem’s meaning visually, just as a rock video sometimes does. The presentation should
serve to enhance the experience of a poem, and to show an individual’s ability to interpret
a poem’s meaning.
A handout with definitions for the literary terms to be covered in class will be
distributed to all students at the beginning of the unit. This handout will be referred to
daily in discussions. It can also be used as a study guide.
Adaptations for instruction proved to be a constant, and tested the ability of my
content knowledge and quick-thinking skills. For example, when students had difficulty
understanding a concept such as enjambment in the particular poem we were reading, I
used examples from other poems to illustrate: multiple models for explanation were often
necessary. Further, among the most important adaptations was students’ ability to
connect a poem with daily life or culture: because I never knew where student inquiry
would lead, I often had to follow an unscripted (i.e. not in my lesson plan) path that
would sometimes lead to an engaging and sometimes divisive class discussion. Finally, I
had to rethink assessment in order to include these often important points argued in class
discussion (or delete from assessments the points that were not discussed in class because
class inquiry led us in a different direction). This is not to say that I was unable to achieve
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my own stated objectives for certain lessons: I believe that any of the poems studied in
class could be discussed, argued about, and analyzed for days on end. With fine, complex
literature, we are limited only by time, and our imaginations.
Below is the rubric used for the critical essay assignment.
A range: These papers demonstrate the writer’s mastery of most or all elements of
discourse, form, and critical thinking: Demonstrates clear understanding of the
assignment; has a focused thesis statement; body paragraphs organized toward strongest
point; uses specific cites from the text/source which support the writer’s argument and
are properly tied in to the text logically and grammatically; demonstrates the writer’s
perceptive and critical abilities; demonstrates the writer’s ability to write with clarity and
sophistication; demonstrates the writer’s originality, creativity, and high level of
expression; all points are supported clearly and well; contains impressive insight
regarding the subject; conclusion broadens essay and resolves paper; no major grammar
errors; no comma errors; few minor grammar errors; good use of diction and syntax; style
is graceful, written in the writer’s distinctive voice; preliminary work shows the progress
and process of the paper; instructor’s/peers’ comments on preliminary work addressed by
final draft.
B range: These papers demonstrate the writer’s ability to express ideas clearly, but
they do so with less mastery, control, or maturity than do the A papers:
Demonstrates the writer’s understanding of the topic; thesis statement is clear and
focused; body paragraphs support the thesis; cites are properly tied into the text; writing
is clear and logical; argument may or may not go beyond class discussion; all points are
supported but not as fully as in an A paper; conclusion broadens out; adequate use of
diction and syntax; one or two major grammar errors; some comma errors; some minor
grammar errors; some style errors (such as use of passive voice) and awkwardness;
writer’s voice not particularly evident; preliminary work gives evidence of the writing
process.
C range: These works are adequate, but lack the spark characteristic of A and B
papers: Demonstrates adequate understanding of the topic; thesis is adequate but may
simply restate the topic; cites may not be clear in their support of the writer’s argument,
or may seem to appear to satisfy the requirements of the assignment; discussion does not
rise above that which was discussed in class, or restates class discussion without further
insight; support of thesis may be superficial or sweeping and indicates no evidence of
individual thoughtfulness on the part of the writer; may have a summary conclusion;
several major grammatical errors; several comma and minor grammar errors; some errors
in diction and syntax; style may be problematic; no evidence of writer’s individual voice;
preliminary work shows little evidence of process or revision.
D or F range: These inadequate papers contain serious problems related to all or
many aspects of writing and critical thinking: Paper is off topic; thesis is unclear or
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absent; writing shows serious misreading of text/source/subject; organization is jumbled;
support is inadequate or absent; cites are unrelated to text and not properly tied in either
logically or grammatically; many major grammar errors; many comma or minor errors;
may contain recurrent stylistic flaws; essay may be vacuous; paper shows lack of
adequate proofreading or revision; paper may show evidence of being written at the last
minute; conclusion missing or not connected to the rest of the paper; little or no
preliminary work.
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Design for Instruction
Results of pre-assessment. The pre-assessment exercise showed little or no consistency of
student knowledge. While most students identified rhyme scheme, there was no other
literary term identified by a majority of students. Therefore, the unit will cover all literary
terms and techniques found in the handout “Literary Terms.”
Unit overview. The poetry unit is intended to use a portion of class time every day for ten
days. The rest of class time is intended to be devoted to a novel, grammar, or other area
of literary study.
The selection of poetry studied here encompasses a range of historic and stylistic periods,
but because of the limited timeframe of the unit, the selection is not meant to be
comprehensive in regard to the history of poetry and poetic movements. However, the
unit’s objective is to provide students with the tools and terms used to analyze poetry.
Armed with these tools, students will be able to analyze any poem.
Syllabus
NOTE The activity to “Analyze the poet’s use of literary devices and identify connection
between poem’s meaning and poet’s use of lit devices” is our daily objective during class
discussion, in addition to any other objectives or activities listed below. Also, many
literary terms are listed as part of discussion for multiple days: this is to ensure that
students can identify terms in multiple settings, as well as to reinforce learning.
Date
Monday
Poem(s)
From the Dark
Tower, Cullen
Activity
Pre-assessment:
Students will be
asked to
identify any
literary devices
Terms
Iambic
pentameter,
allusion,
metaphor,
enjambment,
Learning Goals
1, 3
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Tuesday
From the Dark
Tower, Cullen
Wednesday
Cherrylog
Road, Dickey.
Maybe Dat’s
Your Pwoblem
Too, Hall.
Thursday
Ode to a
Nightingale,
Keats
Friday
Shall I
Compare Thee
to a Summer’s
Day,
Shakespeare.
What Lips My
Lips Have
Kissed, Millay.
Do Not Go
Gentle Into that
Good Night,
Thomas.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
exhibited by the
poem
Analyze the
poet’s use of
literary devices.
Identify
connection
between
poem’s
meaning and
poet’s use of lit
devices.
Same as above.
Assign sonnetwriting due
Monday.
Assign
Powerpoint
presentations
due Tuesday.
Assign critical
essay due
Thursday.
Read student
sonnets.
Sirens, Atwood. Powerpoint
presentations
due.
Starlight Scope
Myopia,
Komenyakaa.
Facing It,
Komenyakaa.
analogy, theme.
Sonnet, rhyme
scheme, Italian
sonnet, octave,
sestet,
metaphor,
ambiguity,
lyric.
1-4
Narrative,
atmosphere,
image, internal
rhyme, free
verse, analogy,
conflict, irony,
point of view.
Personification,
ode, mood,
stanza, symbol,
allusion.
Iambic
pentameter,
analogy,
conflict, irony,
lyric, image,
empathy,
sonnet.
1-4
1-4
1-4
Villanelle,
1-4
iambic
pentameter,
allusion,
metaphor,
simile, point of
view.
Allusion, point 1-4
of view, setting,
tone, irony.
Free verse,
1-4
conflict,
atmosphere,
analogy,
allusion,
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Thursday
Friday
Howl (excerpt),
Ginsberg.
Critical essays
due.
Test
ambiguity,
empathy, elegy.
Free verse,
image,
dissonance,
allusion, tone.
1-4
1-4
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Instructional Decision-Making
On my first day of student teaching, I realized that lesson and unit plans must be
fluid and responsive to numerous unforeseen complications. One surprise I had during
the poetry unit regarded students’ responses to the material. I chose poems that clearly
exemplified the literary devices I wanted students to learn. I also chose poems that I
hoped students would enjoy, as well as poems that might change students’ prejudices or
fears that keep them from enjoying and understanding poetry. For example, early in the
unit, we read a poem by Jim Hall called “Maybe Dat’s Your Pwoblem Too.” The speechimpeded speaker is Spiderman, lamenting the fact that his public persona does not reflect
who he really is, but at the same time he can’t free himself of his persona. The poem is
funny and seemingly light-hearted, but it reveals a rich and common experience that
anyone can empathize with. On the same day, we read James Dickey’s masterpiece,
“Cherrylog Road,” a vivid narrative poem about the thrills of illicit teenage romance.
Hall’s poem is an excellent example of monologue, first person narration, irony,
metaphor, voice, tone, and analogy. Dickey’s poem displays a masterful sense of diction,
narrative, metaphor, enjambment, and free verse. But aside from these techniques, the
poems - I thought – celebrate the wonder and beauty of poetry and language in a way that
a reader can be deeply moved without knowledge of the metaphors and ironies at work in
the poems. Hall’s poem especially sounds unlike what people “expect” poetry to sound
like, and the poems’ ability to destroy prejudices about poetry was one reason I chose it.
To my surprise, students did not like either of the poems (although what students
like is not necessarily a reasonable criterion for curriculum choices). Students much
preferred poems that “sounded” like what they thought poems should sound like: the
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Shakespeare and Millay poems were popular successes in class. When I realized that
students were more apt to passionately engage more “classic” forms and reject
contemporary, free-er forms, I did not change my curriculum choices. Rather, I
rearranged the order of study. Instead of working from contemporary, open forms to
older, closed forms, we worked from older to newer poems.
This order of study seemed to have the desired effect: By the time we got to the
unit’s end with Allen Ginsberg’s wildly inventive and rule-breaking poem “Howl,”
students had experienced a variety of works which allowed them to critique Ginsberg in a
way that would have been impossible two weeks prior. Rather than dismissing “Howl”
(“I could do that!”), our discussion of “Howl” was among the most intellectually
stimulating and engaging of my entire student teaching experience.
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Analysis of Student Learning
Whole class. Overall, the assessment data shows that students met the criteria of the unit
as stated in the Learning Goals. The attached charts quantify student learning. The most
telling chart compares students’ pre-assessment scores next to all other assignment
scores.
Conclusions based on the final average scores should be qualified: the final
averages on the chart include the pre-assessment score (which necessarily diminished a
student’s final average). With the exception of the pre-assessment quiz, all of the other
grades were tabulated as part of each student’s class grade, according to school district
policy. So while the charts provide information regarding the teaching and learning
effectiveness of the Poetry Unit, the grades earned here represent only a part of a
student’s grade in the class. Also, two students did not take the final test (these two
students were regularly absent, missed assignments, and did not seek tutoring or make
any effort to complete make-up work).
Aside from the two students who made very little effort and progress, all others
met the stated criteria.
Subgroup. Three immigrant students in the class are recent learners of English. I was
alerted to their speaking and writing abilities before beginning the Poetry Unit. Because
poetry engages language at a level that requires more than a simple understanding of a
word’s meaning – the nuances of a word’s cultural implications can often be more
important, in poetry, than a word’s literal meaning – I was concerned that these three
students would be at a disadvantage in the classroom.
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I was correct in thinking that these students would be at a disadvantage, but any
disadvantage was overcome by what I can only conclude was hard work (and maybe
good teaching). For example, one student’s analysis of a poem exhibited a maturity and
intellectual ability of the highest order, even if the written delivery of the analysis was
limited his limited vocabulary and grammar skills. Another student’s limitations seemed
more cultural: the innate cultural touchstones that united the other students were foreign
to her, and a number of the historical or cultural references found in the poems were
meaningless to her without explanation.
Regarding the Learning Goals, the most difficult task for these students (as well
as native English speakers) was to recognize the relationship between form and content in
poetry. However, a comparison of their pre-assessment to post-assessment gain indicates
that they learned as much or more than their classmates.
Individuals. One student, whom I will call S, scored high (63) on the pre-assessment, and
neared a perfect score (97) on the final test. S was the kind of student teachers love to
have in class: bright, inquisitive, and seemed to want to learn for the sake of learning, as
opposed to learning for the sake of receiving or earning a grade. I’m not bothered by
anyone younger than me or anyone smarter than me. However, the combination of being
both younger and smarter than me, as is the case with S, is highly annoying.
S inspired me to raise high the level of intellectual inquiry in the class. S was the
student who feared no question, and often provoked and inspired others to argue a point.
At the same time, her formidable abilities in writing, persuading, and analyzing led her to
turn in work (in both the Poetry Unit and other aspects of the class) that seemed rushed
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while still being among the best in the class. While her work was at the highest level for
the class, I still felt like I had not experienced the full weight of her talents. Awarding her
an A for her essay, I commented that this essay “does not live up to what I know you are
capable of writing: a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.” She obviously enjoyed
the intellectual back-and-forth that poetry demands. Her assessment data display mastery
of the goals. Her contribution to class discussion was immeasurable.
Another student, M, mystified me. Her pre-assessment at 38 was middling for the
class. Her work throughout the unit averaged an 80, and her contribution in class showed
that she read carefully and considered the thematic and formal elements of the poems.
Her work on other portions of the class, such as the reading and analysis of The Odyssey
and Richard Wright’s Native Son, showed better-than-average work. But her final test
score of 61 seemed anomalous to her abilities.
Because I had no reason to expect M to fail the test, I did not make any attempt
during the unit to prepare her for the test any more than any other student. But after the
test, I was quite concerned about her low score. Because the final test was multiple
choice, her score could have been affected by poor test-taking skills or nervousness when
confronted with a test. While I am still unsure about the nature of her problem, some of
her creative writing turned in after the Poetry Unit revealed some stressful personal issues
which may have played a role in determining her test score.
Evaluating the success of the lessons.
Lesson introduction/motivation. Students responded to the poems as enthusiastically as
they responded to other subjects and texts. That is, they never jumped for joy, but met
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each task in a generally positive way. While my own enthusiasm and passion for the
poems was obvious – the selections were not chosen from their literature book or any
other list, but rather were poems I considered excellent examples for the necessary
lessons – students were not always swayed by my choices and often exhibited original
(and critical) thinking regarding my selections.
On the whole, the unit went well, and I think every student left with a deeper
knowledge of poetry, a better appreciation for the craft, and a wider range of experience
to draw on for future readings. Finally, students’ prejudices and fears about poetry were
also diminished, if not destroyed. While I adapted lessons regularly (and often on the fly),
nothing went badly.
Instructional strategies were continually altered. Because the analysis of poetry
can encompass so many levels and lines of discourse and inquiry, class discussion was
essentially fluid. While I had a list of key points to cover every day, and led discussion
likewise, discussion often veered into other areas. My job, of course, was to steer the
discussion toward salient issues related to the text. But when students became passionate
and argued against each other, the class was positively brimming with energy. While
these moments did not occur constantly, they were also the moments that make teaching
and learning a pure pleasure. My supervising professor observed such a class, and noted
the level of class engagement: “The lesson was fabulously developed by your 22
questions that initiated conversation and probed issues much further. …There were
incredibly robust intellectual stimuli. …The levels of challenge were superb. …You
acknowledged and dignified student responses… You were a great orchestra leader.” I
was able to earn this type of feedback from my professor because my students adapted
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quickly to my ambitious and intellectual style of critical analysis, and they rose to the
occasion.
Unanticipated occurrences included unexpected student response to certain
poems. Works I thought students would love were often met with a lukewarm reception.
Classroom management was never an issue with this group: the class is small and the
students are ambitious about their education. School is not perceived by this group as
something they are simply forced to do; school is a means to end, and the end is a place
of success and fulfillment in our society.
While the test represented a certain closure to the unit, one of my objectives was
to apply the knowledge learned during the unit to other areas. Thus, when we discussed
the next novel the students read, we used the terms learned during the Poetry Unit. We
compared a metaphor used by Harper Lee to one used by both Shakespeare and Millay.
One of the nice things about using poetry as a point of departure for terms and techniques
is that a poem can be read an analyzed in a class or two. A novel may take weeks, but the
same type of analysis applies. So in one sense, there should never be closure. The lessons
of the unit should be applied to reading, to writing, to speaking, to language.
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Reflection and Self-Evaluation
Students were most successful at attaining the unit’s most important and
adaptable goal: to analyze the meaning of any poem (Learning Goal 4). This was
achieved through the routine of the unit. Every day, we did virtually the same thing: we
read, discussed, and analyzed poems. Few of the poems looked alike or sounded alike.
The poems’ subjects varied. We read Americans, Canadians, English, Irish, Southern,
blacks, whites, males, females, gays, Muslims. We read poems written 500 years ago, and
poems written 500 days ago. The poem, in a sense, did not matter. The method of
analysis was consistent, and after using a similar formula for two weeks (regardless of
poem, poet, subject, or form), students learned how to analyze.
Students were least successful attaining Learning Goal 2 (Identify and synthesize
the relationship between form and content in poetry). To recognize the relationship
between form and content in any artwork is, conceptually, a higher level of thinking than
simply determining meaning. While great art of any time speaks to the human condition
in general, as opposed to the human condition of a certain era, the form of an artwork is
often related essentially to its time. Thus, a student without knowledge of Keats’s era, for
example, might be unable to connect form and content. Even with a contemporary poem,
while a student might have a firsthand experience of the year 2005 in America, he or she
may be unable to make the connection between a writer’s barrage of short, declarative
statements with the effects of television’s image bombardment on our culture.
The recognition of the inextricability of form and content helps students
understand a poem before reading it, and this was one of my objectives in teaching the
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unit. I think I was successful to a point: for example, students clearly understood that a
villanelle’s constant repetition made narrative nearly impossible. More difficult to
recognize, however, was the form/content relationship in an ode such as Keats’s
“Nightingale.” The matter of form/content could be better instructed over the course of a
year, when the issue could be raised and discussed repeatedly, where examples would be
abundant, where the class would have the time to understand the historical era of the
work, and read widely from the era.
The unit achieved its goals. However, the little time allotted for the unit was
unfortunate. In a year-long literature course, the concepts and analysis models used here
could be expanded, refined, and perfected. The ongoing study of poetry is necessary for a
well-rounded class.
Because I had little knowledge of a ninth grader’s ability, I taught the class in the
style of a college course: class discussion and intellectual analysis. The students rose to
the occasion, even though their basis of conceptual knowledge was far different than
mine. I will teach the unit in similar fashion again, although I hope to spend more time on
it. The unit exemplified my strengths as a teacher: I relish leading a vibrant, engaged
class in an analytical discussion. My weaknesses as a teacher lie elsewhere, with a
different type of class.
Regarding possibilities for professional development, I would like to expand the
use of technology in the class. While I am a believer in simply thinking, talking, reading,
and writing, the Powerpoint presentation assignment allowed a few students who were
not exceptional in class discussion to make a significant contribution to the class. I have
deficits in the realm of technology which will hinder my ability as a teacher.
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Finally, working with the students in an area in which they had little knowledge
or experience and watching them grow revealed the joy of teaching. Teaching these
students reinforced my desire to teach, and reminded me why I endeavored to become a
teacher.
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