Poetry is Scary!!

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a super relaxing week leading up to you unfortunately reading my blogpost! Regarding my experience writing about poetry and the effects it has had on my own poetry, I happen to have a surprising amount of thoughts. 

So to preface, I initially hated poetry, but after having read a lot more poetry as I'd gotten older I started to appreciate it a bit more. I didn't think modern poetry had much technique to it as it didn't follow traditional poetry forms, but having written poetry recently I think I've changed my opinion on that? 

When writing my poem I had assumed it would be a walk in the park given that there is no real form to follow, just writing whatever came to mind and arranging it in aesthetically pleasing way. While performing my poem, however, I realized that a big component in modern poetry is the performative aspect of it. Just as reading the script of a play does it no justice, I feel that reading modern poetry does it very little justice. In relation to that, I feel that it's really changed the thoughts that I've maintained and written about in my work regarding poetry. I mainly focused on the usual poetic techniques but did not consider the physical presence of a poem; this performative aspect is something I'll likely keep in mind going forward.

If we treat poems as a living creations, why do we not consider their ability to live through a speaker?

In terms of how this could be used in future teaching, I definitely think that the act of creating a poem and performing it is super integral to one's understanding of a poem! As grueling as it was to stand in front of people - all of whom wrote bafflingly good poems - and perform it, I think it truly does create a new appreciation for poetry as more than an antiquated way to show off one's grasp of the language. 

I think I'd like it to be integrated as a unit. It doesn't have to be a very long unit, it can just be a few days long. As long as it involves creating a poem and subsequently performing it. The poem doesn't have to be in any specific form or on any specific topic - so long as anything one could consider is a poem is created. Likewise, the performance itself doesn't have to be some big thing. I think the performance is simply to create the understanding that poetry can find immense meaning in performance.

I think the unit would just focus on clearing up a lot of apprehension regarding poetry. Most English students have a fear of poetry since it's often the black sheep of English classes, but it doesn't really need to be that scary. With a proper understanding of it, I think most students will realize it's actually very fun.

Fake News!! All FAKE News!!

 Hi Everyone!! 

I hope today is treating you well (^:

Creating a myth was really fun! I think it really introduced a new aspect to myths that I hadn't considered prior to creating one myself? I think I've always viewed them as something vaguely rudimentary given that they were predicated on a lack of knowledge regarding whatever natural phenomenon. But, having created my own, I feel that I view them a bit more fondly now? They don't seem as unrealistic or as "undeveloped" anymore, but now they feel a lot more ardent in their curiosity regarding the human condition or in their reverence of nature. I think going forward this will lead to me interacting with myths more meaningfully as opposed to going into it with the assumption that it's all imaginary. Creation is always so different from ruination that it makes me feel that to truly interact with myth one must create their own regardless of how silly it might be. Trying to find explanations for everyday occurrences or problems exercises one's creativity and their own understanding of humanity. 

I think everything I learned was kind of summarized above, but I think the most important takeaway from it all was just that myths are intrinsically linked to humanity. Myths may sound far-fetched but they do have a shred of humanity in them that I feel distinguishes them from other forms of literature. In regards to the applicability of this in my future teaching career (of which I don't think I will have), I think an activity for creating myths would be a really fun activity to do with students; if only due to the fact that it challenges them to find the core essence of a myth, and apply it in their own creative ways. In a less action-oriented way, I also think just hammering in the fact that myths are not simply stories, but its own kind of literature would go a long way in kind of combatting the ridicule that mythology faces today.

In my own life I just think that its made me kind of view myths more meaningfully? It feels vaguely similar to seeing an old piece of art and being struck by the similarity between either the subject or the painter themself; the jarring connection you feel with someone you have never met, yet seems to share your world view. It makes me feel that there is some kind of connection between humanity that roots itself in our creativity -  maybe it's our desire to know why we were given life, but it connects us all. I kind of went on a tangent, but those are the kind of feelings that this experience has left me with! (:

Getting to Know Me, and Getting to Know Technology in the Classroom!

Hi Everyone!

How is everyone? I hope you're all doing well from wherever and whenever you're reading this! 

My name is Jesse and I'm a third year English Literature student here at CSUN. My hobbies are reading, sleeping, and playing games. Once I receive my degree I intend on doing a paralegal program, and possibly go to law school if I end up at a law firm that is willing to pay for my continued education. 

Onto the topic of technology within the classroom and its usage within. I think that technology can be immensely useful within the classroom, assuming that it is being provided by the school and is being adequately monitored. I think that technology is often painted as the boogey-man within academic circles; as though touching a telephone during adolescence will instantaneously disintegrate your future prospects. Technology is a facet of the modern era and isn't something that can truly be removed from classrooms as students will inevitably find ways to bring it inside the class. 

I think it can be meaningfully integrated within the classroom by enhancing the lessons being given. An example I can think of within recent memory is the integration of Kahoot within the classroom as a substitute for pop quizzes. When I was younger and was subjected to pop quizzes, I often found them deeply annoying because whether or not I understood the content and remembered it, the sudden and abrupt nature of it shocked the information out of my mind. Whenever my teachers would substitute pop quizzes for Kahoot - with the same sudden and abrupt nature - it didn't feel as daunting as the environment surrounding it was not as daunting. I think the integration of technology in this case serves to make class more engaging and fun, allowing for students to more meaningfully engage with content since they are actively interested and willing to memorize and dissect the content. The reward of seeing your name at the top of the Kahoot list was enough to drag someone through content that most students would ordinarily not be willing to take on; a prize, virtual or not, evidently raises spirits in a way that traditional pop quizzes and chalkboards cannot. 

I think inefficient integration of technology should be mentioned, however. Technology is ultimately a tool that needs to be used by teachers, but in my experience it is often treated as more of a co-teacher as opposed to a tool. Often students see the usage of computers or any technology within the classroom as a free day to slack off since teachers put them in front of screens and make them watch videos for the majority of class, maybe a little bit of busywork, and then they're dismissed. Students often just play games on the computer and copy off their classmates to fool the teacher. I think this laziness in the implementation of technology is what results in students taking advantage of it. Intentional and meaningful activities can be fun, and I think the inclusion of fun within technological work is integral to making sure students don't take advantage of it. 

Overall, I don't think that technology need be this scary thing that is corrupting the youth, but rather something that can help encourage a true love of learning within children at any range. It has the benefit of being ever-evolving, so it won't always be a tool meant to make children google through schoolwork, but something that can also help refine a student's interests in college. Technology just needs to be given a proper facelift to make it more appealing to educators everywhere. 

See you all next time!