This week we have been working on poetry in my classroom. We reviewed figurative language with throwback songs from their early middle school and elementary years. I thought it was going to be fun and we would laugh through it and they would remember figurative language better, boy was I wrong.
These students complained the entire way through it. They told me how "cringy" it was and how much they hated those songs and my assignment. Some classes looked like they were being forced against their will and tortured with the songs of OneRepublic, Green Day, Shawn Mendes, and Taylor Swift. One student took it too far and called my lesson "cringy bullshit." Aren't they so respectful? I have never had a group of kids hate this assignment. In previous years, I had students come up to me and tell me that they didn't realize that their favorite songs use figurative language.
Will I do this activity again? Probably! Will I change the songs? Yep! More than likely, I will ask them their top 10 favorite songs of 2023 this week so I can make my assignment for next year over the summer. Will I regret listening to some of these... absolutely!
Today I asked students to write a poem and to identify 6 poetry structures from their poems, but I let them use a generator or their snapchat AI to help them write the poem. It was a completely different attitude. They enjoyed "cheating" on their assignment by using the AI. I still got to see if they could identify lines, stanzas, rhyming patterns etc. but instead of hearing complaining and hateful rhetoric, they were happy and willing to work. I know they got something out of it. I also posted the question on the board, "What is your favorite song right now? Why?" They were so excited to answer the question and it started helping them make the connection that music is poetry.
Some days are winners, some days are real losers.
Will I keep trying my best every day? Absolutely.
Is it summer yet?
The count down is on: 15 more school days. I got this right?
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