Janelle's+3rd+Journal

Jon and I had taught 3rd and 4th hours, which are both English 9 classes with at-risk kids. Our lesson was predominantly lecturing about poetic terms (Poetry, Figurative Language, Simile, Metaphor, Symbol, Hyperbole, Personification) while reading poems to the students in order for them to see examples of each term. We tried to use poems that were unfamiliar with the students (I'm willing to bet all have never heard of Plath's poetry), but we also chose a few poems that they could certainly recognize ("Hey Diddle Diddle" was one of the poems we had used as an example).

We noticed that most of the students had no interest in the material being taught--they weren't active with us when we wanted examples taken from the poems, they were reluctant to answer questions about either poetry or the poems provided, et cetera. We did, however, find that they did learn more about poetry when we surveyed them in the end. Most answered about how they learned more about similes and metaphors, while some understood how the concepts of poetry can help make sense about a poem.

As for how the students acted in the classroom, there were a few disruptive kids that took away from the lesson--talking when we were talking, bothering others around. We did our best to make them focus more on the materials being taught when they were talking among their fellow classmates and asked what they said if we had asked a question. For the most part, it worked, and we did not have to yell at the students to pay attention or politely ask them to pay attention. If we were to modify our disciplinary methods, I'd say we would try different approaches, like standing between the people talking, making sure they were following along. Even better, calling on them to answer questions regarding poetry if we had a question to be answered would be a good idea as well.