By reading other people's blogs, it seems the common theme for this entry is to bless Alyse's blog! I think it is very intriguing that she was able to capture quite a few people's attention on her blog- so good for her and I would like to take a moment to bless some things from her blog while I'm at it! Why not, right?!
Alyse took the time to discuss the structure of poems and how they can be free-verse or structured. Writing like this forces the author to consider an idea, topic or feeling more deeply and/or from a different point of view; it requires higher-order thinking and can be a difficult but rewarding task. I think it is important that Alyse took the moment to take a step back and analyze the thinking process of the writer and reader during poetic reading/writing. I think that is what makes poems so interesting- they come in a variety of forms, they can be imaginary, creative, truthful, expressive, from the heart, and very deep. There isn't a specific "rule" for writing poetry, but it has to capture the reader's eye and have meaning for the reader to be highly engaged.
When I hear the word "poetry", I think back to any experiences I had with it throughout elementary school. I can remember immediately loving the Real Mother Goose nursery rhymes. I was so young when my mom or grandparents read these rhymes to me, but they flowed and sounded so nice. I cannot think of a different word to use besides nice- I was a child, so I used my imagination, interpreted the rhymes the best I could for my age, and used the pictures to create meaning and spark my imagination about what was read to me.
I would also like to bless how Alyse took the time to actually create her own "I used to be...Now I am" poem. She was creative in her thinking process here, and she was able to use her own experiences to discuss her thoughts and feelings about poetry in nothing more fitting than a poem itself! This makes me think back to the Tompkins reading regarding poetry. Many forms of poetry are displayed in this chapter to help readers see the variation teachers can utilize when teaching this genre in their classrooms. I could see myself using free verse poems with kids during free writing time, or examples of other poems leading with, "I Wish" or "If I Were" during a poetry unit (Tompkins, 2012). I would want students to understand that writing poetry does not have to be frustrating because it offers many different outlets to portray a message to an audience.
I would also like to bless Jaci's #9 blog for a moment because she not only posted some images to relate to her feelings on the Biographical genre, but she posed many important questions to stimulate her thinking and the readers' of the blog entry. She reflects on her thinking process when it came to the assignment of creating a timeline of her life. I also struggled to think of many important, impacting events of my life that pertained to the development of my literacy skills and experiences. We had to think about what we would feel comfortable sharing with other peers' and our professor, and we had to think about who made the most impact on helping us to "become literate".
I enjoy reading other people's blogs and learning about their experiences with the assignments in this class, their experiences in their classrooms/with students, and their experiences while approaching the readings on the variety of genres we have read about in the Tompkins book.
