Sharing the Work

It's hard to believe this will be my fifth formal reading. This semester was plagued with a series of setbacks that led to many classes being cancelled, but since my class followed a more routine high school schedule, the juvenile class still had plenty of work to submit to the chapbook. Since we spent a large portion of the class writing about freedom, I asked them to submit potential chapbook covers that would encapsulate the creative work inside. 

The top photo was created by two classmates. The first student created the bubble letters, and the second student had the brilliant idea of making both o's into broken handcuffs. (Don't worry, we photoshopped the apostrophe error!)

The second submission was less informative and much more artistic, done by another student:

I'm never surprised by the talents of my students. Honestly, they are much more creative than I ever was in high school. Seeing the fruits of their creative labor always gives me mixed emotions. It's such a treat to see them express themselves, but I am often saddened by the fact that their minds are constantly in a state of stress, that their opportunities for creative expression are limited, and confined within the walls of the jail. One of the best things about this program is our power to take the work of our students and share it with communities beyond the jail. It's such an honor to carry our student work, to flash chapbooks at literary events and conferences, and read their words in places our students could never have imagined. 

A Dream, Deferred

“What happens to a dream, deferred?”

 That’s the question Langston Hughes poses in “Harlem,” the poem we read and emulated today in the Monday juvenile class.  But before we discussed Hughes, or Harlem, or dreams, we jumped right into sharing.  I’d say 7 out of the 16 kids sang at least a hook or a verse, all of it memorized.   Some of the melodies were really catchy, too, and went perfectly with the hooks.

One of our students is leaving tomorrow, and he led off sharing.  There is such mixed emotion with arrival and departure, in this place.  Going anywhere else, whether it’s upstate or home, means a much less stressful environment, but it also tends to be much harsher.  It was so nice to be able to say goodbye to him.  I still have the hook from his performance from last year in my head sometimes, it was that good.

After sharing, we talked about dreams (real dreams), goals, and their intersections.  This lead into close reading “Harlem,” and how he utilizes the five senses.

I created a fill in the blank poem and the kids jumped right into making their own comparisons: “Does it smell moldy like wet paper?”  “Does it float around like a plastic water bottle.”  I asked them to memorize their poems for next week. I’m really excited to see what they come up with! 

I found a really cool teaching source in pedagogy that paired hip-hop songs with poetry called Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics For The Classroom.  My favorite was so far is a worksheet for “Harlem” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy.” We didn’t have time to look at both in a week, so I think we’ll listen to Biggie next week, and write to the prompt: “It was all a dream…”

To be honest, when this class goes well, it makes my whole week brighter.  These kids are so talented and I am honored that they even listen to my advice about hooks and rhymes (and anything, really).  I think I should probably read up some more on songwriting, in general, because these kids are going to run circles around me.

Thanks for reading. 

Mike Bennett, Words Without Walls Teacher