An Example of a Teaching Essay - Goddard College's Intranet

Teaching Essay, Ken Damerow
• “I also needed poems to read to them that would give them ideas, inspire them,
make them want to write.” (4)
• “The idea helped them to find that they could do it, by giving them a form that
would give their poem unity and that was easy and natural for them to use:
beginning every line with ‘I wish.’” (8)
• “Rhyme is wonderful, but children generally aren’t able to use it skillfully enough to
make good poetry. It gets in their way. The effort of finding rhymes stops the free
flow of their feelings and associations, and poetry gives way to sing-song.” (8)
• “A poetry idea should be easy to understand, it should be immediately interesting,
and it should bring something new into the children’s poems.” (9)
• “In presenting these poetry ideas to the children I encouraged them to take
chances.” (9)
• “Children often need help in starting to feel free and imaginative about a particular
theme. Examples can give them courage.” (10)
• “Most important, I believe, is taking children seriously as poets.” (25)
• “Again on the subject of language, the various poetry ideas should be presented in
words children actually use.” (27)
The goal of my teaching practicum was to help my students become writers, to
encourage them to write good, high-quality poetry using a wide variety of grade level
appropriate published work as models and learning tools. I sought to encourage them to
develop their individual style and voice to enhance creative expression and instill an
enthusiasm about writing and learning to write. Each session began with a focus poem
exhibiting some essential poetical element such as metaphor or contrast. The discussions
centered around two questions: Who’s talking to who about what? to explore meaning and How
does the poet accomplish the meaning, and how does the poem look on the page? to explore language and
structure. I designed these questions in keeping with Koch’s idea of presenting “...in words
children actually use...” (27) Students then wrote for fifteen minutes attempting their own
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