poetry analysis practice : self-assessment and feedback

On Wednesday, I had the students choose a poem to practice analyzing. We finished the notes and looking at examples last week. We've been reading poems every day, and just providing surface responses, but I felt it was time to try the full analysis. It was a good starter activity, since on Thursday we looked at the "big" quarterly reading response assignment, which involves choosing a poem to analyze/interpret and memorize/recite for the class. Thursday I also had students answer two questions, one designed to be a self-assessment and the second designed to provide me feedback regarding how we can go about continuing to practice analyzing poems. I really enjoyed asking these same questions, basically, during our fictional analysis unit, and I highly value the student responses. I believe it helped the students understand what direction would be most fruitful for them in their efforts to improve their knowledge/work/scores/etc. So, below are the some of my favorite responses from the students. I have highlighted a few which made me very happy.

Looking at your Poetry CLOZE Notes, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest), how would you rate your ability to analyze a poem? Tell why.

·         If I could look at the notes, then a 9. Without the notes it would easily be under 5. I haven’t memorized very of the poetic elements.

·         8. If I did the practice right, I found it relatively easy because the poetry analysis is like going through a checklist.

·         9. I am good at it, I just don’t like it.

·         I think I am a 7 because I know most of the stuff but not all of it.

·         I would rate how well I can analyze a poem a 9. I think that because it’s easy for me.

·         8. I can analyze a poem really well, but I have trouble with the theme and/or symbolism sometimes.

·         7. Sometimes I get confused on how to analyze the theme or other areas.

·         I have only practiced once and I need more help.

·         8. I can analyze poems pretty well, but it take me awhile

·         8. I’m confident about my ability, but I don’t know everything.

·         5, because I know what I am doing I just don’t know if I am doing it right.

·         On a scale of 1 to 10 I would get a 3, because I do not know what I am doing.

·         I about 5 Im not to good at analyzing poems yet.

·         6.73 I think I have the basics but I don’t totally understand

·         3 or 2 cause you talk to fast for me to understand so I tune out.

·         6, because I understand how to do it but some of its tricky.

·         An 8 or 9. I know how to do everything but the symbolism. I always have trouble with the symbolism.

·         An 8, because I am pretty good at analyzing poems, but I have trouble occasionally identifying elements.

·         I would rate myself as an 8 because I have a grasp of how to analyze a poem, but I can make a few mistakes and/or not remember all the materials.

·         6, I have almost no clue on how to find things like theme or mood. Some poems are easy and some are impossible

·         2—I don’t really know what analyzing a poem means

·         8 because there are some things that are hard to find in the notes.

·         7; with my notes I can manage to get it done, but I still need a lot more practice with it.

·         9. I don’t know why the CLOZE Notes are easy for me but poetry has always been something I enjoy and I feel like can understand and analyze poems well.

·         I rate my ability an 8 because I’m good at it but I’m not perfect at it.

·         6. I know how to find somethings in a poem but others I have no idea.

·         I rate myself a 5 because I have the idea and I know what things I write I just don’t know how to put it in a sentence.

·         I would rate my ability 7.5. I understand the poem and everything, I just don’t know how to write my thoughts down.

·         About a nine because I think I’ve pretty much got it down, except for like some poetic elements. I still have kind of a rough time with that.

·         7. I’m not too sure of what some of the things mean or what I should classify things as. I get confuzzled.

·         9. I wrote a 9 because my notes are clear, explanatory, and have examples; so I feel as though I would be able to analyze poems very well with all of that help.

·         I would give myself a 9, because I definitely understand how, but in the process I may have a question or two.

  

What feedback (thoughts, questions, suggestions) do you have on how to continue to practice analyzing poetry?

·         What I thought about during the assignment was it was cut and dry. Maybe you could make the assignment a little more interactive.

·         I would like more time to work on the analysis practice, because yesterday I felt a bit rushed.

·         I liked the way we practiced last time, but I’d like if we went through it afterwards.

·         I think we should practice as a class with a single poem.

·         I think we are good at it. We’ll just get better the more I use the notes.

·         I need to keep reading and studying as much poetry as possible.

·         I’m not completely sure I understand how to analyze poems. I mostly just read them for enjoyment.

·         Some examples

·         As a class we should analyze a poem

·         I think that we could go over what we do when a poem has very few elements. We could also practice explaining what we know.

·         We could read famous poems on the smartboard as a class.

·         I don’t understand how to recognize alliteration and slang

·         I think we should get with a partner and pick a poem, then read it out loud to each other. When I hear things out loud I understand them more.

·         I need a tutor

·         Take it slower don’t just throw us out there go through several with us.

·         I should ask for help from you or another student.

·         We need to keep analyzing poems and maybe go over symbolism, and poetic definitions again.

·         More examples of an analyzation shown and done with the class

·         I think we should all analyze a poem together one day and if you were somebody that struggled they should be the one to answer the question.

·         I think I need to get all my notes and then practice them more

·         I really think I just need to analyze more poems.

·         I think I just need to read more poems.

·         I could use more practice.

·         I don’t understand how to start writing about what poetic elements and literary elements you find in the poems.

·         I would like to analyze a few more poems in class or with partners.

·         A way to get me to a 10 would be to give me examples.

·         Let use read more examples on how to write this.

·         I just need to learn the poetry elements off the top of my head.

·         We could do some more analysis of poetry, and we could do a computer activity with our shoulder partner, as practice.

·         We can keep doing poetry analysis’s, so we can get a lot of practice.

·         I think we could analyze a poem as a class like we did with fictional literary elements.

·         I think we could practice analyzing poems in class more, sometimes with and sometimes without notes, because I feel like that helped me yesterday.

some quick thoughts

I just read an article on the Harvard Business Review website titled "Dear Colleague, Put the Notebook Down" by Alexandra Samuel.

It's a pretty scathing piece about the use of "traditional" pencil/pen and paper in business meetings. The author makes some very good points about saving time, which leads to greater productivity in other areas. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. I love notebooks. For 2013 I bought four new, bright notebooks to use to keep my thoughts in. I process really well with pencil and paper. I use them at school and at home. I used one yesterday in a planning meeting with other middle school teachers. I read a lot of nonfiction, and there's a book that I've been reading lately that, whenever I read it, I have the following things nearby: a notebook (to write thoughts into), a post-it pad (to stick onto the page where I have a question or comment), a pencil (to write my notes with), and a laptop (to look up things that I feel can quickly and easily be answered on the web). Sometimes, rather than using my laptop, I use my iPad.

2. Much of the argument made in the article deals with increasing time efficiency and productivity. The author writes:

Unless you reserve 20 minutes after each meeting to transcribe your notes and enter your follow-up tasks, however, most of this meeting's value will slip like sand through a sieve. And if you're taking 20 minutes to transcribe each meeting, you're losing several hours per week of productive work time.

Well, I have to admit that I am the person that does this, occasionally. I don't do it all the time, but sometimes I do. I love putting pencil to paper--never pen. And afterwards, as I process my thoughts and the events of the meeting, I sort through items, organizing and grouping, as I type (or create visually) the notes from the meeting. And that's why I often always start with pencil and paper--the ability to do more with space. Yes, there are programs available, even free, that allow for the graphic organization of thoughts and ideas and even notes. But I'm most comfortable, initially, with pencil and paper. I often progress to the use of my laptop, but not always. And I have to admit that I'm a really primitive user of my iPad; basically I'm only a consumer on the tablet.

Those 20 minutes spent rehashing the events of the meeting, and deciphering my notes, is time well spent. If the meeting is actually worth attending, then it's probably something that will extend well beyond the immediacy of that situation, involving depth of thought, insight, and planning. Each of those "things" takes time, and, in my humble opinion, should not be rushed.

3. What does this article reveal for education? Teachers ask students to use notebooks all the time. I've got a Masters degree. I used notebooks all the time in my classes, all the way through college. Is this article one perspective, and a rather elitist, closed-minded one, at that? Or is there truth to this? If there is truth, then what do we learn from it?

Just some thoughts.