Louder than a bomb: My hate turned love relationship with poetry - Part 1

One of the hardest things for me as a teacher is teaching things that I am not interested in or passionate about. As an elementary and middle school teacher, the reality is that we often end up teaching subjects that are either new to us or that would not be our first choice. My favourite subject to teach is mathematics. I have a love for numbers and patterns and I speak about it with a passion that my students often think is ridiculous and funny. I might just be a little over the top when it comes to math but they certainly seem to enjoy it and I feel that if I can show passion for a subject then it might just rub off on them. I am also a big fan of teaching English. Beyond the basics of English, there are so many creative things that you can do with your students. You can intertwine so many other subject areas into your language lessons. I have always been able to show passion for the topics we are working on in language as well. All the topics except one, poetry. That was until I figured out how to be “Louder than a bomb”.

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We started our poetry unit in class this week. Ever since I was a student myself I have disliked poetry. I was an avid reader and loved novels and could always be found with something that I was reading at the time. Poetry, however, did not interest me at all. It was a topic that I did in school because I had to and it was about getting through it more than doing my best or trying to enjoy or understand it. Looking back now, this negative attitude didn’t make a whole lot of sense as I was constantly rhyming and singing. I often joked that I was Dr. Seuss in disguise. Somehow, I had developed a hate relationship with poetry and that feeling hadn’t changed as I became an adult and then a teacher. I remember thinking to myself “How on earth am I going to teach this?

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Through my first several years of teaching I “got through it” when it came to poetry. I don’t think I did a bad job of teaching it but it was not delivered with the same passion as I show with other subjects. I could feel it and I was sure my student might feel it as well. While teaching poetry II started to realize what it was that I disliked about poetry. Somehow poetry felt rigid and scripted to me. It felt like there were types of poems and rules that needed to be followed and at times it felt like students were limited. I could see many students who had developed or were developing similar attitudes about poetry to mine.

When I started to teach grade 8, I decided that I had to find a way to change my attitude about poetry and somehow make poetry fun for both myself and my students. When surveying my classes it was resoundingly clear that poetry was not a favourite as 80% of the kids expressed feelings of dislike towards poetry. Over time they had developed a negative vibe towards poetry. The said things like, “Poetry is boring” or Poetry makes no sense”. Several expressed the issue with not being able to think of what to write that will fit the “type” of poem they were being “told” to write. We had open discussions about the reasons they disliked poetry so much. I started looking for a better way to teach poetry and make it fun. That is when I found “Louder than a bomb”

Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is the world’s largest youth poetry festival, five weeks of events during which 120 teams from high schools, middle schools, or community organizations compete slam-style in poetry bouts.
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The winning poem from "Louder than a bomb"

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The documentary, “Louder than a bomb” was a game changer for me. The film documented the experiences of a group of high school students as they prepared for a prestigious slam poem competition. Every year in Chicago, high schools compete in the “Louder than a bomb” competition.

Spoken Word Poetry

A modern twist on traditional poetry, spoken word is an oral art that focuses on wordplay and rhyme to tell a story – like rap but without music.
For years it has been bubbling under the surface as an underground phenomenon, but now it is beginning to creep its way into the mainstream.
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Spoken word gave me a whole perspective of poetry. All of a sudden I could see that poetry was everywhere and I could feel the emotion that poetry was meant to convey. My favourite part about spoken word poetry is that it eliminated the rules. Most spoken word poetry is free verse. Free verse allows the writer to express themselves in any form they choose. They don’t have to stick to the structural rules that many poems have. This was one of the biggest restrictors for many students and myself. I knew the moment I started to cry watching the documentary I was hooked.

Mind Blown

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Now I have a passion for poetry that I have never had before. I have seen a huge shift in the way my students feel about poetry as well. We spend time exploring poetic devices through music. We are able to find so many elements of poetry in songs and this helps to make the topic relevant to my students. We look at rap and hip hop and break the songs down. Students find poetry in the songs they listen to every day. Now, when I survey students about how they feel about poetry more than 60% have a positive feeling about poetry. A huge shift in opinions.

The best part of the unit is when my students create and perform their own spoken word poems. It is amazing to see these kids who claimed to hate poetry pour out their emotions into these poems. They are given the freedom to write about whatever they want without rules and restrictions. It makes a huge difference for them to have that freedom. They are able to write about topics that they know and are passionate about. It is easier to write emotional poems when you are interested and knowledgeable about the topic. The only “rules” are that the poems must contain poetic devices that we have learned and the must be appropriate for the audience. Let’s keep it as clean as possible.

keeping it clean

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My new found passion for poetry has morphed into something I could never have expected. Other teachers in grade 8 started doing spoken word poetry with their classes and I organized our own school slam competitions. I have now approached our school board about doing a regional or eventually board wide competition. The fact that I can see a tangible difference in the student's feelings about poetry has further fueled that fire. The moment that I realized the difference I was able to make was two years ago at our grade 8 graduation. Our valedictorian decided to do her entire speech in the form of a spoken word poem. It was tremendously done and received a thunderous applause at the end. It was a very proud moment.

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To think that we can be passionate about everything in life and everything we teach might be a little naive. I have learned, however, that you always need to keep your mind open to new things and seek to find new ways. If I had never looked for a different way to teach poetry I might still be feeling like poetry was the most frustrating subject to teach. It turns out that poetry is actually one of my favourite things to teach. Who would have ever thought that? I highly suggest watching the “Louder than a bomb” documentary”. I promise you won’t regret it.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post in a few weeks. I plan to share the audio of some of the performances by my students. I am eagerly looking forward to them.