I enjoyed the interview Xerri had with Candy Royalle and in particular, one line stuck out to me: “Unless spoken word poetry is more firmly present in education, young people will continue to be deprived of the benefits that it poses”.
In my practicum, I was able to teach essentially 3 spoken word poetry units. Poetry is not my strong suit but I thoroughly enjoy listening and even writing poetry as well. In my classes, I was able to see students transform and come out of their comfort zones and write spoken word pieces that revolved around the theme of pain and affliction. I had one student who gave a poem about a heartbreak, then excused herself from the class to go the washroom (to of course wipe tears). She enjoyed writing the poem and I’m proud she took the risk to share with her classmates her personal pain. I also had an ELL student write about suicide and although he did not really speak up in class, all the students loved his poem and were cheering him on!
In entering a full time teaching role, I know that I won’t have much flexibility in crafting my own curriculum per se but I want to continue to implement spoken word to empower students to share their voices that may be unknowingly stifled. Although leaving myself vulnerable too, here’s a rap that I wrote as an example for the students called, “604-PLEASEPICKUPTHEPHONE”. Although it’s quite a “generic rap”, I know it helped students feel more comfortable in writing about the theme of pain (to which my SA also encouraged them to do so as well)!