Spoken Word Communities.....

Wow! After reading Writing in Rhythm and Bronx Masquerade I am in awe of how writing can change students lives--not just individually, but in creating a community that can break down barriers and misunderstandings among students. I have to be honest, though, I don't see myself in this creative, truth-based environment. The roles of Joe Ubilies and Mr. Ward (the, I'm assuming, fictional teacher in the latter work) seem under-emphasized in favor of the process. But when students are composing from the heart and soul, what a responsibility to respond effectively and supportively! I don't know if I would have even understood what the significance of many poems quoted in Writing in Rhythm. I was certainly grateful for Maisha Fisher's comments and the connections she made for me to literacy and the student's lives. The idea of "feeding" the authors seems very delicate to me. The students were very positive with each other and showed mature insight into what the author was about. I felt, though, that without Joe's special ability to inspire the trust and committed hard work a power writer's group might not be successful. I just fear that botched up, it could be seriously destructive. Don't you need to be part social worker to have the confidence to tread into deep waters?

Maybe not. A wonderful teacher, who is my TA this year, has a fantastic relationship with the "at risk" kids in our school. Every morning, they crowd around her desk for help with assignments and accepting conversation. They tell her about the tragedies in their lives and swear her to secrecy; they share family concerns, jailed parents, drug-selling siblings, suicides, new boyfriends, future plans. I think someone like Gayle could handle a Power Writer's
group. I'm fairly sure, I could not.

These readings and others in this class have made me recognize the importance of audience and voice. When student's care about their audience, their purpose, and their product...they are willing to invest in improving writing skills. I loved Joe's emphasis on the importance of literacy and switching between Bronxonics and more standard English. When students see themselves as "a Jedi of words" and care about "catching words" and owning them--what a far cry from the lists of vocab words that get looked up, but are never really mastered because they never really matter. Genuine opportunities for students to express themselves generate a focus and excitement about writing that I've never seen surround a literary essay assignment. I went to a garage sale once just after I began teaching Special English. A long time middle school teacher was giving away writing books that she had accumulated through her 25 year career. As she helped me carry some to the car, I told her of the struggles I was having getting my students to write essays about characterization and symbolism in The Pearl. "You have to start with what they know," she told me; "when they write about themselves, what they care about, what they think and feel, they will want to learn to write." I though about her advice this week. Writing is about having something to say, and then learning how to say it so others will understand and respond. Composing is about expressing and communication--as this week's readings show. I don't see opportunities for this type of written expression in typical Regents English classes in my NYS school. You have to take Creative Writing, or compose on your own time! At least in 9th and 10th grades, I believe we need to make space for creative expression through writing.

Barb