Dangerous Minds, Sans the Dangerous

So…Tuesday came and went. Bringing the total of 7 IT classes without electricity, which means no computers which means no IT lesson.  The thought of continuing hangman on Wednesday for another 3 classes made my brain hurt. So I spoke to one of the English teachers and asked her what I could do to supplement her lessons.  The classes are divided by their English and math skills so there are 2 classes that have a higher level of understanding of English.  I did some basic lessons with the lower level classes but I wanted to do something different with the higher level class.

I asked the teacher again and she suggested I do a short reading comprehension exercise.  It sounded good but I couldn’t find a passage from one of the books that was short enough, I liked or was easy enough.

I went to the class empty handed. Thinking I would just wing it.  I asked one of the volunteers who works in the school to come to class and help me since I was out of ideas.  But when I got in the class my awesome think on your feet mechanism kicked in and I knew what I wanted to do with the kids.

I proceeded to write on the board the words to my favorite poem, Dreams by Langston Hughes. In case you don’t know the poem here it is:

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

I thought the poem was perfect because it is short, simple and has a good message.  I was thinking it would be great for them to analyze the poem, break it down line by line and figure out the message.

We got off to a slow start as I had to explain a lot about the poem but as soon as we got past the vocabulary i.e. barren, hold fast, frozen, snow etc. we were rolling.  The kids were awesome.  Their analysis was great. So creative and just awesome.

Completely making up as I was going along, I decided to take the project one step further.  I told the kids I wanted them to write their own versions of the poem. But instead of it being about what happens if you let go of your dreams, I wanted them to write about what would happen if you hang on to your dreams.

While they were writing I leaned over to the other volunteer and said “I feel like I’m in Dangerous Minds.”  If you are unfamiliar with the movie, the reference I am making pertains to the teacher who teaches poetry and songs specifically Tambourine Man by Dylan to inner city kids who have never analyzed poems or music lyrics.  At first it was tough but they all really got into it and were great.

Same kind of thing happened with my class.  At first it was tough and the kids seemed a little frustrated.  But as we broke it down and they understood they all got really excited.

I collected their poems.  I had to assure them that they wouldn’t be graded on them, it was just for fun (the kids get a little nervous about grades).  The poems are great.  Some of the kids totally got the concept of a metaphor.  And utilized it.  Others didn’t fully employ metaphors in their poems but the poems were still great and still about achieving your dreams.  Which really was the whole point of the lesson.  Getting the kids to think about their dreams, think about the future and the importance of working hard and being determined to achieve what they want, especially given the opportunity that is before them.

I found out the power may be out until the end of February, so I may have more opportunities to work on lessons like this with the kids.

P.S. the best part of the lesson was the very end when I was ready to leave and I asked if the kids had any more questions and one girl raised her hand and said “Is this IT?” (referring to the poetry lesson).  I just laughed and said “No, this was fun…No power, no computers, no IT”

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