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Kinzie Garcia
Professor Witte
February 27, 2017
CIED 4193
Professional Article Critique

Reference:

Nobles, Susanne L. and Azano, Amy Price (2016) "Poetry Is Powerful: High School Students

and Pre-Service Teachers Develop Literacy Relationships through

Poetry," Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1 ,

Article 8.

Thesis:

In a time where poetry comprehension and composition is dwindling in the lives of young people

and more difficult to break down from a teachers standpoint, this article presents the positive

outcome of collaboration between high school students and pre-service teachers.

Question:

How are future teachers supposed to connect with current students in the high school classroom

to grasp an approach on properly learning poetry?

What can pre-service teachers do to fulfill this commitment and revitalization of quality poetry in

the classroom?

Summary of article:
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The author begins this article by confronting the difficulties and contemporary outlook on

poetry in society today. Mentioned is the dwindling number of individuals interested in poetry,

as well as the number of whom are going out of their way to find such a form of writing. In this

article we see an experiment of two different groups of people, high school students and pre-

service teachers; collaborating in a controlled and instructional environment to improve the

quality of work for both parties. One tool used in this experiment involve private online

classrooms through Google Sites to improve collaboration as well as to provide a safe, controlled

work space to create a strong environment of creative control. Another beneficial tool that made

this entire experiment and article possible was the collaboration of students and pre-service

teachers. These two very differing set of individuals provided two drastically different insights

and brought forth all levels of knowledge about poetry, teaching, and learning. The author went

on to inform the reader of the objectives covered and aimed for within both groups of

individuals.

There were individual objectives for both groups as well as instructional guidance to get

to the stage of collaboration. Included in the article was a brief exercise done by students and

pre-service teachers and attached to this exercise was the results of the collaboration, as well as

feedback from both parties. The entire concept that this article is putting emphasis on is the

collaboration process and the gradual implementation of instruction in regards to poetry. At first,

both groups were given specific instructions that had a strong sense of creative control on the

individuals part; dissecting poetry, reading poetry that interested them, and then writing poetry

that pertained to them. Once this was accomplished, the groups began to surpass skimming the

surface, and fully went into depth with the purpose of their being in this experiment.
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Critique:

This article was very enjoyable and interesting to read due to the relevance and insight it

provided. I specifically enjoyed that it not only brought attention to the fears and troubles that

high school students face when approaching poetry, but also pre-service teachers, and their

struggles with being able to adequately teach such a complex form of writing. From the

viewpoint of a student as well as a pre-service teacher, I found this article extremely comforting

because it does address our downfalls and doesnt just focus on the problems, but offers up

solutions as well; which is great and needed in order to encompass what the author is trying to

prove. I thought it bold and brilliant that the high school students were given the opportunity to

collaborate with college aged students. This bridges a gap between teachers and students by

allowing individuals who are students becoming teachers to relate with both parties. College

aged students are still struggling and learning new things just as the high school students are.

That level of understanding can be extremely beneficial and may serve as a confidence boost to

the high school students. In the study, a student was mentioned being a little concerned at the

beginning of the collaboration, but later had different views due to the comfort, safety, and

understanding of all parties involved. These students were presented with the opportunity to

build relationships with their pre-service mentors which in turn allowed them to learn from one

another through their swapping of knowledge, struggles, and victories in reading, reciting, and

writing poetry. To have a foundation of comfort and safety in this classroom and as the article

stated a non-threatening space amongst peers allowed the reciting of poems in front of an

audience to soar with participation and commitment.

I am curious to see how far this process can go with these two groups purely because of

the levels of understanding and knowledge brought to the table. I believe bringing in a more
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advanced individual that has excelled in poetry could improve and break even more barriers that

these participants have potentially set up in their years of learning. What I fear with this

suggestion would be the confidence levels of students, both high school and college aged. In this

day and age, kids are becoming more closed off the asking questions because they see it as an

admittance to not knowing enough. When an individual who surpasses all participants in this

experiment is brought it, it potentially invites this feeling and thus goes our non-threatening

space for new poets.