I think often in middle and high school many students avoid all types of poetry like the plague: associating it with Shakespearean sonnets and too much work. I feel this is in part due to the way many schools and English teachers teach poetry to their students. I have enjoyed poetry my entire life, but even I can remember groaning inwardly in class when the teacher told us to “dissect” that particular poem. I know my experience is not uncommon. Poetry can be a difficult thing to teach students especially when the curriculum mandates that students learn about all the poetic elements: rhyme, meter, alliteration, etc. However, there is an article that should open up the eyes of students and teachers alike. In “Poet Follows Her Dream”, an article written by NJ DeVico in the Trenton Times, a woman who grew up with a dislike for poetry actually becomes a published poet.

Janet Wong was an accomplished attorney who decided to make a drastic career change when she left her practice to take up writing, despite not enjoying poetry at any time during her childhood. About her prior experience with poetry she says,

“I hated poetry, starting about fourth grade. “Actually, in fairness to poetry, I didn’t know enough poetry to hate it. I think I hated having to memorize poems. I also hated analyzing them, picking them apart in class.”

Her experiece, like so many of us turned her as far from writing poetry as she could get: the courtroom. Shouldn’t this tell us somethign as prospective teachers? What is wrong with the way poetry is taught these days that students hate it? Poetry is a beautiful art form and it doesn’t take a genious to be a poet. I feel that we should be communicating these sentiments to students as we teach them about the wonders of the poetic world. There is no telling what doors will be opened up if students get over the stigma that poetry has.

Part of opening these doors to poetic writing includes sharing poetry that may differ from the norm of Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson, though those are powerful in their own right. Poetry is real, and there are many current poets and authors out there that would provide excellent examples for students to emulate. It was actually one such author who lead to Janet Wong’s inspiration as a poet and turned her life upside down.

“Then she heard children’s poet and anthologist Myra Cohn Living ston speak and read from her book, “There Was a Place.” It changed Wong’s view of poetry. “I knew I could learn a lot from her,” she says. “

Real life poets have so much to teach students today. They are people who have experienced the same events as them and feel challenged by life as they do. The examples they show can be amazing, which is why I chose to share this article about Janet Wong. She is that student who sits in the back row rolling her eyes each time the teacher says “Time for poetry”. She is person we are called to open the doors of the literary world for an I can only wonder might have occured in her life if her English teacher had exposed her to recent published poets. There is no telling what students are capable of accomplishing and this lawyer from New Jersey, even though years removed from the high school realms is a great example: She has published over 15 books for children

In fact, Janet Wong put her own advice into action. She is encouraging students and teachers alike in the Princeton area.

“As part of Princeton Day School’s Imagine the Possibilities program, a weeklong event that be gins today, Wong will conduct poetry-writing workshops, discuss the life of a poet and teach students to write about childhood for children”

Poetry writing is not for those who are blessed with gift, it can be for everyone, as Wong shows us, even for someone who “hates” poetry.

Link to Article