Word: koch
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...first place Koch assumes that children enjoy writing poetry because it gets them away from the regular courses, the dull routine of scheduled periods of reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, etc. Essentially, he exploits that institutional tedium without ever questioning it. His creative geniuses would probably not have done so well if, in sitting at the same desk all day, every day, Miss Blunt would ask them to take out their pencils and paper and from 11:45 to 12:00 (right before lunch when they're all dying to go out and play) write a poem...
...tried to open up the kids' imaginations, to encourage and inspire them. Koch said, "Perhaps the most important thing to do, I found, is to be positive about everything." I said to these kids, "Write anything you want." But in public schools the words "everything" and "anything" are already surrounded by an implicit censorship. Many of these children picked up on the work "anything" and wrote away with a fierce sense of vindication...
...Koch never printed lines quite like these. Traditional schools usually don't allow that kind of honesty...
...atmosphere was happy and somewhat creative, but it wasn't always happy, and not constantly productive. There was a lot of tension--not terrible but still recognizable--that Koch never even suggests as possible. But two poems in particular were outstanding: they showed sensitivity and a certain playfulness with words. Both were written by Laura, a sixth grader...
...these poems may not actually be poems, but the mechanics help children become aware of all the different styles available to them. At the same time they can use their imaginations, as Koch says. But Koch often attributes too much consciousness of the process to the children. Many never go beyond sheer mechanical repetition. In a series of "I used to be/But now I am" poems this become apparent...