Don't Rain on My Parade

For the very last poetry workshop I was organizing for this 8th grade class, I wanted it to be special. I tried thinking up many ideas on how to spice it up and make the students really excited and it finally came down to one fun poetry activity. The weather was perfect for the last few days while I was putting my lesson plan together, so I figured we should take advantage of the beautiful, warm weather here in Santa Barbara.

I wanted to take the students outside, but in the most organized, orderly way possible. To do this I needed to make sure they were all completely silent, which yes, I know that can be difficult when it comes to middle schoolers because it seems like they always have something to say, but approaching it in a perplexing way will leave the kids wanting to participate in order to figure out what our grand plan is. So here was my grand plan.

My partner Alejandra and I were going to enter the classroom saying nothing, besides saying hello to the teacher of course, and make our way to the front of the room. I printed out instructions in large text on printer paper that we were going to use instead of talking, in addition to the PowerPoint presentation I put together. The PowerPoint displayed instructions for the students, starting with the first slide that simply said "Listen" in huge letters. Following that, the slides instructed them that our activity would only work if everyone was completely silent and to take out a pencil and a hard surface to write on (since we always brought in hard copies of the poems we were sharing with them allowing them to write their own poem on the back). The last slide then said, "Everyone line up at the door, quietly." This we hoped would motivate them to stay quiet because they already could put the pieces together that this workshop was going to be special.

Once we were outside, the paper instructions would be put into play, because just like the students, we weren't talking either. As we led them onto the grass area under a big tree, we both held up the signs simultaneously on either side of the group so everyone had a chance to see what we were saying. The instructions looked a little something like this:

Their first instructions were to sit in a giant circle, while still being quiet. Next, Alejandra and I would read the poem we picked to set up the tone for our lesson. The poem was called, "A Still Moment" by A. T. Alabi, which enlightened the reader to take a second and pause to look around at the nature and beauty surrounding them. The purpose of the class and ourselves being silent was to force them to listen to the sounds that were happening around them while we sat on the grass. Sitting in a classroom doesn't nearly create the same emotion you get from sitting outside in nature without any disruptions. By doing this, we hoped their poems would be even more in depth with the things they heard, saw, felt, and smelt.

Our paper instructions went as follows:

• This is our last poetry workshop.

• So, we're doing things a little differently today.

• This will only be successful if everyone is completely quiet the whole time.

• Everyone sit in a big circle, please.

• Continue to stay quiet.

• We will both read the poem aloud now.

• *Poem*

• You are quiet because we want you to listen. Observe the beautiful nature around you.

• Try to notice things about nature that you haven't before.

• Write a poem about everything you're noticing outside. The smallest things to the biggest things.

• Sometimes we forget to appreciate the beauty of the world, so that's what we're doing today.

• List as many things you notice as possible, but don't just have a list of words. We want you to describe the beauty you're seeing.

• *Give them time to write*

• 10 minutes until we share around the circle.

• 5 minutes until we share around the circle.

• Everyone read your favorite line. Let's start with the person on Alejandra's right.

Not to rain on your parade but, none of this actually happened because it rained that day. I had checked the weather app days in advance to make sure the day we were doing the workshop was a beautiful, dry day and it was. But when that morning approached, Alejandra and I met up with each other as the rain poured down with gloomy looks on our faces. I was sad because I had put a lot of time and effort into making the PowerPoint and paper instructions, and now none of it make much sense if we were staying inside.

So despite my excitement and preparation for this lesson plan, we put it all aside and asked for the students to pretend that they were sitting outside, by looking out the window to get some ideas on what nature they'd be seeing outdoors. They had no problem with this considering they didn't know what the original plan was, so the classroom went on like normal with talking and giggling and asking questions. I could have enforced the silent room while in the classroom, but the point wasn't to be quiet so people could concentrate on writing a poem. The point was to sit in silence to be able to witness nature first-hand, letting all the sounds surrounding us fill our ears and spill onto a page.

The poems from the students turned out great like usual, illustrating a raining day through the window instead of a bright, sunny one. But what are you going to do with Santa Barbara's unpredictable weather? We just moved on and hoped our focus on appreciating nature stuck with the students throughout their young, precious lives.