Poetry: More useful than you'd expect (by Jack Gavin, Age 11)
By...Jack
Alright, I’m not going to lie to you, school hasn’t exactly been a “wonderland” for me. I mean, the others got off to a good start but I got stuck with 98 percent Costa Ricans and a couple of others who have already learned Spanish. They are all Spanish speakers and are all obsessed with soccer and I’m not either of those.
This is me in Arenal - the highlight of Costa Rica!
Even though school hasn’t been my cup of tea, I have come to realize that this school does teach us some very important skills that will help us in school and in life.
For example, the title of this, as you can see, is about poetry and it’s surprising importance. Poetry? Important? Actually, it turns out poetry is a great way to get ready for public speaking in front of large crowds. Yep, that’s right, middle school poetry reciting in front of a small class is actually a good way to practice public speaking. The teacher assigns the class a new poem every week. We have to memorize and recite the poem in front of the class.
At first, I was most definitely annoyed at this poem stuff, but soon I started to figure out that even little things like reciting poems can really help. The teacher grades us on four things: memorization, presentation, clarity, and voice. Memorization, clarity, and voice I can see as important skills. But I then learned that by “presentation,” the teacher means how good your drawing is (we have to make a drawing each week to go with the poem). I try hard on presentation, but still, I think this school is a little TOO crazy about art.
This a suggestion to anyone reading this blog. I most definitely think you should try and practice public speaking in some sort of way. Poetry is only one of many great ways to practice public speaking, you can even do something like giving a presentation on some sort of topic once a week.
So again, I have to say there are some tough parts to being in this school but I also have to say that I am learning some things that I never learned before that I can see will help me in the future.
This is me in Arenal - the highlight of Costa Rica!
This a suggestion to anyone reading this blog. I most definitely think you should try and practice public speaking in some sort of way. Poetry is only one of many great ways to practice public speaking, you can even do something like giving a presentation on some sort of topic once a week.