To Pause for a Poem with Purpose

In this episode, Brett Vogelsinger joins the podcast to talk about his new book, Poetry Pauses: Teaching with Poems to Elevate Student Writing in All Genres. Brett shares about the background of his book as well as the numerous benefits he has found in “pausing for a poem” in the classroom—especially as a way to improve student thinking and writing in a much broader sense. This isn’t just an episode for English teachers, either. Brett and Marcus talk about what it means to bring something “new” into any classroom, and how leaning into a new, innovative system can open myriad doors for students and teachers alike.

Interested in getting the book yourself? You can find it at the publisher’s website, https://us.corwin.com/books/poetry-pauses-282912

Thanks to: Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

As always, you can email thoughts and feedback to thebrokencopier@substack.com.

Thanks for listening!