Poetry in The Classroom
Ingrid Wendt's 30 years with state-funded Arts-in-Education programs have taken her into hundreds of classrooms in Oregon, Iowa, Utah, Washington, and Illinois, where she has worked with many thousands of students, grades K-12. Her
one-day to three-week school residencies offer students access into modern poetry and the opportunity to see how poems can grow out of their own lives. In each class she presents selected poems that will help students overcome their fears and dislikes of poetry, and illustrate ways poets use words to give us new ways of seeing or feeling. Using these poems as models, students write free-verse poems of their own, which Ingrid collects and reads back to them, respecting each writer's creation and offering encouragement.
By focusing on process, rather than product, even the most reluctant students discover the satisfaction and pleasure of writing poems. Students develop skills, confidence, and appreciation for the poetry of others, they are introduced to a vocabulary with which to discuss traditions in poetry, they are exposed to poetry from different world cultures, and they experiment in using elements of poetry (such as metaphor and patterns of repetition) that carry over into other areas of writing across the curriculum.
Whether the visit is once only, or for a more intensive sequence of visits, her goal is to offer inspiration, skills and confidence to students of all ages, whatever their previous writing experience. Ingrid has experience in teaching classes in Spanish.
Teacher workshops are designed for teachers at all grade levels to use the guide
Starting with Little Things. Aimed at demystifying the process of teaching poetry, and to help teachers feel more comfortable with their own writing, the workshops begin with ways to get past "writer's block" and to involve participants in some in-workshop writing experiments. Teachers will discover ways to adapt the lessons to their own needs and interests, and will discover sequential writing assignments to introduce their students to basic structural elements in poetry, as well as to help students free their imaginations and enjoy the writing process.
Possible formats include: 1)
Classroom visits--once only, or repeat visits (5-10 times) to the same classes, for a period of one to two weeks; 2)
Classroom visits for one half day, one or two full days, combined with an after-school inservice; 3)
Teacher inservice only, after school or on a weekend. Length of teacher workshops vary according to interest and need, with a minimum length of one hour.
Ingrid is open to other suggestions. Please
inquire.
Foreign Teaching and Travel Experience
American born, the daughter of a German-Chilean father and German-American mother, Ingrid Wendt has spent numerous periods of extended living abroad. She has twice traveled to Chile, where she was an exchange student in 1964. Comfortable with speaking, reading, and lecturing in Spanish, Ingrid is able to teach bi-lingual classes, to work one-on-one with Spanish-speaking students, and to introduce all students to Latin and South American poetry in translation.
Since 1983, Wendt has traveled extensively in Western Europe. Conversant in Italian and German, she has resided at the Rockefeller Foundation's Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy; lectured, presented workshops, and read her poems in many locations in Germany and Italy; attended an international writers' festival in Finland; lived for three months in Troms, Norway; and lived twice, for five and then eleven months, in Frankfurt, Germany.
In 1994-95, Wendt was a senior Fulbright professor at the University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where she introduced a semester-long course -- for students in the departments of Education and American Studies, and for local English language teachers -- in the pedagogy of poetry writing in the classroom. Additionally, Wendt conducted classroom residencies with upper-level high school English language classes in Freidrichsdorf, Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany, and under the auspices of the Amerika Haus/USIS program -- presented teacher workshops in six different regions of Germany.
In 1996, the German publisher of educational materials Ernst Klett Schulbuchverlag (Stuttgart) purchased, for European distribution, 1000 copies of Wendt's book
Starting with Little Things: A Guide to Writing Poetry in the Classroom. These copies have sold out, and more have been ordered. A bilingual (Italian- English) edition of Wendt's second book of poems,
Singing the Mozart Requiem, was been published in 1995 by Multimedia Editions, of Salerno, Italy.
In September 1999, Wendt visited middle- and high-school classes at the Frankfurt International School (Oberursel) and the European School in Karlsruhe. German high school (Gymnasium) students attended Wendts workshops at Karlsruhes American Library. Also in September, Wendt presented teacher workshops 1) in Frankfurt, sponsored by Ernst Klett Schulbuchverlag; 2) in Oberursel, at the Frankfurt International School, and 3) in Stadthagen, near Hannover, sponsored by the Northwestern branch of the German teachers union.
Recent acceptance into the roster of the Fulbright Senior Specialist Program has led to an invitation from the University of Freiburg, Germany, for the month of June. Through this program she is available for future two- to six-week visiting scholar appointments which can include meeting classes, lecturing, attending conferences, consulting, assisting with curriculum development, poetry readings, working with student publications, etc. in any country with a Fulbright office.
What Others Say
Ingrid is poised, articulate, and relaxed as she orchestrates workshop activities and helps participants to write poems. I would say she ranks in the top 5% of consultants who have visited our project in its twenty-four year history. She has had a similar long-standing relationship with the Oregon Writing Project. ... Teachers leave her workshops thinking, Wow, this is fun I can do this!
Bill Strong, Professor & Director, Utah Writing Project
In the Spring of 2000, Ms. Wendt served as a poet-in-residence in ... our rural county elementary schools. Her obvious literary talent, work ethic, love of children, concern for quality, flexibility, and popularity with teachers and school administrators will no doubt make her a permanent fixture of our Skagit River Poetry Project.
- Kathy Shoop, Curriculum Coordinator, La Conner School District, Washington
The Saturday workshops for teachers were very well attended, and regarded as extremely valuable. ... As we wrote poems, she would read them and always find something a word or phrase to compliment which made us believe that we actually had talent. Most beneficial ... was the immediate application of her techniques to the classroom.
Karen Siegler, teacher, Jordan High School
Ingrid has worked several terms in the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles. I have found her work with students to be absolutely of the highest quality. Ingrid has an extensive professional background as a writer and editor, and she brings those gifts and skills to work with students. She is generous with her time and acumen, and student evaluations of her work are studded with high praise for her dedication to their learning both the craft and the emotional side of being a writer.
Eloise Klein Healy, Chair, MFA in Creative Writing Program
You taught us how to show
our feelings
With the force of waves
Pounding into the shore
THANKS
- David, grade 7
Booking
To contact Ingrid Wendt directly:
idwendt@comcast.net
2377 Charnelton
Eugene, Oregon 97405
541-343-5101 (Pacific Time)
