Bagert

Transcription

[guitar strumming] Every year FSDB invites an author to come and visit. This year we invited Brod Bagert. This is the first time we've ever had a poet come and we are so excited. The reasons why we bring authors here is because the authors can help the students understand that the book has a real person behind it. They are able to ask the author questions, and the students are able to understand the author's perspective. It also helps motivate the students, that they want to read that book after meeting the author and then they want to write just like them. "Cake and cookies, cookies and cake, now it's time to take a break." (Brod) I think this is probably the first time I've been to a school where the entire population of the school is either deaf or blind. It's really a situation that calls for an adjustment, but it's not much of an adjustment. The children are the same, emotionally the same, intellectually the same. My job as a visiting poet is first, to have the children discover that they love poetry and encourage them to become poetry lovers. And you become poetry lovers by becoming the poem, by reciting it out loud with expression, by reciting it with sign with your entire body; where you actually become the poem, and bring the poem to life. The real cool thing was doing the blind students and the deaf students at the same time, because you would leave words out that the blind students would fill in. And the deaf students didn't know they were filling them in, so it wasn't problematic for them. So you really got a sense that there were two totally different audiences functioning at the same time together as one with the performer. It was a ball. It was absolutely a ball! I had really no idea what to expect and I can't believe how courteous and disciplined and fun these children have been. It has made my spring! "Wipe the table, sweep the floor, [children laughing] get some snacks and eat some more!" [children cheering]