I had the privilege of attending a poetry class taught by Professor Zach Savich and his advanced poetry students. The class helped individuals at the council who are working to take the GED test and covered important literary vocabulary like rhyme, alliteration, simile, and metaphor. I especially enjoyed hearing the creative work the students produced after two class periods and the ways that they applied what they read in other poems to their own work. Even better, I saw a lot of laughter in the class. Teaching to a test can be dry at times, but Professor Savich and his students created an interesting way to approach the test's poetry.
I think his poetry students learned a lot, as well-- not only were they asked to explain concepts in poetry to their partners, but they were exposed to how difficult the objective GED test on literature can be. All in all, I thought it was a good mix of test-taking strategy and creativity and I'm so happy I was able to attend.
