Five Tips for Becoming a Summer-Time Poet by Stephen Briseño

After eleven years of teaching, there is one annoyance that stands out to me more than others. It’s not kid’s failing to turn in assignments or meetings that should’ve been emails.

No, it’s realizing that it’s August 8th, in-service starts in a week, and I have little to show for my summer.

Society scoffs at how teachers get summers off. While that topic can be a bit touchy, it forces me to pause and reflect on the gift that is summer. All year long we’ve planned lessons, attended PD, connected with students,  given feedback on essays. Yes, rest is good and we all deserve it. 

Let’s face it: we’re given two solid months off!  It’s like a mini built-in retirement--every year! Make the most of it and write.

This summer, I’ve resolved to write more poetry than I ever have before.

But why poetry?

Nancie Atwell says that no other genre of writing is as compact and dense as poetry. The craft lessons contained in poetry are inexhaustible. Inferencing? Check. Writer’s craft? Duh! Literary devices? Yup. Theme? ABSOLUTELY! Now, imagine the brain power that you’ll be using writing poems! Plus, for those of us that are apprehensive writing fiction or non-fiction, poetry’s length requirements are much more forgiving.

Here are my tips for a summer poetry-writing extravaganza:

Find a quiet place. No distractions, a.k.a. NO PHONE! Play some music that you love and get to work.

Consistent time. 30 minutes? An hour? Every Monday/ Wednesday? Whatever you decide, be consistent.

Read great poetry. Discover poets who inspire and challenge you. Study their moves; notice their use of craft.

Find your “threshold.” Poet Gregory Orr talks about thresholds, “the place [in life] where order passes over into disorder.” There--at your thresholds--is where you find inspiration for poems. Where are those areas of life that cause you rub? Is it a certain memory? An emotion? A topic? Mine those “thresholds” for inspiration!

Just write. Don’t censor yourself. Just get it all out, revise later, and see what you produce. You will surprise yourself!

I can’t wait to see what comes out of a summer of writing! Will you join me?


Stephen Briseño is an 8th Grade English teacher in San Antonio, TX. After 11 years in education, he’s finally decided to be as brave as his students and share his writing with others. Additionally, along with his wife, Kayla, he leads district writing professional developments  for teacher/author Gretchen Bernabei’s consulting group, Trail of Breadcrumbs. You can find him on Twitter (@stephen_briseno),  at his class site brisenoin209.weebly.com, and at trailofbreadcrumbs.net

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