• Give readings & workshops at colleges and universities, libraries, community centers
• Make National Writing Project presentations
• Deliver keynote addresses
• Speak at conferences and school assemblies
• Provide inservice training for teachers in creative writing in the classroom
• Teach writing in schools and other institutions
• Accept short (2-6 weeks) Fulbright Senior Specialist appointments abroad,
in countries with U.S. Fulbight offices (see Foreign Travel and Teaching Experience)
Special Interests:
• Teacher training: strategies for poetry writing in the classroom
• Bilingual Education – able to teach in Spanish
• At-risk students
• Science and social studies as springboards for writing activities
• Multicultural and contemporary poetry
• Poetry and the environment
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.
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!”
“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.”
“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, Utah
“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.”
You taught us how to show
our feelings
With the force of waves
Pounding into the shore
THANKS
– David, grade 7
Booking
You may inquire about booking a class, workshop, or other event here
Nature photographs and written content © Ingrid Wendt, unless otherwise cited.