A Teachers Words

Have you ever heard the saying that those who can...do, and those who can't...teach? Well there is one man who shows that teachers definitely can, he is brain behind "What Teachers Make", Taylor Mali.  A former teacher, who taught everything from English to SAT test prep.  After retiring from teaching after 9 years.  Not long after his retirement he decided to try and inspire 1000 new teachers, part of his quest to show the "nobility" of teaching.  He is a little under 2/3 of the way there.

One of my favorite pieces by him is "How to Write a Political Poem", it is vastly different form his usual education based spoken word.  In this poem he teaches you exactly what to do as he uses them to create one of his own, it was the 1st poem of his I ever heard, and it kept me looking for more.

Taylor grew up in New York City, his mother was a children's book author, and his grandfather  the founding president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
He also the author of two books of poetry, Last Time As We Are and What Learning Leaves. (I have yet to read either these books but judging by his spoken word, i will enjoy them greatly and hopefully so will you)  He is also the former President of Poetry Slam, Inc. 

 Video source: Youtube.com

Open With a Bang

I find it nothing short of neccisary for me to have my first post be about a piece by Anis Mojgani.  He is a back to back National Individual Poetry Slam Champion (2005-2006), as well as the winning the championship at the World cup Poetry Slam (2007), in France.  When asked in an interview after his victory in 2007 about what it takes to preform a good spoken word peice he replied, "...Having the courage to be vulnerable.  Having an honest and organic connection to your work.  Not forcing anything.  Make it interesting...."  Anis Mojgani more than  lives up to those requirements, when you see him preform you have no other option than being sucked into every word he says and listening to the music they seem to form.

I hope you enjoy the work of this amazing artist as much as I do.

 
Sources:
www.youtube.com
http://common-line.com/2007/08/interview-with-anis-mojgani.html