Melissa Alter Smith
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melaltersmith.bsky.social
Melissa Alter Smith
@melaltersmith.bsky.social
860 followers 290 following 13 posts
Founder of #TeachLivingPoets, National Board Certified teacher, co-author of Norton Guide to AP Lit, ‘17 District TOY, Mom http://teachlivingpoets.com (she/her)
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Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
thoughtsthatcarrie.bsky.social
@melaltersmith.bsky.social and #TeachLivingPoets helped me realize how collaborative, insightful, and meaningful poetry can be in EVERY classroom. So grateful for the lesson ideas, guidance, and those fleeting Twitter chats! This post reminded me of that work, and has some great poetry linked!
marcusluther.bsky.social Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · Aug 14
One of several before/after moments in my English teaching career has been learning how powerful a poem can be in a classroom.

I didn't get it, so I mostly avoided poems.

Now I do get it—and I bring them in every chance I can.

thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/why-i-love...
Why I Love Teaching Poetry
with 3 different poems that have brought my classroom to life
thebrokencopier.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
shamlet.bsky.social
AI is Iago and we're all Roderigos
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · Jul 18
Uh... I'm pretty sure there's no line in Othello that goes "I'll let loose the forces of Iago." Though it is iambic pentameter.

(why I was googling that exact phrase is a longer story, but I was struck to see this laughably false answer pushed to me at the very top of the page)
Google AI overview: AI Overview In Shakespeare's Othello, when Iago says, "I'll let loose the forces of Iago," the statement signifies his intention to unleash his manipulative and destructive nature, especially toward Othello. The phrase reveals that while Iago appears loyal and honest, he will pursue his own selfish interests and seek revenge against Othello according to Quizlet. It unveils his true, malevolent self and his plan to deceive and destroy Othello's life.
July 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
In Boston at the national AP Annual Conference to present a session today: “Preparing Students for Success: Classroom Practices & Test-Taking Strategies for the Digital AP English Exam” and to lead a one-day workshop for new AP teachers on Saturday. The first stop on my whirlwind work tour of July.
July 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
I’m leading 3 #aplit workshops this summer

👩🏼‍🏫 APAC one-day workshop (in person) in Boston 7/19 eventreg.collegeboard.org/event/29cea9...

👩‍💻UNCCharlotte online APSI July 21-25 cstem.charlotte.edu/pk-20-educat...

👩🏼‍🏫 Silver State APSI (in person) in Las Vegas July 28-31 sites.google.com/a/nv.ccsd.ne...
May 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
🥹 #TeachLivingPoets
Thank you! 💕
codyjohk.bsky.social @codyjohk @codyjohk.bsky.social · Feb 15
And last post of gratitude is @melaltersmith.bsky.social whose years of dedication changed how I approach, value, teach poetry. Year after year I hear exiting students talk about how they value poetry now, and part of that is her modelling.
February 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
chenchenwrites.bsky.social
of course my favorite poem about the Super Bowl is actually about mortality and the absurdity of being alive
Super Bowl by Mary Ruefle Who won? I said. The game’s tomorrow, he said. And I became the snail I always was, crossing the field in my helmet. But I’d given it my all, while the plane arced on its way to a landing, when I overheard the woman behind us say I was gathering wildflowers to make a wreath to lay on my mother’s grave when my son fell off a mountain in Italy and I felt such joy over the unknown outcome of her words I was not ashamed, for I can feign interest in the world, just as she in that great green meadow must have.
February 9, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
pintsncupcakes.bsky.social
4.) celebrate work you love. It's great to post about your own work, but you should also engage with and celebrate the work of you peers. If you don't have the time to make a post about everything you love, repost other posts about that writing. It all helps!
November 20, 2024 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
pennykittle.bsky.social
I shared this article in Wisconsin last week... AMAZING, right? I listen to several books a month now because of my commute to campus, and I've come to love being read to. How about you? #booklove
Audiobooks or Reading? To Our Brains, It Doesn’t Matter
Stories stimulate the brain in the same way, regardless of whether they're read or heard.
www.discovermagazine.com
December 10, 2024 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
xavierresists.bsky.social
December 26, 2024 at 10:49 PM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
#TeachLivingPoets
maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social Maggie Smith @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social · Dec 31
It’s NYE & raining here. I wrote this poem in 2013, so the five-year-old is now sixteen.

Even when it’s hard to love the world unconditionally, and it’s never not hard, here’s to imagining what might be possible and what we can make so.

Love from here on a rainy Tuesday.
Rain, New Year's Eve By Maggie Smith The rain is a broken piano, playing the same note over and over. My five-year-old said that. Already she knows loving the world means loving the wobbles you can't shim, the creaks you can't oil silent—the jerry-rigged parts, MacGyvered with twine and chewing gum. Let me love the cold rain's plinking. Let me love the world the way I love my young son, not only when he cups my face in his sticky hands, but when, roughhousing, he accidentally splits my lip. Let me love the world like a mother. Let me be tender when it lets me down. Let me listen to the rain's one note and hear a beginner's song.
December 31, 2024 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
varizey.bsky.social
#TeachLivingPoets has a great lesson for it

teachlivingpoets.com/2023/11/30/e...
Exploring structure in Hanif Abdurraqib’s poem “It Is Maybe Time to Admit That Michael Jordan Definitely Pushed Off”
This lesson will get your students up and moving!
teachlivingpoets.com
December 13, 2024 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
susangbarber.bsky.social
Woop woop! #teachlivingpoets
thejenhiller.bsky.social Jen Hiller @thejenhiller.bsky.social · Dec 14
Wrapping up @clintsmithiii.bsky.social in #APLit this quarter with lots of wins, including the student who told me he is writing his own poetry after being inspired by this collection.
December 16, 2024 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
danahuff.bsky.social
Melissa has the best ideas. Also check out her book and the rest of her blog😀 amzn.to/3ZGPvFx
Teach Living Poets
Amazon.com: Teach Living Poets: 9780814152614: Illich, Lindsay, Smith, Melissa Alter: Books
amzn.to
December 17, 2024 at 2:22 AM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
danahuff.bsky.social
@melaltersmith.bsky.social has an amazing road course activity that she does with this poem: teachlivingpoets.com/2023/11/30/e...
Exploring structure in Hanif Abdurraqib’s poem “It Is Maybe Time to Admit That Michael Jordan Definitely Pushed Off”
This lesson will get your students up and moving!
teachlivingpoets.com
December 17, 2024 at 1:29 AM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
New #teachlivingpoets lesson up for teaching Amanda Gorman’s poem inspired by the Wicked movie! Check it out: teachlivingpoets.com/2024/12/01/d...
December 2, 2024 at 2:42 AM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
pernille.bsky.social
Can’t miss presentation for those attending #ncte24
November 22, 2024 at 5:26 AM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
Tomorrow! #TeachLivingPoets #NCTE24 @jessycamathews.bsky.social @joelrgarza.bsky.social & Cleveland Winfield
November 21, 2024 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
joelrgarza.bsky.social
For all of you that #TeachLivingPoets, check out this dang TikTok that @hanvanderhart.bsky.social made for my students, explaining the function, tradition, complexity, & impact of volta & disjunction in the way that only they can! 🥹🫶🏽🤔

Follow them & buy their books!

www.tiktok.com/@bookishbeas...
Volta Vs. Disjunction! This one goes out to Joel Garza’s class! 📚💙 These writers asked the best questions! #poetrytok #writers #classvisits #writersoftiktok
TikTok video by HanVHart
www.tiktok.com
November 17, 2024 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
theedcollab.bsky.social
💔We miss EduTwitter very much.

💙 SO join @ichrislehman.bsky.social and @drtharris.bsky.social next Tuesday on this app for a Bluesky Educator Chat to (RE)CONNECT. Use #theedcollab

🙏Tag & invite other edufriends!

We can figure this app our together.
While we (re)build community.
November 16, 2024 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
clintsmithiii.bsky.social
A lot of people have shared this poem over the past week. It’s a sentiment I think about a lot, especially now.

I hope everyone is doing what they need to take care of themselves. One step at a time. One day at a time.
November 13, 2024 at 10:34 PM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
Imagine Julie Andrews singing “My Favorite Things” 🎶 #TeachLivingPoets
November 15, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Melissa Alter Smith
mrbgilson.bsky.social
In honor of @melaltersmith.bsky.social joining us I would love to build a thread of poetry that folks love to use in High School classes. I finally have a group that want to spend time reading, writing, and performing haha #LiftingLiteracy 📌 Share here and follow the thread 👍 #iteachenglish
November 14, 2024 at 5:02 PM
melaltersmith.bsky.social
#Teachlivingpoets is on Blue Sky!
November 14, 2024 at 3:48 PM