Core Values of #TeachLivingPoets

1. We seek to complicate the canon, to open the door wider of which poems are taught in the classroom.
2. We seek to provide students with poetry that reflects their identities, backgrounds, and present circumstances.
3. We seek to facilitate students’ discovery of new ideas and people who are different than them.
4. We seek to center the voices of BIPOC poets, LBGTQIA+ poets, and poets with disabilities.
5. We seek to celebrate the arts in schools, especially poetry.
6. We seek to empower students’ voices through reading and writing poetry.

Student Testimonial: The Power of #TeachLivingPoets

We are available for professional development. Please email msmith@lncharter.org for more info. 

About Founder Melissa Alter Smith

Melissa Alter Smith is the creator of the #TeachLivingPoets hashtag and teachlivingpoets.com. She is a National Board Certified high school English teacher in Charlotte, NC. Melissa is co-author of Teach Living Poets (NCTE, 2021) and the Norton Guide to AP Literature: Writing & Skills (W.W. Norton, 2022). She is 2017 District Teacher of the Year, an AP Reader, and an AP Consultant. She has presented at NDCTE, MCTE, NCTIES, ICTE, WVELA, SSCTE, NCETA, AP-TIP, NCTE-WLU Summer Institute, Manitoba Association of Teachers of English, NCTE, AWP, AP-TIP, the AP Annual Conference, the Poetry Foundation, and facilitates professional development sessions for schools. Melissa is also a co-author of the Instructor’s Manual and AP Correlation Guide for the 13th high school edition of The Norton Introduction to Literature, was a member of an advisory board to the Library of Congress’ Poet Laureate Project educational toolkit, and the conversation host for W.W. Norton’s Poets on Poetry series. She is featured on LitHub.com, in The New York Times, NEATE News, Mind Shift KQED, NCTE’s Council Chronicle, ASCD’s Education Update, Prestwick House, The Poetry Question, Norton Learning, and on Education Talk Radio. Her work is focused on complicating the canon, supporting teachers, and empowering students through poetry. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @MelAlterSmith.