Arrange seating in a circle to facilitate conversation before students arrive. Include a seat for yourself, preferably near the chalkboard. Instructors sometimes lecture, but more often conduct workshop discussions in adult poetry writing courses. Discussions consist of critiques of readings and student works.
Introduce yourself and have students identify themselves after they settle into their seats. This is also a good time to ask them what they hope to get from the class.
Hand out the syllabus or schedule of workshops. Include a policy statement that lays out ground rules for discussions and your expectations regarding assignments, preparation and attendance.
Lecture on craft during the first class, but let students know that lectures are rare. By the time the class ends, students should have an understanding of what an image is, why verbs are important and what you mean by fresh language, as opposed to dull language. Clear up common misconceptions about poetry. Many people think that any text that rhymes is a poem, but a contemporary poem may or may not rhyme. It will always contain metaphor. Likewise, free verse does not mean that the writer can do anything and call it a poem. Assign one or two poems that students should read before the next class, and task students with writing their first poems. Ask for volunteers to make enough copies of their own poems for everyone in the room.
Meet twice a week if possible after the first meeting. Two workshops of 1 1/2 hours each usually work well with adults. If you can't meet twice a week, meet once a week for a longer period of time with a break in the middle. For each hour of class, plan to critique two to three student poems. What you don't finish, you can carry over to the next class.
Critique one or two professional published works per class at its beginning. Ask students why they work or don't work. Ask what images they see in the work. Ask where the verbs are, and ask students to throw out other verbs that another poet might have used. Describe why certain verbs work harder than others. Use the chalkboard to write out examples. Ask questions about any aspect of poetics that the work invites. At all times, use students' answers and hesitations to elaborate on various points of craft. This discussion usually shouldn't last more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Critique two or three student works in each class. Use the discussion of published works as a model. During the first workshop, students will be nervous. Make it clear that they are critiquing, not criticizing. Tell them not to assume that the speaker in the poem is the author, and even if it is, the speaker in the poem represents only a sliver of that person's psyche. Also, if anything sensitive arises during the workshop, students must not gossip about it outside the room. These three points will make the workshop more comfortable for everyone.
Tell students to read each poem silently before the critiquing process begins. The students whose work will be critiqued should each also read their work aloud as their turns arrive. Encourage them to read with emphasis, but not theatrics.
Collect students' new poems at the end of class. Bring them back next time with short, written comments and editorial marks.
Ask for workshop volunteers at the end of each class. Their work will be next in line for critiquing, or workshopping, as it is commonly called. All students should have their poems workshopped at least once. Remind them to bring copies for everyone. Assign readings for each class also. Students need these models to understand what you are attempting to teach them.
Plan a reading for the final class. Students should each read a favorite poem or two and talk about what they have learned during the course. You might give them instruction and inspiration to continue writing independently.