Stimulated by the ineffectiveness of the English department's teacher preparation program that remained remote from the actual classroom situation and was conducted by a single methods teacher who had not been in a public school teaching situation for at least ten years, the department chairman at the University of Utah attempted to make his group more aware of public school instruction and to involve more of them in the actual training program. In order to achieve his objectives, he initiated a fellowship program under which a competitively selected junior or senior high school teacher joined the department for a year to teach methods courses, work with prospective teachers, and continue his studies. Furthermore, he hired new faculty with interest in public schooling; created relevant new training courses; and tried to interest more of his staff in teaching these courses. In order to have first-hand acquaintance with the public school classroom, he chose to teach poetry to successive levels of students in an inner city junior high school. Although his experience appeared inconclusive, he reflected on pacing, discipline, teacher and student response, teacher relationships, the need for variety, textbook insufficiencies, and successful teaching techniques. (AF)