In this article, the author discusses the poetics of teaching. She states that a poetics of teaching privileges not only mastery but innovation--not only the transmission of existing knowledge, but also productivity and change. As their media for experimentation and expression, poetic teachers can employ all of the many materials at their disposal within the educational sphere: books, classrooms, libraries, internet fora, face-to-face interactions, homework and even exams. Every act of pedagogical "making"--the writing of an innovative assignment, the delivery of a well-crafted lecture, the facilitation of a lively class discussion--contributes a complex and dynamic intellectual product to the world. However, the true value of poetic teaching becomes evident at the moment when teachers place their students, too, in the role of poets, coaching them in creative as well as critical thinking.