“What Teachers Make” is a spoken-word performance poem. Using elements of rhyme and anaphora, “What Teachers Make” is a free verse poem that draws on attributes of slam poetry, namely rhythmic passion and a “rise” or a climax. Divided into five stanzas, the poem opens with an unnamed “He” (Line 1) making a statement about the “problem with teachers” (Line 1). Offset by italics, this person asks a question to a table of dinner guests — a question which functions as the kindling for the rest of the poem: “What’s a kid going to learn / from someone who decided his best option in life / was to become a teacher?” (Lines 2-4).

Written in the present tense, the poem has a feeling of immediacy to it. The speaker, a teacher, tries not to get involved (“I decide to bite my tongue instead of his [Line 8]). The first stanza plays out much like the drama of a play. A setting is established (“He reminds the other dinner guests” [Line 5]) and characters are driven to the point of action (the “He” is making unfounded statements about teachers), instigating the speaker who tries not to get involved.