I vividly remember sitting in a graduate reading course where we were discussing Walt Whitman's poem “My Papa's Waltz” and feeling extremely uncomfortable. Usually, I was a very active participant in class and enjoyed engaging in discussions with my peers. This time it was very different. I felt like I wanted to disappear under the table, fearful of being called upon and not having the "right" answer. I worried that my interpretation of the poem would not be what the professor wanted or be the same as my classmates. I was scared of being different. I was reminded of this scenario just a few years later when I took a teaching position at an alternative school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Students identified with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) typically have been labeled as disruptive, insolent, disobedient, and displaying frequent behaviors that impede learning and interfere with the educational process, as noted by Michael Fitzpatrick and Earl Knowlton in Preventing School Failure. I understood that my student’s prior academic experiences were very similar to my experience with My Papa’s Waltz. I knew I had to create meaningful and engaging learning experiences.  

I chose to implement digital poetry as part of my writing instruction. Today’s students live in a multimedia world and my students were no different. They were very motivated to use technology and I felt that by integrating technology into a poetry unit, I could overcome the negative behavior of my students and engage them in the learning process. Jeffery Schwartz argues in Teach the New Writing that the understanding of writing and communication by today’s students has surpassed that of their parents. Furthermore, “to teach reading and writing in a global world, we need to follow our students’ lead into a new understanding of media text.”

I began the digital poetry project by having students create digital biography poems. The students began by using a template to compose "I Am" biography poems. Then using Windows Moviemaker Live software which comes standard on PC's, the students transformed their poems into digital poetry by adding images, audio, effects, and transitions to extend the meaning of their poems and create a representation of themselves. This was a very powerful activity for these learners because it allowed for them to share information about themselves and successfully engage in academic learning. They were comfortable sharing their lives through the digital poems and it brought us closer as a community of learners.

Building on the success of the “I Am” poems, we engaged in a deeper study of poets and poetry. Again the students would create digital poems but this time they would interpret their favorite poems. The students began by reading the poems of many notable poets and choosing their favorites. After some sharing time and discussion, the students chose the poem they wanted to turn into a digital movie. I provided them with storyboarding organizers and they planned their digital poems, screen by screen, integrating the text with images and audio. Next, they uploaded their images and text to Windows Moviemaker and completed their poems with adding transitions, effects, and audio. The finished poems demonstrated a level of interpretation that I do not think I would have seen from my students if we had just discussed the poems face to face. For example, Jenna, an eighth grader, chose the poem “Little Girl Be Careful What You Say”by Carl Sandburg. For her digital interpretation, she only used black and white images. When asked why, she stated that she really wanted to convey the mood of the poem which to her felt very somber. I do not think the students would have been able to share this level of interpretation without the aid of digital technology.

I have since moved on from the alternative school to my current position as a university professor where I teach undergraduate and graduate course in literacy. The digital poetry project has become a staple in my graduate language arts course. The feedback from my students has been extremely positive. They have enjoyed being introduced to this new medium and many have indicated that they plan to implement similar projects in their own teaching. They too have realized the value of incorporating digital technology into literacy instruction.

A sample of the poems created by students can be found on Facebook.

Dr. Kristin Webber is a veteran teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Reading at Edinboro University where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy. She also serves as the Program Head for the Graduate Reading Program. While in the classroom, Kristin has taught at every level from preschool to high school. Her research interests include the New Literacies, instructional technology, adolescent literacy, and reluctant readers. This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association’s Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).