In my "all about me" blog post, I mentioned that I taught creative writing at Indiana University. The last class I taught ended in April of 2002, and so much has changed since then--educationally and technologically. I was working with technology if I happened to use an overhead projector. I had never created a PowerPoint presentation. On a personal note, I didn't blog, or twitter. I couldn't keep track of friends on facebook or myspace. I didn't even text.And I never would have thought that was a bad thing. How could I have changed the format of my classes to embrace technology? How does one workshop a poem without sitting in a circle in a classroom on a campus somewhere? I found the answer to that: Poet-to-Poet. Poet-to-Poet is the latest addition to the Poetic License website; it is free for any 6th to 12th grade classroom. The project connects two classrooms and allows the members of the class to share and critique each other's poetry. The FAQ section will alleviate any fears about security and such, and it will also pique your interest in different aspects of the project, such as the audio function which allows students to record their poems and post them for all participants to hear.
We know that performance is an important part of the art of poetry. Just take a look at this video of a high school poetry slam:
If Poet-to-Poet gets students excited about poetry, the interactive web activities that are out there are numerous. I would love to implement some of these into my future lesson plans.
Magnetic Poetry Board
Haiku Contest
Sheep Poetry
Poet-to-Poet also publishes the work of the participating classrooms. How better to boost the self-esteem of writers than to have them see their words in print?
