I am extremely proud – and perhaps a little sad – to announce that the girls at Railway High School have successfully completed their final projects! Since they have a definite inclination for poetry, they decided to present a collection of different video-poems for their final project. I cannot help but be amazed at how natural it came to them to write these poems, in spite of the fact that it required the use of a very lyrical English, and the incorporation of rhyming schemes, measure, rhythm and other poetic elements that we discussed throughout the term. All these concepts, and the very language needed in order to write a successful poem, are not easy; however, our students felt stimulated by this new form of expression and the results are really amazing and awe-inspiring.

Furthermore, as an educator, I found this exercise to be extremely catalyzing, efficient and enjoyable for the students: while the act of writing in poetry was fun and inspiring for the girls, it also perfected their English and  acquainted them with many new and useful linguistic concepts. And the process of turning the written poems into visually intriguing videos is an excellent exercise in creative expression – while some of the poems, due to the meaning of their lines, lent themselves to an easier translation into visuals, others proves much more challenging, and required outstanding imagination and creative thinking.

And while I was blown away by the girls’ “soft” skills (creativity in both poetry writing and storyboarding), I was equally impressed with their “hard” skills (filming and editing). Working on PCs facilitated the editing process to a great extent, as the girls were more comfortable using this platform and they quickly became excellent editors. However, what impressed me most was the way in which they went beyond what I had taught them, exploring all the different features of the software by themselves. This is apparent in their choice of title animations, video transitions and video effects, but also in the way they incorporated external elements into their films. For instance, Navya, who wrote and recited an excellent self-portrait in poetry, managed to find a music sample from Beethoven on the school computer (it was one of those sample tracks that you find on any PC) and skillfully imported it into the editing program and laid it on top of her narration, perfectly syncing it with the time breaks in the poem.

See her poem, and more, in the YouTube links below, and also on our vimeo site: http://vimeo.com/themodernstory

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPVJGdVw5eU&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM4qTK9yJ2I&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udyH0qo_3Wg&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq–716spm8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

If you have enjoyed the videos and would like to comment, please feel free to do so and we will make sure to pass on the comments to our students. They really appreciate receiving these comments and it is such a strong encouragement to them, as they are gaining more confidence in their creativity and power of expression with each and every day. Thank you!