Podcast

I listened to a podcast of the poem “Hold the Door” by Mary Alexandra Agner, read by the poet and introduced as a poem written shortly after the Virginia Tech shooting of 2007. I was expecting to enjoy hearing the poet read her own work, but I must say that I was slightly disappointed. After some thought, I realized that I like to read poems in my head and put my own voice to them. I also like to be able to look at the words and really study the poem as well. In other words, my disappointment in the podcast was not due to quality, but due to my own preferences and feelings toward poetry. Sometimes I prefer not to know anything about the poem other than the words that are set in front of me. I don’t want a picture or an explanation to go with it because I generally like to put my own spin and interpretation on it. Much like movies that are based on a book, nothing can compare to the written word.


I think it might be fun to have students record podcasts of their own favorite poems, or even have all students interpret the same poem in their own ways to compare. This might be uncomfortable for some students, however. Maybe some students could do the reading while other students added sounds, music, effects, etc. to a podcast. Podcasts could also be used as a reflective process related to certain assignments, or even for students who struggle with written tests to record their answers to share with a teacher instead of writing them down.

Recording my own podcast was certainly a challenge. I had limited dealings with Audacity, so I chose to use that program. I would have liked more time to “play” with the program as there were many options, but I felt I learned a lot about the basic process and would feel confident recording more and getting into more of the editing features. I could see the process being very useful with a speech class or research project. The possibilities are endless.