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Reflection of Digital Storytelling

Since starting this course on Digital Storytelling, I've learned so much about how to present and what to do to create a good presentation. Lately I've been using Flickr to upload and try to edit my pictures. I've done more scanning and retouching of photos that I didn't know I could do until I started doing it. I'm spending lots of time editing and wanting to create the best story I can. I'm going to remember this when I start teaching the students how to create their own stories. The planning, laying out and finding of resources takes time. If students are doing an ancestral story, I'm going to have to give them more time, especially if they need to scan family photos. The script will take time to write and practice, as well. I'm also going to tell the students the pictures are there to tell the story, and not to put a lot of words on their pictures. They'll have to practice their script before they record it and make sure it goes along with their transitions. There are a number of ways students can make and share stories as well. We have a lot of free resources on the Web to use. I"ll also remind them about the copyright issues that come with taking images and music. The one thing I'll reinforce is the planning part, as that's where it all gets put together.

Using Elements of Storyboarding in Instruction

Last week we learned about the seven elements of storyboarding which are: point of view, dramatic question, emotional content, gift of voice, power of the soundtrack, economy, and pacing. If I were to choose one or more to apply in my instruction I'd choose emotional content for sure. I'd get more students involved in their studies when I show them how excited I am about it myself. Whenever I talk about a book with excitement, a lot of the students want to check it out. This goes along with the gift of voice. I don't quite know how you can separate one from the other. The excitement I have goes along with my voice. If I say I'm excited but my voice doesn't convey the fact, the kids know I'm faking it. They know when someone is really motivated and has shown it in their actions and voice. I know when I talk about copyright and the Dewey Decimal System the students don't want to listen. If I change the way I talk about it and present it in a different way, somewhat more meaningful to them, I'd have more students interested in learning the content.

Cedu 531 Applications

Over the past week I've learned quite a bit about some new programs to use in our class. The one that I like is Voicethread as it allows students to record their voices to their projects. It'd be awesome to have students create a digital story about something they're really interested in sharing. That's the number one way that really gets them hooked into their own learning: have them tell a story they want to tell and then share it with others. The ability for them to have others view it and make comments is wonderful. Talk about getting students to share what they're learning in school with their parents is a hard thing to do. Sometimes parents don't have the time to listen to their children or see exactly what it is that they're doing in school. Words can't always convey the meaning that visuals do. The fourth grade right now is learning about how and when their families moved to Wisconsin. They had a visit with a Wisconsin storyteller and were asked to go back and discuss their ancestry with their parents. Here's one way they could import pictures from a scanner or camera, create a picture album on Flickr, import it into Voicethread and have their living ancestors comment on it, even elaborate on a picture with a story themselves. It's a great personal history of the student.
I'm also reviewing and learning more about copyright and it's one area that I do teach as students get involved with reports or taking pictures, etc. off the Internet to use. At each grade level we talk about copying and what it means. As the students progress through each grade, the lessons are more formal as they learn how to create their own notes and sources cited page.

Digital Storytelling Ideas

This past week we've been introduced to Digital Storytelling. It was interesting to see how others had made their own digital stories. I'll probably use digital storytelling in a number of ways with my students. As I have many grade levels, I can pick and choose what might work best with different grades. For example, all fourth graders in the district have just listened to a storyteller from Madison tell all about the immigration process that happened in Wisconsin from the early 1800's on. She told stories about her own ancestors, as well as other peoples. She admitted she did a lot of research from the historical society to make sure her information was correct. One of the students had asked if all the stories she told were true. "Yes!" she said.
She then asked the students to raise their hands if their ancestors/parents came from Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, etc. She then asked if they themselves were an immigrant, and we did have a few students raise their hands. One is from Romania, one from Germany, one from Mexico, and one from Costa Rica. She asked them a little bit about their remembering of the process of coming to America. The students were informed their ancestors were all immigrants, unless they were Native American born. Interestingly enough, none of the students were of Native American descent. This was a great way for her to inspire the students to start their own studies of ancestry, which leads right into the aspect of digital storytelling. The students were asked to find out about their own ancestry; immigration to Wisconsin is a unit taught in fourth grade. Here's one way I can integrate digital storytelling into the technology/library/research skills in the fourth grade social studies unit. What perfect timing!
Another idea would to take a look at biographies at the third grade levels and have them create one of their own. As students read about another person's life, they can create a digital storybook about their selected person. In kindergarten, first, or second grade, students could scan a picture or pictures they drew that told a story. They could use PhotoStory3 for Windows to record their voice to their scanned pictures, telling their story. Their story can then be emailed to their parents, and shared with the rest of the class.