Lesson Two Reflections

Like everyone, I want our curriculum to consist of resources I can take directly to my classroom. That's why I'm excited about Voicethread. In the past, I have had to combine various softwares to accomplish what I want the students to do. Voicethread allows me to combine that visual with audio AND allows others to comment directly to each other's work. I have used other software that more or less let's students create slideshows and narrate them, but until now I hadn't seen one that allows the comment feature. And to be honest, until I browsed the projects on Voicethread, I hadn't even thought about the comment feature. But now, of course, my mind is zipping in overdrive, coming up with all sorts of ideas. For example, I have my 4th graders create Hyperstudio shows of fictional vacation destinations, and as a finale, I have them view and rate each show on paper and award a prize for the top-rated. I could now also have them summarize visually their destination and have the students make comments directly on Voicethread. One of the shows on Voicethread was the author's top five favorite cartoon theme songs. I could also have students create their "top five" of something and share with others for their opinions. And then as a culminating project, have them create a survey on SurveyMonkey for the actual data collection. How fun!

My frustration when learning all this new, great stuff is how to take it back to the teachers and, most importantly, how to get them to embrace it as much as I do. I am presenting to my faculty next Friday and Monday, and I'm still wondering what to present. Keeping in mind everything that Garr Reynolds is emphasizing this week about presentation, I'm wondering if I should create a Powerpoint. Perhaps I need to begin by doing exactly what he stresses and use the analog approach - get away from the computer and really think about what it is I want the teachers to take away from my time with them. In the past I have done sessions with them, and although I can tell they're enthusiastic and curious, in the end I don't observe any of them using what I've taught them. There still is the overall attitude that because I am the computer teacher, I, alone, teach computers. On the one hand it's great that our students are given the chance to come to the lab twice a week and have that time, but on the other, it's given the teachers a rather easy out, especially for those who aren't real comfortable with technology.

So, all of you out there in the teacher world, if you were to spend two mornings with me, learning technology, what would YOU want to hear and see? And don't tell me silence... THAT is not an option...

Digital Storytelling Lesson 1

As I watched all the videos and read and reflected on the reading material, numerous things came to mind. In terms of storytelling, I couldn't help but think of those I know whom I find to be great storytellers. To me, a good storyteller is able to combine the fun with the serious and the facts with embellished truths. We all know people whose stories seem to ramble on, boring us completely. I'm sure I have been the teller of a few myself, but I think I can be honest in saying that storytelling was one of my gifts when I taught high school students for many reasons. First of all, they never wanted to learn anything, so anytime my 9th or 12th graders could get me on a tangent was a bonus for them. Second, most, but not all, of my stories were humorous in nature and stemmed from events in my life and typically were stories they could relate to. Third, I think my stories were entertaining because they typically pointed out my follies. I have no problem laughing at myself and telling others about my antics. Fourth, whenever I told stories, I always embellished a little. Honestly, no one remembers everything exact, so it's important to know when to add the hyped details, as long as they don't change the facts of the events. Sometimes my students had difficulty accepting this concept, especially when we read autobiographies. Students often became fixated on story facts, claiming that an author could not possibly remember all the details. Therefore, they sometimes lost interest in the story. So I think when embellishing, it's important to embellish the right stuff. When the heart of the story becomes a bunch of bull, then the storyteller loses credibility, and the audience loses interest. Finally, I think my storytelling was effective because I wasn't afraid to let the emotion surface. I noticed this same occurence in the one video of the father telling the story of his son. At one point he appeared almost teared-up, and seeing him get emotional, brought out the empathetic emotion in me. Often times when I told my students stories, I laughed and sometimes got a touch bit emotional. Overall, the best thing about my stories is that they often evoked other stories from the students. Suddenly, some of my most quiet students would have stories to tell themselves because my story triggered a memory. I loved that.

Taking the verbal story and molding it into the digital story is what I hope to master in this class and beyond. Of course music is the easiest way to bring out the emotions in a story, but I want to learn how to transform the narrative. In some of the examples, I think a bit of the effect was lost because the narrator's voice didn't carry well or the story was missing something. And combining this with the "minimalization" emphasis of presentation that PresentationZen seems to be making, I want to figure out how to bring out the best in a story without going on and on. I think by now, most can see that I do ramble, so I need to figure out how to make things more succinct without losing the power of the story. And then I need to figure out how I can wrap this all up and communicate it to my young students who are masters of storytelling in their own way but who really don't know how to comprehend technique. Know what I mean? It seems the minute I put them to task, their creative juices fizzle. The younger students seems to do better in their natural environment, so I'd like to find the best ways to inspire them and to generate their stories.