Renee, as I reflect on my Leap 3 project, I am thinking back to looking over the syllabus at the beginning of the semester and I wasn’t really sure what this project was all about. I then decided that I wasn’t going to worry about it to much and I was going to try to take one step at a time. As time got closer I was getting more and more anxious about this assignment. I was sent an email about the RI Writing project and one of the workshops that they were offering was a Digital Storytelling in the Digital age. This workshop was presented by a Middle school teacher from Portsmouth, Jane DelSanto. I was able to see how a middle school teacher used digital storytelling in her classroom.
I decided to look back at all the notes that I wrote at the conference to help me decide how I was going to complete this assignment. The biggest things that I took away from this workshop was that it’s important allow students to publish for an audience, to keep the storytelling is authentic, make students accountable for their work, and giving students the opportunity to peer review projects. I also learned there were many ways to share digital stories (Movie maker, Story maps, Google Draw, Storyboard that, Screencastify, Green screen, and Google forms). I was able to see some different examples of digital stories during the workshop and also while completing weekly assignments for class. After viewing, these stories I was able to think about how they presented their stories and which way I was going to create my story. I came up with a few stories that I could write, but while other people were sharing their ideas and struggles of completing their stories for their project. I started second guessing myself and if I should share my story or if I should change it. Listening to everyone’s comments about their struggles and the way they grappled with story to tell made me feel better about how I was feeling and was going through. I wanted to tell a story that I could share with my students, and I also wanted to send an important message. Listen to my classmates and watching the other stories help me decide what story I wanted to create and share. After learning about storyboard that I was determined to try to use that program. However the free version only allowed me add three images. I looked into the paid version and it was expensive to set up a class, so I decided that I was going to just purchase it for myself for one month. It cost me $10.00, which I don’t think is to bad. I am hoping to create a few more digital stories before the end of the month so I can get my money’s worth of using the program. As I was creating the digital story, It took me a while to come up with a story that I felt comfortable sharing with my students. I also had to choose one that I didn’t mind sharing with the world. I needed something that met all your requirement as well as my own. This project made me think about my story and what words I was going to say to get my message across. I had to think about if I could tell the whole story in the 5-6 minute limit. After I wrote my story out I needed to make sure that I could crate images for my story with the program that I chose. I had to think about my story and had to decide how I could show a passing of time. After my story was written and the illustrations were done, I had to combine them, so in the storyboard app I was able to share my storyboard as a Power Point presentation. I entered the words for each image next to the images and then I used screen-cast-o-matic to record the images and my voice to create my digital story. Recording my voice was difficult, I can’t tell you how many retakes and redo’s that I had to do before I was satisfied with my story. After completing my own digital story I see the benefits of creating them. I learned a lot about myself as I was working on the assignment. It takes me a while to create stories and I am very critical of myself, I don’t like to hear my own voice, and I am worried about what other will think about me and my projects. Many of these have extended my time creating my own digital story. Working through my own digital story I can see some of the struggles my students will face. As a librarian and teacher, I know one of the biggest struggles is going to be creating the time needed to complete a project like this with the students. Another issue that may arise with an assignment like this is trying to give students support as they are creating their story. I have access to 6 Ipads and I am not sure if we will have enough technology to support the student’s creations. I will have to create the environment and some lessons to help my students to become digital storytellers. Even though, I didn’t know what a digital story was at the beginning of this semester, I learned alot from all the readings, videos, and experiences shared. I see the benefits for my students and some of the struggles and battles that I might face from assigning a project like this. The experiences that we have while creating these digital stories will be an everlasting memory and the beginning of lifelong skills. I know students will be second guessing their stories and decisions and I will need to support them and get them to move over the roadblocks so they can get the experiences needed. My story was an original story from my childhood. I believe that people who view it will understand a little more about who I am as a person. I definitely learned more about myself and I also learned how to use some programs to create my own digital story. The story I chose to publish will activate emotions from many people that listen to it because many people and students have had other call them names, felt alone, or have seem someone get picked on at one point or another. I think people will get others to reflect on their own experiences.
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AuthorDenise Phillips Archives
April 2018
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