Digital Storytelling - Week 2 Reflection

Week 2 of class brought several new things for me.  I am slowly finding my way around in google docs.  I will be continuing to work on formatting, which frustrates me!  I like to use tables in MS-word to organize and group things and I find that these lovely tables don't always copy nicely into google docs.

We got a chance to play with Voicethread a bit.  We loaded an old powerpoint presentation into VT, which we will use later and we created a new one related to the Civil Rights Movement.  I wasn't too impressed with VT, in that I ended up creating my short presentation in powerpoint first, using visuals I found on the web (free) and I added audio.  Unfortunately, the audio did not copy into VT with the presentation, so I ended up re-recording my audio.  I do like the feature that others can leave voice comments.  I see opportunities for this tool in the classroom.

We looked closely at standards too, seeing how multimedia standards are woven throughout the subject area standards.  Searching for project ideas was fun and it helped reinforce for me that the web provides many, many resources that teachers can use daily.  You do have to be selective though, and most likely any lesson plan you re-use will be modified by you, to fit your own teaching style and the learning style of your students.  I can't wait to take a closer look at lesson ideas my classmates have posted!

It is always great looking at the websites provided.  I get tons of ideas about good storytelling by watching these.  Story Corps was interesting and provides a good example of a format that you could use with students.  It would be awesome to have them record a conversation with a grandparent/great-grandparent/ parent, to preserve a memory.  Sir Ken Robinson uses humor so well in his presentation and I totally agree that we need to help children maintain their creativity and that Art is just as important as Math.

Zen's discussion on preparation was a good reminder for me.  Sometimes I just have to put the computer away and pull out the pen & paper.  I really do feel that this provides a great way to clear the mind, focus on the message and gives flexibility in brainstorming (can group/ungroup, gives a visual, can cross-out or add back in easily, etc.).  I've sharpened a bunch of pencils and have them ready on my desk!

It's been a good, but busy week.  I start summer school tomorrow....so will be juggling a bit more throughout the rest of the class.  I view it as keeping the mind active!