Chapter 13 & Story Map

Chapter 13

Much of Chapter 13 concentrates on the equipment you can and should use when creating your Digital Stories. What you use doesn't have to be the latest and greatest, it just has to work for what you need. If fact sometimes getting the latest and greatest is not as good because not all of the bugs have been workd out. I found the comment that most people only use 10% of the capabilities their digital camera's have.  Thinking about it, I love to take pictures and I know a few things about my camera, but it can do so much and I should really look into learning more about it.

A few weeks ago, I had issues with the sound of my video.  I know this has to do with the video camera I was using.  I think I may end up having to get a wireless microphone.  If anyone has used a wireless microphone to record sound from a video camera, do you have one you like or could suggest (another point in this chapter, ask what others are using).

I feel like this chapter had a lot of great information in it.  I think it would have been helpful for the chapter would have been earlier in the book.  If feel like we are getting closer to the end of this class and NOW we are being told what to use.  I feel like I now have to rush to get some of these things to be prepared for my final video.

I created a Prezi presentation about my story map. You can view it here.

Chapters 11 & 12

Chapters 11 & 12

Chapter 11

The focus of this chapter is that anyone can create a Digital Story.  With the technology available today, free and for pay, there is so much you can do with Digital Story Telling.  When teaching DST there are things teachers need to consider such as their support, do they have the necessary tools, as well as getting parent permission.  They also need to look at how well a DST lesson fits into your curriculum.

The second part of this chapter takes about story planning and development, which I feel is exactly what we went through during our Face -to-Face session on Saturday.  We first created a map, they discussed it with each other getting feedback (peer pitch), create a storyboard (which we will be doing this week) and critique (which will be everyone's comments to our storyboard).  Then we will write and produce our story. These steps are very similar to writing a story or creating any sort of creative piece.

When creating a DST lesson, the teacher needs to take into consideration who their audience is.  Lessons can be adapted to fit your needs whether it be media literacy, telling personal stories or telling academic stories.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 focuses on on the planning stages of creating a DST. The first step is to determine what media you need, get it and begin creating.  When creating your story, you need to learn how to use your video editing software and basically start creating whether that be adding narration or music to your video or compiling videos and pictures together. 

Once you have created your story, you need to make sure you have a title page and credits.  The credits are the most important part of a story because it is giving credit where credit is due to artists work you used. When creating videos, I have found that dding music and transitions have really made my video seem professional.  I don't think I could ever create a movie without them. When the story is finished, it is important to share you work whether it be with your peers, school community, community in general or posting it somewhere public.  I will say one of my favorite parts of creating a story is actually posting it and seeing all of your comments.

How to Create a Google Site

How to Create a Google Site

This video is a brief tutorial on how to create a Google Site.  I thought it would be helpful for those that still need to create your iMET 15 website. I used screenr and thought it was quite easy to use.  My only complaint is I could only record 5 minutes at a time (lucky for all of you, that means this video is less than 5 min).

Edit: I forgot that I had to create a title page and credits; I also decided to add a little bit of music.  I added them in Windows Live Movie Maker. Hope you enjoy!

Journey Through Music

Musical Journey Through Anika's Life

The video assignment this week was the make a mash up of videos/music/etc.  I decided to create a mash up of different music videos of musicians I have liked over the years.  This week was also a lesson in copyright and boy have a learned a little bit.  I even went through YouTube's Copyright school. Please enjoy!

Musical Journey Through Anika's Life

Chapters 9 & 10

Chapters 9 & 10

Chapter 9

This chapter was all about story mapping.  The biggest thing I took away from this chapter is that story mapping can take many different forms.  For me, I prefer a simple story map like the Aristotle Story Map, but I understand that may not work for everyone and therefor I should teach all. What's interesting about story mapping is that it bring back to mind an activity I did in my undergrad which was to create string art representing out life journey so far including highs and lows.  IT looked a lot like the Treasure Map Story Map with peaks and valley.  This and the Adapted Story Map are probably the most accurate representation of the way a story will travel when being told.  

Kieran Egan's points that compare traditional and story formed-based education felt like the complete opposite of what I have been taught to do.  Making lists is not the most engaging way to tell a story where as telling a story or creating a story map will help us remember.  When I set out to write something, I tend to create lists; I guess I need to change this habit and start creating story maps.  Maybe then I will be better at remember. Kenn Adams Story Spine I felt would work well with a younger group of students because you can give students beginning of sentences to prom the story.  It may help create that creative spark.

One final point brought up was that you will not know how your story will impact the audience until you create a story map and the best way to get better at creating your story map is to practices with stories that have already been created.

Chapter 10

There are more types of stories than the ones we have been primarily been exposed to, western stories with a protagonist facing a challenge and goes through a transformation or a quest story.  This can be limiting when students go about creating stories, so it is important for them to learn about others.

Indigenous Stories

It is hard to put native American stories in one category because there are so many different variations. They can last hours, days, weeks and the story teller can bring some of their own personality into the telling.  Since there is such a vast array of different types of indigenous stories, if you are interested in studying them more, you should go to a local group.

Story Edge of the Western Tradition

 These stories are created by story tellers breaking away from the traditional western story plot such as Joyce, Faulkner, Beckett, and Kafka.  These stories are held together by creating a texture of the lives of the character as opposed to a large conflict creating change.

Art Stories and Music Videos

Music videos are in and of themselves stories.  They take a very emotional piece of work such as a song and create more of an impact by adding meaningful pictures and/or videos. 

Week 3 Video

The Walk

I had a little bit of a difficult time coming up with this weeks video.  I figured since we needed to show different perspectives and points of view through camera angles I would create a video of a dog going for a walk.  All the video segments that are in his point of view I made in shades of gray, everything else is color.  There is no sound, so your speakers are not broken (there was too much of my voice, working with a dog is not easy).

One thing that I would like to change is I was having trouble with my camera focusing.  This was the first time I had shot video with my Nikon D3100.  Hopefully I will get better. Enjoy!

Chapters 7 & 8

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is about different struggles you may have when teaching Digital Storytelling (DST) and how to overcome them.  The first thing to consider is the group you are teaching.  Every group is different and has different needs, it is important to take that into consideration when developing your lessons.  Sometimes students have a difficult time actually writing their story, if this happens you should ask leading questions to get the writing juices flowing.  Another problem that students face is containing their stories.  I thought the Research box, where students create a box and write what they want included in their story inside the box and points that are related to their story, but are not going to get addressed in the story.  When students create a research box, it allows the teachers to see what the students will be writing about and how to help guide them to creating a strong story core.

The quote at the end of this chapter, “Break the rules after you understand them and can use them effectively,” really struck a chord with me.  There are traditional ways to do something whether it is writing, painting, photography, music, etc… it is usually against the grain to break the rules but as the quote states, if you know what to do you can break through those barriers and possibly create a masterpiece.

Chapter 8

This chapter focuses on transformations/changes toe characters in a story.  The first section of the chapter states that transformations do not have to be big to have a huge impact.  It got me thinking of series of shows.  When you watch a series the characters are ever changing; when you finish a series and go back and watch the first episodes the characters seem completely different because of the changes they made throughout the series.  Many of these changes are so small that they seem insignificant at the time, but over time as the character develops those small changes drastically affect the series. 

There are 8 stages of transformation that characters will go through, Physical, inner strength, emotional, moral, psychological, social intellectual/creative and spiritual.  These levels can help students tell more effective stories, helps the students grow through their stories as well as help the teacher understand the students better.  Many students put more of themselves into a Digital Story than a normal assignment or even research project.  This allows the teachers to delve into the students personalities, what they've learned and how they view the world.  DST can open the creative world for a student which is why it is a great way to integrate technology into current curriculum.