Video Week 2

This week's video describes how to  set up a page according to MLA format. I thought I'd try to make something that could double for this assignment and be useful for my students.

I used a combination of text/color panels, still pictures, and screen capture to create this how-to video. I'm using Roxio's Videowave to create the video, and I used Screen-o-matic.com (that Luke recommended) to do the screen capture. Screen-o-matic is super easy to use and is web-based, so I didn't have to download anything. Screen-o-matic also records narration... I was trying to get past the fear of hearing my voice.

The only complication I ran into is that the quality on youtube is not as high as what I saw on my screen. The screen capture video very clearly showed the tabs and everything was easy to read; however, when I exported the Videowave file, I couldn't get it to have the same quality. I'm not totally sure what is the best file type to save the video file as. Overall, I think the video is OK and would save me time in class when helping students learn how to set up their papers when they are typing essays.

Chapters 4-6 - Response

The more I read about digital story telling, the more that I want to incorportate it into my class as a way to bring their writing to life. At the beginning of chapter 4, Ohler summarized the different feelings I (and I'm sure others) have experienced when learning about digital story telling: "It has gone from fear of the unknown to being overhwhelmed by the sort-of-know to being somewhat enamored of the somewhat unknown, to being grudgingly accepting of what won't go away, and to where we are now: resigned to the fact that the kids speak new media, while being honestly confused about how to assess what they create with it" (63). I feel like in these short weeks I've been reading, I've thought all of those things. I think I'm still enamored and scared, but also aware that many of my students are already familiar with a lot of the technology needed to incorporate it with the writing they already do.

I liked that Ohler suggested not getting carried away when assessing digital stories, and to not focus assessment purely on their mastery of the technological skill. I like that he said rubrics should be limited to 4-6 categories that focus on the skill or content and the process students went through to get to the new media, rather than just the finished product. I try to do this with my students writing as well, including outlines and rough drafts in their final scores. I also liked that he suggested that the rubrics should always evolve based on the skills and content being produced into a digital story.

I really enjoyed the discussion about the story core, particularly the diagram on page 73 showing the "new you" pushing against the "old you." I think this is something I could use to help my students further develop the emotional side of their narrative writing. I also appreciate the difference between storyboarding and story mapping; while storyboarding focuses on "what happens" in the story, story mapping asks students to focus on the process of why something is happening and how it contributes to the story as a whole.

In chapter 6, I thought the William Tell story was great, and I think that using a story with missing parts is a great way to show the parts of a story. I think I could use this with my students when they are writing narratives to help them see when parts of their story are missing or could be developed more to show the characters struggle.

Video - Week 1

Chapters 2-3 - Response

As I think about the concept of digital storytelling, I'm both excited and terrified. I love the production aspect of creating videos, and I had a great time this week creating mine and learning how to use the program; however, I am terrified of myself having to be on screen or listen to a recording of my voice! As I read the chapters, I was bursting with ideas for my classroom, but with my own anxieties, I would feel terrible forcing a child to be on camera or record their own voice. But - I need to get over it because I love the idea of using DST in the classroom!

The first thing that caught my eye in the reading was Glen Bledsoe's fourth graders that created a media project to show their understanding of metaphor. Students use music and graphics to compare school to a train (19). I love the idea of asking students to create an extended metaphor and show that metaphor through graphics and music. When I read this, my initial thought was "oh my god these are fourth graders!" I feel so nervous about doing projects like this with my high schoolers, but if fourth graders can handle it, so can my 9th graders!!

I also like the idea of combining story telling with "report" or "essay" style writing. In the text, Ohler said, "When planning student  media projects, it can be helpful to iddentify a point on the continuum that they want students to aim for: half report/half story? All story? Mostly story but with academic information embedded in the plot?" (24).  I love thinking of it this way. I could assign students to create a story, but ask them to include information they are learning in history or science into their story (and have that teacher fact check the videos!). Also, when students are writing persuasive essay, for example, I could ask them to find graphics or photos to go with each part of their essay. This would help them to solidify their arguments and ideas, and use more precise language because they will have something concrete to base it on. I like that DSTs go beyond narration and cross genres.

The idea of using digital storytelling to teach tone is exciting. My students really struggle to create tone in their own writing and to identify consistent tone in other writing. I think using DST assignments to focus on tone and demonstrating how students can "write within tone boundaries, aiming for consistency rather than diversity in tone" (28). When students hear their own writing out loud and are choose images to help show their story, they will be able to see the purpose and necessity of consistent tone more clearly.

I also really liked "The DAOW of Literacy.

 

I think that it's important to see literacy beyond reading and writing. In my own classroom, I think I try to focus on written literacy and artistic literacy, in that I want my students to appreciate the literature we read beyond simply mastering standards. However, I don't do a good job of incorporating digital literacy -- a need for many jobs our students will seek, or oral literacy -- a skill they need for life in general. It's so hard to schedule time for digital learning and for them to present their writing or record their writing. I feel so overwhelmed by the number of skills I am supposed to teach in one year that digital and spoken literacy are generally the things that take the back burner. I think that a DST assignment addresses all four of these literacy in a way that still meets ELA standards.

 

I am using a PC, and I ran into two problems. First, my computer wouldn't launch Movie Maker after I downloaded it, and I couldn't figure out the problem. The tech guy at my school gave me Roxio Video Wave that the school has a license for, so that's what I used.  Then, I had a hard time figuring out how to rotate videos. I had family members email me videos, and most of them were taken with a phone. It seemed like something so simple that should be done through the video editting program, but it wasn't! I finally found a program that was specifically designed to rotate videos from iphones. Other than those little hiccups, I had fun playing with the program and making the video!