Digital stories are a great way to connect with your students while simultaneously allowing them to work with new technologies and have their voice herd. I have used digital stories in my classroom for the past two years with great success. The culminating project we complete is a me story. A me story is basically a biography of the student which tells where the student comes from, where they are now and where they are headed in the future. I have found that the most interesting topic for my high school students is themselves and the me story allows them to study and present their favorite topic to the class. With the me story project in full swing I have decided to add another digital storytelling assignment to my curriculum.
The new digital story telling assignment will consist of the students researching a historical figure and presenting on how that figure inspires them as well as the similarities and differences between the historical figure and the students. The students will also explain a personal connection that they share with the teachings or actions of the particular historical figure. This assignment would fit in perfectly with by 10th grade US History curriculum.
The students would create their digital story using free photo story software and I would allow some of my more advanced students to use Windows Movie Maker. In order to facilitate this project I would recommend a few websites to get the students started and allow them to integrate sites of their own once they became more comfortable with the digital story telling assignment. In addition, I would create a digital story of my own to use as an example so the students could get an idea of what was expected of them. I find that a good example is often more effective than two hours of explanation.
I have listed some of the initial sites I would have my students research below
Photostory tutorial
Biography on many famous United States figures
Hi Erik,
ReplyDeleteI was glad to read your post .it is great post and it has clear information about your experience. However, I like to research about historical figure.it is really an interesting topic.
Hey Erik,
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that "a good example is often more effective than two hours of explanation." With younger students, we are sometimes lucky if we can get a few minutes of explanation to be meaningufl.
Your "me story" idea sounds like it really gets the students engaged. Do they pretend like they don't want to do it to be cool at first? It seems as though by the time students reach high school they are afraid to show an interest in learning sometimes for fear of looking "uncool." I like how you push them to get past this by presenting them with a topic which they secretly have enthusiasm about (themselves) whether they wish to freely admit it or not.
I was wondering, do most of them have an easy time with the technical aspects of digital story telling? Or, do you have to do a lot of computer skill teaching for the assignment?
I hope your students enjoy your new idea of researching a hisotrical figure and comparing themselves to that individual. I can envisison some real higher order thinking going on as they embark on that project. Great ideas!
-Alison S.
Erik,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your idea about adding a digital story about a historical figure. I would have loved to create a digital project about that when I was in high school.
History was one of my favorite subjects but I felt it was always boring to write a paper. This would have been a great alternative! Great ideas like this make me want to teach history. (but then I remember how much I like my first graders!)
What great ideas you have shared in your post! I really like how you focused on creative ways in which we can incorporate digital story telling within our classrooms. You have come up with a great idea for a digital story that I feel would really heighten students’ engagement levels as well as provide an interactive way to share information about themselves and in what they take great pride. I feel that this is such a great spin on a traditional autobiography paper. Not only is it a way for them to showcase their creativity, but to include graphics, audio and video that is extremely near and dear to their hearts.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job of mentioning starting with some rules and guidelines first. Just like us graduate students, children need and like to have what they can and cannot do laid out for them, as well as being able to visibly see what is expected of them from the teacher; this is done through your teacher example.
I especially like that you tied in history to your assignment. I feel that this is a great way to bring history to life, as it deserves to be documented and showcased in a way much more that sometimes paper can provide.
Thank you again for sharing these creative and engaging ideas, I hope to one day incorporate some of these ideas into my future curriculum!
A personal connection is the key to really loving what your learning. I know that if something impacts me personally I'm really going to pay attention. This is a good idea, and will really help the student connect with the learning. The similarities idea is awesome. Imagine a student that can compare themselves to George Washington, or even Thomas Edison. This could open up new ideas and thoughts of what the student wants to become.
ReplyDeleteDalya,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. I am glad you liked the ideas presented. I encourage every teacher to complete a me story with their students regardless of age. Let me know if you try one of the digital stories. I would be interested to know how they went.
Erik
Alison,
ReplyDeleteLike they say a picture is worth a thousand words and a good example is worth a million. Believe it or not my kids loose attention very quickly when I begin talking, so I usually just give them and example and a rubric and let them figure it out. If they run into any problems I just help them one on one.
A far as students not wanting to participate goes, high school students have to be forced to do most things for fear they may damage their precious reputations. I have to say that is just an act and most kids are dying to tell their story.Besides I do not give them a choice, I make the me story project a nice percentage of the quarter grade.
To answer your questions about the technical aspect, students usually have no problem using photostory. Photostory is one of easiest programs to use and I encourage every teacher to start with it.
Do you plan on doing one of the stories I mentioned in my post. If you do, I would like to hear how it went.
Erik
rh,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I think you would be able to modify this lesson in such a way that your first graders might be able to do something like this. I would be interested to know if you think your students could create a digital story of some sort. Please let me know if you try digital stories with your class.
Erik
acarli,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of the compliments. I really appreciate them.
When I give an assignment I always provide a rubric for the students. I find that rubrics take a lot of guess work out of an assignment on both the students and teachers side of the equation. I find that rubrics keep us all on the same page. I know that they can be time consuming to create but in the end rubrics will save you time. Do you give your students a rubric with assignments. If you do I would be interested in exchanging templates. If you would like to exchange please leave some contact information on my blog.
Erik
valleh,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree mote with your statement " A personal connection is the key to really love what you are learning. I try to connect with my students with every lesson I teach, but sometimes fall short of that mark. I would appreciate any information you could give me on how you make that connection with your students.
Erik
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletenathanael,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I agree with you that students in the middle and high schools have a need to have their voices heard. I often try to let them have that voice in order to help them figure out who they truly are on the inside. One of my favorite saying to my class is know thyself. I believe that if students can at least figure out who they are by the time they finish high school then they will have a huge advantage in life. Helping students find out who they are and what their place is in society is one area teachers often overlook when teaching their students and a me story is just one of many ways in which I attempt to complete this often overlooked responsibility of teachers.
Digital storytelling is a great way to get students engaged.It will allow them to communicate and work with fellow classmates.Communication between educators and students is vital. A mestory will open the lines of communication, what a great idea.
ReplyDeleteEmonica, thanks for the post. Me stories definitely open up the lines of communication between teachers and students. The better you know the students the more able you are to help them succeed. Would you agree that all true education is personal?
ReplyDelete