CAIS
Technology Conference Workshop, June 20, 2007: Making Digital Poems and Stories Presented by Bill Sullivan
Workshop Description: Making Digital Poems and Stories
This hands-on workshop introduces the computer skills and demonstrates a resilient mindset to help teachers integrate and navigate digital poetry/storytelling into any classroom (K-12). Whether you are a beginner with the iMovie software or an experienced pro, you will have fun exploring the process discovering the ingredients of a digital story. Participants will go through the steps of creating a digital poem/story so that they can role model the procedures. Using a supplied storyboard, participants will brainstorm and outline their digital story/poem. We will then create text and record an audio track. After importing the audio, we will then walk through the software steps that will blend other media (music soundtrack, still images, video, etc) and blossom the original story text into a digital movie. Throughout the process, we will reflect on classroom management methods to keep students focused; we'll also explore how to create assignments that mix curriculum with personal and meaningful material. By the end of the day, participants will leave with their own story produced during the workshop; we will burn participants' stories and poems onto a personal CD-Rom for them to take home. We will also discuss the future of digital portfolios.
Click here for a Word copy of the welcoming
one page handout
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Outline of the Workshop:
Morning Session:
a) General introduction; view examples of digital stories; discuss the Seven
Elements of the digital story, according to the Center for Digital Storytelling;
b) Reflect on the mindset that will help technology projects in a classroom setting; complement this discussion with some explicit classroom methods and classroom atmosphere goals.
c) Brainstorming, using prompts, writing and putting the story through the storyboard process;
d) Recording Voice Over and gathering still images.
Afternoon Session:
e) Producing digital project in the I-Movie Timeline; using the Palette to blend
audio, additional digital files, transitions, and special effects;
f) Showing the projects and being mindful of future classroom management methods;
g) Review the process and discuss the possibilities. return
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NB: Although not a requirement, it may be more meaningful
for participants to bring along a draft of a story (one typed page in length),
favorite CDs for soundtrack, meaningful digital photos, possibly some digital
movie clips, or other multimedia files. We will also provide and explore story
prompts to inspire spontaneous development.
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Some digital samples from my students from the 2006-07 academic year:
From the 2005-06 academic year:
Prompts for today's workshop:
- Poetry: find a favorite poem and create a digital story. Click here for the Academy of American Poets. http://www.poets.org
- Download the latest version of the essay prompts on the Common Application page: http://www.commonapp.org/
- Write about your personal mythology. Write about a childhood activity where you were so engrossed in the play that you did not notice time passing. You could also excavate an early memory from your childhood--perhaps a moment of which you were too young to remember--that family members tell and retell. What is that story? Why is it so important for you?
- During our spring term, my classes wrote essays for the essay contest, This I Believe; it is a recurring program on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. Because the contest asks Americans to reflect on their core beliefs, sharing these core values became another way to build better relationships among the students in my classroom.
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Adjusting Students' (and adults') Mindsets When Using Technology
in the Classroom |
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Adjusting Mindsets; explain and discuss:
- Reflect on Robert Brook's insights on crisis, danger and possibility (celebrate the Chinese characters); the etymology of resilience;
- revive the buddy system (we're working together on a community class work versus competition for individual grades;
- utilize the driver (have students take turns using the lead computer that is attached to the projector and have them voice out loud their problem solving steps);
- appreciate the good, old advice of relying on intuition for previous the "innovative" technology of mechanical flight: flying by the seat of one's pants;
- release the Will Richardson's "Yeah but" brakes and explore the new potential for networking and model learning in a 2.0 world; here's Will's web page from Monday's 2007 Keynote presentation.
- realize the environments that you already know before you learn a new system/software; in other words, what types of learning will you have to do: relearning? upgrading? unlearning?
- join the circle and allow these projects to become naturally student-centered work projects where the teacher can also engage students
to help create the criteria for assessment since technology assignments defy normal
grading standards: David Warlick (our Keynote speaker from 2006) has a create your own rubric on his page (or try this link if previous one is down). Here's an interesting resource, Midlink Magazine, with examples of examples of student rubrics. Here's one from the San Mateo County Project-Based Learning page. Have your students either create individual rubrics per assignments or research other options.
- become a role model for learning--these projects allow me to role model my love for learning because there is a good chance that students
know more than me in various technology topics, and I can genuinely compliment them on their usefulness and assistance;
- also create a great collaborative environment and a sincere learning community; students do respond well when you expect more from them as co-investigators. "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe;
- can anyone share additional classroom methods to create classroom community and partnerships?
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Classroom Management:
- Overall, it is important to have a trust discussion with students before
the groups and individuals go off on their own. You can also use Robert Brooks' model where he asks students to create conduct goals and misconduct consequences.
- This teacher has some great instructions for organizing the various steps
for a digital storytelling project. He is also working with fourth and fifth
graders in a public school in Lexington, MA.http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan02/banaszewski.htm
- Kenton County School system in Kentucky has a great web page that is a resource for students as well as teachers: http://www.kenton.k12.ky.us/DigitalStory/dstindex.htm#teachers
- Here is a link that walks teachers through the steps of scripting, filming, editing and showing a movie as a classroom project. http://kidsvid.altec.org/
- Try the NEA's "works4me" tips library; they have a whole section devoted to suggestions from real teachers using technology in the classroom. "There's a lot of talk about technology and education, but for many teachers, getting down to the nitty gritty of actually using it is another matter. For one thing, it takes time learn new software, and more time to decide how best to apply it. Here are concrete examples of how some teachers are integrating technology into their daily classroom life."
- There are many resources for teachers at the Education World Technology Center; here a little fun start to using technology in your classroom every day: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech146.shtml
- NB: the most interesting aspect about digital stories and poems is how absorbing they are to students and adults. Thus, the more you can taylor your curriculum to allow for these projects, the more meaningful absorption of your curriculum you will observe. Once you involve your students in such a project, you will see how their fascination with creating a meaningful multimedia presentation becomes the best classroom management barometer.
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Seven Elements of a Digital Storytelling
The Center for Digital Storytelling set an interesting criteria that incorporates
the aspects of multimedia. Because multimedia presents so many different ways
to present a story, as useful guideline such as this one will help channel and
focus students' energies and ambitions.
They have synthesized these seven elements as a way to channel diverse backgrounds
and approach the digital storytelling process with a good general guideline.
I have had students make I-movies, and I will now begin criteria conversations
with these seven elements. The fun begins when you open the floor to students
to create the class standards before the project begins.
In the interest of time and convenience, click
here for a boiled down version of CDS' seven elements:
- Point of View
- Dramatic Question
- Emotional Content
- Gift of Your Voice
- Power of Soundtrack
- Economy
- Pacing
Brainstorming and Outlining a Digital Story
Click here for a great storyboard outline (pdf file)
designed by John Lambert.
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Directions for I-Movie. Before we begin,
it is good to sit back and evaluate some I-Movie skills and techniques that you
probably already possess. We will be operating moves in a click and drag environment.
We will also be working with the Palette and Timeline,
so it is important that you understand those features as well as the concepts
of importing (images, sound, etc) and Sharing
(sometimes referred to as export in previous versions of I-Movie).
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NB Links and Ideas to prompt reflections and
conversations:
General discussion on incorporating technology in a meaningful way; how do these cartoons illuminate insights from Monday night's Keynote's presentation?
General Discussion on Digital Storytelling:
Other Multimedia Links:
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Search Tips: try these links on the web
to gather multimedia images, files, etc, for your digital story:
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Copyright Information:
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Great Source: I began collecting much of the
above information from John Lambert, Dana Atchley, Nina Mullen, The
Center for Digital Storytelling: They have a great web page in which
they present the fundamental steps with the metaphor of a cookbook
and display a great movie
example as a type of recipe as a goal for the showing the multimedia potentials. This center and subsequent Digital Storytelling Association has been at the core of the digital movement for some time.
Bill Sullivan; last updated June 20, 2007 return to top
