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When developing my script, I very much followed my normal writing process. I went through the steps of drafting, editing, and finally conferring before settling on a finished piece. The narrative writing was comfortable and familiar, with the exception of the limit on length. In my class, students often choose to write narratives. I emphasize including elements of "show," not "tell," that create visuals for the reader. Digital storytelling, similar to narrative writing, requires a careful consideration of purpose and audience. It is important to create strong visuals. In digital storytelling, the art seems to be saying less and using pictures to illustrate more. The process of deciding on assets to use is a similar process to choosing what details to use, but it seems easier. We work with PowerPoint often, and this seems to have some comfortable connections. What I have found challenging is that all of the technology is new, and I am behind everyone else. I do not know Garage Band, iMovie, or iPhoto. Much of the tutorial is quite a few steps ahead of me. I am unable to focus so much on the quality of the digital story I'm creating because I am focused so heavily on the fundamentals of running the program. Most of my students would be in a similar place, and it has made me aware of the rudimentary skills I would have to build for myself and my students before I attempt to use this. It was very different to have to limit what I wanted to say in writing and limit my detail. I have found it frustrating at some points, because I have such a clear picture in my head – which I can not put into words because I must be cognizant of length, and I cannot fit into the images that are accessible to me. Fudging the line between exactly what I want to see and what would be acceptably representational has slowed me down. What is transforming for me is that this technology is far beyond what it is available to my district and the professional development that is offered. How do I gain access to really using this technology in class when a great deal of my district is still focused on basic word-processing and PowerPoint applications? Describe your current teaching situation, as well as the rubric(s) you might implement for digital storytelling projects. At my school, we have one computer lab for nineteen classrooms, which is used for half the day by computer class. We are on Pentium II computers that run very slowly and often will not work at the same time (standard school technology sob story). Despite the drawbacks, the lab is signed out at all times. We are, obviously, on PCs, and I'm not sure how to transfer what I've learned on a Mac to what I have available. I'm not even sure that our computers could run MovieMaker. I would love to do a project of this kind, but I'm not sure of my ability to do so. Our technology department is more of a repair organization, so I'm not sure how I can use this in my classroom. If I did use it, my rubric would likely include something for public speaking, considerations of voice and audience. There should also be some criteria for the selection of images to support the script. This is a project where I would co-construct the rubric with my students. There would also be requirements for the addition of key elements such as titles, credits, attempting transitions, and voice quality. What are your thoughts about audience and voice? It was a very purposeful endeavor to address voice and audience in the writing process. With such a limited amount of space for the script, very careful consideration had to go into making what was said powerful. When writing the script, it was very much for my family – for whom I intend to screen this. As I worked on the digital aspect, my idea of audience expanded. Pictures and ideas that my family would implicitly understand had to be extended for the larger audience (the web), to give meaning to my movie. As a result, I carefully adjusted images to tell my story. The pictures also added a great deal to voice. The movie showed so much more and really added to the limited script. Describe your project and your workshop experience. My project is a very brief interlude reflecting why I loved visiting my grandparents in Maine when I was younger. In preparing for this workshop, I lost my jump drive with all my images and was very restricted on the images I could include when the first day of the workshop began. As a result, I didn't have the images that I wanted. I chose to do something about my grandparents for my family. For Christmas, I gave each of my family members a very treasured picture of my brother and me when we were younger. I thought my family would really appreciate more. We love looking at these old pictures. I also chose the subject matter because I care about it, and I thought that would get me through the frustrations of not knowing what I was doing. My experience in this workshop was a positive one – I felt accomplished when I was finished. However, I felt behind at all times because I was not familiar with the Mac applications we were using. In the end, I think my movie is very basic because I was spending a great deal of time on the fundamentals. I needed more basic technical support. I spent a lot of time frustrated until I decided to do my own thing and just play around. The most stressful part was day two. There's a great deal of pressure to get all the images in and arranged. After that, it all seems to fall together. I realized that it could turn into an endless activity for a driven person. You listen to it dozens of times and catch every imperfection. You make a million little adjustments and create a few more. I found that soon my frustration with not knowing what I was doing was eclipsed by my wish to finish and do it well. The process of conferring with others was also most helpful because I was opened up to possibilities my limited knowledge had hidden from me. I also got needed feedback that I was headed in the right direction. On the last day, I realized that I need to do this again pretty soon in order to solidify what I've learned and move one step further beyond what I know now. I specifically need assistance with how to manipulate audio further.
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