Progress and Mid-Point Reflection

Progress

At this point, I have my entire story scripted and storyboarded, and all shots have been filmed. All I have left to do is mainly the post-production work of editing, recording the voiceovers, and adding music, and credits. At this time I do not need any assistance with anything.

Resources and Use in Classroom

I actively teach video production daily in my Digital Media courses, however, during this course, I have been exploring ways in which I could start engaging my students in my ELA classes by using video in their assessments. I have used Canva a few times and my students have seemed to enjoy that. Next semester I am also planning on having students create a VLOG for their weekly learning reflections instead of the blog format that I currently use. I am also going to try reconfiguring some of the project-based assessments that I do with my students to include a digital story option.

I would most likely use the same tools that my Digital Media students use with my ELA students. I would teach them how to script and storyboard. I have yet to find a great online storyboarding site that isn’t blocked by our school district, so for now I would rather have students create their storyboards by hand. As far as editing goes, there are so many applications available. I have access to iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Adobe AE, and Premiere Pro in my classroom. Most students also have a variety of editing tools on their cell phones which work great as well!

Digital Storytelling in My Community Prep

The authentic audience for my story would be other educators who are having a hard time letting go of the control of their classroom and giving that control over the learning to their students. I think that the newer and the more veteran teachers in my building/district would be most impacted by my story. I believe that my story might resonate with them and encourage them to try new things in their classroom with their students.

During the creation of my story, I have had the opportunity to explore new applications and resources that I can use with my students to help engage them in the creation of their own digital stories. As someone who uses digital storytelling as a tool in the classroom every single day, I know for a fact that my school community and other students would benefit from learning these skills. Creating digital stories allows students to create, collaborate, reflect on what is and what is not working through their processes, problem-solve, and just have fun learning in a new way. Students in my school community already have the opportunity to market products that they are working on in other courses, share positive experiences that are happening in our building with the district and local community through our website and YouTube channel, and collaborate with students from other schools through various short film competitions. I play the role of a facilitator. I am only there to help on the technical side of things and watch all of the learning and fun unfold.