Final Video

Well, here is my story.  Hope you like it!

http://youtu.be/1ffzI-9ADiU

Chapter 15 Copyright

The three rules of respect are good to know from this chapter. "1) cite sources always, 2) ask permission when possible, and 3) compensate when necessary" (199). 

How to avoid the gray zone is "to be perpetually paranoid" (200). You should be careful of what you use and cover all of your steps before publishing.  If you have a feeling that you need permission, you should get it.

I also like the idea of the four-factor fair-use test.  The four factors are: (197-201)

1. What is the character of the use?
2. What is the nature of the work to be used?
3. How much of the work will you use?
4. If this kind of use were widespread, what effect would it have on the market for original or for permissions?

These are good questions to ask yourself.  I think this would help with the gray area.

One part of my digital story...

Here is one part of my story.  I decided to put up some of the interview with my friends twin daughters.  They are pretty cute and funny.  I am still working on my other pieces of the story.  I hope you enjoy this section!

http://youtu.be/S_hlp2h0Wfs

Chapter 14 Media Grammar

In this chapter Ohler wanted to convey two things to the teachers: 1) "develop the basic vocabulary and perspectives needed to discuss new media production with their students and 2) create assessment rubrics for new media production that are simple and useful."

I like his suggestion on how to find "the bumps."  Ohler says to watch a video twice while grading. "Watch it once for the story and then watch it immediately afterward" (179).  This is a good technique because when you watch a video for the first time no matter what it is and follow the story.  When it is watched again you can be more aware of the different aspects going on.  I know this to be true because some movies I grew up watching there are things I notice now that I didn't see the first time I watched.  Being  familiar with a story and then checking it for "bumps" is a good point.

I like Ohler's suggestions for using pictures in videos.  The person watching should not be squinting trying to figure out what they see.  It is okay to tell a student to find a better way to get a clearer picture.  This is a good skill students should understand.  Paying attention to detail is important.

Lastly, make sure the audio is good!  This is important just in case something were to happen with the picture  the viewer still knows what is going on.  Ohler makes many good points in this chapter.  These were just a few that stuck out to me.

Ch. 13 and Video #6

Chapter 13 discussed the hardware that could be used when doing DST.  Ohler goes on to talk about free resources and some resources that can be bought.  He says " you do not need fancy, expensive, hardware or software to create effective, compelling stories" (176).  I liked how he gave some suggestions about what he uses but they are not all necessary.

I want to check out the program Audacity to see how I can use it with adding music to my videos on Windows Movie Maker.  I thought this was a good suggestion to help with adding music to the videos.

His suggestion of saving the movies on a USB or CD to be shared was a helpful idea.  Ohler talks about using a scanner to put items into your video.  I want to give this a try at some point to see how it turns out.  Seems like an interesting idea.

Video #6

In our last f2f meeting, I had one idea but it turns out I was not feeling it, so I changed my idea.  I am going to do a story about what it is like being a twin.  I made a story board using Prezi.  I hope to get back some good feedback to help me out.  I used Screencast and Prezi

Chapters 11-12 & Video #5

Chapter 11 and 12 goes into great detail about about the media production process.  Here are some points I took away and can reference later.

The five phases of production are:

1. Story Planning and Getting Ready
2. Preproduction
3. Production
4. Postproduction
5. Performance, Posting, Showing, and Distribution

Ohler mentions if students have a hard time with the phases, to relate them to something they already know how to do like use a cellphone, or conducting and experiment.  These are good ways to help the students relate to what they already know how to do to help with with DST.

The checklist for getting ready is also helpful:

1. Training scheduled?
2. Administrative and teacher buy-in?
3. Tech access and support?
4. Parent Permission?
5. Assessment strategies?
6. Permission to use media?

This checklist is a good reminder for a teacher and what they should have accomplished before beginning DST in their classroom.

Ohler talks about time.  This is very important because it would be very time consuming to fit in everyday with everything else that needs to be taught each day.  I am glad he pointed out how much time would be needed.  I also liked figure 11.3 Story Development Process.  It is a good way to see this.

Preproduction in a Nutshell:

1. Finalize story planning.
2. create media list.
3. Get the media.

I liked how this was at the beginning of chapter 12 because it gives a good overview of what to reference later.  I appreciate all of the details in the rest of the DST process and I think they are pretty well explained.

Video #5 

I decided to do a video about the website www.teacherspayteachers.com.  I used the screenr program.  My computer was and is still having issues downloading Java so I could use the programs listed.  I had to use another computer to do this.  Hopefully I can fix mine.  Hopefully this video can be useful.

Chapters 9, 10 & Video #4

Chapter 9 discussed more approaches to story mapping.  Here are some of the diagrams for mapping that are discussed:

• Aristotle's Dramatic Diagram, "The basic shape is a hill or mountain, which represents the journey the protagonist must make" (113).  This kind of mapping seems to be the easiest to start out with.  Ohler said that "Aristotle referred to conflict/resolution in terms of tying and untying a knot."  This helped me to understand this diagram better.  It is also helpful to know that this works for younger students.
• The Joseph Campbell Map is made up of a circle.  A useful metaphor to help explain this is "the never-ending story and the journey home" (114).  The character ends up where they started but is a different person.  This explanation from Ohler was helpful in understanding this map.
• The treasure map was also very interesting. I think the name itself would get students interested in using this map.  The character is suddenly thrown into a situation and this map helps to show this sequence in a story.  The treasure map can go up and down a few times in the story so there is flexibility.
• I pointed out these maps from the chapter because it shows how many different varieties of story maps that can be used.  They can also be used for different reasons.  These maps are all good resources for future reference.
• Kieran Egan says to "develop lesson plans based on the story from rather than the typical task-subtask lesson plan structure that was in such prevalent use" (118).  I liked this section on lesson plans because it gave useful information for the future in teaching DST.

Chapter 10 discussed Other Kinds of Stories.  Here are some key details that stuck out to me.

• "We don't know what we don't know, a fact that ensures we all have a lot to learn" (125). I liked this quote and helps remind us we are always learning and DST is no different.
• The Story Edge of the Western Tradition "Antiheros, antiplots, stream of consciousness, telling with texture, and other forms of narrative all stretch our concept of story in interesting and useful ways" (127).  The quote sums up the section in this chapter.  (I like quotes this week!)

I liked the section on music videos.  I think students could relate to music videos when they are learning about DST.  It is a good connection for them.

Video #4

I decided to do a mashup of my favorite TV shows and their intros.   I downloaded an add-on to FireFox and got the videos from YouTube.  I hope you enjoy!

Chapters 7 & 8

Chapter 7 was about "Teaching Story Planning," there were good tips as to how to go about doing this that will be helpful.  Some of them were:

• The teacher tells the story and then the group helps to find the story core and map the story.  This is good because it will get the students thinking about other stories before they have to start on their own.  It would also be helpful to practice mapping stories that are not theirs before doing their own.
• The "Story-Storming Grid" looks like a helpful tool that would be good for any grade level learning about DST.  It is a very simple grid that once learned, students can be successful at using.
• "When it comes to storytelling planning, one size does not fit all" (Ohler 97).  This is a good tip so the teachers know that it is okay to make things different each time for different groups of students.
• Containing students stories is another good point to take into consideration.  Students should know what is the most important part of their story that needs to be told and what parts are not significant for their goal.  Ohler suggests creating a "research box" where the ideas that will be in the story are written in the middle and the ideas that relate but are not going to be addressed go on the outside.  This is a good tool that would be helpful to anyone who a lot to their stories.

Chapter 8 talks about how characters change in stories is important.  Here are a few things that will help me in my DST.

• "It is the transformation of characters in a story that gives the audience a change to transform as well" (107).  This is a good point to remember in storytelling in general.  Character transformation is what keeps the audience's attention and that make it important.
• The Eight Levels of Character Transformation in table 8.1 is full of good information.  The table explains the kind of character transformation and gives details to what each means.  
• There are a few taxonomies mentioned in this chapter that have to do with transformation.  These taxonomies can help with students be able to tell more effective stories.  They help to understand students through their stories.  Also, they help students grow through their stories.  The taxonomies will be a good tool to use when it comes to DST in the classroom.

Video #3:

I went to the Giants game on Saturday and I thought since this weeks assignment was about camera angles and shots, that I could get a lot of good stuff from the baseball park.  It was Buster Posey bobblehead give-away day, so my video is about the day.  From watching other classmates videos, I am not sure I completey did this right.  I should have had more videos in my video.  Hopefully it is not too bad! :)
http://youtu.be/aKPoGToBteE

Chapters 4, 5, & 6 and Video #2

There were many good points in chapters 4, 5, and 6 that will be helpful while learning about digital storytelling.  Chapter 4 discussed Assessing Digital Stories.  A few points that stuck out to me were:

• "Traditional educators aren't new media literate and thus don't feel comfortable assessing new media projects" (62).  This point is important because if teacher's are not comfortable with assessing projects, they might be less inclined to use them.
• One question that popped out to me was, "Why did you have my child create a digital story, and how did you grade it?  I can see some parents asking this type of question.  Teachers need to be able to tell the parents why this type of project is important in their students' education.  I thought this was a very good point.
• Ohler talks about three reasons to asses new media.  The first one was, "new media includes the use of old media" (64).  This is important to know because students are using their reading and writing skills, old media, in their new media.  They are very much combined and this is helpful to know.

Chapter 5 was about The Story Core, Story Mapping, Story Types.  

• Storytelling is important to know about when creating a digital story.  Storytelling comes in many different types.  Some traits of a successful story include: 1) "Listeners can't wait to hear what will happen next." 2) "What happened next wasn't predictable but made sense." 3) "Tellers stayed on the message and didn't include information that wasn't in the story." 4) "Listeners were motivated to listen without interruption." 5) "The story wasn't too long." (69-71).  These are important traits to remember when going to create any kind of story.  In digital stories, these would be good to know to make sure the audience would be engaged.
• The story core has many important components.  One component I think is important in remembering is the question or problem that is introduced in the beginning to get the attention of the listener.  If there is nothing that catches the attention of the listener than it would be missing this component.
• Another component that is important is having the main character go through a change where they have learned something from the challenge that was faced.  There are other story components to the core that are very important as well.

Chapter 6 was about Applying Story Maps

•  Story mapping is important to see how well a story was done when it comes to its components.  
• Ohler maps a few of the stories from the beginning of the book to show how it can be done.  There is an example story where it shows what can be improved when it is mapped out.  
• I think story maps are a good resource to use and for students to follow.  It can help with making sure all components are in the story and what can be changed if needed.  Story maps are a good tool that would be good for assessing as well.  

My how to video is about dog training.  My sister has an 8 month old lab that she took to training at Petsmart.  I went with her to the trainings and we practice the techniques with my 3 year old dachshund as well.  I thought it would be a good how to video to make.  I hope you enjoy it!  

Video #1

My Technology

I am using my HP laptop with Windows Movie Maker.  I had to download the program on my computer.  The download was an easy process.  I have started working on my 1 minute video and I seem to be doing okay with the program.  We will see how it turns out.  Stay tuned!

Digital Stories

In reading chapters 2 and 3 from the book Digital Storytelling in the Classroom, there is a lot of good information to help define what digital stories are in today.  A few key points from chapter 2 that I found helpful were:

• The definition of digital storytelling (DST) from the book is: "The use of personal digital technology to combine a number of media into a coherent narrative." 
• The author gave examples of students digital stories that are shown to teachers.  This was helpful because it shows the wide variety of what digital stories can be.
• The word "story" has many different meanings to everyone.  This is helpful because there are many different ways students and teachers can interpret digital stories.  There is no right or wrong way  to create a digital story, just different ways of seeing them.

A few key points I found helpful in chapter 3 that discussed standards, instructional design, and literacy are:

• Technology standards exist for students, teachers, and administrators.  This is something I am not sure every teacher knows.
• A barrier that most teachers have is not knowing how to assess media projects done by students.  
• DST links closely with language arts standards because it involves many steps that are students are involved in everyday including writing. 

These two chapters provided a good amount of information to get started on our digital storytelling process.