Video #5

The video will appear here when it's done saving and uploading and whateverelse it needs to finally show up here and be visible and audible to people.. unlike it's been a few times before.

Reflection will follow.

It has been a difficult week. This video just did not want to work out the way I wanted it to work out. You can still notice awkward video trims and audio fade ins and outs.. but it's much better than the original was. It changed slightly from last week's "rough draft".


If I got to do it all over again, I would not do it on my CE proposal.. I'd create a story because it was difficult to create a story out of my proposal. PLUS, my story has no resolution at this point.. I do not know whether or not I will have a job next school year and what I'll be teaching when/if I get one. Thus, my video just abruptly ends.. because I do not know what the ending will be.


I should have just taught everyone about Redox reactions. That would have been much more exciting :) Plus, I taught it last week :)

Video #4

[ignore this 1st one]

Take 3..or even 4..

Sorry about the audio.. even though it's supposed to be a "noise cancelling mic," it didn't seem to cancel anything. There is nothing I could do to fix that.. will update my mic tomorrow, I hope.

Here it is:

Video #3

The most difficult part of this week's assignment was to come up with "something to teach." I was absolutely out of ideas.. so what I "came up" with was something super nerdy and boring... I'll teach you how to solve a system of three equations and how to interpret the results you get :)


It seems to follow the regular story plot: the problem is introduced, a quest to solve the problem is introduced, one arrives at a confusing answer, answer is interpreted, and voila! It's all solved. :)


The movie maker crashing.. PowerDirector annoying me.. Internet being way too slow for the price I pay every month.. just way too complicated. It shouldn't be this way.


Technical difficulties.. every..single...week.. ugh!

My whole family was involved in the production. There's even Ben's foot somewhere in the video..

Chapter 14 Reflection

Even though most of the chapter sounded quite obvious, there were a few things that I liked a lot. For instance, I liked the author's very accurate remark of not overdoing the persuasion in digital productions, because

when students use new media to support a particular point of view, it looks too much like advertising.

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 177). Kindle Edition. 

 I have thought about this a few times, too. Whenever there is an assignment of persuasion, the student outcome/product often sounds like an advertisement. Even in a simple assignment like the one I assigned to my Earth Science students not long ago. After quite a bit of research and reading on the topic, they were to create a PowerPoint/scrapbook of their point of view on whether or not humans are responsible for global warming. The products ended up to be pretty much advertisements for hybrid cars :).


Also, a quite powerful quote that I want to post here, was the following:

Without the visual, you're annoyed. But without the audio, you're lost.

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 184). Kindle Edition. 

 This is my personal favorite quote. There is a story behind this. When I just arrived to the States, I knew quite a bit of English. Since it took a bit of time to enroll in school, I was home a lot and watched a lot of TV. When I watched American television, I understood most of it. However, because of the time change, I often found myself wide awake at night and needed something to get my eyes tired :) So that meant that I either needed to read books or watch TV. Like many teenagers, I chose TV over books. There was very little on at that time, so I ended up watching Mexican soap operas. Because it was at night, I was mindful of the volume and would make audio very low. I have tried putting the TV on mute a few times, but that just killed everything. It was very boring to watch because I lost all the story plot. And that's considering that I didn't know any Spanish... I still absolutely needed the volume in order to be able to keep watching. No audio = "no comprender". Crazy how our minds work! :)

Video #2

The title of my video is Mike's idea, so I decided to credit him now. Most people read the description first, and then go on to watching the video. If you are one of such people, you now know whose idea it was to name this video so creatively.

Here's "How iMET My Motherhood"

Chapter 13 Reflection

As I read through Chapter 13, I mentally checked off what are some of the things from the "toolbox" that  I already have. Surprisingly, it seems that I am pretty well set, actually. I like the author's motto:

My motto is one eye on today's classroom, one eye looking down the road.

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 167). Kindle Edition. 

 I believe that to be a very good strategy. I am constantly looking for resources for my classes, and gathering technological resources has also been on my list for a while now. At first, it was not driven by the desire to enhance my teaching because I wasn't a teacher yet. The different resources I gathered were for me to create better presentations, and, possibly, karaoke-style videos for the worship group I was a part of. I never got the the karaoke videos stage but my presentations with lyrics has gotten better and better. Ever since then, I always use the opportunity to expand my toolbox, even though I am no longer in charge of those activities. Many of those "tools" were used in my teaching, once I got to that position.


Also, I am definitely a living-breathing proof that

... you do not need fancy, expensive hardware or software to create effective, compelling stories. Your imagination will more than make up for a lack of high-end tools as long as you plan your story well and tell it clearly and with heart.

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 176). Kindle Edition. 

 Back when I just started my creative projects with lyrics presentations, I wasn't equipped with much more than an Internet access (for music and some images) and the Microsoft Office suite. What I could do was quite impressive, however, I must say that it did get better when I was able to utilize other great resources. So, I absolutely agree with the author on this one:

In my opinion, as long as students don't lose the story focus, as well as the goals of the assignment, they should be encouraged to experiment with the tools of the day. It's your opportunity as their teacher to help them use their technology effectively, creatively, and wisely.

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (pp. 172-173). Kindle Edition. 

 I didn't have a teacher, but I did have a clear focus in mind when experimenting with "stuff" that could potentially enhance what I was producing.

Video #1

This video features most of my loved ones.. not everyone got to be in due to the time limits and unavailability of their pictures (really?).