A Little Something Extra I Want to Share

This is one of the people that I follow on gaming streams that I really admire. He posted this video last night and I thought it was so inspiring that I would share it with everyone. If you look at the comments on his video they show exactly what he is talking about.

Digital Story Rough Draft

If you guys could leave comments on how to improve this video please do! It is looking pretty rough right now.

Weekly Reading #6

“So he created an assignment where students made short informal speeches about familiar topics and then took questions from the audience.”


I really liked that the instructor made this assignment to help students with their public speaking. When I was doing my student teaching at North Marion High School I had a class that was co-taught with another student teacher. SInce neither of us were using the Biology/Chemistry class for our action research we decided to do something new to us, a PBL (Project Based Learning) unit. At the end of our PBL we had students do a presentation and it would have helped to do that informal speech assignment to get the students more prepared and comfortable presenting. I hope that for my next PBL or other assignment with a presentation component.


http://www.techtimes.com/articles/16147/20140922/winds-of-change-no-breeze-may-play-havoc-on-insect-food-chain.htm



1. The author of this article is Rhondi Lee with Tech Times. The purpose of this article is to show that climate change will affect a lot more smaller factors that can pile up and change food chains.


2. What drew me into this article was the title: Winds of change: No breeze may play havoc on insect food chain. This might not be catchiest title, but it seemed intriguing to me. I really just wanted to know how it would play havoc on the insect food chains.


3. I think that most people will see this as only affecting the insect food chains, but if the insect food chains change then it will intern change all the food chains because insects are large source of food for larger animals. If there is suddenly more of one type of insect in an area the predator for that insect will also increase in population in that area, thus changing the food chain in that area.


4. This article is from a scientific point of view and that climate change is happening, some may believe that it is not. It is about a study that was conducted with one area having the wind blocked to simulate climate change and an area with regular wind.


5. As far as I can tell it doesn't seem like there is any related information that was omitted from this article. I think it should have more information about how much the wind has slowed and is slowing in the form of a graph to show how fast this is happening.



Deconstruction will help students have a better understand of the article because they will have to look into the article much more than they ordinarily would. This will also help students find bad science, making sure the logic with the study is sound and that it makes sense what they are doing.

Note Card Confessional

Addressing the seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Storyboard:

Point of View: I want the story to be from my point of view. This is a digital story about ourselves so I think that would be appropriate.

Dramatic Question: I think my dramatic question should be: “I was eight years old when I received my first gaming console.” “How did this change his life?”

Emotional Content: My story does have a happy ending with some sore parts in the middle. I want to put a mix of videos and slides in my digital story to make it more dynamic and give a more emotional feel. Seeing the storyteller also helps the viewer feel like it is more personal and having a real conversation with them.

Soundtrack: I would really like to include game music from my favorite games in the background to express how much they have affected my life. Games have all the same pieces a great story does so I can still use the game music to change the tone.

Economy: I am hoping that I can keep my story short enough and will probably have to do several versions to get it correct. I will definitely write out my main topics to guide my topic and don’t go off track.

Pacing: The pacing will probably be the hardest part since I want to use video and pictures. Switching between the two media types might make the video seem fast paced and the pictures slow.


Name: Sean Harwell
Title of Digital Story:: Role-playing for Life

Pict:





The Narration:


Video games have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and have shaped the man I am today.






My first console was a Nintendo 64 that my grandmother got for my brother and I.






Ever since that day I have been enthralled with video games and that led me to select a friend group that loved them too. PS these were not my real friends.






Being a pretty big geek/nerd I got picked on a lot which caused me to get into fights. It didn't help that I was the smallest kid until the 11th grade.






College was my safe haven where I was able to avoid the bullies and find larger groups of nerds like myself.






After a couple years of finding all kinds of people just like me I felt at home in this new world.






I eventually found my way to teaching to help students learn and to get to bullying at its core. I fell in love with teaching students during my clinicals and student teaching.






The extra curriculars that I get to participate in now , such as going to the Greenbank Observatory, have been some of the most exciting experiences in my life and I have met the most wonderful people during those adventures.

Reflecting on our Love/Hate Relationship with Media

Interesting Ideas: 

Rafe: I love the fact that humans have always sought a way to communicate beyond there own existent life span. In this we get a sense that all want to be educators... rationale... The storyteller: writes (all forms, poems, odes, sonnets, prose, lyrics...), the singer: sings, the composer: composes, the painter: paints ... for what?? to educate the consumer on what an emotion looks like, feels like, and sounds like. I love that media has the ability to evoke an emotional response we didn't know we were going to experience.

Corey: Ever feel like you've invested two hours of your life and soul to a movie, only to have an ending so terribly bad that you kind of feel like Mike Tyson punched you in the stomach and bit off your ear, then informed you that he no longer loved you and was moving out? That.

Jaime: I once listened to one of my favorite tv shows on radio. It was a neat experience because I felt that I was using a sense that often gets ignored. I was able to use my own imagination to build the scene.

Jessica: I dislike feeling "addicted" to social media at times. I feel like it takes up too much time. I also dislike trying to work around copyright laws and respect them (which is important to do as a role model for students). I would not have thought of that aspect offhand, I got inspiration from the others here who posted about copyright.

Option #1:

Digital Media is my favorite of all of the types of media. It is quick to respond and can help people do things that would take months to do in minutes. After reading a lot of the comments on this topics I noticed that there is a fair bit of dislike for the amount of time it consumes in our daily lives. I do agree that some things do take a while to complete, but this is more about how people feel like we are all addicted to digital media. If it is an addiction why can't one simply break the habit like any other type of addiction? It is similar to that of a drug addict complaining that they want to stop, but just simply need it so they cannot. The types of digital media that people are addicted to are not the kind that might be necessary and are they not in their own way informative? It just hurts me to see people reacting to digital media as if it is a drug forced on them they can't escape. Maybe this comes from my intense love for digital media and I see none of it a real waste of time. I am more cultured and aware of current events because of these "addictions". The only part I hate about digital media is that big companies can start to ruin it for everyone, but that happens in everything. Also, the amount of time it takes to do some tasks is a tad annoying, but with newer technology it will become less of a problem and is really not much a problem now, just an annoyance. 

Brainstorming my Digital Story

The one topic that I kept coming back to when thinking about my topic was video games. Why? Because they have pretty much shaped my entire life. Since that Christmas when my grandmother bought my brother and I a Nintendo 64, against my mothers wishes, I was hooked. After that I still played some sports, but video games shaped me to want to hangout with people who enjoyed playing games as much as I did. This has shaped my life into the kind of person that I am because of the people I picked from then on to hangout with and I went into that social group. It did not always affect me in a good way because people considered us the nerds that they would pick on, this caused me to get into a lot of fights at school. The social group I was in though seemed to be a lot more free flowing and letting you be you, I felt like I could be me with them. It also gave me the push towards education because I want to help those students who are outcast and struggle because of it. The older I got the more and more into the nerd culture I became involved, I started going to conventions which opened their world to me. This is a lot like the video I picked from Reel Works, but I connected to that video in an intense way and want to do my version that goes deeper into that realm.

Week 3 Reading and Discussion

This reading was very helpful in giving me insight on how to use media texts in the classroom without worrying as much about it being taboo. A lot of the strategies are to make sure they are clean and to set ground rules for showing the media texts with the class. There were a few examples of the class transgressing, but they were able to counter it by making it into a part of the lesson. I really enjoyed the part that talked about not alienating any of the students by grouping them all together. It seems like that would happen a lot and I am pretty sure that I do that myself, even though I know they are all their own unique person. I am still unsure about the full extend to using media in the classroom and weary of picking the wrong topic, because science is a controversial topic itself. The best way to link media and science is to show how what we learn in class applies to the real world, which is very important, but I want to talk about how it will apply to the future and how science may help us get there. The unknown is always a scary and exciting place that does bring up controversy. I would just like to know more about how I can talk to students about these types of articles from the media that are experimental and how to pick articles that will not cause offense.

Week 3 Activity #3

Vanessa Clay

I thought this video was a great video that makes you look back on your life and reevaluate it. I like that it was culture based and explained that different cultures exist even in short distances away. The only weakness that I think this video had was that it was only pictures and didn't vary, I would have liked to have seen maybe a video clip that was integrated. This is not to say that the picture were not good, I thought the choice in pictures was great and there certainly was enough pictures to go around.

Jared St.Brown

This video was very personal and explained just who Jared is and how he got to be that way. I enjoyed hearing about how his grandfather and father both had a lot of influence on him. The things that could have been better with this video would be: a little music at the beginning and end, pacing of the pictures to be consistent, and I have to know what the heck that word is!

Amber Haller

I thought this was a great video, the music and pacing was great. The video told a wonderful story about how her mother inspired her to pursue higher education. The only weakness that I saw with the video was that the music never changed, I know it was a tragic story, but I think that some parts could have used a more upbeat type of music.

Week 3 Activity #2

My Write to Draw

Point of View: The point of view is from a student named Max, his voice is the one heard in the video.

Dramatic Question: What is his write to draw? And what is Billy?

Emotional Content: Happiness, friendship, sharing, and realization. I relate to this because having something that you are good at and being recognized for it is something that everyone wants. Having a passion for that talent makes it even greater.

The Ptarmigan

Point of View: The point of view from a student named Siobahn and it is her voice in the video.

Dramatic Question: Will she capture of the Ptarmigan?

Emotional Content: humble, guilt, regret, and hope. We do things that we regret all the time and are always hopefully that the decision we probably should not have made will come full circle and correct itself.

Named

Point of View: The point of view is from a man named Michael, it is his voice in the video.

Dramatic Question: How do we understand our name?

Emotional Content: enlightenment, love, frustration, and regret. Having someone that you love means sacrifice and even though we might not understand the reason they have for wanting something, doesn't mean that we should cast it out.

Week Three Activity #1

Element #1: Take a look at the two examples and see if you can identify the purpose behind each story. What is the point of view in each? Whose voice do you hear?

The first video shows how to harvest Pa' akai, which I am assuming is a cultural resource for the authors culture. I can hear the voice of a few different children explaining how the process takes place. The children are laughing so I can infer that this is an enjoyable activity and embrace it in their culture.

The second video is of an elementary school's science project that appears to be an almost self sufficient fishery. I think the purpose of the video is to show the great things students can accomplish at a school that will inspire and give them the opportunity. The point of view is from the whole school I would guess, but the voice is that of the teacher.

Element #2: See if you can find a dramatic question in the examples for this section. A dramatic question is posed by the narrator at the beginning of the story to create tension and draw in the audience. A dramatic question is usually not an actual question that the narrator poses; rather, it is an intriguing statement that causes the viewers to ask themselves a question.'I was seven years old when I met my father' is an example of a dramatic question. It hooks you in and motivates you to listen to the story until its conclusion. Is the question resolved in each movie or are you left without a resolution?

A couple dramatic questions in this example was the throwing of trash out of the back of the truck and showing the extent of the trash. The question is not resolved, but instead makes you want to find the answer and do something.

Element #3: See if you can identify the emotional paradigms behind these stories.

The emotional paradigms I saw in these stories were: depression, anger, solidarity, rejection, love, kindness, and compassion.

Element #4: What impact that the voice plays on the overall effect of the story.

Voice gives the story passion, the person telling the story gives it life. The voice of the storyteller is using can sway the story is viewed by the audience.

Element #5: What impact does the music have on the emotional content or purpose of the story?

Music sets the tone of the story, it changes the mood. A story with an epic sound track can make you feel like they are on an adventurous quest, while the same story with joke noises and funny music can turn the story into a comedy.

Element #6: Look at the examples in this section and consider the decisions the authors made about length of clips, types of transitions and sequence of events. Are you able (as a viewer) to fill in the missing pieces? Give an example?

The videos had the pictures in different orders and all told a different story about the girl. This made it hard to know what was really happening in the story. The first two videos were similar in that they were both about the girl getting her own living space, but the third video used a lot of different images and it was a story about reading a novel to her children. This made it pretty much impossible for me to fill in the missing pieces because I had no idea what was truly happening. Jumping from story one to two was not bad and I was getting a picture of what might be going on, but the third story through all of that out the window when the new story line and images were revealed.

Element #7: How does the narrator use their voice to pace the story? Give a specific example.

The narrator uses their voice to pace the story by giving a sense of urgency when they speak more quickly. In the video the students speak quickly to give the video a sense of urgency because earthquakes are a danger where they live and they need to learn how to be safe now.