I've been getting more excited about the project - now that our group has created a FOCUS on what we will be doing it on. When I first heard about the project, I honestly thought "oh crap what am I going to do." After getting into a great group, I am really enjoying it and all the ideas we've come up with. My mind is always thinking about new ways I could use digital storytelling in my future classroom.
My group - Dan, Aaron and I - are using iMovie to compile all of our work & ideas into a digital story. (i have a slight obsession with iMovie now and have literally spend hours on trying to create some digital stories for my own use & for some creativity projects in another class of mine - OBSESSED! And I also created one using music and pictures from my recent family Philly trip and sent it to my dad - it turned out so cute & makes me look very "techie?" "techy?") Our focus is on the importance of creating emotions within students and the different types of ways to do it (audio, visual, etc.) We each came up with 1 main idea from our subject area of expertise - with the exception of Aaron who came up with a great idea which can be incorporated in different types of classes.
We all came together with ideas in the first class and then decided to split up some work we could do individually and keep in touch and let each other know how we were doing. We met at Starbucks last week and complied some stuff together. It was so nice to see everyone helping each other out - Dan and Aaron worked for a couple hours until I could get out of class and meet them. I feel that the group dynamic has been great - I've rarely been in a group where when you say "ok - everyone get this done by next week" and they ACTUALLY DO IT. It felt great to see our progress and be with friendly and optimistic people. Aaron was helping Dan with his audio section and through this whole process so far, each person has been helping one another out if another lacked knowledge on how to do something.
The majority of what we have left to do is to shoot a video clip to put onto the digital storyboard and a little bit of editing. We plan on shooting the video clip after class on Tuesday and then hopefully just a few touch ups! I'm very excited to see what everyone else has come up with and all the hard work of the others in class! :D
I just wanted to follow up your post with a comment of my own. I have hated working in groups my whole life. I understand the importance they bring to the classroom, and I employee the group method a lot in my own class, however, I believe I am a changed man. Finally I have found a group that i adore working with. All of us get along. Each of us makes the others in the group better, we complement each other. Even if our project were to get an F (I am hoping it doesn't) I would look back on this experience as one of the most enjoyable projects of my academic career.
ReplyDeleteThat is cool that you were able to make the video for your family. It is a great skill to have when you are honoring someone, such as at a wedding or memorial service.
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