Inquiry Blog Post 2 - Pro-D Journey
Two things I plan to do with my students this year are Stop Motion and Book Creator.
These formats have kids tell their stories in a tangible and shareable way. Kids can be empowered as makers, proud of working through a novel format. Here is a chance, as Miller and Bass suggest in their section “Amplifying Student Voice,” “to learn what [students] are passionate about and have chances to listen, to encourage, to support, and most of all, to be the champion all students need... give them the chance to be heard” (61).
But, when it comes to Stop Motion and Book Creator... I don't have much of an idea what I’m doing with either of them.
I took advantage of a Summer Institute (District Pro-D) offering on storytelling with Stop Motion. The presenter and her Grade 6 daughter demonstrated the video creation process, and it seemed simpler than I thought. They also shared this example, which uses items from nature plus cardboard.
Following this example, we can use the story-making kits we already have in the Library plus a character or two kids draw and cut from cardboard (flat and easily stored from week to week).
One of my reservations about Stop Motion had been how to organize and store all of the materials. I know T-L's who have kids bring in items from home, use green screens, provide Lego characters that are shared among divisions. It seems like a lot of management for me with the groups that I have. Using the story-making kits, all kids have access to the same materials and there is enough to go around.
As for Book Creator, it is part of a Digital Toolkit our District is providing, and they’ve promised support with it. I’m looking forward to videos or presentations, and the discussions around them, to orient me with this as the Stop Motion offering did, above.
So, as I go forward in my Pro-D learning beyond our course, I am fortunate to say that I have a good start just by staying on top of what comes up in my District. We are a large district, and there always seem to be many offerings. Also, our District T-L's have a very active Microsoft Teams where lots of ideas are always being shared. It’s beneficial to stay on top of that for a collaboration idea or digital element that sparks interest, as well as the more formal options.
It’s up to me to carefully select what best fits our focus for that year. This can be informed by conversations with staff, admin, T-L colleagues, and especially students – as their “champion” beyond the classroom per Miller and Bass.
Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019). Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.
Ms. Gatzke! Thank you. I really enjoyed the stop motion video. I reminds me of my favorite childhood film Owl and Raven from the National Film Board (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xhWWdGm8fE). We used to watch it on 'actual film' when I was a student in school. When I started teaching I used to borrow it on VHS from the library so I could show my class. 'Yay' for youtube so I can share and it with others. Stop motion animation has a tenderness and authenticity in storytelling. It is mesmerizing. What an undertaking you have started. Yes, organizing materials, stories and students would be a big task. I admire you for giving 'stop motion' a go. My own children did produce some videos using lego. It took patience and time, two 21st Century learning skills that transfer to all areas in life. I look forward to hearing more about your adventure.
ReplyDeleteTinker Thinker (AKA Monique)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing "The Owl and the Raven" - I love the element of song there! Yes, stop motion does feel intimidating - I will really have to embrace the inquiry spirit for this one... Amazing timing: since writing this post, facilitators of the workshop reached out offering to come do some collaborative teaching with me! This will really help.
DeleteHi Ms. Gatzke, the stop motion is so cool! I especially loved the rain sound effects and visual. Very, very cool. When I think about the logistics involved in storing all of the resources, I, like you, feel overwhelmed. I wonder if you could find an old dresser or something (I'm thinking thrift store vintage) to store things and help with categorizing and organizing? That would be my vision for a space. Although, as I think it through it doesn't seem very practical (I just think it would be beautiful!) so maybe instead you could look at those rolling maker carts that have clear bins and wheels...haha this would definitely be more practical than a big old armoir...but I digress. You've probably already heard of it, but in case you haven't, and have the cash, Demco.com has some great storage solutions for libraries and classrooms. Best of luck to you going forward!
ReplyDeleteLauren, I'm with you on the armoir. Having unique and beautiful things in our space is valuable too! We can't forget about wonder and curiosity. A vintage item is provocation for kids to think about special objects, their history, culture and tradition, family connections...
DeleteAs for storage, a colleague shared a cheap and creative one: she uses pizza boxes purchased from her local shop (25 cents I think). Each group can store their story materials and stack them by class. They paint the outside of the boxes green and use as a green screen.
The stop motion is cool! I'm familiar of course with the concept but have never tried to make one. As a neat freak, I would struggle too with the management of all the materials necessary to make the video like the one you showed.
ReplyDeleteYou're very fortunate to have a lot of pro-D offerings from your district around technology! I would love to see this in my district; we are quite small and technology pro-D isn't offered often.
We also don't have an active local association group for T-Ls, but last year we did get together on a TEAMS call and then for a brief period after used teams to deposit a few resources and ideas. I'm thinking I'd like to breathe new life into this and try to get some sharing going again - it's a nice centralized spot to stay connected!
I hope you are able to build momentum with your MS Team! Ours is such a support to me. When I am low on inspiration I browse around there for ideas. It helps that we have channels dedicated to technology, teaching and collaboration, and lesson ideas for specific "book of the year" nominees. I wonder if you could identify a key topic to start with, create this lovely and helpful channel... and things could build from there!
DeleteThe stop motion story telling is a wonderful way to teach older students the skills and have them create videos for the younger students to learn the stories. The example that you provided was beautiful and spoke to so many levels of culture, tech skills, and story telling traditions. I am glad that you feel supported with your district's pro-d offerings. Storage has always been an issue with every school that I have been at. Suppliers like Demco definitely have a variety of different choices for you to select a storage container from - like Lauren said.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nicole, for suggesting kids create videos for one another! This is great, bringing together authentic audience and community building. Definitely an important bigger picture view of the activity!
DeleteThis is a good reflective post that outlines strategies for your further growth and learning. I appreciate that you are bringing forward the learning from our text. In your next post, you may want to bring in a few additional resources from outside reading and research.
ReplyDeleteStop motion is a great way to use and learn multiple things - story telling, planning, photography, video editing - and PATIENCE ;-) ! Stop motion videos don't have to be complicated either. I once took kids on a field trip where WE were the stop motion subjects. In essence, we took a series of pictures of the kids "disappearing" into a box. We then put the pictures in order in a video editing tool, added music, and had something the kids thought was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI like that you are taking something you already have - story making kits - and ADDING a technology component. To often teachers think they have to completely rethink their lessons to incorporate technology. Not true! A story is still a story whether it is written with a pen or typed on a computer - or even turned into a stop motion video.
Good luck with your stop motion videos. Once you get them started, you are going to get at least one student who will obsess over them and go home and start created tons of them.