Digital Story 1 / Digital Story Video

This week I learned what a digital story is. I never heard of a digital story before. The stories I saw in class were very moving. Although, some of them were extremely hard to watch. I loved the one about the explorers, the pictures and music were moving. I didn't know about all the great movie making technology that amateurs can use. I am excited to use it and learn more.

After class I was really motivated to come up with a great topic. I wondered if I can really put something together that is so emotionally charged. Another great reason to be in a team. We put our heads together and it always astounds me what we can come up with as we talk it out. I thought it would be great to do a digital story on Civility. There are so many instances lately that show the lack of it. We could bring in the clips of the uncivility going on now, and the uncivility from the past. We'll see how it goes.

I can think of great ways to use digital stories in my classroom. I hope there are many to choose from on the internet because I want to use them. When children learn using the tools they are familiar with it sticks with them longer and they have fun learning too. If I can evoke emotion the kids will want to learn and even know more. Social studies seems to evoke the emotion because there are many stories from the past. I would use the digital stories for social studies and other subjects that already have a digital story and that teaches to the objective.

I couldn't get the video to work so I looked up a digital story on youtube. I chose one that I could possibly use in my field experience. I am teaching on Native Americans in Utah. I found the digital story called "Native America-Land of Promise". This digital story got me hooked right into it. The music was moving even though it wasn't singing in English, it was still beautiful music. The pictures worked well. The text was really good. The video was about how important the earth is to the Indian people. It told about how they got it taken away from them. It made me feel bad for them. It made we wonder why we can't all share and live together on the land, there is plenty out there to go around. It made me feel emotional and I am not from Indian descent. Emotion is what will evoke my students also and that in turn will make them engaged learners.