Digital Story Telling

     As the summer ends and the organization , well it's on going, it is now time to begin the planning of my year.  I have been taking a digital media class this summer at Hardin Simmons. One of the main topics of the class has been digital story telling. I have been really excited about this. I have actually learned how to create a digital story. Wow! Yes the process has been painful considering I am a digital immigrant, but I can not help but think about the possibilities that when creating these stories in my classroom how they will open up the imagination of my Kindergarten students.

     "Digital""refers to literally anything associated with the information age, and "story" means so many things to so many people that it defies strict definition.(Ohler, P.15).  When I think of all of the stories that will be relayed to me during the school year and how we can capture those in a way to tell them digitally, what great memories will be created  for my class.

     I will actually begin to tell stories digitally by using the storybooks I have in my classroom. Since "digital stories in education are typically driven by an academic goal, use low-end technology that is commonly available to students"(Ohler, P.16), even my Kindergarten class will be able to get involved.
This will happen for them in the form of drawing pictures to create their stories. Kindergarteners are extremely creative and they love to draw to express themselves and there feelings.

     As the school year progresses I will be able in a variety of ways, through self expression to capture  who my Kindergarteners are. The growth of their drawings, and reading and writing skills, along with the growth of their self expression will be used to create a story for each child in my class.

     Kindergarteners come to school already knowing what a story is. They for the most part understand that there is a beginning, a middle and an ending. We will develop this process as a story of our Kindergarten year. Ohler states that "kids come to school already understanding the story form", but lack "rhythm and imagination that makes stories so involving".(P.46).  As we create the story of our Kindergarten year we will watch our understanding and imagination grow!

     Wow, I have a lot of planning and a whole lot more organization to get to.