Author Archives: dogtrax

Slice of Life: Sowing the Seeds of Confusion to Spark Comprehension

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(This post is doing double duty here. It is part of the regular Slice of Life feature at Two Writing Teachers and part of the Close Reading being examined by Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts. Now that I think of it, this makes sense since Teachers College is a connection between Chris, Kate and Stacy at Two Writing Teachers. Right? Anyway …)

crazy reading passage

I’ve written about this activity before but I am starting to think about it in terms of the idea of Close Reading and the Common Core shifts even more closely lately. Here at the start of the year, as we talk about difficult texts and reading strategies around meaning, I share this piece of story with my sixth graders. Yesterday, I put this on the board and, with stern face, I told my students we were doing a “reading assessment.”

They gulped at that term, and then began to read it.

Then they laughed, and giggled, and when I asked volunteers to read it out aloud, they got a kick out of reading and listening. We read it out loud three times (I did it the third time). I then told them that there are strategies that can be helpful when you come across some text that, on first brush, seems vexing and confusing, or even downright odd. It’s not enough just to shake your head and move on. Good readers learn to stop, re-read and then think about the words and meaning in context of the larger system of writing.

Readers become detectives.

So, for example, as we use this small piece, they begin to realize they know when this event took place, who was involved, what was happening, and what was being communicated from one character to another. That’s a lot of information from a reading piece that on first glance makes no sense at all. (And by the way, this short piece was adapted from a text someone once gave me that is used with dyslexic students, to nurture reading strategies.)

This activity ties into teaching them Close Reading skills on a few levels: re-reading the text for clarity and understanding, narrowing the focus on elements of the text, grappling with writer’s intent and meaning even when that isn’t clear. My hope is that as we revisit these elements this year, we will have this anchor text (even if it is ridiculous, or maybe because it is ridiculous that they will remember it) to return to to remind ourselves some of the strategies.

Or as Flinkledobe would say, “This ditty strezzle is tunning in my grep!”

Peace (in the read),
Kevin

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Thinking Deeper about DS106

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This weekend, a video conversation was posted in which the main facilitators/organizers of DS016 (Martha Burtis, Alan Levine, and Jim Groom) were being interviewed for an award DS016 is receiving around open learning. I was curious because I actually don’t know much about the history or intent of DS106, other than it is a wonderful way to engage in digital storytelling and creativity. I decided to put the video into Vialogues, so that I could comment and make notes as I listened to the three discuss the ethos underpinning the creation and nurturing of DS106, and its history.

I liked a lot of what I heard, from the open nature of the assignments to the desire to push the boundaries of digital storytelling as far as they will go, to understanding that the Web offers both limits and unlimited potential for creative minds, to the current state of educational organizations dipping their toes into online learning — only to replicate traditional learning. They imagine a digital humanities hub of work and exploration, with directions for learning yet unknown. I also liked how they connected this to agency and digital identity.

One point of the rich discussions that struck out at me, though, and I am not sure why I keep pondering it.

All three consistently refer to DS106 as a “course,” and that now makes sense to me — the site and idea was launched at a university, and has been and is used in college classes, and adapted for other university experiences. And – duh — there is the Headless Course that I am taking part in. Of course, it is a course. But I admit: I never knew that it was actually a college course and I never conceived of it that way, and listening to Jim, Martha and Alan use that word “course” to define the experience now has me rethinking DS016. It situates me differently inside the DS106.

And I am not sure why that bothers me slightly, and yet it does.

Perhaps it is because they are pretty adamant that DS106 is NOT a MOOC. And maybe it isn’t. But, well, maybe it is. My idea of a collaborative, open learning space is how I think about MOOCs in the best possible ways (acknowledging that the term is being taken over by corporate interests), and the DS106 experience feels a lot like that, for me. Maybe this is one of those times when words and language are really important when trying to explain something to the outside world, and hearing that word “course” conjures up a certain way of thinking about the University experience.

I suspect the three of them wish to change that kind of thinking with DS106, so that learning experiences are not a lecture, four-walls, textbook experiences. Maybe they need a new word there.

Peace (in the thinking),
Kevin

 

Why I Played Twitter vs. Zombies (3)

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tvsz3 timeline
This weekend, the third iteration of the Twitter-based hashtag game called Twitter vs. Zombies took place, and I joined in when I could. I was part of the first iteration last year, never knew about the second earlier this year, and only heard about the third iteration from a friend in DS106 … on Twitter, of course.

The game is a bit difficult to explain, as the rules shift as the game progresses but essentially it is a large, virtual game of tag. Some of the main ideas are:

  • Twitter becomes the “game board” where the action takes place;
  • Hashtags — such as #bite and #dodge — are the actions that players take in the game;
  • The goal of the game: Zombies try to turn all humans in zombies, and humans try to avoid getting turned into zombies;
  • Players begin as humans and then become zombies, and then maybe back to humans;
  • The game unfolds over three days of activity;
  • Collectives of humans seek to outrun zombies, who also work in teams to get the humans;
  • The moderators add new rules and twists to the game once or twice a day;
  • Sense of humor required.

But even that list of my own understanding of the Twitter vs. Zombies game doesn’t do it justice.  When we think about how to leverage the possibilities of the Web and its various spaces for collaborative and interactive experiences, this kind of game is what we are talking about. Think about an interactive experience that unfolds over a number of days, in which people who don’t know each other must collaborate, and be creative, to accomplish a goal … that’s really what Twitter vs. Zombies is all about, for me.

Plus, I had a blast playing it. And I created comics, Vine videos, word clouds, music mixes and more as a way to add my own media touch into the game atmosphere.

Twitter vs Zombies 3

Last time I played, I think I wrote about wondering how this sort of uncentered game experience might translate into the classroom. Not as Twitter vs. Zombies, perhaps, but some variation of it in which our students are engaged in a global gaming structure that requires deftness, creativity and collaboration. I’m still wondering about that.

I want to thank the moderators of the weekend’s game. Even though I got bitten and turned into a Zombie early in the game (I was teaching on Friday when the game began) and never got an antidote from anyone to turn back to human (and by Sunday, I was ready — I just couldn’t announce it … or could I have?), I had a blast, popping in and out of the action as our busy family life allowed. Engaging in Twitter vs. Zombies reminded me again of the many ways that technology and the connected world can transform how we think about learning and playing.

Peace (coming out of the darkness),
Kevin

 

We Live in Stories: A Summary of Ideas

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Ds106 word cloud
This past week, in DS106, the center of focus has been storytelling. In particular, we have been exploring what it means to tell a story in the digital age. I’ve thought a lot about this over the years, and have been bringing different kinds of storytelling to my sixth grade students as a way to expose them to the possibilities.

I love that idea of “possibilities” when it comes to digital storytelling. In many ways, I don’t feel as if we are quite there yet with how best to express a story across multiple and connected technological tools and spaces. But we are getting there, right? More and more barriers are falling down, although we should continue to be worried about businesses coming into the gaps, and inflicting their vision of how we should be composing on us. Some of the best moments in my classroom come when a student finds a workaround or discovers a hack that uses a piece of software or a tool in an unexpected way.

This week, I thought about my own view of digital storytelling, and then reviewed a book about transmedia and comics as storytelling devices, and then dove into the Five Card Story site for visually constructing a story. Finally, I took part in the Twitter vs. Zombies game on Twitter (my second time.)

A few sample tweets:

You might wonder: storytelling? You bet. The game is a story, but told in moving parts and on a fluctuating stage. The characters are us. The storyline might be expected (all humans eventually turn to zombies) but the participants are shaping the pace of the story.

Peace (in the thinking),
Kevin

 

More Than Meets the Eye: Five Card Storytelling

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Five Card Story: When I Remember You, I Remember Us

a Five Card Flickr story created by dogtrax


flickr photo by @DrGarcia


flickr photo by Serenae


flickr photo by bionicteaching


flickr photo by bionicteaching


flickr photo by bionicteaching

I didn’t quite know where the story was going until that last image, which seems to be a memorial/remembrance of sorts. So, the story unfolded in reverse for me. The doll in the window seems to indicate a longing, with fierce metaphorical weather arriving. The leaf is most interesting to me here. It’s a beautiful shot, right? But it has a mournful quality to it, too.

Over at DS106, one of the activities to consider during this week of storytelling is using the Flickr tool “Five Card Story” that provides random images, and you choose one from a collection and built a visual story. It’s a fascinating dip into the world of visual storytelling, with just enough randomness to make it surprising and just enough agency to let you guide the story forward.

In mine, you can see what I was thinking in the comments of the piece. Essentially, I had an idea that then got completely changed with the final image, forcing me to re-imagine the entire story in reverse. For this kind of activity, you really need to be able to change your mind, and not dig in to a story too early. You never know what picture will come next that will alter your storytelling instincts.

You try it, too. Head to the Five Card Story site and make your own. What story will you tell?

Peace (in the visual),
Kevin

In the Newspaper: Making Learning Connected

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gazette clmooc piece
Our writing project has a sort of partnership with the local newspaper, where teachers have a regular column each month called Chalk Talk. I have been coordinating our end of it but I also write, too. This past week, the first column of the year came out, and in it, I talk about the Summer of Making and the Making Learning Connected MOOC experience.

I decided to make a podcast of the piece, so, here you go:

Peace (in the voice),
Kevin

 

Book Review: The Hero’s Guide to Saving the Kingdom

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So silly. And yet, so entertaining. That’s one of the ways to describe The Hero’s Guide to Saving the Kingdom, by Christopher Healy, which is one of those books that had been on my read-aloud radar for some time. Luckily, I remembered it when my son and I found gap in our reading, and he really enjoyed Hero’s Guide. So did I.

Healy takes the standard fairy tale tropes — witches, Prince Charming, damsels in distress, and more — and jumbles them all up in a hilarious retelling of what happens when heroes get their pride wounded by songwriters who fail to tell the truth. Plus, add in a diabolical witch with an axe to grind — and a giant, some dwarfs, trolls and other creatures — and a quartet of princes whose stories become the legend of Prince Charming, and you have a lot of action and slapstick comedy. And don’t forget those so-called damsels in distress, who turn out to be fiercely independent on their own — thank you very much — and hardly ever need “saving.”

But the entire kingdom does, and the four princes band together, with some help from a few princesses, to save the kingdom and the kidnapped bard songwriters from the witch. This book has a great pacing, and fun characters, and we had such a blast reading it out loud that we are now deep into the sequel: The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle. It’s as fun as the first.

Peace (in the twist),
Kevin

 

A Few Dreams to Inspire Them …

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My students are working on their Dream Scene projects (done in a webcomic space) and I am enjoying getting to know them a little better through their aspirations (Note: I am sharing two versions here — the flash version and then the image version.)

Peace (in the dreams),
Kevin

 

Digital Is: Technology as Learning in PD

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seedgrant digitalis

Over at the National Writing Project’s Digital Is, I posted a new resource this week that looks at a six month professional development program in which we incorporated digital learning into many facets of the work, trying to make the technology invisible and a natural part of the learning for teachers (with hopes they will turn around, and do the same with their own students).

Take a look at SEED Grant Partnership: Technology as Learning

Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin

Book Review: Comics for Film, Games and Animation

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Tyler Weaver has done impressive work around thinking about comics as a medium for transforming storytelling, and this textbook — Comics for Film, Games and Animation: Using Comics to Construct Your Transmedia Storyworld — is a perfect entry point for anyone wanting to know more about comics (and you might want to toggle between this book and anything written by Scott McCloud) and the concept of transmedia storytelling. Here, Weaver not only tells of his own experience creating a multi-medium story (called Whiz!Bam!Pow!) that uses comics at the heart of the storytelling, but he also seeks to give us some defining characteristics and considerations of transmedia storytelling. (He also includes transcripts from interviews he has done with folks in this field of storytelling.)

In a nutshell, Weaver argues that digital technology and advances in multimedia tools allow storytellers to expand up on the experiences of readers/viewers by incorporating elements beyond text, so that a story might have images, audio, video, websites and other interactive elements that engage the reader/viewer on a variety of levels.  The story becomes an immersive experience. When we talk of digital storytelling, and try to move beyond the scope of just audio over rolling images of a personal story, this concept of transmedia conception of telling a story is intriguing, in my opinion.

It is also complicated to conceive and pull off as a writer, as Weaver acknowledges, and there are some hints that he suggests if you are thinking of working in a transmedia environment.

  • Make sure each part of the transmedia story can stand on its own, even the fragments of the larger narrative. This acknowledges that some readers/viewers will only want a piece of the puzzle, not the whole enchilada (my word, not his). He cites The Matrix as an experience that failed at this (see movie sequels) and Lost as an example that succeeded, even if it was mostly fan driven.
  • Keep the story at the center. Avoid the flash of technology and getting too smart with the tools. If a reader/viewer cares about the story and cares about the characters, they will remain engaged.
  • Weaver cites four lynchpins of transmedia storytelling: fragmentation, interplay, depth and choice.
  • Use the concept of multiple pieces of a story to create surprise and fun, creating connections to other nodes of the story that might not seem connected at first. Mystery and discovery will engage reader/viewers in new ways.
  • Consider the elements of each part of the transmedia. What does audio bring to the table? What do comics or graphic novels have that traditional text does not? How can a video enhance and move the story along? In other words, don’t jam in one way of writing and storytelling into a medium where it may not fit. Consider how best to leverage the possibilities and then use them to full advantage.
  • Allow for readers/viewers to go off on their own directions with your story. Be prepared for fan fiction, alternative worlds, and, Weaver notes, don’t be afraid of this.
  • Don’t “transmedia-fy” everything. Weaver notes that some stories deserve to be on their own. Resist the urge to create an immersive, multi-platform experience if the story does not call for it.

You might be wondering how Weaver’s focus on comics comes into play here. In the book, Weaver keeps a lens on how comics hold multiple possibilities for storytelling, either on their own or connected to a transmedia experience. There are elements around comics — the use of the “gutter” to create inference and time gaps, for example — that other mediums can’t go to. And comics has an emotional connection to readers, too, Weaver notes. Fans of comics are hard-core fans open to new experiences, and therefore, the possibilities of extending a story across platforms and mediums can be a natural fit.

Weaver ends the book with this thought:

“If there is one thing I hope you take away from this book, it is that most great storytelling inventions were created in service of the story being told … (the) danger we face in this ‘wild west’ media landscape (is) a loss of story, a loss of the joy of engaging with a character, replaced instead with a desire to ‘out-tech’ or ‘out-cool’ your transmedia competitors as you ‘engage’ your audience …. Always focus on the unchanging: the audience’s desire to be entertained by a great story that makes them want to be part of your world.” — Tyler Weaver, Comics for Film, Games and Animation, page 257

I agree.

Peace (in the stories we tell),
Kevin

PS — I should note that after I saw Weaver tweeting about the book, I asked if he might send me a review copy, and he did.