DL Reflection

Last semester I completed a Digital Storytelling course that used Windows Movie Maker pretty heavily. At the beginning of the semester, as we were choosing projects to become the leaders of, I immediately leaned towards becoming the leader for the digital storytelling project. I felt that I had a solid enough base of knowledge to be able to guide people through the process and provide them with resources that have helped me along the way. Now that the project is complete, I felt that I fulfilled what I set out to do. Windows Movie Maker is an excellent tool that can be bent to support any curriculum standard for any grade level. Although the program (like all programs out there) comes with its quirks, it is fairly easy to learn. I have found that my students need minimal modeling time to be able to navigate their own way through. This will be my fourth year utilizing the program and it gets easier every year as I eliminate the different hurdles I come across.

I am currently using Windows Movie Maker with my students; their assignment is to create an instructional video on the important event of the Civil War that was assigned to their group. Topics range from Sherman’s Burning of Atlanta to the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Not only are my students incredibly motivated by their task, but the creation of their movies is helping them become experts on an important event of the war. After the movies are completed, we will have a viewing where groups will show their movies to the class; this is a way for students to showcase their work and give the class a solid review of the key concepts of the chapter. In the past, I have also used Windows Movie Maker to create silent movies illustrating the changes of the Roaring Twenties. The movie-making process gets easier on both the students and the teacher every time you go through it and students reap many learning benefits from using it.

Being project leader of this assignment led to some self-discovery for me. As it is, I’m not sure I would describe myself as a leader. Sure, I lead my students every day, but when it comes to being a leader among my peers, it is a different story. I find that I choose to lead out of necessity. If nobody else takes charge, I will, but usually only as a last resort. In the last few months, I have noticed a shift in my leadership tendencies and I think it has to do with my confidence level. As I become more confident in myself as a teacher and as a technology-user, I am finding it easier and more natural to take charge. I have enjoyed being the leader on this project and sincere thank you goes out to my group for being such hard and helpful workers.