Week 2 Blog

 Week 2 Blog

I watched "Turn" by Dana Atchley. The story was about how his grandfather every year would take a video and tell the boys to turn. The video was a combination of clips throughout the years and ended with a current picture of Atchley. In some of the videos both of his parents were in it, and then he was in it towards the end. It was fun to watch the progression of the videos and how the boys and family changed. The video was kept very simple with a light music playing in the background and an old film sound. It made me want to reminisce on old times and fond memories. All of this together engaged the audience because we have home videos that make us think about our childhood and how times have changed. However, the videos still remain and make us ponder how we got where we are today. The video was not interactive and did not have any animations, just the clips put together. 

The educational value of this story would be to show the importance of traditions and understanding how we got to where we are. ISTE student standard 1.6b would be addressed in the story. The standard is about creating and sharing original works. Atchley did this by sharing his story and how he and his grandfather both shared a love for recording. He was able to make a new creation which had not been done before to share his story. I teach science so it was hard to tie it to a content standard; however, I do also teach social- emotional- behavioral health lessons. One of the areas we focus on is connectedness. Connectedness to school, peers, adults, self, and home. This video could be a way to show how we can be connected to others in our family and how traditions can be passed down. Students would be able to think of ways they are connected to their families or people who are like family to them. This would be best addressed to upper high school level students and adults because it allows for reflection and thinking towards the future. 

One connection I see to Ohler's guidance in "Turn" is transformation. According to Ohler transformation happens in memorable stories where people change (Ohler, 2023). In "Turn" the main character and all of those around him continued to change. They grew, the seasons changed, and the family dynamic changed. This is a way to keep the viewer engaged to want to know what happens next and how the change continues. From Lambert, the story would fit with a personal story about what he does but also about a person in his life (Lambert, J., 2010, p. 6). I am between these two because it shares about his grandpa and also leads you to wonder about his current job and what he does.

Since the story is short, the map I am going to fit it with is Aristotle's story map. The beginning of the story or tying the knot is having every boy walk out and "turn." Then the "reversal of fortune" would be when Dana shows up in the video to end up with asking if, "Grandpa would be proud?" for how he turned out. This unties the knot because the video starts with the grandpa filming the boys and ends with him following in his grandpa's footsteps. 

Lambert, J. (2010)Digital Storytelling Cookbook. Center for Digital Story Telling. Open Education Resource. 

Ohler, J. (2023). How to make a story - Process notes. Retrieved from: http://storyconcepts.blogspot.com/