Personal Reflection
As I started this project, I had several ideas about stories that would be interesting to tell. I've traveled quite a bit and held down several different careers so the first step was narrowing down which story was the most important for me to tell. I ultimately decided on my volunteer work with gun violence prevention with Moms Demand Action because I thought it would make a compelling, timely story (keeping in mind of course that this was all before the Covid-19 virus which kind of overtook everything).
I decided to stick with my idea about my gun violence prevention work even as things were intensifying with the virus shutdowns, just to maintain a sense of normalcy. I also had a lot of visuals that I could use, so the topic appealed to me and felt “do-able.”
The steps of The Digital Cookbook were helpful and I worked my way through the steps:
Step 1 “Owning Your Insights” - It was a benefit to this project that I thought it would help me process some thoughts about my commitment to this work and my political activism in general
Step 2 “Owning Your Emotions” - I found this to be a really important step because it forced me to break down the experience very explicitly for myself. It is intense to feel like you are going toe-to-toe with government and I was grateful for the chance to talk about that moment
Step 3 - “Finding the Moment” - which was the easiest step. Every time I walk up to the Rhode Island State House, it feels super symbolic of government and my journey to make a difference. I guess it’s a classic American story of pushing for change.
Step 4 - “Seeing My Story”- I had originally planned to use the State House dome as a visual metaphor, but changed my mind to the door when I saw the sign, and it got me thinking about the visuals I had to tell my story.
Step 5 - “Hearing My Story” was the step that took the most time as I wrote and rewrote the text. I kept reading it aloud on my phone and changing the words to tighten up the story.
Step 6 - “Assembling the Story” - required another trip to the state house as I inventoried the images I had and assessed what I needed to tell my story. I tried to be creative with the images that I used - I did not want to make multiple trips out during this time of lockdown.
Step 7 - “Sharing My Story” - I'm going to share it on Twitter as a part of the assignment but I may also share it with my volunteer group as well. The group effectively uses survivor stories to provide a human face to the work of gun violence, but my story may be interesting to those who support the survivors and what that activism experience is like.
Teaching Reflection
I’d love to work with students to help them create digital stories and wonder how each step would work in a high school setting. How long would they need to develop a topic? How much time would a collaborating teacher give me ( as a librarian) to work with their class and create something meaningful?
I hear about the great work that teachers are doing with TED talks and project-based activism and I am hopeful that (once we’re back in school) that I can develop a rich, authentic project with a teacher to tap into the power of digital storytelling.
Consulted Source: Center for Digital Storytelling (2010). Digital Storytelling Cookbook.