Storytelling Blog #7

 Storytelling is a helpful way to pass down information. Stories can provide meaningful opportunities to learn about the experiences of others. The experiences we share with one another allow us to develop empathy. When we can learn to put ourselves in the storyteller's shoes, we can learn from both the success and failure of the storyteller's experience. Storytelling has developed and remained the same for thousands of years. In some communities, elders are living libraries that share context-dependent stories with their communities. Growing up, many of us had written text to read and gain new information. Today, digital viewing is one of the six language arts. Digital storytelling allows us to share many stories presented on an easily navigable platform. The stories are organized by category, and the platform allows listeners to view the experiences of others from the comfort of their homes.   


In the video My Struggle with Mathematics, we are introduced to the author Maxine Tang. The author tells the story of her struggle with mathematics. As a young girl, Maxine was failing her math class, which made her parents and her teacher very disappointed. This story is relatable to people who find mathematics intimidating. The lesson that the viewer learns from this story is that math is like anything else you learn; it just takes time and practice. This story is very relatable because I recently worked up the courage to upgrade my math to become a teacher. I found out that I am not bad at math; I just need to spend more time with mathematics. Recently I was asked if I feel comfortable teaching math, and I said yes with confidence. I now tutor mathematics, and I enjoy offering my story to students who find math intimidating.   


In the video A Day Without Math, the author tackles the age-old question, “Why do we need math?” As a former unmotivated jr. high school student, I could have benefited from my teachers trying to inspire me by showing me the value that mathematics provides for society. I would suggest that If you have an unmotivated student, you should inspire them with an employment opportunity that is high paying, has good vacation time and benefits but requires some basic knowledge in mathematics. 


Digital storytelling has been essential for teaching literacy online. During my experience in Thailand, we used storytelling to provide context clues and meaning for learning the English language. If you are going to teach English language learners, you should have multiple stories with character consistency, familiar settings, and conflicts that are culturally relevant. You are giving students enough context clues to decipher unfamiliar words. If you provide pictures that express verbs, feelings, and nouns related to the unfamiliar words, you are administering storytelling in a literacy-rich way.   



                                                                        Work Cited

Digital Stoytelling. (2007). A Day Without Math. Digital Storytelling. Retrieved June 8, 2022, from http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/view_story.cfm?vid=93&categoryid=6&d_title=Mathematics 

Digital Storytelling. (2013). My Struggle with Mathematics. Retrieved June 8, 2022, from http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/view_story.cfm?vid=392&categoryid=6&d_title=Mathematics

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