At the last staff meeting, we revived the idea of creating frequent opportunities to talk story technique together. I've been tasked with getting this group learning process off the ground.Someone floated the idea of bringing in speakers to work with us, like Mike Lawler from the Wisconsin Story Project. How much has the Clearinghouse interacted with them before? Or UW-Madison's Learning Through Story group?
The next Learning Through Story lecture is with Don Mendenhall, a life coach and photographer, who'll speak about telling stories through his images. (W 9/21, noon - 1, Room 220 Teacher Education Bldg, details here.) Some may take away a lot from Don's talk, but even more compelling to me would be learning what our team considers the elements of a photo that tell a story. What have you picked up from blogs, artists or your own experiences?
Another idea: a casual discussion about story arc, narrative and character.
Tell me - as staff, would you be willing to take turns leading informal sessions like this? Bring photos & pull up websites as needed while we talk?
What other topics interest you? What is essential to learn to build our skills as storytellers?
Lots of questions here. I think the act of telling and improving upon our own stories is the best way to build our skills... I'd join a group of staff who wanted to do that. I'm not the biggest fan of talking about telling stories, like trying to learn how to ride a bike from a textbook.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kyle - I think we just should jump in and start telling each other stories. I would be willing to 'jump'. After a few pilot sessions we could check in and see if this is working and assess then what strengths we could enhance and skills we can acquire (as well as from where)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm all for learning through doing. With your feedback, Kyle & Caitlin, I'm thinking of two trial sessions to start things off:
ReplyDelete1. Tell a story, and practice improving it by tweaking narrative, arc and character.
2. Tell a story using a found or personal photo or short video. Talk about what makes the visual compelling, and how a different visual could have a different effect.
I agree with the idea of having practice sessions.
ReplyDeleteStorytelling is a skill and we get better with practice. I'd add that story listening and giving feedback is also a skill we want to practice.
this is making me think about what stories we should all be able to tell: our wdydwyd story, values in action stories of our work at WCH, success stories/stories of impact at the community level.... just thinking out loud
I'm interested in being part of this, too. We tell everyone else to just jump in and start, so I want to know what that feels like. Kind of scary, though.
ReplyDelete