Fall 2023
Currently, I'm working on three PD projects: Storytelling Workshops, NYSCATE presentations, and my work as part of the Teaching Research Fellowship.
Storytelling Workshops
October 11
Session 1
Laurie, Lisbeth, Paul and I met to begin our work around Storytelling. This was primarily a chance for us to familiarise ourselves with the Moth style of storytelling, and for Paul and I to share the Moth curriculum with Laurie and Lisbeth. We talked through ways to integrate storytelling into the 7th grade ELA curriculum and shared past experiences with multiple forms of storytelling. Our intention is to allow high school students to work with middle school students as they build their storytelling skills so we began planning that initiative.
October 26
Session 2
During this session, we worked with Laurie and Lisbeth to better understand what the Moth curriculum looks like when implemented. This involved going over the basics: how we establish the culture necessary for storytelling, the ground rules for storytelling, and how to structure the first few classes. We worked through the process of listening to stories, analyzing stories according to the five key concepts of storytelling, and applying the five key concepts to one's own story. This was a useful session because it helped me solidify my practices around storytelling.
November 15
Session 3
During this session, we worked on planning a storytelling partnership between the learners in the Zone and Laurie and Lisbeth's learners in 7th grade ELA. Because we have master storytellers at the high school level, we think that they can assist younger storytellers develop their craft and at the same time strengthen inter-building community. In order to better understand how to do this, we spent time digging into the Moth curriculum documents and familiarizing ourselves with all aspects of the curriculum. For me, this was very useful because I've determined which aspects of the curriculum work for high schoolers and don't refer often to the documents. Looking back at them through the lens of someone who teaches younger learners helped me to further develop my facilitation skills.