Final Digital Story Video - "Queen Priscilla's Journey"

Hi, my name is Priscilla.  This is the story of my life; it’s a pretty amazing journey if you ask me. My adventure begins when I was snatched away from my home.

I lived in a beautiful land called, the Royal Meadow.  Oh, yeah… I forgot to mention something…  I’m a princess.  Before being separated from my parents, they told me that I would be the Queen of everything I could see in the Royal Meadow.   

Luckily, whoever snatched me away, dropped me, but I was still really far from home.    I found myself living in a strange new land, much different than I was used to. 

I was scared, and far from home.  I really missed my parents.  I could only think about one thing… my stomach!  I was starving, and I couldn’t get enough to eat.  Luckily, the new meadow had plenty of milkweed, my very favorite food to eat.  After I gorged myself, I found a branch that I could climb so that I could take a nice long nap.  I was sleepy. 

When I woke up, I found myself hanging upside down, and I couldn’t move.  “Hellllllllllp!” I cried.  And then I remembered something else my parents had mentioned to me.  “Before you are Queen, your body will go through many changes.  Do not be afraid, but embrace each stage and trust God to do His good work in you.” 

This memory brought me a lot of comfort, and I started to relax.  I remember Mom saying it was called a Chrysalis.  One morning I woke up and something was different.  I could see through my Chrysalis.  I took a deep breath, and the Chrysalis tore open.  My body felt wet, and I longed to stretch out and move into a new position. 

It had rained the night before, and there were fresh puddles on the leaves where I caught a glimpse of my reflection.  But was that really my reflection?  Where had Priscilla gone?  As I moved the refection moved.  So I knew it was me.  I stretched and I had a new sensation rush through my body.  I had wings!  I was no longer a caterpillar princess, I was a Queen.  The orange and black pattern on my wings was stunning.  I now was an elegant butterfly. 

It was at that moment I knew what I was created for.  I was made to fly.  I took flight for the first time, as Queen Priscilla and glided my way towards home. 

As I moved my new wings up and down on that long journey back home, I thought back on all I had been through.  First being taken from the place that I knew, growing, changing, and becoming the Queen that I now was.  I was thankful that I had a place to go and be with my family once again. 

Digital Story Script #1

This is the story of my life, it’s a pretty amazing journey if you ask me.  Hi, my name is Priscilla.  Can you see me?  You may have to look closely, way down there on that leaf.  I just came out of my egg and am trying out my legs for the first time.  I live in a beautiful land where all kinds of creatures roam free called, the Royal Meadow.  Oh, yeah… I forgot to mention something…  I’m a princess.  Before my parents died, they told me that one day I would be the Queen of everything I see in the Royal Meadow.  I just don’t see how.  I mean, I am so small, and the last time I saw my refection on a leaf puddle I didn’t look like anything special.

Pause.

Becoming a Queen is too much for me to think about right now.  Honestly, the only thing that’s on my mind is lunch!  I’m starving!  Some people may call me a picky eater, because I really only eat one thing.  Milkweed!  Yuuuuuuuuuuum… I just can’t get enough of this stuff. 

Pause.

After I spent days gorging myself of milkweed I noticed I had gained some weight.  Also, I started getting really sleepy.  I decided to look for a nice branch that I could take a long rest on.  This is where things started getting interesting.  When I woke up, I found myself hanging upside down and I couldn’t move!  “Helllllllllp!”  I cried out.  And then I remembered something else my parents had mentioned to me… “Before you are Queen, your body will go through many changes.  Don’t be afraid, but embrace each stage and trust God to do His good work in you.”  This memory brought me a lot of comfort, and I started to relax.  I took a few deep breaths, and started to actually enjoy the feeling of hanging there and decided to let nature take over.  Before I knew it, I was completely covered in type of shell.  I then remembered overhearing my parents argue one day about the right word for when this happens.  Mom said it was called a Chrysalis, day swore it was a Pupa.  My uncle said he always heard it was called a Cocoon.  Despite the name difference, they all agreed that this stage was to help them stay camouflaged and protected from our enemies, as they got ready to take the throne. 

Pause.

One morning, I woke up and something was different.   I could see through my Cocoon.  I took another deep breath and the Cocoon tore open.  My body felt wet and I longed to stretch out and move into a new position. 

It had rained the night before, and there were fresh puddles on the leaves where I caught a glimpse of my reflection.  But was that really MY reflection?  Where had Priscilla gone? As I moved, the reflection moved … so I knew it was me.  I stretched, and I had a new sensation rush through my body.  I had wings!  I was no longer a caterpillar Princess... I was a Queen!  The orange-and black pattern on my wings was stunning.  I now l was an elegant Butterfly.

It was at that moment I knew what I was created for.  I was made to fly!  I took flight for the first time as Queen Priscilla, and glided over the Royal Meadow.   I had come so far in my journey in life, and at the same time I felt like my journey had only just begun! 

Reflecting on Digital Images in the Classroom

The theory of multimedia from the Swisher article that was most relevant to my digital image projects was the Multimedia principle.  This principle talks about how important it is to use quality graphics as well as present both text and graphic at the same time to be most effective.  When creating my collage I definitely looked for images that were of high quality and that caught my attention.  I also made sure to use some text on this collage to further peak the interest of the viewer and to be the most effective. 

Upon reflection, I might have done some things differently with the use of digital images based on your re-reading of the Swisher article.   I honestly had forgotten some of the good tips and proven research that was made available in the article.  One principle that would have been helpful to incorporate in my GIF is the Modality principle where you use both visual and auditory channels to communicate a type of instructional material.  The research showed that when both are happening there are better retention outcomes then when just one or the other is used.  I hadn’t thought about that, and it could have been neat to explore options to make sound available in a GIF or even the collage.  I don’t know if I could have figured it out at this point, as all of the work on Photoshop was new for me to navigate. 

When thinking about copyright and creative commons implications, I definitely made an effort to make sure that images were available for use through the CC laws.  I ended up using all of my images for the collage through a website called Morguefile.com.  I know that these images are all safe to use, and chose to go that route to make sure I was above reproach when it came to finding images to use that were fair game.  It may have limited my search a little bit as I reflect on that decision.  In the future I will seek out other safe websites like freeimages.com to look for other options.  One thing I wasn’t sure about in these assignments was how to give credit to the photographer.  Perhaps that is something that should have been listed at the bottom of the description of the assignment?  Again, this didn’t cross my mind until now after re-reading about copyright and the CC articles. 

A Thousand Words about Jesus

The Children’s Ministry curriculum we are using at my church is called, The Story of Grace. It is an in-house made curriculum that covers main stories in the Bible in sequential order ranging from Genesis to Revelation. For my collage I chose to focus on the subject area of the Unit on Jesus, which is a part of The Story of Grace curriculum that we are currently in. This unit is 11 weeks long and focuses on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I chose several images that go along with the main text of each week. Two images I chose were a dove and some water. I chose these images to remind the kids about the first week in this Unit where we talked about Jesus being baptized. The water can also be a reminder of the miracle when Jesus walks on water. I chose the image of the lamb to remind the kids about the weeks where we talked about Jesus beginning His ministry and calling His disciples. He called Himself, “The good Shepherd” and often referred to his followers as His sheep that know His voice. Jesus often spoke in parables, so I chose the picture of the plant growing up out of the rocky soil to remind the kids about this parable from Matthew 13 where Jesus talks about what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it and he indeed bears fruit. The plant also hints at the new life that we are given when we receive Christ. There is an image of the Bible, which is where we learn about who Jesus is in the first place. Through God’s Word (The Bible), He promises His Holy Spirit. There is an image of the cross to emphasize that Jesus came to be crucified on a cross for us! He came to pay the penalty for our sin and to make us right with God so that we can be with Him for all eternity. Finally, there is an image of an eye. If you look closely you can see that there is a small picture of part of the world inside of the eye. Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, he left His disciples with the great commission to, 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19). 

This collage will enhance my teaching in my Five6 classroom (5th and 6th graders at my Church). I will be able to show this image at the beginning of my lesson and ask the kids what they recognize that we have talked about so far. There are also images that go along with weeks in the Unit that we have not talked about yet. I will be able to use this collage in the future as we discuss the new topics about the Jesus Unit. I think I will use the collage image for the remainder of my lessons in this Unit, as a review and introduction to the next topic. I don’t plan on telling the kids exactly why I chose the images I did at first. I want to ask them what the image had/has to do with the topics that we are covering in the Unit. It will be a good opportunity for them to reflect back, and think about why each image was chosen.

My Animated Gif for Teaching

I teach 5th and 6th grade students in a classroom called, “Five6” at my local church,
Grace Church. Since I am not currently teaching in a school classroom, I decided to focus my Animated Gif project towards my next lesson I will be presenting in Five6. The next lesson’s key concept is, “Jesus truly is the Son of God.” We are going to focus on several texts from the Bible, but the main one is from Matthew 14:22-33 where Jesus walks on water. It is one thing to say that Jesus walked on water, and another thing to show him walking on water. A still image of Jesus walking on the water is interesting to look at. My hope is that this Animated Gif will capture the attention of these 5th and 6th graders in a new way, either emotionally or intellectually as maybe they have never truly thought about the implications of Jesus doing this miracle. I am going to use the Gif at the beginning of my lesson as an attention grabber and hopefully peak their interest of what we will be discussing that day.

Jesus Walks on the Water – Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

EDU 642 Tutorial Work

EDU 642 Tutorial Work

EDU 642 Tutorial Work

The First Post

Hello!  My name is Bethany Koefoed.  This is the first time I have written on a personal Blog and this is the official "first post".  I am taking a course called EDU 642 right now which focuses on using multimedia in the classroom.  I have enjoyed taking online classes.  It is a perfect fit for me right now as I stay home with my two little boys and can work at my own pace.  I'm looking forward to learning more about technology and the ways I can use it in my classroom in the future as well as in the Children's Ministry classroom that I currently teach in.