Creating Lives: An Introduction to Biography

Self Examination

Self-examination and evaluation are important activities in the unit because it is necessary for students to be aware of themselves in order to effectively communicate their authentic selves to someone else (again the ability to discern what things are important will be stressed at this step). The next step is to identify items of interest to others and the personal qualities students have that are entertaining, revealing and authentic. Students are allowed to journal about themselves for a personal reference before they begin speaking with others.

The importance of this step is to allow students to confront themselves honestly and unveil who they are prior to speaking with possible strangers. The middle or high school student undergoes many challenges when discussing identity and some of them may cause controversy. This step helps students privately sort out representations they may be willing or unwilling to share. In addition, students will practice strong communication skills by learning how to communicate in a succinct manner.

Independent Performance: Students are assigned a peer to write about. Expressions of the subject may include social networking documentation, video recordings, writings, and interviews. Students can to view any biographical representations that are allowed by the subject (i.e., social networking accounts, letters, interviews from friends, family and teachers, etc.). Parameters are given, but students will have the creative rights to produce a product within the guidelines of state and local education standards. Realizing the various learning levels, the teacher is heavily involved in assuring proper care and consideration is given when students are presenting information about their peers.

It is important for me to incorporate technology as often as I possibly can. The No Child Left Behind Act requires the reporting of the literacy of 8 ^th grade students. Georgia defines technology literacy as "the ability of students to use the tools of their society with skill in an ethical, accurate, and insightful manner to meet the demands of the 21st Century workplace and world." Components of media literacy include the ability to use appropriate technology responsibly to solve problems and to create knowledge and learning by accessing, managing, evaluating and analyzing, integrating and synthesizing, and communicating information. ²²

Each of these elements is purposefully included as a part of this unit because recent local findings reveal that students are not using technology for meaningful purposes in the classroom due to limited experiences. Creating a better-connected and better-informed student is highlighted as we use several forms of technology to present biography. Guidelines are included below written by Amy Christen to drive the technological portion of the unit:

-Instruction must be synchronized more closely with the ways students live and interact outside the classroom.

-Curricula must address the soft skills required in today's global, information-driven workforce.

-Technology and pedagogy must be better integrated.

-Networking in all its forms is key to bringing about this necessary transformation in learning. ²³

Various technological references assist students as they gather information. GALILEO, Georgia's online library, ²⁴ is highly relied upon as a resource. Full access is provided to schools in Georgia, but access is available with a guest login. It contains over 100 databases of scholarly journals and periodicals. In addition, students view clips from United Streaming's video resources. This resource is particularly useful in conjunction with interactive boards and LCD projectors. Educators may obtain an account by contacting your media specialist or the United Streaming website. ²⁵

The transition to digitizing the biography begins with an introduction of types of digital authoring software. After tutorial sessions and viewing examples of completed digital biographies, students use interactivity to bring the biographies of their peers alive as students creatively compile gathered resources. Time will be allotted in the computer lab which will allow students to help each other and provide technical support for those who need it. MovieMaker, a software application that creates moving digital representations, is then used to model how biographical information can be transformed to a digital story. I will introduce copyright laws and presentation methods as students compile lists of favorite audio files to include as a "score" of their presentation. Students will showcase completed digital biographical projects during Technology Night for parents, students, and community members as a culminating activity.