Reflections on the curricular unit

I believe the art of telling stories has - as a very important foundation - the need of social interaction. Sharing experiences, culture and knowledge were the aspects that mostly spoke out for me in this year’s Storytelling class. 

Not only it was amazing to hear stories from students of other parts of the world, but was also great sharing the same room and getting to know different perspectives of their points of view related to all the topics we brought to class. 

Creating our own storytelling E-portfolio was very enlightening and fun, as much as it was a bit hardworking: i personally felt more tense to create my projects - people will see it! It has to be perfect! - my thoughts ran close to that matter. But even though it was hardworking, i can also admit how proud i am of my work. Seeing my blog now makes me realize that my semester was full of creation and creativity and i am proud to say, as a brazilian student, that i improved a lot on my responsibility, my way of writing and telling stories, and just as a gift: my english. 

I personally have to thank my fellow students and our Professor for the incredible time we had together in class. 

0

Vídeo: giving images to the built story.

0

Two sides on every story - Perspectives based on the pictures chosen by us in class

Just like spring.

It was the same day, yet again. Not exactly the same date, but it would surely be the same routine she had to deal with. Wake up, get up, check her phone, do laundry, eat, wash dishes, say `Good morning` in a cheery mood. Her friends were always the cheeriest possible - and she tried not to be too gloomy close to them -, laughing, making noise from 9 am to midnight, and even a little bit more after that - yet she was a bit more reserved.

`Are you okay?`, They`d ask.

`Always`, she`d answer.

She then got changed, walked the same 30 minutes to school, had classes, went to the gym, came back, took a shower, cooked, studied, laid in bed, and finally slept. When she opened her eyes, it would be the start of another day.

Her smile would get a little bit smaller every day, but she didn`t really mind it.

Sometimes she liked to compare her constant switch of humor with how easily the weather changed in Portugal`s spring days. Sometimes days were warm, bright, enough for her to wear shorts and a comfortable shirt. Some other days it was unbearably hot. Then the following day would be rainy, or maybe sunny but cold anyway. She felt like the personification of spring. Not constant enough to be summer, not distant enough to be winter. 

She didn`t mean to push her friends away, no. She had a beautiful, warm smile that could light up the darkest days of others. Yet she did not find her source of personal light, and that sometimes made her a bit less happy as everyone else. Woke up, got up, checked her phone. Sighed. Took a deep breath. Did laundry. Sighed. She didn`t feel hungry that day.

Class was as boring as ever - and that day wasn`t exactly the warmest she`d experienced. She walked home after a while. 30 minutes walking, as the usual walk would be. When she got to her room, she scented something bittersweet, but still seemingly tasty. Opening the kitchen doors, her friends were all together, cooking.

`Want to eat together tonight? We`re making pasta!`

She smiled. `Sure!`

Just like in spring, there were sunny days, too. Even if it was a bit cold sometimes.

She`d be okay.

0

"What's wrong with your homeland?"

When i got questioned by the Storytelling professor about what's being signed on the title i confess my first reaction was to say "Everything!", of course. Everything about Brazil is a little bit wrong, a little bit out of place, and sometimes a LOT wrong and a LOT out of place. We have situations in public healthcare, basic sanitary services, packed prisons, terrible people running government, but nothing is as bad as it is when it comes to one aspect that frightens all brazilians.

Violence.

Violence in Brazil starts in the little things of daily life, the metropolitan buses being home for theft, fear and even sexual assault - no matter if it's dark or bright outside. It goes on in the streets, place where using your phone while walking is a complete no-no situation, or rather, being very brave as to not mind the robbery of your belongings.

But it's not just a street thing, violence happens inside schools, in between men and women, inside the household, and even as abuse of power, when police officers humiliate innocent people by force. These are pretty common in Brazil.

I believe that the only way to stop these things from happening would be having the government's attention towards the situation, but sadly they do not seem to care at all about brazilians.

0

Reflections on the Seminar "What Triggers Students to Create ePortfolios"

• 
  
  
• The Seminar "What triggers students to create ePortfolios" had it's 4-hour program full of interesting lectures guided by a few professors from all around Europe. It took place on ESE-IPS' auditorium on Saturday, the 25th of March. It was free or charge but needed registration, since the seats were limited.
• 
  
  Schedule:
• 
  
  
• 
  
• On said date and event we spoke not only of “What students want” (Which was a very interesting lecture to begin with), but also mentioned the fact that “Students are not as psyched about ePortfolios as us, teachers, are.”. Either way, the lectures had a great extent on the experimentations and predictions of the use of ePortfolios, as well as the participation of students on explicit and direct questions in loco and on the professors’ local countries.
  
  
  My understanding of the subject was the same as it was reflected on the work and lectures of the professors, in which ePortfolios are an useful tool that makes learning visible which gives students a sense of pride related to their good work, as well as they’d find the need to make a better job, since their projects would be seen by anyone. ePortfolios are good when constantly uploaded, and as the students pass their years studying they get to look at their work done in the past and realize how much they grew personally and work-wise, also highlighting the process other than the results,  also making it a storage of work, and allowing students to reflect, share, collaborate, all in a very dynamic process. 
• The subject that got all my attention though was the use of Badges in college and university. As an active student, i had the change of working with badges before, on the multi language learning app “Duolingo” and for Google’s learning platform, https://atelierdigitalportugal.withgoogle.com/ in which both cases let you share your badges on linked.in, website destined to let you share your professional achievements and curriculum vitae. Badges allow students be proud of what they’ve done, the extracurricular classes and courses they attended to, and it also lets others see the hard work they put themselves under.
• 
  
  
• (image shown during one of the lectures. Found at: http://classhack.com/post/45364649211/open-badge-anatomy-updated)
  
  
  To sum up the reflection over the seminar:
• - One or two aspects you considered relevant? Why?
• It’s mostly good to see that ePortfolios work for many different studying areas, seen as some of the professors had tested ePortfolios on Vet students, Social Communication students, and so on. It is also relevant to underline the sense of “work done” students get when they update their ePortfolios, as if they are fulfilling the need of keeping said platform updated. Related to the seminar, i enjoyed how us students were constantly questioned by the professors, as if they wanted to know what we felt and thought about what they were talking about.
• - What are the most important ePortfolio characteristics for the learning process?
• Having the need and motivation of constantly updating; Making it easy for friends to check your work, as well as see other people’s work too for reference; Somewhat creating a sense of pride over their creations; Making it easier to show your work on possible job interviews; Having easier feedback from the teachers; Having the platform as a way of knowing how much you grew and how much you improved as the years pass by.
• I believe the inclusion of ePortfolios on colleges and universities will change the way students look at their own homework and assignments, increasing their willingness to study and the need to get their work perfectly done.

0

Commenting characteristics of the art of telling stories

An analisys on Darius Grey's piece, entitled Finding.

The way the creator of this video told the story of his life brought me interest due to the usage of soundtrack and sound effects. During the beginning of the video there is a brief moment in which no image is show, only the sound of a heartbeat 'illustrating' the scene. When the heartbeat gets faster, the narrator is already telling the story of how his heart was racing due to the overdose of drugs he had used at the time he was a dependent. The pace of this story was very relevant for its understanding. 

Other important aspect on the video was the usage of his personal footage. Showing people a bit of his past and some of his current life gave the audience  a higher sense of connection to his previous and current situation. 

The plot was not extraordinary, but was about a person overcoming a bad situation at a young age. And that was the beautiful turning point that made the story rather interesting.

Video found on https://www.storycenter.org/stories/

0

Hairy Leg: The Comic!

Here's the comic of the Hairy Leg! If you want to read it on Pixton, here's the link: https://www.pixton.com/comic-strip/xoryk7r6

0