We all have a story! Julian Mocine-McQueen Virtual Visits to Project Identity Classrooms
On February 14th & 16th, Julian Mocine-McQueen, Founder of The Million Person Project and co-author of How Your Story Sets you Free met with 45 students across six classrooms to discuss storytelling and prompt students to discover and tell their own stories. Julian's message: we all have stories!
Julian's prompts for student storytelling included:
1. Think of a time when someone taught you something new.
2. Think of a time you overcame a challenge.
Students responded to Julian's prompts through sketches and text, and were offered an opportunity to share their stories if they felt comfortable doing so. One student shared a story of learning how to ride a bike from a relative...and the student even showed us a sketch of this memory!
“Your personal story and your willingness and ability to tell it IS your power.”
— Heather Box, How Your Story Sets You Free
Silhouette Project by Carrie Blair-Wilcox
In April 2023, Carrie Blair-Wilcox shared an awesome identity project she hosted for her students at Chateaugay Central School District. The activity prompted students to respond to these prompts ➡️ (see prompts in image on the right).
Students then used the Silhouette Photo Editor App to create a silhouette of themselves to accompany their "I Am" poem. After choosing up to 12 words to describe themselves, students typed the words, changed the font and colors, and printed and glued the words around their silhouettes. The poems were then attached to the silhouette and displayed in the hallway.
Materials needed for this project: Apple iPad, Silhouette Photo Editor App, notebooks, black construction paper, and lined paper for their finished poems.
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad & The Five Pursuits
During the mid-school-year Project Identity meetup, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad joined us virtually to share information from her new book, Unearthing Joy - released February 2023. Included in this virtual professional development session, Gholdy outlined five pursuits to incorporate into any learning activity at any grade level. Dr. Muhammad's five pursuits include:
1. Identity
2. Skills
3. Intellect
4. Criticality
5. Joy
During the professional development, Project Identity participants had an opportunity to apply the five pursuits to their own lesson ideas.
Dr. Muhammad's book, Unearthing Joy, will be provided to all Project Identity participants as a part of year two of the NYSED Learning Technology Grant in partnership with FEH BOCES.
Finally, project participants can look forward to seeing Dr. Muhammad again on June 12th as FEH BOCES culminates year two of the Learning Technology Grant.