During the summer of 2018 I was inspired by Todd Nesloney and his podcast “Tell your Story”, which I believe was inspired by his book- Stories from Webb. One day I happen to come across his podcast on Instagram . He was telling his mother’s story and instantly my heart was touched. I started to think about the upcoming school year and how I could incorporate Tell your Story into my year. My overall vision was a little more than what I have actually done, but I can always add on next year.
This year I returned to third grade after ten years in fourth and then second. I was fortunate to loop with half my students. With that being said, I knew I could not do my usual “Superhero of the Week” that I had been doing for years because half my students had already done it in second grade. After Todd’s inspiration, I began to envision how Tell Your Story would work in my room. I started the year with a Tell your Story activity in Google Classroom. This started my students off with the confidence and belief that they were important and they all have a story to tell.
In our morning meetings in September I would tell my students- You are important. You matter. You have a story to tell and we want to hear it!
So there it started; I just began by having them share things and learn about each other.
Well, then the year started to pass us by. With all of the new curriculum for me and the new learning, time got away from me. My original intention was to give each student a week to tell their story and share something different each day,but then when all the time passed, I realized that I did not have enough weeks left for all thirty students. So what now? Should I still do it?, I asked myself. It was a definite yes. I had started something and I could not just forget about it. I also wanted to continue the momentum that I had created. The students were really motivated by this mantra we had created- “You are important. You Matter. You have a story to tell and we want to hear it!”
So in the beginning of March, I began thirty days of Tell your Story in my classroom. Each child is assigned to a day. They prepare a poster to share and also either a REALYouSnap or a google slide show. They can bring things to share or share a talent or hobby. They have twenty minutes to share. At the end of their time, their classmates get to ask them questions. I have had students do a magic show, teach the class to make a paper airplane, share trophies or important mementos.
We are half way through our thirty days and it is the highlight of the day. My students love it. They not only love and look forward to their day but they love to hear about their classmates. They love to celebrate each other. They are enjoying preparing their posters and snaps or slideshows.
We end the time with the compliment chair. This is an activity I started a few years ago when I saw it on Twitter. The student who is telling his/her story sits in the compliment chair and all the students write a compliment on a poster. At the end the student can read all the compliments and take the poster home at the end of the day. They love this!
I am so glad I decided not to give up on this idea. It has made a difference in my class and the kids love it. Every day there is a buzz about who is telling their story. They are always coming up to me and telling me how much they love it and how grateful they are that I am allowing them to tell their stories.
Their parents love it also. Every day I post pictures of the student on Class Dojo and I highlight things about the child and his/her presentation. Parents appreciate it and they are celebrating the children, as well.
Tell Your Story has made my students feel important. They feel they matter and that they do have a story to tell. Mission Accomplished!
Next year I hope to expand the concept even more.