Where I'm From Reflection

Where I’m From Reflection

Recently in class we were asked to create a digital story titled “Where I’m From.” The purpose of the digital story was to create a counter narrative about the perceived notions that people hold about certain cultures. Many of the students in our class are from West Virginia and have experienced cultural stereotyping. Most outsiders see us as having a “culture deficit” in that we are poor, uneducated, and backwoods. However, through the creation of the digital stories our class was able to showcase the “cultural capital” of being from West Virginia. Many of the digital stories spoke powerfully about the cultural values of independence, self-reliance, religion, music, families, farming, pride, and a love of place. I think that the digital stories also did more than portray our strong sense of culture, but it also allowed us to make deeper connections to our peers. Watching my peers’ videos allowed me the opportunity to dig deeper into their backgrounds and find that we each had many similarities as well as unique differences.

In the process of creating my digital story, I realized that it gave me the ability to tap into my funds of knowledge as well as my classmates. The term "funds of knowledge”, refers to the culturally developed ideas, skills, and beliefs that we carry from our families into the classroom. I think that creating the digital story provided me the freedom to express my beliefs, morals, and values in a non-traditional way. Outside of expressing myself, I feel that creating the digital story gave others the opportunity to get to know me as person, and not just as a name on a list. In m opinion, creating the digital stories demonstrated what culturally responsive teaching should like within the classroom. Creating the stories allowed each of us and our teacher to make connections from home to the classroom. I was able to communicate ideas and celebrate my own culture and gain insight into those of my peers. It was a two-way process of learning and communicating.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of creating the digital story. It was a fun and in depth way to get to know others. I also feel that it allowed for expansion of learning and creativity. The stories permitted students to reach a variety of learning styles, through pictures, music and text. As a future teacher, I definitely want to implement a project like this into my classroom. It is a great way to meet the needs of diverse learners. But, most importantly I feel it is a way that I can learn about my students intellectually and emotionally as human beings; and in the end, I think that this is going to have the greatest impact on student learning and performance.