Storytelling as a way of teaching is not new for me. Very quickly into my first practicum I saw that initial lesson plans were not captivating enough for the majority of my students. One of these instances, when I was teaching I realized that I was loosing my class so, I’m not sure why, but I started drawing out what I was teaching on the board, basically little comics (was teaching plate tectonics for science). To bring in the class and the individuals who were causing the derailment of my lesson I would incorporate them into the comics and drawings. Often I would make up a little silly narrative about the students in my comics which were usually based around humor and a little bit of sass (I taught grade 8 so I would poke fun at my students a little when they deserved it). I also found it useful for learning because I could describe what was going on in the comic and then pose the question to class. For example, if Timmy is sailing on his yacht over a tectonic plate boundary and there is a large earthquake what will happen to Timmy? A tsunami! Which I would ask the class as a casual assessment and to check understanding and see who was following along. I know making up stories on the spot isn’t for everyone but, I found it was a very useful tool for many academic subjects.

Above this video is a mis-mash of videos I had collecting dust in my google photos, it features myself, my roommate, uncle, my older brother and his partner and many animals I have encountered in the last 2 years.