Module 6 Assignment:
Consider your topic area, or one aspect of your topic area dimensionally AND create a graphic representation of the many dimensions of your topic. Look at at your topic from different perspectives and levels and use these ideas to represent the dimensional thinking your idea possesses. Consider the educational implications of thinking dimensionally about your topic. Why would someone use this as a model to teach? What are the benefits of this model?

Once you have thought dimensionally about your topic, post your graphic representation to your workspace and write about 500 words discussing briefly: a) your understanding of the cognitive tool of modeling (approximately 1 sentence), b) your specific topic and the dimensions through which you explore it, c) your graphical representation*, what you did and most importantly why.

Dimensional thinking is transforming our understanding of an object from one level of conception to another.  Modeling is a skill that combines skills such as abstraction and embodied thinking to represent an idea in a form that can be experience by the user.    

In thinking about my topic of genre, I kept going back to the idea of the digital story and how different technologies allow the possibility for readers to have a more immersive experience than simply reading text on a page.  I have been a fan of book trailers for a number of years and have used this form of digital storytelling with my students to share their content knowledge about the books they read.  I wanted to look at the idea of character as a building block for a narrative and see what digital models I could find to explore that element of genre.

Something I have not explored is the use of 3D virtual worlds as a tool for digital storytelling.  I have heard a lot about these tools but until now have not used them.  One platform I researched is ZooBurst which is described as a 3D Augmented Reality pop-up book.  I thought the site was very interesting and will definitely keep it in my toolkit for possible student projects.  Users create a scene on a canvas that looks like an open book and add elements of setting and characters to the page.  As the book is viewed, these elements pop-up and can be viewed in 3D by the user dragging and rotating the book.  Text and audio can also be added to help tell the story.

I wanted to explore further the idea of actually being "in" the book and looked at another  popular platform, Second Life.  Second Life is a 3D virtual reality world created and inhabited by real people who are represented as avatars.  I find it quite interesting that Second Life was actually inspired by literature and storytelling.  In the 1992 novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, the author was the first to coin the term "avatar" and describe a world called the "Metaverse" that people entered via a computer.  Since the release of Second Life, the technology has been used by educators in many ways, but I was interested in those that have explored it for digital storytelling uses.

I had trouble finding concrete examples of how other educators have used it for this purpose.  Some links mentioned using it as a way for students to create a character and visualize how the characters might interact with objects in their world.   I did create an account on Second Life and explored some of the places on the grid, but decided it was not what I was looking for.  It had too much complexity and because it could not be used with users under 13 years old, it wasn't something I could really model with my students.

I then thought about a virtual world building application that I already had access to.  We have long been fans of The Sims games in our household.  I decided to try to use The Sims 3 to model the protagonist of my NaNoWriMo novel.  I've been doing a lot of study on character development and thought making a model of my character would be a useful tool in writing.  Characters live in our imaginations, but by creating a virtual version of my character I could gain a stronger image that would be helpful in story generation.  I could also give the Sim traits of my character and watch how she interacts with others if I desired.

A book I've been reading on developing a character's emotional profile listed the following elements a writer should determine about their characters:

While creating the Sim versions of my protagonist Elana and her parents Rosalind and Darius, I tried to translate some of these elements into the Sim traits.  I also added other traits that were part of the motivations of the characters in the story.  For example, the parents are both protective of Elana and care about each other, so I gave them both the "family-oriented" trait.  It is revealed later in the story that Darius was once the captain of the royal guard, so qualities like "brave" and "love the outdoors" made sense for him.  Elana's mother guides and teaches her important survival skills in the early part of the story, so the "gatherer" trait made sense.  Elana has yet to realize that she is special, but I gave her qualities that I envision will help her accomplish the tasks ahead of her.  She is "brave" and a "genius" but also has a "good sense of humor" that I hope I can get across through dialogue and internal monologue.

Below is a video of how I created my protagonist and her Sim family.  I think it is a useful visual tool and one I can return to if writer's block strikes or I feel like I need to "see" my characters in order to better translate some look, action, or interaction into words.  

Virtual tools such as this are not out of the reach of students but perhaps they have not thought to use them in this way.  I have a few students who have based their NaNoWriMo novels on virtual worlds like Minecraft or worlds of their own creation.   For projects like those, actually playing the game might be a great generator of new ideas for their stories.

Module 5 Assignment:
Think of an aspect of your topic that you wouldn’t normally consider as something you think about with your body. Then search for how your body experiences or could potentially experience this aspect of your topic, through movement, imagery, empathy… Once you have your ideas use any creative modality (e.g., video, photo, poem, drawing, etc.) to display the transitional process of thinking with your body. 

Once you have embodied your topic post your creation to your workspace and write about 500 words discussing: a) your understanding of the cognitive tool of embodied thinking (approximately 1 sentence), b) why you chose the embodiment you did, and c)  how this understanding impacts your topic. 

Embodied thinking involves developing an awareness of a subject through physical and empathetic interactions, manipulations, and representations that lead to  deeper understanding of it.

During the reading of Ch. 9 of Sparks of Genius, I connected to the description of the process of developing a new physical skill.  When learning something new, we are very conscious of our bodies' actions and movements.  Completing a task can be time consuming because we are so focused on doing it in the correct way.  As I've mentioned in past posts, I am a knitter and teach children how to knit.  This description is very apt and something I stress to my students will become easier as they continue to practice.  I learned to knit when I was in fourth grade and remember struggling with the skill at first.  I was a tight knitter and had a hard time because I pulled the yarn too tightly when I wrapped it around the needle.  This is a beginner's mistake, as we usually are worried about dropping a stitch so we overcompensate.  As I continued to practice, I learned to find the "right" tension that made the knitting look even and neat and not too difficult to work.  I've progressed in my practice to the point that I don't have to look at my hands to know what to do.  If I am doing a simple garter stitch, I can even do it in the dark.  My students are amazed to hear that I've taken my knitting to movie theaters and sometimes request me to show them that I can really do this.  I dutifully hold out my knitting, close my eyes, turn my head to the side (just to prove I'm not peeking), and continue to knit at the same speed as I normally do.  It's a fun thing to show off to them.  

I had a discussion with students this week in my knitting club about types of yarn that work well for different projects and I mentioned to them that they will eventually be able to tell what material a yarn is composed of by touch.  As an example, I took a couple of skeins they were working with and closed my eyes and rubbed the yarn between my fingers.  "This is acrylic," I said to one student.  "This is is cotton and this has animal fiber," I mentioned to the others.  They asked how I could tell and I told them it had to do with the texture and feel of the yarn.

So what does all this have to do with my subject area?  I thought quite a bit about how to embody the topic of genre.  My first thought was how to "touch" words and I did a little reading on how visually impaired individuals read using braille.  I also thought about sign language.  I have two children with special needs and I use some signs with them as part of their communication plan.  I was interested to read that there were genres within signing, forms and structures that were as easily recognizable to ASL users as written genres are to those reading print literature.

I then began thinking in another direction and tried to look at the ideas from the reverse perspective.  Throughout the course I have looked at genre from the perspective of a reader and tried to develop methods to communicate how a book might fall into a particular category.  In thinking about the tool of embodied thinking, I began to look at it from the perspective of a writer.  To truly understand how a story fits into a particular genre, it would be interesting to explore the process of creating a story of a particular genre.

This week, I decided to take on the challenge of writing a novel.  November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo.  Writers taking on the challenge commit to writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days (writing can only take place between November 1st and November 30th).  On Thursday, I started that challenge.  I am also leading my students through the Young Writers Program of NaNoWriMo, so we are truly a classroom of novelists this month.

I'm probably a little crazy for trying to complete this project, my work for this class, teach full-time, and manage my family.  It is definitely out of my comfort zone, but already I am beginning to have an understanding of story development that I don't think I could have any other way.

Last week, my students began thinking about their characters and we discussed that characters truly are what motivate us to read.  It's interesting because when you ask a person about a book, you usually say, "What's that book about?" not "Who's that book about?"  Plot would seem to be the most important element, but when you start to plan a story, you realize the events can change, but the character is with you throughout the story.  If you don't care about the character, who will care about what happens to them?

Yet, plot is important.  I found myself with a wispy idea of a story that wouldn't solidify up until about Tuesday.  I knew I wanted to write a fantasy and wanted it to be a fairy tale, but was unsure of the details.  I imagined writing a retelling of a classic fairy tale, like Cinderella.  I also toyed with the idea of writing a sequel to a fairy tale, something that would take place years after the original story, maybe even involving ancestors of the original characters.  The problem was that I couldn't find a fairy tale that I wanted to retell or re-envision.  I eventually decided I would need to create my own fairy tale.

Below is a rough draft of my first two chapters.  There are plot holes, timeline problems, and probably grammar mistakes, but a guiding tenant of NaNoWriMo is to silence our "inner editors" for the month.  November is about cranking out the story.  Revision can begin in December.  This idea gives a certain amount of freedom and ultimately enhances creativity.  My story doesn't have to be perfect and I am learning much about the fantasy genre by creating within the form.  A story that is fantasy couldn't really happen, but it is my job as a writer to make readers believe it could.  I need to help them suspend disbelief and find ways to help them picture the characters and places that are in my imagination.

I feel like I've got a good start, but I know even if I "win" NaNoWriMo and finish my 50,000 words this month, the next few months will be just as busy with revisions.

Elana: Princess of Prophecy - Click to view in Google Docs