DigLit Sunday: Integrating Technology with Storytelling

It is DigLit Sunday and this morning while conversing with the #spiritchat community during their Sunday morning Twitter chat all power in the house was cut off. What a quirky occurrence to happen just when I was ready to pen my DigLit post. Technology does have its glitches but offers so many fantastic connections for literacy integration. 

For the past week, I have been playing with the Tapestry tool that Margaret Simon, DigLit Sunday's host, introduced me to. Last week was my maiden voyage with the app. 

(Please note that you have to tap each slide to advance to the next one.)

Last week and this week's offering is similar to a PowerPoint presentation but so much easier to create. I have been supporting an amazing educational opportunity in Uganda, Bigger Than Beads. My blog post, Creating Hope From Paper, provides the background with a poem created from the photo of a Masese child that was sent to me. Today, I am attempting to unfold a story based on the post. Since I am a novice with this app, I welcome all comments and support to hone my skills at integrating technology with storytelling. 

You can find the Tapestry story, Creating Hope from Paper, here. 

And so the story unfolds slide by slide...

My second digital feat this week was to create a button for the REFLECT WITH ME Galleries that I posted here for March Madness and here for April Awakenings. Since I am so fond of mixing images with thoughts I decided that this button would be an appropriate one to represent the artistic expressions from across the world that are housed in the various galleries. The Summer Serenity Gallery will be unveiled at the end of this month. 

Travel over to DigLit Sunday for this week's offerings
that should be posted soon.  

World Teacher's Day

Today, October 5, 2013, marks the celebration of World Teacher's Day, sponsored by UNESCO and its partners, International Labour Organization, United Nations Development Program, UNICEF, and Education International. This year's theme, "A Call for Teachers," emphasizes the need for all learners around the world to have a quality education. Students must develop strategies and utilize appropriate tools to become globally-minded citizens and meet the challenges of a worldwide economy. In order to do so, a force of well-educated and quality teachers is needed. UNESCO is focusing on these issues today to eradicate the barriers to a quality education for all as it celebrates World Teacher's Day. 

As civic-minded individuals, we must be aware of the challenges to education in other parts of the world. Here on Long Island, with resources available, teachers continually assist students to become ardent learners who notice, wonder, and discover; but there are teachers in other parts of the world who do not have adequate resources and materials to support the call to educate. Likewise, there are regions where teaching and learning are luxuries; in the impoverished village of Masese in Uganda there was no educational system. Eating, going to school, and adequate clothing to wear were among the luxuries not afforded to the Masese people. Through the humanitarian efforts of local Rockville Centre residents, the Garrity and Silon families, a school has been established and training provided for the teachers. Ongoing endeavors have supported the growth of the school from a population of 40 student to 300 and a cottage industry of paper bead making for the women. With these stepping stone efforts, the quality of life and better educational opportunities now exist and continue to grow. 

Were it not for the sustainable humanitarian efforts of world-wide organizations such as H.E.L.P. and the grassroots' efforts of dedicated individuals, issues of poverty and its impact on education would not be addressed. The call for quality education on a world-wide scale is an important one. Children around the globe need equal access to education and their teachers need adequate training to meet the demands of today's rapidly changing world. Let's celebrate teaching and learning today as we salute the global teaching profession who are the guides and the backbone of the educational system. 

Happy World Teacher's Day to All those who Inspire and Impact Learning Every Day!