What's YOUR Story?
August 25, 2010

Objective:
Standard 4: The students will be able to understand and demonstrate preproduction.

Learning Outcomes:
Students will achieve a moderately to highly skilled status by showing proficiency in the following:

• Script, storyboard, shot list.

Coursework Procedure:
Everyone has a story. It's a given. No matter who you are, what you do, where you come from or how you got there, your story is what makes you an individual and influences your choices and future. In order to better understand the choices you have, you have to understand who you are and where you came from. So that I better understand the choices you make, your point of view, and (ultimately) your responses, assignments and assessments, I have to better understand your story as well.

This is an exercise that requires you to take a look at yourself and, at the same time, tell me about yourself as well. You will write about any relevant time in your past. Was there a significant time when something happened that may have defined a part of your life, your personality, your way of thinking? When this "something" happened is always important since a significant event may carry a different meaning to you depending on your age.

What has happened in your life that may have influenced who you are? This is the meat of YOUR story. Tell about something that is significant, unique or important in your life. You don't have to reveal secrets or anything that would embarrass you. And you will not have to share this in class if choose not to.

Where events occur in your life can be as important as what they are and when they happened in your life. Examine the locations of these events to see if they are significant, relevant, or add to who you are now. You'll hear this in business a lot: "Location, location, location!"

Tell a true story about you that is an example of what you have read above. This is not about writing your life's story, we don't have time for autobiographies. This is about telling a story about your life, relive an event for example, that gives everyone an inkling of who you are.

You are taking the roll of the storyteller. It must have a structure: a beginning, middle and end. This is not your life story, this is an attempt to define who you are in a simple way. Your story should be written in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or some other word processor. It should be at least one page single spaced.

[Why do this? This is necessary so you better understand yourself when we start talking about careers and what you may aspire towards. This is also necessary as an exercise that will help you start thinking about why you make the choices you make and how you may with various financial situations/obstacles].

Due Date(s) and Submission Instructions:
Your story should be emailed to rathke at teacher dot com by the beginning of class on Friday, August 27, 2010.