This is the last week of classes at Glendale Community College. This semester I taught three units of The Art of Storytelling - quite a grueling schedule! But, once again, I learned so much from my students. And once again, there were many successes on many different levels.
One of the most rewarding outcomes of all three classes was that every day, after every story, the students gave the teller many appreciations. Even when the story may have been a bit weak. Even when the teller got confused and chose the wrong type of story (it happens). Every time, they got lots of appreciations. This has meant as much to me as the way they all improved their telling, which they did! Their positive support of each other created a great sense of community that allowed them all to progress. For this, I am truly grateful.
Another perk is when a student shares their experience of the learning process. One such student, Jennifer, has given me permission to share with you what she wrote:
I would like to share a story with you! I needed to find a humanities class and as I was scrolling down my computer screen I found one, but it involved literature and poetry. Well, I am not into poetry at all. The word literature translates “you will be writing long, intense essays”. So I did what any student would do, I kept scrolling down…until I found “The Art of Storytelling”.
I honestly laughed a bit and thought, what could I possibly learn from a storytelling class and why is it considered an art? Now, I was curious. And that curiosity caused me to enroll.
After the first day of class, I changed my outlook on storytelling. Each class became more interesting and I could not wait to hear more stories. As the semester went on, I learned the answers to my questions. I realized the importance of stories and how it can be used in many aspects of life. Storytelling is truly an art because the storyteller is an artist who crafts their story to make it more interesting, exciting, and appealing to their audience.
Storytelling has given me a little more confidence and passion, not only in class but to my personal life as well. I know that when I finally become a nurse I will be sharing stories with my patients, not only to comfort them, but to connect with them. I am a bit sad that this class has come to an end because it was such an interesting, exciting, and uplifting semester. Thank you!
And once again, my buttons are popping!
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
Saturday - May 9th ~ 10am - Noon
Monday - May 11th
Those who attend the East Valley Tellers of Tales on a regular basis know that we encourage tellers to try doing an "Improv" story. Here's how it generally works. The teller asks for three words from the group. These words may be related in some way...or not. The object is NOT to try and stump the teller, but rather to come up with words that tune into the teller's current feelings and/or state of mind.
