Storify

What is Storify?  Well, according to the people at the site it is helps "making sense of what people post on social media. Our users curate the most important voices and turn them into stories."  And that is a fancy way of saying that it is a site where you can collect various sources of information on a topic and unite them all in one coherent way.  You can add pictures, video, articles, tweets . . . most anything, really.

I was introduced to Storify at the FLANC conference and I found it very interesting, though I'm sure I haven't even begun to plumb the possibilities it offers for collecting various opinions and voices.  I decided to plunge on in and give it a try and I chose the topic of foreign language learning as a place to start.  My first "story" is a collection of tips and advice from polyglots on how they went about learning a language.  I thought it would be good motivation for my students (and even myself) when their faith and enthusiasm might be flagging.  I hope you take some time to look through it and take something valuable away.

There is a TED Talk about Storify which you can enjoy here:

 "Don't tell me the story; show me the story.  Help me connect with the people who lived through those events.  Help me understand what it feels like.  Let me feel empathy."

Powerful ideas!  I think the potential use for history and for foreign language is immense.  If we can get our students to feel empathy, then learning momentum begins to really get going.

If you have a story on Storify that you'd like to share, I'd love it if you sent me a link.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK