Documenting your life: movies, photos, and podcasts

Despite the fact that many teachers and students are experiencing a virtual brain drain, digital tools can give new, creative avenues for students to explore and identify their interests and personalities. Teachers are requiring students to create autobiographical mini-movies or trailers about their life, as well as podcasts or articles for digital school newspapers on themes that are important to them.

The teacher can teach a lesson on Dorothea Lange’s famous black-and-white photography from the Great Depression. The teacher then instructs the kids to snap their own images using their phones to document their lives. She leads them through the topics "life outside your door", "through a window", "different life inside", and "family porch images". When children are faced with adversity, it can be beneficial to take an artistic approach.