StoryToGo

Exploring storytelling in its many forms in this digital age

Student Stories

Featured in Feedspot’s Top 10 Canadian Storytelling Blogs

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What a great way to start the day off, by opening an email from Feedspot Founder Anuj Agarwal congratulating us on being featured in Feedspot’s Top 10 Canadian Storytelling Blogs! We sit at #4, and find it rather fitting that on a list of Canadian Storytelling Blogs that a Newfoundlander sits at #1!

Have a read to discover the other wonderful sites on the list!

Top 10 Canadian Storytelling Blogs

What’s made us even happier is that after reading we decided to look up Feedspot’s Top Canadian Travel Blogs, which is a top 70 list. #12 on that list is Go Far Grow Close, a travel blog developed by one of our past students, Nicole Hunter, in our BCST 1073 (now BCST 3073) – Building Your Digital Media Presence and BCST 1193 – Social Media Storytelling. This is very well deserved, as Nicole has worked hard at her storytelling, approaching it with love, passion, and attention to details on things like SEO – continuing to build, learn, grow, and develop long past our courses. Well done, Nicole!

Our own digital travel magazine, Roamancing, is also on the list at #19! And we see a number of other friends of ours from the travel community featured on the list as well. Check them out!

Top Canadian Travel Blogs

Congratulations to all the sites listed, and for all the hard work and passion that you have poured into your storytelling over the years!

Also a shout out of thanks to Grant for the Web, BCIT, and CNIE (through the AMTEC Trust Award), whose support have helped to fund much of our storytelling here the past couple of years.

Art Therapy Student Life: An Introduction

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As a new member to the StoryToGo Team, you probably don’t know who I am! My name is Bjorn and I finished my undergrad at the University of Victoria last summer where I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a minor in art education. I am now a student at the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute where I am studying to become an art therapist. Through my posts, I aim to document my life as a student as well as introduce readers like you to the field of art therapy and its many benefits. Who knows, maybe you will decide that this is the field for you!

What Brought Me to Art Therapy?

Art has always been an interest of mine but I didn’t take it seriously until I discovered the field of art therapy. I started off without a minor added to my program but I started to feel like something was missing. I yearned for a creative outlet but I wasn’t sure how to incorporate it into my studies. Sure, I could take a fun elective but if my program was feeling dull then, I felt as though I would find my future career to be dull as well. I searched and searched on what I could do with my psych degree and stumbled across art therapy. I immediately knew that it was perfect for me because I was able to combine my passions of psychology and creativity.

I added art education as a minor just before my final year at UVic so I could get a foundational background in art before applying for art therapy programs. Altering my degree so late in my studies made me nervous but I noticed a major improvement in how much I enjoyed my coursework. I also know many people that have changed their majors multiple times and are now thriving. Sometimes finding what is right for you takes time and that is perfectly okay.

What Is Art Therapy?

At VATI, I have learned that art therapy is a mental health profession that combines the process of creative art expression with models of counselling and psychotherapy to enhance emotional, physical, and mental health. It provides the client with an opportunity to explore personal problems and potentials, resolve conflicts, and facilitate self-awareness and understanding through the use of simple art materials. 

A tranquil scene of nature made by me (watercolour)

Art therapy has been proven to be effective in areas such as: 

  • Addictions or substance use issues
  • Developmental disorders and disabilities
  • Coping with physical health conditions
  • Depression, anxiety, and mental health
  • Trauma or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
  • Aging and geriatric issues

Because art making occurs within the realm of the imagination, it opens the door to the story, and to remembering important events that may have been forgotten, or whose significance is unknown.

Tracy Councill

In my own practice, I aim to facilitate a non-verbal means for individuals and groups to connect with and express thoughts and emotions that are difficult to communicate. Sometimes words can be limiting in their definitions and expressing through art can expand those boundaries. While talking can be a part of the art therapy process, I view the act of expressing through art to be successful.

Art Prompt: Colour Walk

If you are looking for something creative to do this week, I recommend going for a colour walk around your neighbourhood. You can do this by yourself or with others if you choose. The goal of this activity is to connect you with your surroundings.

Materials Needed

  • camera

Steps

  1. Pick a colour.
  2. Walk around your neighbourhood/community and search for your colour.
  3. Take pictures that showcase your colour of choice. How creative you get with this is up to you!
  4. Walk around for as long as you see fit.

Questions to ask yourself

  • Is there a reason you chose your colour? If so, Why?
  • How did you showcase your colour in each image? What led to your artistic decisions?
  • What did you find interesting about the colour walk? What stood out the most?
  • Did you make any discoveries?
  • Were there any difficulties? Was your colour hidden or abundant?
  • Has your connection to your surroundings changed as a result of this activity?
  • If you did this as a group, you can discuss these questions with each other. The group aspect is interesting because even if you all take the same route, you will have different photographs to share.

*Disclaimer: Completing this activity is not equivalent to an art therapy session with a qualified professional*

Colour Walk in Red
A sample from a colour walk I did following the colour red.

I still have a year left at the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute and have a ways to go before I can become a registered art therapist. Currently, I am completing practicum hours at an elementary school where I am learning a lot and having fun. Each day I fall more in love with the profession and I am excited to take you all along on this journey.

You can get additional updates by checking out my Instagram.

References

Canadian Art Therapy Association. (2017). What is art therapy.
http://www.canadianarttherapy.org/what-is-art-therapy/

Councill, T. (2016). Art therapy with children. In D.E. Gussak and M.L. Rosal (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of art therapy (pp. 243-251). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Learning Stop Motion Filmmaking With Lego

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As some of you may have guessed, we wear many hats. We are storytellers, educators, technologists, scientists, dancers, and marketers. We love that the work we do allows us to put on those many hats, and enjoy the different experiences and facets of our work, including still getting a little bit of kid time with Ahimsa Kids.

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Loving this book.

Recently with that, I had the opportunity to work with an intelligent and engaging 10-year-old, who once he finished his school work, we were able to dive into the world of edtech and stop motion filmmaking together. Stop motion is something he has a keen interest in, along with lego, and he’d just been given the Klutz: LEGO Make Your Own Movie book. It didn’t take long after flipping through the book, which was a 2018 Toy of the Year finalist, for me to become just as hooked as he was on the process. So the two of us embarked on making our own first stop motion lego film together.

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Leafing through the pages.

This was a fun cross-curricular project to embark on. In the process, my young student developed and wrote a story, learned to storyboard …

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Laying out a scene from the storyboard.

… and filmed a stop motion movie. We brainstormed and experimented with blocking and special effects. My young student’s huge assortment of lego helped with this, along with scene backdrops in the Klutz: LEGO Make Your Own Movie book and all sorts of items in the LEGO Movie Maker Building Kit (which he’d got for his birthday), from which we learned how to build an adjustable stand for our camera (aka smartphone).

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Utilizing one of the backdrops and our newly built camera stand.

Finally my young student troubleshot how best to record the various voice overs for the project, and he and I will eventually edit the stop motion film together – that piece we did not get to on-set, so are planning to get together to finish in the not so distant future. Lego does have a free movie making app to help with the editing process, called Movie Maker, but we decided to use iMovie for this, as earlier on the set, my young student had shot his first documentary and I’d taught him how to use iMovie to edit it.

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Setting up for a new shot.

I have to say, this was a lot of fun, and something I could see wanting to incorporate into my school, if I still taught in a school. With this, I could see this being a full language and media arts project, a station set up in the classroom for kids that finished their other work early, a makerspace activity, or an after school club. It is also a fun at home activity, as well as a great project for homeschoolers. I myself am now looking for excuses to play with making lego stop motion movies in our work – possibly in future tutorial videos for StoryToGo or for one of my Master of Educational Technology videos. My young student kindly gifted me the LEGO Movie Maker Building Kit, and I am going to buy the Klutz: LEGO Make Your Own Movie book for myself, my nieces and nephews, and a few of my friends’ kids, as this really is such a fun experience. I can see why Lori was so fascinated by her visit to the Laika Studios and learning about stop motion storytelling there.

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Using one of the backdrops to create the perception of flight.

If lego stop motion or stop motion in general is something that you’ve been having fun experimenting with, I’d love to hear any tips and tricks you may have, and to see your videos, if you want to drop your thoughts and links in the comments below. And if you have been creating lego stop motion or stop motion videos with your students, whether in traditional school or homeschool settings, I’d love to hear about how and what is working for you and your students, in the comments below.

Thanks! I hope you have fun with this!

Nicole Hunter Making Radio Waves: A StoryToGo Student Success Story

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Nothing is more exciting than seeing your students’ projects start from scratch and then reach great heights. Nicole Hunter from BCIT’s Building and Engaging Communities course is doing just that! Under the guidance of instructor Erica Hargreave, Nicole set out to build a platform to share her family’s travel adventures and tips. Nicole has traveled all around the world with her four children, making her stories quite intriguing. Soon after building her website Go Far Grow Close, Nicole was featured on a radio interview with Martin Strong on Roundhouse Radio 98.3 Vancouver.

Nicole’s interview stresses enjoying family trips, not surviving them. She gives great advice on different styles of vacations based on the ages of your children. It’s clear she has a wealth of knowledge to draw on and is eager for others to share the same rewards her family has enjoyed through travel.

Take a listen for yourself and be inspired to try something new: http://cirh.streamon.fm/listen-pl-7874

We Want To Know What Makes You Happy

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There has been a fun, yet thought provoking campaign going on about happiness and it’s obstacles.  Realwheels partnered with Ahimsa Media and OneStory in the hopes of finding different ways that people define their identity.  Realwheels is a theatrical company in Vancouver with a strong presence in  disability arts.  They are especially interested in discovering the universal ideas we all have, regardless of physicality.

Using the OnceStory platform to collect and share the interviews, participants have been answering two questions:

1. What makes you happy?

2. Is there an obstacle to that happiness?

Some of the students from our Autumn Interactive Storytelling Course submitted short interviews of themselves and their acquaintances. Here is a OneStory interview Deborah Esseltine took of Adam Snow.

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Although the campaign has ended, the topic What Makes You Happy will remain active in OneStory and we are looking to help make the collection of interviews grow.  You can add your voice in a few simple steps.

To do this you simply need to download the OneStory App for free on your device.  Once you open the App you will see different categories of interviews.  Feel free to give a listen, people have some really interesting things to say! Our topic is found within the Featured interview topics, as well as within the Health related topics.

OneStory App

When you are ready to record your interview click on the red record button with an image of a camera on it in the top right corner of the screen.  Scroll down and select ‘What Makes You Happy?’ Press Next in the top right corner and then enter the name of the person who will be speaking.  Press Next again and then press the button that says ‘Record Answer’  when you are ready to answer the first prompt.

Share your story and see what others have to say by using the hashtag #Wheelvoices on your feeds.  Your participation is ‘what makes us happy’!