#4 - Melanie's Multimodal Composition Memoir

I am no stranger to digital storytelling and multimodal composition. In fact, every chance I have had to explore a digital literacy, I've found the most success and general excitement to do be doing so. As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I have created various videos, podcasts, mini-movies, and more within a classroom and outside of it. Therefore, there is no question that I find so much inspiration from any and all forms of digital storytelling and multimodal composition.

One multimodal composition project I had the chance to explore and create was making my very own zine. A zine, as references by Rebekah Buchanan in the text, "Zines in the Classroom: Reading Culture," is a "independent, self-published works created for pleasure that earn little or no profit." Through this multimodal project, I was able to explore storytelling through the complex yet accessible medium of zine-making. I had to consider what images, fonts, and layouts would best support my story in a way that was effective yet interesting. Beyond that, I was able to explore topics that were interesting to me, aided in the expression of my identity, and improve on my own writing skills. To the right is the cover of the last zine I made in that class, in which I got to choose my own topic to write about. 

Two digital media examples that inspire me as a writer and future educator would be video essays and music videos. I think that these forms of digital storytelling can promote writing as it is done in a way that can be accessible and fun for students. Moreover, these storytelling techniques, like zine making for me, can allow students the chance to explore their identity and truly personalize their creation to them. Moreover, digital composing is a completely different medium that allows for deeper thinking as their are different characteristics and choices you have to make for each medium in order for it to be effective. Therefore, I know that in my future classroom, I will undoubtedly include at least one opportunity for students to work with digital storytelling/multimodal composition.