Story: Postcards

A comment was submitted asking about photo sources for the digital postcards. My recommendation would be Flickrcc. The photos included in the web app are Flickr photographs with Creative Commons licenses. You can also search Flickr itself for Creative Commons licensed photos.





What is Creative Commons? CC is a non-profit organization that "provides free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof." There are a six different licenses that artists can assign to their works. There is a great slideshow on the CC website with information about copyright law, sharing creative works , and how CC helps to create "an enormous and unprecedented stimulation of creativity and production of knowledge." (Source: Creative Commons FAQ.) Think of the global implications of Creative Commons for our students--and ourselves!

Story

PicLits is a “creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.” (Source: PicLits website) PicLits are a beautiful synergy of photo and text. Just for fun, create your own "PicLit" or simply browse the gallery. Here is mine:


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

Chapter Reaction: Story

Please comment if you would like to share your overall impression/reaction to the chapter "Story."

Story

You may have heard of six-word memoirs. "Once asked to write a full story in six words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: 'For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.' In this spirit of simple yet profound brevity, the online magazine Smith asked readers to write the story of their own lives in a single sentence." (Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18768430)

Write your own story. Can you write your own six-word memoir? See examples at the Smith magazine site (click the links under "Share a Story with Us" in the left sidebar) or see examples with visuals at the NPR Six-Word Memoir gallery. If you are comfortable sharing, please submit your “memoir” as a comment on our blog.

Story

Daniel Pink says that, “Reading short stories is a fine way to sharpen your Story aptitude” Collections of short stories are readily available in most libraries. Daniel Pink mentions the One Story literary magazine in the book. Another source of short stories is the Fifty-Two stories blog from Harper Perennial (publisher) which is “celebrating the thriving art of the story by sharing a new one every week.”

Story

Dan Pink says, "Story is high touch because stories almost always pack an emotional punch.” View the Digital Postcards at http://www.ideo.com/culture/postcards/. Create your own digital postcard. Add a caption. Send it to gbeirne@elmiracityschools.com if you would like to share with the whole group. We will post them on the blog.

Updated to Add:
A great source for photo effects is Flickr Toys. You can make your own motivational poster, trading card, photo mosaic, among many other fun things. Upload your own photo to play then save the morphed picture to your computer or network. then you can send it to gbeirne@elmiracityschools.com as an attachment. We are looking forward to seeing your postcards!