Chapter 7 Reflection, Story Planning Considerations: Tips, Techniques, Lessons Learned

Chapter seven covers so many different lessons that Ohler has learned about the story planning process, and would be very helpful for any teachers hoping to truly implement this process in their classrooms. Just like in most good classes, Ohler began by explaining how he taught his information and broke it down so readers/teachers can truly see his procedures. I found many different strategies and ideas that could be used in any classroom or with anyone interested in the art of storytelling. Anyone that has tried to teach kids how to write a story knows that coming up with ideas, brainstorming, understanding the elements of a story, etc. are very difficult for them to do on their own. They need a lot of repetitive practice and constant examples to help them through this process, and Ohler’s information in this chapter does a great job with that.

My favorite section of this chapter was his part about finding stories as this is what gives my students (and myself actually) the most trouble. When kids are told to write a story, some of them will just start writing with a million ideas flowing through their heads. But many others just sit there staring at the paper without a single thought to put on the page. I struggle with this in my teaching, and the questions Ohler used to help get ideas flowing helped me see that I could do the same thing in my classroom. However, I do wish that Ohler had provided more examples of more specific questions as this really is an area that I think my students will have a problem. He stated that after he had asked a few clarifying questions that he found, “...that it doesn’t take much for the ideas to begin to flow,” (Ohler, 2008, p. 98). Unfortunately, I’m not sure that would work with my third graders, and think younger kids would probably need a little more specific guidance to get them on the right track. I still appreciated the section though because it made me think more about how I could come up with more ways of helping my students.

Finally, I found the last page of the chapter to be very true, and reading Ohler’s thoughts about following and breaking the rules definitely made me think about my own teaching over the years. Ohler was describing an event from a photography class he took where the instructor went over all of the specific rules that must be followed, but then gave an example of something that broke all of those rules. His instructor then stated, “Break the rules after you understand them and can use them effectively,” (Ohler, 2008, p. 106). That simple statement given by Ohler’s instructor truly speaks to the learning curve of teaching anything. I remember my first two years of teaching making sure I did absolutely everything by the book! My teaching partner laughed at me and was often annoyed that I wasn’t willing to break the rules with him, but because I was still learning and under a great deal of observation, I felt the need to do things the way I was told to. However, just a few years down the line, I quickly realized that some of the things I was doing were not necessarily the best way to do them, and have since changed a lot about the way that I teach, effectively “breaking” the rules. We obviously can’t do this just on a whim, for no reason, but I think knowing and understanding when to “break” the rules is a very valuable teaching skill, and one that can help mean the difference between students producing “okay” work or “exemplary” work. I’m happy Ohler ended this chapter that way, as it really made me stop and think about my teaching, ways I have changed over the years, what I can do differently now, and how I can teach better in the future.