Long term projects, such as making a children’s story, have a few essential steps that can be easily overlooked when planning the activity. It is important for the creators to save their work often in places that are easy to access for everyone involved. Not only that, but assigning roles to each member of the project with clear deadlines for the aspects they are responsible for is also necessary. An approximately even workload among the different roles prevents arguments about the distribution of work being unfair, since no one wants to be doing everything. This makes everyone involved feel like they are contributing equal amounts. Familiarizing yourself, and everyone involved in the project, with the programs being used allows the stories to be created in a more timely matter. Like most multi-step processes, having an outline can help students stay on track. This can be done by laying out the general story line and tasks before starting in order to prevent confusion later on down the road. Taking time to check for mistakes and errors every so often can lead to less crucial mistakes farther on in the story. Having someone act as a leader who makes sure everything is being accomplished properly and on time will also help lessen the number of mistakes, acting as a supervisor of sorts. According to Sophia Letiman, “Communication is key when working on a collaborative project.” Ensuring that everyone is on the same page before and during the project will make the creation of the story go smoother.
Below are some quotes from former students who have helped make these stories:
“I enjoy having this story to share with my future students as a project that I helped create.” -Ashlee Kassmer ’10
“I believe that from this freedom we had, it made viewing the actual finished product that much more exciting.” -Megan Heller ’10
“It was interesting to see how all of the stories connected and the process as everything was getting completed.” -Katie Flood ’10
“Everything turned out awesome, and it was because of the hard work that everyone contributed.” -Victoria LeFevre ’10
“I really enjoyed creating characters on the computer in programs such as paint and Photoshop. There were no rules, only guidelines of what each character required. Having a sense of freedom was nice.” -Ashley Allwardt ’10
