Download - Unlocking the Power of Oral History
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
1. Adjust the volume of your computer using the speaker button (you should
see a speaker icon in the top, black menu of your meeting room). Use
headphones if possible.
2. Using the phone icon, enable your microphone using the drop-down menu
(strongly recommended) or use the call-in information to join by phone.
3. Practice muting your microphone (the icon will be green with a line through
it). If you are calling in, mute using your phone controls. Once the program
begins, please stay mute when you are not speaking.
4. If you’d like to enable your webcam so we will be able to see you (the
webcam icon will turn green).
5. Practice raising and lowering your hand. This will allow you to ask questions
without interrupting the flow of the program.
6. Locate the chat box in the bottom right and introduce yourself to the group.
Welcome, and thanks for coming!
Get Set Up
Yes! This program will
be recorded.
Recordings will be made
available at a later date, or upon
request.
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Who is this person?
What did this person do?
Why did they do it?
Who am I?
What do I do / What do I want to do?
Why do I do it?
You Cannot Be What You Cannot See
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Two Short Polls
Katrina’s Jewish Voices,
Joel Brown, Owner of Kosher Cajun
restaurant in New Orleans
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Oral History Builds & Diversifies the Historical
Record
What does oral history
offer to us (educators)
and to our students?
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Fosters Four Areas of Student Learning
Emergent Learning:Pursuit of Personal Interest
Skill Building
Emotional Health & Growth
Relationships/Role Models
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Sharing Family Stories Makes Kids
Resilient
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Stories Help People Construct Identity
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Components of an Oral History Project
Collecting
(Interviews)
Sharing
(Presentation/Preservation)
Connecting
(Project/Research)
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Resources for Collecting Stories
• In Our Own Voices• Resource for conducting life history interviews with Jewish women
• http://jwa.org/stories/how-to/guide
• Family History Tool Kit• Guide adapted for tweens/teens (for girls but anyone can use it)
• http://mybatmitzvahstory.org
• Museum of Family History• Lesson plan for creating a museum of stories and artifacts
• http://mybatmitzvahstory.org/content/museum-family-history
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Two people perform two roles
• Narrator—the person
telling the story
• Interviewer—the person
asking the questions
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Generating Good Questions
If you were interested in learning
more about how and why
someone became a Jewish
educator, what would you ask?
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Types of Questions
1. Closed-ended questions• For gathering facts
• Have clear answers
• “Who” “what,” “when,” “where,” “how many”
2. Open-ended questions• Elicit stories, feelings, and memories
• “Tell me about…” “Describe…” “How…”
3. Both are essential
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
One-Two Punch Method
• Switch off between open
and closed questions
• Draft extra questions
• Follow the narrator’s lead
and the interviewer’s
interest/curiosity
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Role Playing: What Not To Do
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
What Not To Do
• Ask too many questions at once
• Interrupt the narrator
• Interrupt with “uh huh,” or “mmmm.” Instead use non-
verbal communication to show you are listening.
• Offer your own experiences or stories. This is not a
conversation.
• Express assumptions e.g. “Wow, you must have been so
angry.”
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Other Resources For Collecting and Sharing
Stories
• StoryCorps (http://storycorps.org/)• DIY Guide for National Day of Listening (Day after Thanksgiving)
• http://nationaldayoflistening.org/downloads/DIY-Instruction-Guide.pdf
• Contemporary Jewish Museum (http://www.thecjm.org/)• “Stories of Survival”: Creating and Exploring Oral Histories in the Classroom
• http://www.thecjm.org/storage/documents/education/2013/Oral_History_Curriculum_Resource-FINAL.pdf
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
Resources For Viewing/Watching Stories
• JWA’S YouTube Channel• Women’s stories: activists, community leaders, etc.
• http://www.youtube.com/user/jewishwomensarchive?feature=watch
• StoryCorps• Stories collected and curated under a variety of topics
• http://storycorps.org/listen/
• iWitness @ The Shoah Foundation• Searchable video testimony from Holocaust survivors
• http://sfi.usc.edu/teach_and_learn/iwitness
• This I Believe• Personal essays read aloud
• http://thisibelieve.org/essays/listen/classic/
What else do you
need to know?
What ideas do you
have?
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
“It was truly an honor to get the
chance to interview such an incredible
woman. Molly has so much wisdom,
knowledge, and wonderful
stories. Molly taught me to live in the
present, because the present is a
gift. In doing this project, what was
meaningful to me as a person, was
that I got to listen to someone’s
story. It inspired me and moved me to
want to pursue what I want to do in my
life.”
From the Field: Susan Cohn, San Diego
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
From the Field: Barbara Rosenblit, Atlanta
Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change
TWERSKY WINNER TELLS ALL
Thursday, December 11 @ 1pm & 8pm
With Twersky Award Winner Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen