4 Slides. Nada Mas.

Could you tell your entire UNIQUE life story in 4 slides?

4 slides?  Unique?  Entire life story? (or at least the elements that matter most?)

Yup.  "Unique".  Audience that might not even care when all is said and finished, actually.  Unless you compel them to care.  4 slides.  Just 4.  No more.  No less.  And no fancy-dancy Eminem soundtrack bass-thumpin' in background, let alone flying titles or slow fades.  Just 4 slides.  Words.  Images.  Done.

Cant' be done?

Tell that to Dan Meyer.  Blogger.  Math guy.  Design running through his DNA. "Cranky" young guy (for good reason, thankfully).  California teacher.  School 2.0 shin kicker.  Summer camp fella. "The Wire" fan.  & "4 Slide" Maestro.

Again, 4 slides.  Nada mas. 

And when you're done? 

Edit some more.  Brutally.  Harder than I would myself if you turned it in to me and I had to give you a final grade.  Edit like a razor.  Razor sharp, in fact.

Oh, but shouldn't you add a bell?  A whistle?  A squirrel on a treadmill?

Nope.  Be firm.  Stand up to the pressure to go Blitzkrieg on the PPt funny business.  Tell your teacher that's all you want.   Just 4 slides.  3 would be better, but you'll work with 4 if you have to.  Like any good story teller with an audience who has a life and other options:

1. Clever hook.
2. Intriguing plot line (one of many carefully chosen).
3. Rising action into conflict and resolution.
4. Denouement and thank-you-very-much, let-me-know-if-you-want-to-learn-more. 

How will you know it was worthwhile?

As long as you are graded intensely based on whether the world would care enough to meet you in person after the fact, it was worthwhile.   

Note: if your audience wants to meet you & learn more after seeing your 4 slides, you get an "A". If not, you get an "F"...and maybe a pat on the head with a "nice try" sticker for good measure.  "A" or "F". Nothing in between.

It is your audience.  Your story.  Your 4 slides. Your opportunity to matter or fade.

P.S. If your teacher suggests that you should use a soundtrack or a podcast, tell'em you ain't got time. You'll be too busy editing and re-working and thinking about every single character and image crop.

P.P.S.  If your teacher gives you gruff or air guitars some of that pesky "more is more" rubric business on you in typical olde skool style, tell'em to go read Dan's post.  So that they get the 4-slide set-up & rationale, as well as ingenious design savvy that underlies it all.  Like, tonight!  Suggest to them that it might be worth a summer's worth of professional development in the process!
 

Comments

[Stephanie Sandifer]

Hi Christian --

Just letting you know that you've been tagged: http://www.ed421.com/?p=329

:)
Stephanie

[Christian Long]

Fascinating 8 things you wrote on your blog, Stephanie. I'm going to refrain from doing an 8 things meme post here since it doesn't fit with what I'm trying to shift this blog towards, but on a human level, I really appreciate the chance to take a peek at your history before blogging came knocking. Probably why I love Twitter updates that go beyond tech and work, because we get to see a bit about the people behind the Tweets. Thanks for tagging me and sharing a bit more about your life! Cheers, Christian

[Christian Long]

Okay, on 2nd thought, Stephanie, I'm letting the "I appreciate your invite" part of my brain/heart continuum to get the best of me. Will add my own 8 Things meme piece soon. Sorry for acting so poorly the first time around when I commented. We live, we learn, and thankfully we get 2nd chances! Cheers, Christian