Diverse Classroom Libraries and Digital Storytelling

This week the International Literacy Association blog published piece titled "The Importance of a Diverse Classroom Library" by Jerie Blintt.  In this blog post the author asserts, "Students seeing themselves in the stories they read to foster a sense of belonging, recognition, and most of all, validation, is crucial- representation matters." However, in reflecting upon my previous posts and readings, it is evident that diverse materials are lacking in the publishing world. Given this week's look into Digital Storytelling, I remembered activities I completed as a 2nd grade teacher. Even though my students had hundreds of great books to read in our classroom library, they LOVED reading stories written by their classmates. Each week in our Work on Writing center, I placed a new personal narrative story sheet for students to write. When I began to curate them into a binder, students read the writing of their peers over and over again. Using Digital Storytelling strategies coupled with access to 1:1 iPads my students now have, students have the opportunity to build diverse classroom libraries through their own stories. Empowering our students to use their voice to share their experiences with each other can foster the sense of belonging, recognition, and validation that Jerie Blintt identifies as crucial. By integrating Digital Storytelling into our writing experiences, students language development no longer needs to hamper their narrative. Using tools such as images, media, music, and voice recording gives students the opportunity to creatively share their story. I'm a big proponent of the idea that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. No matter how much we as teachers and librarians lament the lack of diversity in children's literature, no one is really stepping up to do anything about it. However, we as educators can use digital storytelling to empower our students to tell their own story in a way that transcends their proficiency in L2 acquisition.