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Unlocking Student Potential through Animation Storytelling with Story Xperiential
- Story Xperiential
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
Julie Quinn teaches animation at the Gene A Buinger CTE Academy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She has been a teacher for over 25 years predominantly in animation but has also taught Mathematics and Computer Technology, and been involved in Career Preparation and Leadership programs.
She currently teaches Animation 1, Animation 2, Honors Practicum, and Animation for 3rd year students.
Where did you hear about Story Xperiential?
I stumbled upon Story Xperiential online about 3 years ago. At the time, my Animation 2 and practicum students were working with a local 3rd grade, to animate the 3rd graders stories, but I wanted my students to really gain understanding of how to develop their own stories, and Story Xperiential has been a wonderful opportunity for that.
What did you think of the Story Xperiential interface for educators?
The Story Xperiential website has been set up for educators to be able to add their students easily, to be able to find the lesson plans and the rubrics that you need for each step of the process, to have videos that explain every part of storytelling, then also for you to be able to monitor your students to see what they've submitted, and to also monitor the feedback that they're giving and the feedback that they're receiving.
It's the perfect tool to use inside the classroom, if you're trying to help your students find their voice in storytelling.
What impact has the Story Xperiential program had on your students?
Story Xperiential has had a big impact on many of my students, but one story that really stands out to me is a student I had last year who struggled with reading and writing, but he was able to be successful in the Story Xperiential program because he could express himself with a voiceover and a picture.
Artwork by Julian for his superhero origin storyreel!
One day, we were surprised during the livestream. His storyreel was selected to be reviewed by a professional. And let me tell you, that did so much for his self-esteem, his confidence and his storytelling ability.
So, Story Xperiential is an excellent opportunity for students of all levels to be successful.
How did your students find giving and receiving feedback?
One of the real benefits from doing Story Xperiential is the impact that it has on all the students in the classroom.
As they're all participating, they're not only giving feedback to other people online, but they're giving feedback to each other in the classroom so they can see the progress that each one's making, and then they can complement each other.
They're telling each other, "You know, hey, that was really great, what happened right here in your story" or "I love the way your artwork looks", and it really built camaraderie within the classroom. Also, my students who are somewhat shy or reserved and don't really like to put their artwork out there were afraid of people being critical, but through this process of receiving feedback on how to improve and getting positive feedback on where people liked their story, really helped them develop their own sense of storytelling and helped them gain confidence in their artistic abilities.
And so, students that were very timid in the beginning, I just saw them just grow and blossom throughout this process.
What unexpected effects did Story Xperiential have on your students?
Fortunately, this year, we had a grand prize winner, but everyone in the classroom celebrated with her because they had seen her story develop over the time that we were participating. And so, we were all just happy for each other, and celebrated together.
Brooklyn and the artwork from her storyreel "Echoes of Divinity"
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