Douglas Karalius

I've learned a lot of new ideas for how to use gen AI more effectively, and I've also gained some new insights about its limits and how it can be biased. 

Storytelling should help students become more engaged. Stories should be relatable. They should be inclusive. They should be real life examples, and they can contain humor when it is used judiciously. 

I think that audience is critical when determining what to share about yourself. If you're in a room of middle schoolers for example, stories about your time as a teenage student are more appropriate and interesting than, for example, middle age parenting stories. 

Storytelling helps me connect my journey to my students' goals. When I'm able to be relatable through storytelling, my students are more likely to be inspired to redouble their efforts when the subject grows difficult. 

I use storytelling when teaching my ESL students here in the United States. I'm American, but I lived for many years as an English teacher in Korea. I have lots of personal anecdotes and stories from my time in Korea that help me make connections with my students, who all come from countries outside the U.S. I think my stories help my students know that I understand their struggles to understand language and culture here in America and that they can trust me to help them.