Story Telling Reflection

On 17th September 2015, I completed my story telling presentation in order to fulfill

the requirement of the LGA coursework. The title of my story was “The Crow and The

Angel”. It was about a crow which will be sad and worried about its ugly face. As a fable

story, it is accessible to all ages and abilities. In our fast-paced, media-driven world,

storytelling can be a cherishing way to remind pupils that their spoken words are powerful,

that listening is important, and clear communication between people is an art. Via my story-

telling, I get to know some of my strength and weakness in my delivery of story which

needed to be amended in order to meet pupils’ interest in school.

First of all, I would like to list down some of my strength during my story-telling

presentation. My lecturer, Mr Samuel commented that the story selection was good.

Personally, I feel the story I choose will definitely grab pupil’s attention as it contains talking

animal and flowers characters like cow, rose and cactus. Pupils usually are attracted to

animated characters and I feel the story I chosen is suitable for lower primary pupils. The

words choices in the story are appropriate for lower primary pupils; for example words like

excited, sad and idea. Furthermore, my peers; Priya and Komala noted that during my

presentation, my voice projection was clear enough as everyone able to listen to my story.

I also believe that the use proper intonation during my storytelling like changing the

tone of voice for different characters was interesting. The different voice enables my

classmates to identify those different characters involved in the event of the story. Based on

my peer’s (Sangkari and Siva letchumi) comments, the props I prepared was attractive

especially the backdrop. I did also use appropriate amount of props so that others wouldn’t

be confused when they are listening to the story. Apart from these, I did also maintained my

eye contact with the audience and try to make my story telling more lively. Some of my

peers; Kasturi and Nantini did mentioned that I did made interaction with my classmates and

I feel by having interactions, I will evoke the audience to engage in the story enthusiastically.

Anyway, the major drawback of my story-telling presentation was being too nervous

and I did forget my scripts of story. I was lack of confidence to face the audience

(classmates) and consequently I forget my scripts and paused several times during my

storytelling presentation. Even though I practiced well before my presentation day yet I still

feel panicky when standing in front of the class. Being lack of poise is my foremost

weakness for myself. Besides, when I was panicked, I couldn’t handle the props well

according to the flow of the story. I was just holding them rather than moving the puppets

properly which showed like I am reading the story. As I didn’t prepare enough space for

placing my props, I face some problems during my presentation. It made my presentation a

little clumsy and unable to call to mind what I am supposed to tell them subsequently.

Moreover, I was lacking of facial expressions, gesture and body movements. While I

was delivering the story, it was too monotonous where I was standing too static and not even

once I used the space provided. I didn’t show the enthusiasm to deliver the story and it

ended in a passive presentation. Usually, a story-teller should have the enthusiasm to tell a

story to young pupils so that the story is delivered in a lucid manner but I tell my story in an

impassive way. Hence as my peers; Komala and Priya said, I should have be more

expressive in delivering the story so that it evokes the interest in my classmates to listen to

the story. Last but not least, the speed of delivery in my storytelling was like I am in haste.

As my lecturer commented, I should slow down a little so that my classmates understand the

flow of the story.

Henceforth, if I have a chance to overcome my weakness in my story telling

presentation, for sure I will improvise in certain aspects. First of all, I would perk up in using

appropriate actions and hand movements which can really help my story become more real.

Naturally, body and hand gestures should be coordinated to the story line. I should decide if

want to stand or sit while telling my story. As I tell the story, "Joey and Mike went out for

rafting.", I should move around to show the characters are going from one place to another. I

must ensure appropriate talking speed in my presentation. I should tell my story in a

deliberate way so that everyone can understand the events take place in the story. Besides,

I have to be more confident in bringing up the events in the story to pupils. I should be a little

dramatic. If there’s a scary moment, I must try to look frightened and pupils will think it’s

funny if I look more frightened than they are. I could also use silly voices for different

characters or change the tone of your voice (shouting, whispering and singing) wherever

relevant. This really keeps the pupil’s attention and the story-telling will be more fun to the.

Last but not least, personally I feel that this story-telling presentation was a very

constructive tool, in the sense that it has developed my confidence as well as focused on

areas that need improvement. I learned so much about my weaknesses and strengths,

personal teaching attributes and new skills to employ when I enter the real teaching

professionWorld. It also provide an excellent opportunities for me to test my communication and skills

to be applied in my story-telling presentation.