I woke up when I heard the opening chord of Chopin's ballad in F major. I have been dozing off, holding the phone in my hand, trying to keep up with the news. I vaguely remember the fierce attacks on the pandemic by Dr. Fauci and Rand Paul, because at that time, the subtle and delicate innocence of piano music had surpassed my daisies on the grass. Chopin's ballad in F major opens solemnly with a warm chorus tune, but it quickly becomes torturous, embodying the violent mood swings that only a good story can convey.

"Everyone has a story to tell, everyone wants to tell," a colleague once said. She is right. Storytelling is what excites my students the most. This is an invitation for them to read, observe, analyze, understand, feel and write. By writing stories about them and me, we understand ourselves in the past, present, and future; we have intimately glimpsed our joy, loneliness, sacrifice, anxiety, heartbreak, anger, fear, guilt, surprise, and everything that makes us human Subtle emotions.

Another colleague wrote about why storytelling is important. "Story-telling," he explained, "is a universal way to understand the world. As the world becomes more and more complex, story-telling will become more and more important." He was also right. Storytelling gives the author a voice and attracts readers' hearts; it helps us understand the world and the situation. This kind of interpersonal relationship is why speakers in all industries start with a story.

Before teaching college students how to write stories, I was a piano teacher. For the past ten years, I have been teaching Suzuki Flash Variations and other works to young and lively students who have joined my studio day after day. One night, after playing the piano, a parent plucked up the courage to ask: "Really, don't you tire of teaching the same song?" "No," I said, "Every student who plays the same tune tells a different story; They don’t sound exactly the same dynamically."

Just like piano lessons, I help students develop their musical voice, and I also try to help my composition students find their unique writing voice. Here are some ideas on building a storytelling unit:

I hope you like these ideas. They are simple scaffolding guides I recently used with freshmen in college. I know there are more possibilities there, so I would love to hear your opinion.

Crystal O. Wong, PhD in Education, started her teaching career in the San Francisco Unified School District as a K-5 music, literacy and classroom teacher, and then started her second career at San Francisco State University, where she taught writing courses . Dr. Huang has received multiple awards, including the first-year teaching award (2019) and the Teaching Excellence Award for Freedom and Creative Arts (2020). She is passionate about learning and effective teaching.