Monday 09/20/10 430-530
During the first half of the session, I handed out the activity booklets. I had each student share to the class what they like to draw. On the board, I explained the first part of the activity which was the lines, I gave a brief, general demonstration. I asked the class what are the other ways of drawing thick and thin lines. A student drew a very creative approach to a thick line. She drew an empty rectangle first, the shaded inside of it. I then asked the class if it was a DARK line. They didn't agree and so another student came up and in the same way, drew an empty rectangle first, then heavily shaded inside it. The class agreed it was a DARK line. I then explained why it was. Layer upon layer of the same weight will create a darker appearance. We then explained the facial expression where we talked about the expression to be 'scared' versus 'shocked.' In 'shocked,' one's mouth opens just slightly, with little sound made, whereas in 'scared', one tends to scream, and when that happens, the mouth almost dominates the whole face, so the mouth is bigger. That lead to the angle of the eyebrows. At a certain angle, the eyebrows may look, 'angry,' 'scared,' or 'sad,' depending on the angles. We continued onto the characters and the speech bubbles, in which I encouraged them to get creative with the shape of the speech bubble, by drawing different ones on the board for them. The students were very excited in the end.
Tuesday 09/21/10 330-430
The students worked on the first two pages of the Activity Booklet. Examples were demonstrated and explained on the board. I checked on every student to make sure they were all on the same page. For the first example, were the lines. I explained to them that there are different ways of drawing thick and thin lines. The second example, covered three shapes-circle, rectangle and triangle. I encouraged them to get creative with each by combining just those three basic shapes for simplicity and creativity. As for the third example, the four different facial expressions were drawn on the board by participating students and as well as class collaboration. Fourth example, the speech bubbles-they were encouraged to draw big to give enough room for text. Text also needed to be legible through proper alignment. I made the student aware of what they would be working on next Tuesday, the third page, where they will begin creative thought through text as we finalized the session by having student come up in front of their classmates and share their ideas of how they executed the 2nd page of the activity booklet.
Issues
A lot of discipline had to take place as I had little to no help by the Teacher's assistants. A student's noisy behavior lead to me asking him to go to the cafeteria room and return to the class room until he can cooperate, next Tuesday. The entire class was interrupted various times due to and issue that might be solved by using a different classroom. There is a bathroom in which the cafeteria students often went to. I was told that that was the nearest available restroom for them to use. I will ask one of the coordinator's if this issue can be solved.
Tuesday 09/21/10 430-530
Since I ran out of Activity Booklets for this session, the 4th through 6th graders were each given blank sheets of line paper where they would be working on their assignment. On the board, was layed out the four parts of the booklet which included-thick and thin lines, shape(circle, rectangle, and triangle) and four facial expressons (angry, sad, happy, and scared). The students worked on the first example as I walked around to check to see how they understood it. The second part of the first page, the shapes, I encouraged them to combine those basic shapes to each other and also to add them. For example, a rectangle added underneath the triangle would create an arrow (This exercise helped the students who were having trouble coming up with a triangle-shaped object). The third part consisted of facial expressions. I explained differences from angry and scared, as I drew a simple example on the board. I had them think of the next activity akin to watching a movie with subtitles. We ended the session with participating students collaborating on the board to illustrate speech bubbles by drawing images, and vice-versa.
Friday 09/24/10 230-315
I introduced myself to the class. I asked the students what they covered the day before. The students then played the games, The Cell and The Ice Cream Man. Some students had to finish other games in which they didn't get to finish. I asked the students who finished early to help the other students who needed help in solving the escape the room game. We had a discussion about the basic steps of an Escape the Room Game. Things like objects, combing objects, I let the students know that they would be creating there own Escape The Room Game, so I asked the class to think of a room. A student said a basement and another an attic. To encourage creativity, I asked the class to think of how a basement or attic can become more interesting to play with. A student answered, color, in which I brought up that color can play a role for giving hints. We ended the session by letting them know that they will be learning how to make hot spots.
Friday 09/24/10 330-415
I spoke with the lead coordinator, Nissan, who handed me a roster. The principle gained me access to the computer lab to make sure the intended passwords worked.
Monday 09/27/10 230-330
The 2nd and 3rd graders began the session by working on the 3rd page of the activity booklet that I handed out to them. Most of the students weren't done with the 2nd page of the booklet, but for now we moved on. I read aloud the instructions then asked participating students to read the short story. Participating students read one sentence to the class. After this, I asked the class what the first main event was, then the second. The students proceeded with this activity as I spoke with the two new students. Since I ran out of activity booklets for the two, I asked them to use a blank sheet of paper. There, I drew out the exercises which was covered the first page of the activity booklet. I then checked with every student for any problems they were having. Most of the students were having trouble with the 2nd panel drawings. On the board, I drew an empty panel and encouraged the class to use their imagination. I asked a participating student to come up and draw their idea of the Land of the Wizards. We ended the session as I made a last round on every students work. Next week, the students will continue on the third page of the activity booklet-the four panel mini comic.
Monday 09/27/10 430-530
There were no more 5th graders in this session, only 4th today. I passed back the student's activity booklets and read them the instructions. A student read the short story aloud to the class. I told the class that there are two main events the short story. I asked the class what the first and second one was. I made the students aware that planning before drawing is important to properly execute the story above, below. The students proceeded with this assignment. Later, I walked around the class to make sure they knew what they were doing. Some students needed to be corrected with grammar. Most of the student finished early, so I assigned them to the previous page which most of them didn't get to finish last time. Students also refined their drawings by finalizing their backgrounds. We ended the session with the 2nd and 3rd pages, next week the class will double the amount of drawings they completed in this session.
Tuesday 09/2eight/10 230-330
I spoke with the coordinator about the classroom issues. The first 20 minutes were spent fixing that problem. We went to room 6 first, where we chose a roll sheet. Unfortunately, the 6th graders had to do their homework. Fourth and fifth graders joined the class where we finally met in room eight. A total of seven students joined the class, luckily, these seven had been present since the beginning of the program. The activity booklets were handed back to them. A participating student read the short story to the class. The class collaborated with each other on the assignment. I gave example s on the board to explain the panels. The students were worried about their drawing skills. I encouraged the class to not worry about this. I reminded them about their first assignment, the shapes, and to utilize this on their panels. They learned how to make their drawings simpler. Both examples for the panels, did not include the character, Robert. The first one, where Robert drops his pencil, shows more of the pencil on the floor, and a piece of the desk. For the second panel example, I asked each student what comes to mind when they hear "Land of the Wizards." They came up with great ideas. Stars, oceans, magical trees, and triangle shaped houses were shared with the class. I showed them how the would go about drawing this creatively simple and Devona said that all you need is Robert's hand reaching from the far corner of the panel. I praised her for this and explained the simpler, the better. When all the student were done with this part of the assignment, I told the students to work on the previous page. On the board, again, I explained to them how to make sure the text will fit with enough air space from the bubble and how to align their text. I told them to write the text first, the draw the speech, (or thought bubble, some examples depicted characters with their mouths closed) around the text. For now, I let the class draw straight lines to practice the alignment of the text. On student worked with the direction of the composition of the character, and matched it with their text. For example, the first character depicted a boy on top of chandaleers (not sure how to spell that) looking through his telescope. The direction of the telescope was at an angle, as well as the text. I praised the student for their creativity. We ended the session with this section of the booklet as I let the students know that they did a great job, also that they will be doubling the amount of drawings the completed today.
Tuesday 09/2eight/10 435-535
Since the problem was fixed at the previous site, Daniel Freeman, I ended up with extra booklets to give the Kelso students. I just told them to ignore the first page, in which I stapled their line sheet of paper from last class to these used booklets. We began on the 2nd page of the activity booklet. I showed examples on board of how to create different kinds of speech bubbles and how to execute legibility of text through alignment with enough air space around the text. I also told the students to play with the shape of the bubble and to be aware of the amount of space they have in order to create a good composition. Finally, we worked on the 3rd page, the panels. A participating student read aloud to the class the short story. I then reminded the class that there are two panels, which means there must be two main events from the short story. Together we found the two. Examples were given on the board. I went around the class to see how they would depict it the first pane. One student utilized arrows to illustrate that Robert had dropped his pencil. I praised this student as I shared it with the class. For the second panel, I asked the class what their ideas are about the Land of the Wizards also reminding them not to draw wizards, just Robert and the Land. We depicted Robert in simple shadow, and placed more emphasis the Land of the Wizards.The session ended with the students refining their drawings and their bubbles/texts on the previous page.
Wednesday 09/29/10 230-315
Odedcoy, Derick, Arturo, Himachao, Devin, Juan, Daniel, Zin.
Some students were new to the class, so I had them play the games. I gave a brief demo on how to open Adventure Maker file (Ice Cream House), hotspots and navigation points. The students understood hotspots but were having trouble with the navigation points. Zin and Daniel finished early, since they took this course previously, and helped the students who were having trouble. I went around the class to make sure all the students understood it. Next week, we will go over the navigation points, make sure every student is done, then continue on to objects, inventory, and combining.
Wednesday 09/29/10 330-515
Donnell, Joel, William, Tige, Iliana, Sonja, Devine, Jonah, Joshua, and Deaaron.
6th through eight graders enrolled to the class today.
I took roll, made sure every students computer was set up with the proper password and username. The students were taught how to open up the playable game files. All the students successfully completed the games. To make sure every student competed each game, I told the class to have the final page of each game left on their screen before they moved on to the next one. To make sure the class understood the games, we had a fifteen minute discussion about the basic properties of an Escape the Room game. I asked questions like, how are the clues presented (object and text). What is the goal (to escape the room). We understood inventory as a final tool to escape the room by combining them and to make sure one can do that when no more objects are present. We ended the session, by reminding them that they will be creating their own.
Thursday 09/30/10 230-325
Obedcoy, Derick, Tariq, Himachao, Devin, Juan, Daniel and Alisha.
The students went straight to work. I went around each student constantly checking on them. Zin went around helping those students who needed with placing objects and understanding the inventory. Most students were done. Tomorrow, students will learn how to combine object in the
Thursday 09/30/10 330-515
Donnell, Joel, William, Tige, Sonja, Auminique, Glenn, Devine, Deaaron
Aumunique and Glenn joined the class today. They began by playing the games, then they caught up with the rest of the students. I began the class with a short demo on hotspots. Then I went around the class and showed them how to place objects in the frame and inventory. When other students finished early, they helped those who were having trouble. Most of the students were completed. Next week, the students will learn how to create navigation points and how to combine objects.
Flight Simulation
Since Flight Simulation did not take place due to the room being locked and the janitor not having the key, students played their favorite video games online.
(Game Smart) Friday 10/01/10 230-315
Zin, Obedcoy, Juan, and Tariq.
On evernote, the students read the instructions on what they would be working on next in Adventure Maker, Combining Objects. I helped Tariq with placing objects before he proceeded. Making sure students understood, I helped them with the problems they were encountering such as which items to mix, following the same steps for the second pair of items. A lot of students encounter issues like the object being repeated infinitely in the inventory. Finally, all the students finished successfully and were proud of them selves. Next week they will be working on the Cell.
Issues
Students have been coming ten minutes late. Joana Clifton let me know today that she doesn't get to them until 2:30. Students say that they leave class at 2:20, after that they have to report to the cafeteria, I'm guessing with Joana Clifton. In the intercom today at 2:20p.m., Joana Clifton ordered all after school program students to the cafeteria. It look like students are going to continue to be entering this class at 2:40p.m.
(Game Smart) Friday 330-515 10/01/10
Aumunique, Devine, Donnell, Joel, William, Sonja, and Glenn.
All the students opened up the pdf file found on Evernote.com. Quietly, they read the document and were instructed to proceed on their Adventure Maker file. Various times, I went around students who were not ready to go on to that step yet and also students who were having trouble with combining items. Most students understood were encountering problems such as which items to mix, following the same steps for the second pair of items. A lot of students encounter issues like the object being repeated infinitely in the inventory. Devine finished first and also went around helping students as well as others did who finished. Finally, all the students finished successfully and were proud of them selves. Next week they will be working on the Cell.
Wednesday (Game Smart) 10/06/10 2:30-3:15p.m.
Obedcoy, Derick, Tariq, Bradney, Jose, Himachao, Devin, Juan, Daniel and Alisha.
Since the students will be designing The Cell on Adventure Maker, they re-played this game to refresh their memories. While The Cell was being covered, I reminded the class that they would be animating on Stykz after this assigment. Obedcoy finished first with the basic skills previously completed(navigation, hotspots, objects, inventory, combining) Himachao was still working on The Ice Cream House. I did various rounds on every student making sure they grasped and completed basic steps. Tomorrow, we will be finishing up our basic steps and moving on to the writing stage and the variables.
Wednesday (Game Smart) 10/06/10 3:30-5:15
Devine, Aumunique, William, Deaaron, Joel, Donnell, and Tige.
Before class, I asked Nissan if she knew where the joysticks were, but she didn’t so today’s class covered Game Smart. Since the students will be designing The Cell on Adventure Maker, they re-played The Cell to refresh their memories. While The Cell was being covered, I reminded the class that they would be animating on Stykz after this assignment. Devine and Aumunique finished their basic steps early and were helping William, Joel, and Donnell. Deaaron was still working on The Ice Cream House, in which I helped him with. Tomorrow, he will need to work on combining objects before he can move on to The Cell. Aumunique’s mother picked her up around 4:45. Devine and Tige worked on the writing stage. Devine was then ready for the variables in which she successfully completed and will be helping her classmates with tomorrow. Tomorrow, writing and variables should be covered.
Thursday (Game Smart) 230-315 10/07/10
Obedcoy, Derick, Tariq, Jose, Himachao, Zin, Devin, Juan, Daniel, Alisha.
We began the class where we left off. Most students were struggling with the concept of the navigation for this particular game. I explained to them to imagine that the computer lab was the room itself. Every student was working on their own pace, I spent a lot of time with every student to make sure they understood this concept. Tomorrow, we will continue on designing The Cell.
Thursday (Game Smart) 10/07/10 330-430 430-445 445-515
Deaaron, Donnell, Joel, William, Aumunique, Devine, Glenn, Tige, Sonja.
We began the class where we left off. Most students were struggling with the concept of the navigation for this particular game. I explained to them to imagine that the computer lab was the room itself. Every student was working on their own pace, I spent a lot of time with every student to make sure they understood this concept. Tomorrow, we will continue on designing The Cell. We continued to work on the concepts : Navigation, placing objects, inventory, , text, and variables, combing objects. Every student was on a different level from each other. Individually, I worked with students on their problem areas. A class discussion took place explaining the order of these concepts. Of course, I could not get to every student, but I acknowledged them by letting them know that I will try my best to get to them, so that they don't feel ignored.
We took a break where students were allowed for a snack and bathroom break. Students played video games online.
Friday (Game Smart) 10/08/10 230-315
Jose, Himachao, Zin, Alisha, Obedcoy, Tariq, and Brandon.
A small discussion about the steps and the order that they should be covered, was held in class before the students began their projects today. As I went around the class, I made sure the first step (navigation points) was covered as I began with Alisha, whom had completed that part. Then I moved on to Himachao, he was having a lot of trouble. Before I could move on to the next students I had to make sure Himachao had the basic understandings of how to use a mouse, when to use the left and right clicks of the mouse. Not knowing this, hindered his performance on this project, so I made sure he understood those basic steps. Everyone was working on their own pace, and I let the class know that was totally fine. Since I spent most of the time with Himachao, class ended that way, while other students quickly asked questions in between.
Friday (Game Smart) 10/08/10 330-515
There was a small discussion about all the steps that needed to be completed. I also let the students know that it’s fine to work on their own pace, but that I will be going around to see what step they are at. Aumunique got up to the step where the chain is hooked, the rest of the students need to catch up to that level. This skill required a knowledge of how to use the variables to make hotspots invisible. Most students completed the writing stage and are learning about variables. Next week, we should be continue on The Cell.
We took a short fifteen minute break where the students played their favorite online games, bathroom and snack breaks.
Monday (Comic Book Project) 10/11/10 230-315
The students began work on their activity booklets. I gave an example on board for the first part of the activity, thick and thin lines. We had a small discussion on different ways of executing this. I walked around the classroom to see how every student understood it. We then moved on to the shapes and encouraged them to use their creativity, they don't have to draw just a human face for the circle that says to draw a face, it can be a animal, alien or insect. As the class worked on this part of the activity, the coordinator, Stephen let me know that the DVD player is available for use. Last Monday, I was not able to show the DVD's as part of the introduction, so I let the class know about the two short videos they will be watching. We ended the session with the videos (Owl & Panther Goes Comic and The Comic Book Project). I asked the class if they were excited about this project, about half of the class raised their hands and let the other half know that I will help them with the project. Again, I was glad to see another student personally share his comics with me, so I hope he could help push other students as well.
Monday (Comic Reader's Club) 10/11/10 315-400
Today, the second and third graders read up to page 11 of Warriors. They were excited about acting out the book. We had a small discussion about what to expect from a comic book. After reading the first page, the narration box, I chose a participating student to read the next page. I then asked the class why they think the text was inside a box. On board, I drew a horizontal rectangle, and inside the box I wrote "narrator's box." We did the same thing with the speech bubbles, and when asked, the majority of the class knew what that was. For those who didn't know, I drew a speech bubble on board with its definition inside. We jumped to the Onomatopoeia. This time, I had the whole class participate (the yelled out SLAM!!). We ended the session with page 11. The coordinator, Stephen made me aware that students don't have Physical Education classes, which is why they have so much energy. During the session, most students were fumbling in their seats and various times, the TA had to make sure they cooperate. Stephen then suggested, next week I have them draw and then write what they drew because some students are not up to the level of reading in Warriors.
Monday (Comic Book Project) 10/11/10 430-530
The TA, Mrs. Bell handed me written stories by the class in which they worked on before class. This is great for the students to develop their planning skills. I passed back the student's booklets. I let them know that they will be working with a partner, there were 12 students, so that worked out fine. I worked personally with each group, giving them suggestions. Most of the class was working on Super Hero and there was two groups working on Neighborhood. Two groups brought comic books, one was The Simpsons, I can't remember the name of the second one, but it was in black and white, while The Simpsons was in color. I noticed the two distinct styles and I let the class know that it is a good idea to go to the book store or library and choose their favorite comic book based on style to work from, for some inspiration. I am thinking of bringing some on my own as examples. Next week, the class will continue to work on their mini-comic books.
Tuesday (Comic Book Project) 10/12/10 230-330
Kyerra, Domanae, Tyerra, Aarron, Devonna, Jazmine.
I passed out the student's handbooks. Last class we worked on planning each of the five themes on the board. The students used their notes from the previous class where they made a decision. I worked individually with Nigel. Nigel's selection was Super Hero. Together, we thought of a Super Ice Man who saves burning houses. On an extra booklet, I drew out the story explaining each panel. The first panel portrayed the setting(Ice Land), second panel(burning house), third panel(Super Ice Man throwing ice) last panel(the people saved, surrounding Super Ice Man, who is in the middle). I moved on to Domonae, who chose A Positive Message (Ensuring peaceful protests surrounding trees). I asked her how do these protests become dangerous. We found that in past protests, there have been people who have tied themselves to trees, which is not peaceful. So we decided to make the reader aware of this, in the first panel by depicting a person tied to a tree while it is getting ready to get chopped off. The next panel should show the people going to the white house. The third panel shows a solution, "Hear our voices, let's find a different solution." The fourth panel may depict these trees being planted somewhere else, where more trees are needed. I didn't get a chance to work with Tyerra, Dovanna and Kyerra, but I made sure to answer their questions when they had some.
Tuesday (Comic Book Project) 10/12/10 435-535
Treasure, the project coordinator, let me know about a big class change. Since the sewing class instructor was not present, Treasure made the decision to bring them to my class. About 15 fifth and sixth graders surrounded the class. When I asked the class who was in sewing only about a third of the class raised their hands? Treasure let me know that these students would not be here next week, only for today. Due to this, the class ran like last Tuesday, planning stage, with students taking notes, while my original students worked on their assignment of the four panel mini-book.
Thursday (Game Smart) 10/14/10 330-515
Glenn, Sonja, Tige, Devine, Aumunique, William, Joel, Donnell and Deaaron.
Nissan introduced me to Mrs. Alley, who would be helping me with the class management. We began the class with completing The Cell. Individually, I worked with each student until the completed all of their steps. After that, I separated the class in three groups for the Stykz Demo. I had made a short animation based on a zoom-in effect. I also showed the groups animations from previous students and quickly showed them short cuts on the keyboard. C=circle, L=line, F=polyfill, A=single selection tool (white cursor) V=whole selection tool (black cursor). I also demonstrated how to make multiple selections using the black cursor, and manipulating the weights and sizes of those selections. In the future, the properties and other commands should be introduced such as backgrounds, locking those backgrounds to be able to draw over them by dropping single nodes on top of others.
Friday (Game Smart) 10/15/10 330-515
William, Joel, Donnell, Deaarron, Devine, Sonja, Glenn and Tige.
Before beginning the class assignment, I gave a short speech about class management. I brought up the issues that were disrupting the class and set up a resolution. William, Joel, Deaaron and Donnell all sit in the same row next to each other. So today, I separated them. William and Joel voluntarily moved to another row, which resulted in a smoother class experience. Then class began. The class opened up Stykz and individually, I worked with each student with the program, covering short cuts on the keyboard as opposed with the mouse. I did a small animation (night to day depicting a crescent moon getting thinner and thinner). I reminded the class to use the skills/concepts gained in Adventure Maker. Combining two shapes to create another was part of the step of creating that crescent moon on Stykz. Other steps dealt with line weight and color matching. I let the class recognize to not limit their animations to just circles and squares, combining two shapes will create a new one.
Flight Simulation
William, Joel, Donnell, Deaarron, Devine, Sonja, Glenn and Tige.
Mrs. Arowosegbe came into the class today and brought the rest of the joysticks. I told the students to put the joy sticks exactly back where they came from to avoid a mix up between the new/old joy sticks. I helped Tige download Google Earth, and help him install the joystick. Glenn was having trouble maintaining velocity so I helped him with that by checking the altitude. I let him now that if he is climbing, the slower he will go and vice-versa. William wanted a frontal view of the plane, but it was only limited to side and back views.
Monday (Comic Book Project) 10/18/10 230-315
Today, we continued with the activity booklets, covering facial expressions and the dialogue exercises. On the board, we learned about the four facial expressions-happy, angry, sad and scared. The class was interactive with both exercises, as they thought about the differences between the facial expressions and what happens with our facial muscles when these expressions are triggered. For example, as I drew the oval for "happy" I followed it with a question-'What does our mouth/eyes do when we are happy?' I want the class to think before they draw. We then moved on to the dialogue. For this exercise, the class was encouraged to use the example as their theme. I wanted the class to build from that story when they edited their dialogue. Using speech bubbles and thought bubbles, I drew examples on the board. I also wanted them to be selective about which one to use by having them notice which characters were depicted with their mouth open or closed. Therefore, if mouth is closed, it is a thought bubble. This assured the class to utilize two elements of the comic book format. Another important point was the alignment of text. The class was to begin their text lightly, by holding their pencil like a paint brush, allowing only the weight of the pencil to rest on the hand. I instructed the class on the board and individually to draw straight (light) lines across their page where their text would be. Once that was accomplished, they could begin writing their text lightly. This will avoid the problem of erasing and getting rid of lines that were first drawn dark. The last step, was wrapping the speech or thought bubble around the text allowing the text to breathe, sort of framing it for legibility.
Monday (Comic Book Reader's Club) 10/18/10 315-400
Today, the class drew and wrote what they were drawing about. Once they completed drawings along with text, they were allowed to draw. The session did run better and they were having fun but still cooperating. I worked with each student helping them build grammar and helping them with fragments.
Monday (Comic Book Project) 10/18/10 430-530
We continued today's session with the 4 panel mini-comic book. Individually, I worked with groups, finding solutions on a separate sheet of paper. I noticed some students complained about making mistakes. For a challenge, I encouraged the class to minimize erasing. If they drew their character/background a certain way and wanted to erase it, I encouraged them to transform it into something else. I also reminded them to draw lightly first, then commit to that drawing with a dark line to avoid erasing.
Tuesday (Comic Book Project) 10/19/10 230-330
Nigel, Kyerra, Tyerra, Devonna, and Jasmine.
Students learned how to execute proper alignment of text and how to frame it by then wrapping the speech or thought bubble around it. Students were also aware when to use thought and speech bubbles (is character's mouth open or closed?). As in the first part of the activity booklet, we utilized the concept of converting shapes into objects. Serving as a challenge and as a tool, this concept would limit students from constantly erasing what they drew. At the same time, I told the students not to 'draw.' When you sketch, it is done lightly, so when you do make a mistake that the student is unhappy with, it could be easily erased. Individually I worked with each student. First we worked with writing the comic, not only correcting grammar, but asking questions to develop a concrete story. On a separate sheet of paper, I demonstrated with the student what each frame should look like. To create a dynamic comic, zoom in/outs, perspectives and use of symbols was emphasized. Combining shapes helped us accomplish simplicity. Nigel worked with the Super Hero them, Kyerra and Tyerra worked with Neighbor, while Jasmine worked with A Positive Message. Next week, students should begin coloring.
Tuesday (Comic Book Project) 10/19/10 435-535
Darik, Destiny, Carlos, Shy'Ane, and Amaneprect.
All the same concepts which were covered from the previous class at Daniel Freeman were presented here as well. Darik, Carlos and Amaneprect all worked with the Super Hero them while Shy'Ane and Destiny worked with Your Neighbor. Next week, students should begin coloring.
Wednesday (Game Smart) 10/20/10 330-430
Devine, Aumunique, Glenn, Sonja, Tige, Deaaron, Joel, Donnel, and William.
Shortcuts for the tools from the Stykz program was written on the board to help students achieve quick animations. I assigned the class to work on a short animation A short animation based on shapes, color, and line weight ( no stick figures ) was assigned. Before students were to begin, I wrote the shortcuts on the board. Also, students were to make sure all their properties were open and neatly placed around their frame. Individually, I worked with each student, helping them with ideas such as drawing abstract shapes with the line tool and combining shapes. Zoom in/outs was recommended to create a more interactive animation.
Wednesday (Flight Simulation) 10/20/10 430-515
On the board, I wrote down the first set of vocabulary words. Students jotted them down and are to keep them. Some students chose to stay on Stykz, instead of partnering up.
Thursday ( Game Smart ) 10/21/10 330-430
Deaaron, Donnel, Joel, Aumunique, Sonja and Glenn.
A lot of preparation, re-creation, managing, and planning took place as I worked individually with each student's animation. Deaaron was not sure what his animation would be about, so I recommended he experiment with the program to find out what he can do. Donnell and I worked on developing a rocket ship. He had already drawn it in simple shapes, which is good, but I wanted it to look like rocket ship. Also, he had joined all the shapes together through the nodes coming from other shapes. On the board, I told the class not to do this because when it comes to fill it in with color, it will not work, Stykz will only recognize certain nodes. Instead, shapes should be drawn separately from other, this way the polyfill tool will know what to do without any confusion. We searched for images online where Donnell chose which one he liked. On Stykz, with the line tool, I drew the rocket with one triangle and rectangles. The fire was drawn last and 'sent to back' from the rocket. The fire would be animated. Aumunique created a simple animation based on a square, ball and butterfly that comes out of the square. She did not experiment with line weight or color, yet. The students learn how to animate with color. I noticed she drew 'The End' for the last panels. For this animation, I want the students to illustrate, instead of resorting to text ( there is a reason why fonts are not available in Stykz ). Joel, like Deaaron, was having trouble adjusting to the idea of not using stick figures. I worked with him on developing and an idea. We came up with a square that transforms into a set of stairs, as a jump start to his animation. We began to draw the square and learned how to draw straight lines, as well as a proportioned square, by copy/paste. Most importantly, I reminded the students to constantly save their work. Tomorrow I will begin working with Sonja, Glenn, Tige and Devine.
Thursday ( Flight Simulation ) 10/21/10 430-515
Deaaron, Donnel, Joel, Aumunique, Sonja and Glenn.
I wrote down three vocabulary words on the board for students to jot down. Students the went on Flight Simulation. At the end of class, I made sure students neatly wrapped the cords around the joy sticks to avoid tangling.