AJ put a spin to the Flash class today!
The students were split up into two different rooms based on their past performances. Those who required a small close-knit setting was brought up to work with Chris and Cristina in Room 3139. Though the class was smaller, the students themselves needed more time with their instructors.
At first, the students showed disappointment, but when they realize that this is for their benefit, they'll being to appreciate a smaller setting. In fact, today, the students were all on the same page. They kept up with one another and even helped each other. In addition, the students even demanded for more 1 on 1 time!
Things from there went smoothly until... an ITA-wide meeting was in session. The students were informed of new enforcement to old rules. Rules that, in the end, will only help and keep them safe.
When the students came back to class, they were devasted and weren't shy to voice their opinions, but once all was said, they went back to being studious. The morning ended with the students eager to go to lunch.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Technical difficulties, a theme that keeps reoccurring in Cristina and Chris' class. Last time the surge, this time the projector. The problem was solved when AJ came to the rescue. The problem was Leonard has a timed outlet which Cristina plugged the projector's power cord into. After the problem was solved, the instructors went over the Learn@UW quiz then got busy with creating the bouncing ball.
Though the review day ran into some problems with the students who were absent, the creating ball education portion went smoothly. Except for the period where Ashanti was so frustrated that she gave up half way. Fortunately, when she gave up, she didn't bother to go on Facebook or youtube, but instead sat there, glaring at nothing. When Cristina came to help her, she understood and was really interested in the Flash session.
AJ "interrupted" class with his "mini lecture" that took over most of the certification unit, but nevertheless, AJ did a fabulous job with educating the students on the basics of Flash. When AJ finished, the class got to writing their blog about what they learned today from AJ.
Though the review day ran into some problems with the students who were absent, the creating ball education portion went smoothly. Except for the period where Ashanti was so frustrated that she gave up half way. Fortunately, when she gave up, she didn't bother to go on Facebook or youtube, but instead sat there, glaring at nothing. When Cristina came to help her, she understood and was really interested in the Flash session.
AJ "interrupted" class with his "mini lecture" that took over most of the certification unit, but nevertheless, AJ did a fabulous job with educating the students on the basics of Flash. When AJ finished, the class got to writing their blog about what they learned today from AJ.
The Fundamentals: Flash day III 2/20
Ryan showed us how to do a quick motion tween again, and Terrance and Eileen were racing to see who can do it faster. Terrance lost, typical Terrance.
"One of the ways to create an animation in Macromedia Flash is by creating a motion tween. A motion tween is very similar to shape tweening, except you're moving things around the Stage using symbols instead of simply changing the shape of things using objects." - Adobe
Before we could start to add more detail to your bouncing ball, AJ interrupted the class to talk about Fundamentals, of Flash that is. The main topics were:
- Objects
- shapes vs symbols
- Shape tween vs motion tween
- The MainTimeline
- Timelines of movie clips vs Timeline of graphic symbols
We were given some work/exploration time for the rest of the day. The big things that went bad were saving onto the network was slow and sometimes didn't save at all. A lot of people's movies were able to be saved as .mov because of a Quicktime error.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Flash Day II
Last session was the first time that ITA instructors gave a take home assignment to the students. Unsurprisingly, they weren't too happy about it.
What also wasn't surprising was... only one person did the assignment. Noah had done an internship where he learned to use Flash and created a 20 second video of a baseball player hitting the ball and upon returning, the ball hitting the baseball player.
As a reward, Noah had received a big bag of his favorite candy, Skittles. Boy, did he gobble it all down (a handful at a time)...
When class started today, we were running late. The second flow of students came in exactly at 9. But once everything was settled the instructors got to teaching. The day started with a review of what they learned at the last session. It took much longer because Thor was curious about how things worked because he missed the last session.
The Drawing techniques and Animating techniques lecture was covered quickly but the students had note sheets in front of them to reference, in case they were lost. Maya appreciated the note sheets and was the only one who took notes.
The lesson plan was thrown all off because Cristina had forgotten to account for going over the learn@UW -- I don't recall over going over the learn@UW, but it seemed quite helpful for the students. The learn@UW had given the instructors an obstacle because the wording, to them, was different than expected, but luckily, AJ had cleared the misinterpretation, and then the students went on break.
When they came back, the demo of the to-do list was initiated and upon finishing, the students all started on their to-do lists. Ashanti and Adrianne complained about not knowing how to draw a fish but eventually succeeded with flying colors. Ashanti even found out about the pen tool and learned how to make a fish with it.
Once the students finished their fishes, they learned about embedding (so they can mass produce the fishes).
When Cristina was showing how to embed the fish's motion guide into the fish symbol, Ashanti and Adrianne were left behind. As we caught them up, Noah began to grow impatient because he wanted to show his Flash video to Cristina, but many other students around him needed help actually knowing how to do something, and he had to wait patiently with his Skittles. Thor, on the other hand became really frustrated when he didn't understand what was going on, "I'm just cranky because of the mono," he exclaimed with a weary face.
When it was decided that Chris would focus on Ashanti and Adrianne so the rest of the class who were looking bored would be able to continue learning about embedding. As the lesson wore on, Cristina was caught up in helping Thor because he didn't know what was going on, but their exploration time ended and the class began the certification unit. Since time was not sufficient, it was decided that they need not to do the blogs. Instead, they drew/wrote about their stories. For those who could not come up with a story, they were given a story where they dropped their wallet.
What also wasn't surprising was... only one person did the assignment. Noah had done an internship where he learned to use Flash and created a 20 second video of a baseball player hitting the ball and upon returning, the ball hitting the baseball player.
As a reward, Noah had received a big bag of his favorite candy, Skittles. Boy, did he gobble it all down (a handful at a time)...
When class started today, we were running late. The second flow of students came in exactly at 9. But once everything was settled the instructors got to teaching. The day started with a review of what they learned at the last session. It took much longer because Thor was curious about how things worked because he missed the last session.
The Drawing techniques and Animating techniques lecture was covered quickly but the students had note sheets in front of them to reference, in case they were lost. Maya appreciated the note sheets and was the only one who took notes.
The lesson plan was thrown all off because Cristina had forgotten to account for going over the learn@UW -- I don't recall over going over the learn@UW, but it seemed quite helpful for the students. The learn@UW had given the instructors an obstacle because the wording, to them, was different than expected, but luckily, AJ had cleared the misinterpretation, and then the students went on break.
When they came back, the demo of the to-do list was initiated and upon finishing, the students all started on their to-do lists. Ashanti and Adrianne complained about not knowing how to draw a fish but eventually succeeded with flying colors. Ashanti even found out about the pen tool and learned how to make a fish with it.
Once the students finished their fishes, they learned about embedding (so they can mass produce the fishes).
When Cristina was showing how to embed the fish's motion guide into the fish symbol, Ashanti and Adrianne were left behind. As we caught them up, Noah began to grow impatient because he wanted to show his Flash video to Cristina, but many other students around him needed help actually knowing how to do something, and he had to wait patiently with his Skittles. Thor, on the other hand became really frustrated when he didn't understand what was going on, "I'm just cranky because of the mono," he exclaimed with a weary face.
When it was decided that Chris would focus on Ashanti and Adrianne so the rest of the class who were looking bored would be able to continue learning about embedding. As the lesson wore on, Cristina was caught up in helping Thor because he didn't know what was going on, but their exploration time ended and the class began the certification unit. Since time was not sufficient, it was decided that they need not to do the blogs. Instead, they drew/wrote about their stories. For those who could not come up with a story, they were given a story where they dropped their wallet.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Flash Day I in 3139
Chris and Cristina started off the day on a slow foot. They were running behind schedule and weren't exactly prepared. It didn't help that this was their first time teaching in Lab 3139, but it was a good experience. I personally learned a lot from today. After what seemed to be an unsuccessful Education portion, the day started to get smoother after the break. The students were on task and the instructors hopped about here and there helping, teaching, and learning from the students. Although only one person finished the tasks for today, many were interested in Flash.
Despite the many problems that arose from using the Mac books (many of the mice weren't working on some laptops, but did on others while other laptops just kept acting up -- missing the Novell Login and just blanking out), the students dealt with it and kept on working. Although their projects weren't done, they all put in their best efforts.
Based on what happened today, the instructors will - for sure - prepare a whole lot more.
Despite the many problems that arose from using the Mac books (many of the mice weren't working on some laptops, but did on others while other laptops just kept acting up -- missing the Novell Login and just blanking out), the students dealt with it and kept on working. Although their projects weren't done, they all put in their best efforts.
Based on what happened today, the instructors will - for sure - prepare a whole lot more.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Back in the Saddle, First ITA Session!!!
Today was the first day of the Spring semester for ITA, and the juniors hit the ground running. Cristina was absent, but AJ stepped in and did an exemplary job filling in for her. Today, instead of Flash, we worked on Portfolios, since February 15th is the deadline for applications for a lot of the paid internships. That lit a fire under everyone, since it's always better to get paid for your hard work.
Several of the students have come along nicely, and Paul gave them some advice with their resumes, posting his own on the projector as an example. Eddie made a really nice page devoted to the website he made, and Adrianne put up a bunch of photos from her recent internship. Kiran has her portfolio almost completely squared away (at least as much as anything is ever done when it comes to resumes).
We impressed upon the students that the portfolio is largely a project for them (just like a lot of ITA work), but it also reflects on ITA. We want them to really show off how much they've learned and how much they know, and they're making the effort.
Also, AJ showed them lala.com, explaining how it works and how they can get their music online. Unfortunately, he played Europe's "The Final Countdown" as the example, but no one's perfect!
Several of the students have come along nicely, and Paul gave them some advice with their resumes, posting his own on the projector as an example. Eddie made a really nice page devoted to the website he made, and Adrianne put up a bunch of photos from her recent internship. Kiran has her portfolio almost completely squared away (at least as much as anything is ever done when it comes to resumes).
We impressed upon the students that the portfolio is largely a project for them (just like a lot of ITA work), but it also reflects on ITA. We want them to really show off how much they've learned and how much they know, and they're making the effort.
Also, AJ showed them lala.com, explaining how it works and how they can get their music online. Unfortunately, he played Europe's "The Final Countdown" as the example, but no one's perfect!
Monday, December 21, 2009
ITA Holiday Luncheon, December 12th
Not to irk those ITA instructors out there who are former students, but at one point a very prominent staff member of ITA stated "that was the best ITA Holiday Luncheon ever!" Over 400 attendees registered beforehand, the party was held at the Alliant Energy Center, as ITA was too large for a UW venue.
We kicked off the morning over in B203 with a frantic wrap-up of BTWs, a few permit-test retakes, and (eventually) rehearsals of the Juniors Excel game skit. As it had gone the last session, the students took charge of the performance, working out in the hallway and calling their own shots. Us instructors should have taken the morning off! (Actually, we were desperately trying to get the remaining students to finish their BTWs and most certainly should not have taken the morning off.)
After an hour of that shenanigans, we all climbed on a big ol' school bus to head over to the event. Actually, a small crew decided to drive their own car, for which they were swiftly reprimanded by Excel upon arrival. But we all made it!
Paul, a trained actor, first lead the students though a cool-down/warm-up relaxation gig. Kevin decided he could use a stretch as well, so speaking from personal experience, it was great. Calm and cool, until about 12:15, the Juniors ran through rehearsals, which improv kept lively each iteration.
The luncheon: kicked off by Bronson and his little brother playing an unbelievable original piece on classical guitars. Next, everyone grabbed some lunch while dual projectors showed the lovely Freshman/Sophomore Photoshop/Illustrator pieces. Don't quote me on this order, I'd had a lot of coffee by this point, but I believe the seniors then presented their "Senior Thesis", with great stuff from educational flash games to websites and marketing designs for non-profits.
The Juniors then presented -- it was the stuff of legend. An Excel Game competition, with half the class rooting for "Noah" the Jock and the others for "Terrence the Terrible Tigrr" the Nerd. Eddie was the sports announcer, and some excellent lines included "great weather out there folks, for software sports fans, not too chilly, clear skies." AJ reffed keeping things (largely) clean. The Terrible Tigrr won, declaring he was taking his entire team to wallgreens with the $5,000 dollar prize. Noah said he went out there and gave 100%, but his competition put up an excellent game. Maya concluded, letting the audience know the Excel unit isn't all about acting, but we actually learn some spreadsheet software.
The Luncheon continued with an amazing song from Carrie, done in sign language, and then the keynote speaker, Police Chief Noble. Bronson and Bro finished things off with another mind-blowing guitar piece, and the day was won.
We kicked off the morning over in B203 with a frantic wrap-up of BTWs, a few permit-test retakes, and (eventually) rehearsals of the Juniors Excel game skit. As it had gone the last session, the students took charge of the performance, working out in the hallway and calling their own shots. Us instructors should have taken the morning off! (Actually, we were desperately trying to get the remaining students to finish their BTWs and most certainly should not have taken the morning off.)
After an hour of that shenanigans, we all climbed on a big ol' school bus to head over to the event. Actually, a small crew decided to drive their own car, for which they were swiftly reprimanded by Excel upon arrival. But we all made it!
Paul, a trained actor, first lead the students though a cool-down/warm-up relaxation gig. Kevin decided he could use a stretch as well, so speaking from personal experience, it was great. Calm and cool, until about 12:15, the Juniors ran through rehearsals, which improv kept lively each iteration.
The luncheon: kicked off by Bronson and his little brother playing an unbelievable original piece on classical guitars. Next, everyone grabbed some lunch while dual projectors showed the lovely Freshman/Sophomore Photoshop/Illustrator pieces. Don't quote me on this order, I'd had a lot of coffee by this point, but I believe the seniors then presented their "Senior Thesis", with great stuff from educational flash games to websites and marketing designs for non-profits.
The Juniors then presented -- it was the stuff of legend. An Excel Game competition, with half the class rooting for "Noah" the Jock and the others for "Terrence the Terrible Tigrr" the Nerd. Eddie was the sports announcer, and some excellent lines included "great weather out there folks, for software sports fans, not too chilly, clear skies." AJ reffed keeping things (largely) clean. The Terrible Tigrr won, declaring he was taking his entire team to wallgreens with the $5,000 dollar prize. Noah said he went out there and gave 100%, but his competition put up an excellent game. Maya concluded, letting the audience know the Excel unit isn't all about acting, but we actually learn some spreadsheet software.
The Luncheon continued with an amazing song from Carrie, done in sign language, and then the keynote speaker, Police Chief Noble. Bronson and Bro finished things off with another mind-blowing guitar piece, and the day was won.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)