Monday April 16, 2012 Blog Post
The last two days last week I had students do recordings of their storyboards in the first two periods. I got the chorus instructor to let me borrow a $900 piece of equipment that records audio with a mic onto a CD. Everyone got through but one person wasn't there she went to the country she was from on a vacation. She didn't tell me another student did so I didn't get to go over things with her prior to break to catch her up or make any arrangements. The kids were laughing I had them go into a center room to do the recordings. They had fun with it. I let each student direct their groups and dictate who did various parts of the readings. If they wanted to read their own they could or they could be a character and assign who read the other ones. They could also not read anything and dictate who got to read which parts. It was up to them. I let them be in the room by themselves but set each group up. I had the class pick numbers out of a box and put them into groups of three that way. One group cheated and all had the same number I think they just wrote their own numbers and tricked me so it threw things off a little in the second class. I had them read the title of their storyboard and say by __________. Just something that simple saying it 100 times, many of them didn't do it when I went to listen to the recordings. Some people got into it, some were very monotone. The second to last group that recorded ended up somehow turning the microphone off so nothing recorded for them and the group after so they will have to rerecord tomorrow. I was going to do it today but couldn't figure out how to record it was giving me trouble so I have to go talk to the chorus instructor again to get it set up and running correctly again. It wasn't recognizing the disc and when I followed the printed instructions he gave me it wasn't working.
Anyway, I listened to all of them last night and made a list of who's I had. I also have two classroom folders of who's images I have scanned in. Something as simple as do a recording and scan in images with their name on the front and title and name read is seeming very complicated to get forty people to do, oh well I am making them all do it. Rachel continues to not do anything I ask so I am giving her a 50% for the project. Today I told her that and asked if she cared about her grade. I told her the project is continuing and she said, "Of course it is." I'm not really sure how to engage her but for now she is working on a drawing she was doing before I came.
The billboard class went well. Today we printed out draft #2. I had everyone put a post it on their top two billboard designs to vote on the top slogans and give a reason why it was their favorite. One was a top that was, please pick up your dog's poop. It got four votes. There were only two others that got four votes. Jamie and I discussed after and decided the top 3 slogans are:
1. Practice Safe Design, Use A Concept
2. Insert Fortune Here
3. Sharpen Your Pencil
Tomorrow we are going to have them redesign their top choice out of those three and work on that and finalizing any other ones they are working on still through Thursday. Then we are going to do a final voting in the hallway Friday, and reflection. My last day with them is Friday.
I reserved the computer lab for next week for period 1 storyboard and the following week for class 2. I decided last night to have them make their own sound effects on their sound in garage band and work with iMovie to make their own transitions, rather than me doing it all. I think they can handle learning it and have some fun with it and make it something completely different using the audio tracks we recorded as a beginning.
Ceramics, I had them finish up their pigs today, and tomorrow we are going to watch a documentary about Burning Man. I went ten or more years ago and told them about it. I said they could either learn how to make a donut 3 x the size and showed them one Sonya made. They asked if I made it I told them my wife did. They were impressed by it. I gave them the option of the donut or making a prototype for a sculpture for burning man and they chose burning man so we are going to get started on that tomorrow by watching the film. It will probably take two days to watch that.
Jamie showed a storyboard video in class today Jeff told me about so I am also going to add that to period 1 and 2 and show them that at some point. The students are all at various stages so I am having some take their work home after tomorrow if they don't finish coloring theirs in. Some are started on their larger pieces. I am having them select a piece in their storyboard to blow up large. They can just be inspired by it and change it to make it more of a solid piece, add to it, or keep it the same. They have flexibility with it. Some are looking nice so far!
The pigs are in the kiln and Wednesday we will get to glaze them!
The latex class is going well they are all working on their old man or woman painting with latex. It's taking them time to add layers and get their bearings, but good to see them focused on it. I think they see it as a challenge.
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