Final Scratch Project

For my final Scratch Project I created Dancer which includes a break dancer who gives a concert to the sound of music. Initially, I created a very detailed version of the poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, but my computer shut down as I was almost finished. Unfortunately, I do not have the patience nor the time to recreate my original project.

Throughout the process of developing my first, second, and final project using Scratch, I am completely bamboozled! The amount of time a project consumes is enormous, but young students would benefit from learning how to think critically about organization, timing, math, and many other things.

Overall, I think Scratch is an impressive development for learning, expression, and cognitive development.

Second Scratch Project: I Need a vacation

For my second Scratch project, I created story about a stressed out student who needs a vacation! (This doesn’t apply to ANYONE you know, right?) The story begins with the student mulling over everything she has to do for school while a bee flies overhead and notices her condition. The student decides that it would be a great idea if she went on a vacation to relieve some stress. She thinks of several different places she’d like to go, but ultimately decides that she must remain at home and finish studying.

This scratch project taught me the importance of timing; if the background changes too early or the sprite changes costumes too late, the entire effect is lost. Timing is the aspect of this project that took the most time for me to coordinate with my sprites and backgrounds.

First Scratch Project: Follow the Mouse

 For my first project in Scratch, I used a diver sprite and emulated swimming by having the diver follow the mouse. It’s a very simple Scratch project, but I think it’s something young students would enjoy learning how to create. I used the motion point towards mouse pointer and move three steps enclosed in a forever loop.Because this project doesn’t require too many layers of code, I think students would benefit from learning from its simplicity first, rather than attempt unsuccessfully at making a complicated game.

I’m coordinating a summer camp this summer, and I plan on incoorporating activities where the kids will be using cognition. Hopefully by having “Scratch Time” the kids will retain some of what they learned during the school year!

My Screencast: Uploading Documents in WebCT

Firstly, I absolutely loved this assignment. To be honest, I was initially dreading having to record my voice while maneuvering the screen around, and trying to make sense at the same time! I actually had fun with this assignment and would love to make screencasts for my future students. My screencast demonstrates how to upload and save documents into WebCT. I just recently noticed that WebCT has this function and have been utilizing it quite a bit this semester. It’s nice to be able to access files while on a class page without having to go to an additional website or remember to bring my flashdrive. I hope this screencast helps at least one person!

Pecha Kucha Final Reflection: What I learned

A Pecha Kucha is an efficient method for delivering a power point presentation to an audience. The Pecha Kucha format omits unnecessary graphs and charts, instead using one single enlarged high resolution photo per slide. Timing is often a hindrance for presenters. Having to simultaneously keep track of how much time is remaining and stay on topic can be difficult. With the Pecha Kucha format, a presenter has twenty, twenty second slides: “20 x 20.” Each slide automatically advances after twenty seconds, helping the presenter to stay on topic, cover all of their prepared material, and finish in record time! The difference between what makes or breaks a Pecha Kucha-style presentation is preparedness and practice. Without knowing exactly what point you mean to make with each slide, the amount of information covered is limited. In addition, without practicing the pacing of a presentation, the result could be a rushed or an extremely boring six minutes and forty seconds.

As a result of this assignment, I’ve learned the power of power point. I’ve never enjoyed using power point for presentations because of its ineffectiveness (so I thought). From past experience, power point is utilized by most people as more of a crutch than a tool to enhance the presentation. I find myself listening to presentations instead of watching presentations whenever the speaker refuses to do anything other than read from the screen. The Pecha Kucha format is a solution for this issue because it doesn’t allow wordy information onto the slides; images enhance the spoken word. I would like to utilize this format for any future presentations I might make in other classes and in the work place. Pecha Kucha has, in my opinion, revitalized the purpose of power point.

I plan to teach middle school English, and the Pecha Kucha format is an excellent way to teach students how to collect ideas and focus on specific points to be made. Presentations and writing a paper for an English class are extremely similar. Student would benefit from having a specific time line with which to express their ideas, without spending hours upon hours preparing a detailed and wordy power point. We could use this format for presenting biographical information about the authors and poets we are studying. Pecha Kucha would allow the students to participate in the process of learning by researching and presenting over the author. Overall, I think the Pecha Kucha format is a great tool for allowing multiple presenters to speak, while maintaining attention from the audience.