I did it! I met my 31 day challenge! Today is July 31 and I have successfully blogged with an educational YouTube lesson review every day this month! I'm pretty proud. Blogging is something that was really hard for me to "get around to" as much as I wanted and I did it! :)
Today, I looked for some sort of activity I might be able to do in one of my graphics classes (Photoshop or Multimedia or maybe even Web Design since you can pick colors using Hex codes) for the first week of school. We have lots of schedule changes, so we don't really start deep content for a few days. And, as a Google school, we have all the Google tools at our disposal. ENTER: Google Drawings!
I found this guy (who is way better than I am) who did a sped up process of creating a vector illustrated portrait (video below) using drawing tools. He talked about his process, so I thought, why not? I'm not saying mine is great, but I tried! There is my screenshot with my "trace" layer and my drawing. I'm not great with shading... I guess everything should be darker but you live and learn.
And if you really want to be impressed, watch Joshua Pomeroy's 50 minute long walkthrough of him creating a Justin Timberlake drawing. This guy is impressive!
I've been trying to figure out "new ideas" for this fall. I found this long demonstration (though it was surprisingly an interesting watch) of using Simon Says as a teaching tool. I kept thinking they would incorporate questioning or something into it, but they never did. However, it did get me to thinking of a potential way to try to use Simon Says as a review tool. In particular, I thought about how I can apply a Simon Says game into a Jigsaw activity. Follow me on this brainstorm...
I was thinking I'd assign the students a Jigsaw activity in my Web Design class.
My steps:
1-- Find an article that isn't a long read that has some "tips" or clearly stated main points. I'm using this one for my relatively simple jigsaw the third day of school in Web Design-- 5 Killer Web Design Tips that Will Make Your Websites Awesome.
2--Print and cut apart so each group has only THEIR PART and only ONE COPY (so they will have to read aloud or be involved).
3--Assign each student a number; if you have "5 tips" then you need to assign them one through five. I'm thinking I will provide each student with a notecard that they can jot ideas on from the article and I'll ask them to each bring a pencil with them. For my activity, I intend to go outside. :)
4--Do a standard jigsaw; all the "1's" will get together and read "Tip 1" and discuss it. They should decide what is important and make notes on the cards. NOTE: My example is very short. They will get 2 minutes to read and discuss.
5--SIMON SAYS BREAK: We won't do anything fancy here (watch the video below for an idea of the process; I plan to do simple Simon Says with a few fun things thrown in... like "Simon Says if you like Google Chrome better than Internet Explorer, put your hands up."). Just play some Simon Says to get them to relax. No one's out, though. Everyone stays.
6--Then, divide them so you get 1 of each number per group (so 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 will join up). They will "teach" their group about their "tip" and then they can all add additional notes to the notecard. I'm thinking 3 minutes ought to be enough, but maybe more...
7--SIMON SAYS INTEGRATION: Okay, so the fun! Now, we play Simon Says. We'll do a version of the more complicated game but we will include some "topics" from the article so students will be doing some True/False response using Simon Says. Here's my list to go with the article (and I'll probably put this on a notecard to make it easier)--
This game of Simon Says has officially begun. Simon Says, Smile!
Simon Says shake out your arms.
Stop shaking; Simon says stop shaking.
Listen carefully..."Body text should be 12 pixels at a minimum." Simon Says cover your ears if this is false. (false--16px) It should be 16px, which is actually 12 points.
"Headlines should be bold and easy to scan on a website." Simon Says touch your nose if this is false. (true) You got it!
"When picking a font-face, stick with something super easy to read and a little bit whimsical." Simon says hands up for false and down for true. (true) Yeah, it's hands-down true!
Put your arms out in a T.
Simon says squat. Simon says stand tall.
Touch your head.
Simon says hands on your hips.
"When picking a color palette for your website, stick to how many colors?" Simon Says clap the number of colors on go... GO! (clap--3 colors)
Hands back on your hips; Simon Says hands on your hips.
"Making photos the right size is important. If the image is too small, just resize it." Simon Says right arm up if false. (false) Actually, if it's too small, don't use it!
"Too much text can be overwhelming. Use these as alternative ways to communicate your point." Simon says... left arm up for images, right arm up for icons. (answer--both!). If you have both arms in the air, you're right!
Now that your hands are in the air, wave them like you just don't care!
SIMON SAYS wave your hands in the air like you don't care.
Simon Says, shake someone's hand and say your name.
Snap your fingers.
Simon Says, let's end this game! The game of Simon Says is officially over.
Let's hope they like this "low tech" idea for fun in Web Design!
Headed out of town to a wedding today, so watched a short video this morning (after participating in some #ECG2017 sessions) related to Google Slides. The presentation I saw talked about using Slides to create simple yearbooks for cheap. But, what I saw and thought was pretty cool was a slideshow to help learn Google Slides keyboard shortcuts.
This is a very short video that just demonstrates the keystrokes, but you can actually download and allow students to try the shortcuts with you! This is from the SlidesYearbook page where you can download the starter file. BTW, this is a great website if you teach yearbook and includes some other information and links to videos about writing captions and other journalism-related topics.
It gives students a way to learn how to rotate by 1 degree or even paste without pasting the formatting onto a slide. Good tips, especially if you are a Google school!
As an Adobe Education Trainer, I'm sometimes asked to help with certain activities and today I was working on reviewing AET Train the Trainer course feedback. I must say, the course changes each time they offer it and this time it integrates different areas of the Adobe suite, so this has been super cool to be a part of. The Spark portfolio reflections I've been reviewing have given me lots of ideas for my Multimedia class this fall!
Anyway, Week 6 of their trainer program focuses on Adobe Character Animator, a new program in the suite that I haven't used. So, today my goal was to find a YouTube tutorial that showed me how to use this and to try it out. I think my students will enjoy this.
It's kind of hard to write a "review" or summary of this; if you haven't been in the program, it won't make much sense. But, in a nutshell, you create layered artwork in Photoshop or Illustrator. The layers must be in a folder named something specific. Then, you import those into Character Animator and, using your webcam, it learns your facial features and allows you to talk, blink, or move your head and the character moves, too. You can also use your mouse or keyboard to move the character's body parts, too.
Here's the video tutorial:
And here's my attempt! It's not perfect, but at least I tried!
Today, my daughter and I (she will be a sophomore this fall) were discussing first day activities. She indicated to me that she absolutely despises the "stand and say your name and share a fact" thing that many teachers do. Though I tried to tell her we do that because we don't want to mispronounce names, she said it just feels too on the spot. Hmm.
So, I asked for an alternative idea. I did come up with a variation of the "two truths and a lie" game (I've used it for myself and they try to guess which statement is the lie) using Google Slides. I could share the slideshow with them, each of them has a slide to put their name, and they would list their two truths and a lie. Then, I would stand at the front, when their slide comes up on display they say their name and I repeat it and then I read the three statements and the class can "vote" to see which they believe is the lie and then it would be revealed. She actually liked that idea!
But, I refuse to use the same icebreaker for each class (since I have some kids more than once a day) so I need more ideas. Thus, tonight's YouTube search was team builder activities for learning names. I ran across this simple, non-threatening video (again from @markcollard) called Name Impulse. The beautiful thing is they only have to say their names. That's it. You go around the circle saying the names, trying to beat the previous time, and then eventually in reverse... and then eventually at the same time! Anyway, check it out.
It's DAUGHTER APPROVED. She said this would work, so now I just have to decide what class to try it with this year. I plan to go around the circle twice with first and last names SLOWLY so I can hear their names really well (and so I can make notes on my sheet about pronunciation) and then move on to first names for speed as shown.
As I had a full day of sessions to attend and three presentations to give at Missouri Business Education Association conference, I am worn out tonight barely squeezing in my YouTube PD time before midnight! As it is, I decided to pursue ideas for icebreakers or team activities I might be able to try the first week of school. I landed on a video by Mark Collard, founder of PlayMeo. He demonstrates an interesting ice breaker that he calls Making Connections.
You can read the detailed description of the game here. Be sure to watch how he executes the activity in the video below! In a nutshell someone shares something they are/do and then anyone in the room who has that in common will come up and connect arms with that person (but only one person at a time can connect; note that he doesn't tell them that in advance). So, I might say, "I love horror movies" and someone in the room can come over (or run over!) and connect to me. The goal is to get the entire room connected into the circle. And, he encourages saying your name so people can learn names.
In keeping with my "lists theme" this week, I reviewed the video 5 Best Tips for Logo Design with Logo Designer Will Paterson. This isn't on his channel, but he does have a great YouTube channel as well. There are some great tips here and I'll give you the rundown. These are some great tips for sharing with students in graphic design classes... they tend to just want to "go in there and do it" and not plan.
Sketch on paper first. You have more creative freedom on paper, even if you can't draw. My students fight me on this, but when doing logo design, I often have them to sketch out ideas and tell them that no idea is a dumb idea. Brainstorming is key to creativity.
Design in black and white first. He suggested color is key to branding, not the logo itself. Worry about the color after the design. Great point! I don't typically do this, but I will for here on out. I think it's important that a design work in multiple media, and starting black and white is a great way to accomplish that.
Don't expect to get it the first time. Though we want it now, these things take time. It's a trial and error process. Rough sketches are fine.
Hmm... he said 5 tips, but I am not sure I found point 4... :) Maybe spend time getting inspiration from other sources? Will, what was the fourth one? I am going crazy!
Change your routine. We often can hit a creative block or just can't move past frustration. He suggested changing your routine that day to try to get yourself thinking a different perspective (having lunch elsewhere, work in a different environment, take a walk, etc.). I would love to come up with a fun "brain break" for my students when they are struggling to create. I've heard bouncing balls and things can be helpful?
NOTE: Will has a series on this channel where he critique's logos from other people. That might be a great watch for your students before they create logos, both to see ideas and to get an idea of the good and bad of logo design.
