2-13-09

Practicing demostrations today. Half of class absent, frustrating. Kids have been learning and they're doing well, but they don't relish the thought of demonstrations. I gave them an outline of what to discuss to help them along.

January 29

Class was productive today. Jim showed students his game example and corresponding code, and led students through the process of their own mini-game. I floated around room and helped individual students. Worked well.

January 26

This was the first class after the workshop. I reassured our class that they are on the right track, and I reinforced the ideas of transparent learning. I also told them to go back and embed files onto their wiki pages, not just links, and I told them to save everything they do. I tried to reassure them that it is ok to post "mistakes" or failed attempts, but most students seem a bit hesitant to do that. "But it's not good" was a common refrain. We all feel a little better that we don't have to have a certain percentage of the games completed, however.

12-1-08

I'm happy to report that our students are still highly engaged and enthusiastic about Globaloria class and their games. I had the opportunity to write a description for a new club called "computer aided projects." A number of our Globaloria students signed up so that they could have more time to work on their current games, as well as to use their flash knowledge to work on an additional game requested by the art teacher. The students are seeing how the skills they are developing are useful and in demand by other professionals. This insight gives them a sense of pride and is self-motivating. It's exciting to be a part of a program that is having such a positive impact on the students.

Game Pitch Day

10-23-08

Today was interesting and it went well. We had two faculty members come in and be clients so that our students could sell their game ideas to them. The students created game pitch pages with animated graphics to pique their interest. Students got to explain their games ideas, game play objectives, and why their games would be useful in the classroom. After presentations, all teachers gave feeback on presentation style. The experience was very helpful for the students in that it gave them presentation practice, and it revealed areas where their game ideas needed greater clarification and thought.
I'd like to invite these "clients" back after students digest the feedback, develop their games more, and have more presentation practice. I'd like for students to have before and after insight as a way for them to see their progress. We recorded the presentation with a flip camcorder, but when I try to save, it says my computer has no available space on the hard drive. I'll have to give the camera back, so I may not be able to follow through with the before and after idea like I want.

Oct 17

I laid out plans for students today on making presentation sales pitches. I will be inviting faculty members who may be using the games being created. I gave students a rubric to go by to help them make a successful pitch. I am enthused about this idea because the professional skills really need emphasis among my students (and it's easier than struggling with technical questions :-) ).

Oct 6

I set the kids loose today to continue experimenting with Flash and with the tutorials. They are naturals. They have already created animations and a few have rather sophisticated drawings. They are well past what I learned in three days during the summer. They are really engrossed in the program as well. You could have heard a pin drop in class today. Now that they've had time to familiarize themselves with the program, I think we can get back to visualizing their games and creating a paper prototype.