Radio commercials

Well, I've just had the last class of the semester with my C4 class.

I still feel like the class is a bit unwieldly topping out at 19 mixed-ability language learners. I do feel like the rapport has improved and I'm not as intimidated by them as I felt last semester.

I think I'll start off the next semester with a survey and will try to change the nature of the class based on some of their feelings.

So, we just finished a "short" unit on audio commercials.

Next time:
It would be great if everyone had headphones and a primer on how to use Audacity to record.

It would also be a good idea to organized the order of the recordings if a "single" recording studio is used. The students should know that some of them would have to record out of class time if necessary.

This unit should have stretched about four classes looking at improving speaking skills like intonation and pronunciation.

We had a good time with tongue twisters and expressive practice, but the Ss we still a little apprehensive to "act" in front of their peers. I on the other hand am quite comfortable with goofing off with them.

Internet Banner Project

Useful how-to's:

• change stage size
• make a motion tween
• add/manage layers

1. structured
1. banner project skills
1. delete backgrounds
2. find graphics
3. make documents
2. semi-structured
1. re-create a banner
3. free
1. make your own banner

Even though the class might have been biting at the bit to get into a project, it's essential to follow these types of steps.

This is supposed to be a project-oriented class. Present skills as a means to an end. Never throw skills at them "out-of-context".

I jumped right into things and it was a lot for them. Think of warming up with more activities.

• What is a banner?
• Choose some favorite banners? (difficult printing or saving those examples)
  

Flash 8 reference material

For next year, who ever is teaching this class might do better with a textbook that can serve as a reference for students while they are working on their projects. Currently, I'm creating all of my class materials and though it offers me flexibility with the content and design, it's difficult to develop something that will cover all my bases this first time around.

Audio project wrap-up

I gave the kids the first period (45 minutes) to finish their musical compositions. I doubt any of them finished their work, but that's alright. I didn't have a very clear idea of how I was going to assess their remixing skills and now I'm left with a problem. The kids spent 135 min on their projects and I can't easily grade them. How would you (quantitatively) grade a project like this?

I had then planned on letting them answer three questions based on the project and had them answer by posting responses on their class website. Unfortunately, a lot of them lost their questions and had problems with posting their responses. The problem could have stemmed from their servers, our internet connections, or the laptops. Next time, have the Ss open WordPad or someother text editor and copy and paste their responses when they were finished. That way if they weren't able to finish, they could just save the file in the (Y:/) drive.

I showed them a "real-world" example of remixing, ala DJ Q-bert. Unfortuately I didn't have the time to run through the listening exercise. I guess I can save that for next week, when I start the next unit of their semester: photographing? Where am I taking this class?

Family ties

Bruce was talking about using cards and having the Ss make family trees. I was thinking that Ss could work in pairs to construct a family tree together by following an example made on the board or possibly with PowerPoint.

The teacher would have magnetic pictues of different family members and they would be put on the board sequentially while eliciting responses from the class regarding their title.

This would be a good first day activity. Go over the question forms as well:

• How many ___ does she have?
• Who is her ___?

Another idea is a card game with four cards to a suit. The different suits are different families. Students have to somehow match up suits by asking questions to the other students. Yeah, right. Well, this idea still needs a lot of development I guess.

Horrible lesson plan

I ran through "tweening" with my fifth year computer class yesterday. It's one of the coolest parts of working with Flash and arguably one of the most important. Yet, all I had them working with were circles and squares. The materials didn't even cover shape tweening, although I had them do some of that as well.

Next time, I gotta find some cool objects for them to work with. Better examples and more structured worksheets. I'm really not happy with my walk-thru's, but that's for a different day.

No example?

I didn't finish an example for my 5th year computer class! I should have provided them with an accurate example of what I am expecting from them so they had something to use as a point of reference. I don't want them copying the example, but they deserve something more to look at than me trying to pass off a PowerPoint presentation for their Flash project.

I'm going to have to figure a way to make tutorials for them so that they can complete certain tasks. It's very difficult to make handouts since the Ss are using a localized version of Flash MX while I'm using an English version of Flash MX 2004. It's all very confusing.