Whistle while you work . . . ..

Just like the sprightly Seven Dwarfs, we've been whistlin' along working on gettin' stuff done.

Today:

Seng worked on editing his hand-drawn and scanned character images in Illustrator. I must say, they are looking awfully good. He is especially good at adding texture and background. He hasn't made contact with his faculty adviser yet because he never asked anyone for his adviser's email address, so we took care of that today.


Briana is on track with her photo portfolio. She, too, has not yet made contact with her faculty adviser (an oversight which will be remedied today).


April has been working hard on her tattoo designs, and she got some great feedback from her faculty adviser that should help her revamp her designs to look more like tattoos.


Mark doesn't have a lot done for his flash animation project and hasn't heard from his adviser, although he has emailed him twice. He needs flash on his computer at home so that he can work on his project when he is away from ITA.


Thisa is doing a great job on a website she is making, and she has been able to talk to her mentor via email.


Pao Choua has made progress on his flash animation game. He has met with his adviser, but he also needs flash at home so that he can work on his project outside of school.


Ruben spent quite a bit of time trying to access his files. He has done some work on his project.


Tenzin has made remarkable progess on his basketball website. He has stayed in contact with his adviser and seems to be very focused on making his website awesome.


Laura was working with her adviser for much of the class period, and seems to have been getting some great guidance. Her project is of advertising materials for Latino Nation is well on track.


Jesus, Danny and Marc were hard at work and making evident progress on their video project.


Overall, it was a busy and successful day.

Capstone Feb 6

We started with a brief Learn@UW quiz and noticed in the results that a far greater number of students had been working on their projects at home than what we saw in the results from the last session. Also, more students had been in contact with their faculty advisers. It does seem though like some of the ITA instructors have not contacted the student they are advising, which is a bit of a concern; even if the students are responsible for making initial contact and for maintaining contact, it is troublesome to think that their advisers might not respond. If the student can show that they have sent a second email and made progress on their project but they still haven't heard from their adviser, then we will have to step in and sort of push the adviser to respond.

In any case, Chou led a discussion on the results of faculty adviser meetings, how to better prepare for a meeting and what kinds of questions to ask advisers. We stressed asking specific questions and taking responsibility for the meeting. Those students who had met with their advisers reported generally good success.

The rest of the day was spent working on projects and blogging about progress.

2/5/10 Papparazi

The session started with the students taking a Learn@UW quiz. Ryan led the discussion and asked the students to share their comments with their mentors. All of the students had worked on their project at home since the last ITA session except for PaYing and Williams. Most of the students were shy to share their comments and suggestions about their mentors. Maybe the students were too tired after lunch to talk? Right after the Learn@UW quiz we went into work time. The students were working the entire period. There were very few questions asked. Ryan and Ann went around the room to ask the students about their progress. There were no major issues during work times.

Williams - Vietnam Health Project/Medic
Williams is done with his brochure design 1. He came into session thinking that he did not have any work to do. However, Ann found him another student Health Organization that needed a fl yer and brochure update. Since last ITA session, Williams did not check his e-mail and this news was at first a shock. Even though it was another project for him, he did not complain. For the entire period, Williams worked on the design of the flyer. At first, Williams had a very linear design. Ann and Ryan both talked to him about how to draw his audience in and prioritizing what information should be on the top versus the bottom. He is going to work on the brochure at home and e-mail it to Ann ASAP because the student organization needs the brochure before the 14th.

Tenzin K - Flash Game
Tenzin told Ann he was not having any coding problems with his game. He spent the entire period working, but it is unclear what he accomplished. For the last hour of class, AJ and Tenzin discussed his project. Currently his status is 80% complete.

Pari and Brenda - Wellness Center
Alex was missing today. Pari continued to work on the logo design and Brenda still worked on the PowerPoint design. Currently,

the students have not heard about the content of the website. Ann reminded the students that they need to start working on their website now! Pari took the PowerPoint permit test.

Amanda and Letara - AHANA

Today Amanda and Letara met with the co-chairs of AHANA. Both the yearbook and video group took an opportunity to capture this moment. The co-chair members were not expecting a crew of cameramen. The group spent the entire period working on updating the brochure. Ann has given the group another task of making Thank You cards and adding information to the student resource papers.

PaYing - Yearbook
PaYing is still having difficulty staying on task with her Yearbook project. Ann caught PaYing multiple times on YouTube and Facebook. She was re-naming photographs, but because the network was so slow it was not complete. PaYing needs to be reminded of her time constraint but she is still working for the most part pretty diligently.

For the rest of the period the students worked on their blogs. PaYing took the Operating System and Excel Permit Test. Pari took the PowerPoint Permit Test.