Many of us will remember the wonderful film What About Bob?, where Bob learned the theory of baby steps: one little tiny step at a time keeps you from feeling overwhelmed. Well, today the Capstone seniors were applying the baby step theory to finishing up their projects. Unfortunately, a majority of seniors in Eliza and Chou's room were absent today, but those who were present worked diligently. Felipe generously stuck around for a while to help out with super techie questions, since Chou couldn't be with us today, and Eliza is known more for her creativity and curriculum design than techno-ninja skills.
Eliza showed a powerpoint she had made to help the students organize their presentations about their Capstone projects: Each project should have: a 30 second introduction where the student describes the initial question leading to the project; a description of methods including software used and steps taken to accomplish the goal; a report of results where the student will describe the project in detail, including any obstacles that were encountered; a final discussion/summary of the overall project, which includes a statement about where this project might lead the student to further research or interests in the future; and a moment to acknowledge the assistance of others.
The room was absolutely silent as every one of the students worked quietly on his or her own project, either finishing the Capstone, beginning the presentation, or working on past Certifications.
Students wrote brief blogs simply listing their accomplishments for today and then commented on the biggest obstacle they encountered while working on their projects.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
March Madness: Senior Capstone Due
Today the senior capstone project was due today. March Madness was not a problem because most of the students had their project for the most part completed. Tenzin and Williams went to a Game Convention with Ryan and were not in class.
Ann started off the class with a Learn@UW survey of only two questions: what was one good comment you received and what was one good comment you gave. Shockingly, not all of the students had received good comments. Also, the students all said they had not been given the opportunity to give other students comments which lead into a good transition to the day's goals. The students started off with work time and then had a student review of each others project.
Amanda and Letara have finished their tasks for AHANA. The only thing that needs tweeking is formatting issues that will arise when the organization needs to have stuff printed. Their thank you cards are having issues in Word. Ann suggested them to use Illustrator but they did not take the advice. Maybe by next session the two will have the problem fixed.
The Wellness group has everything finished. Pari has the website complete and plans on keeping in touch with the group and acting as their web developer. Alex helped Pari for most of the day. Brenda continued to work on her PowerPoint.
PaYing is frantically trying to finish the yearbook. Ann told Kiki to help. Currently, the senior page and the junior page are complete. There still needs to be work done for the background of each page because the text is unreadable. Next session, I am going to have Kiki continue to work with PaYing who is done with her project.
3/20/2010 updates
B203
Danny, Jesus, Mark:
This group is wrapping up their project and is struggling on the small details. Naming the cd or just making a decision to finalize something.
Gabby:
Her site is coming along, Chou helped fixed up her layout and is now looking good for Eliza to give her some content to work with.
Sheng:
Same as Gabby, her site is coming along, her layout is completed along with some pages having working content.
Ruben and Mark T.:
They worked mainly on their showcase project today and has a good idea, but getting it together and tweaking it for elementary school students, may take a little more time.
Paochoua:
Showed up and said his flash files are now missing... Not much could be recovered or done but to try to start over rather than sit on what happened.
April and Laura:
They just kept quite most of the time and kept working. Questions were asked when needed and most of all from their project other than looking great is that they are relearning and taking photoshop to a new level that what was tough in class.
Thisa:
Her layout is coming along, most of the layout is completed and has started to put content on some pages. There are still some glitches in the layout that needs to be fixed.
Seng:
Worked quietly all day, and his hand drawing/colored Photoshop pictures are coming along just good. Not sure how much different files he's done with, but they are starting to look complete.
Danny, Jesus, Mark:
This group is wrapping up their project and is struggling on the small details. Naming the cd or just making a decision to finalize something.
Gabby:
Her site is coming along, Chou helped fixed up her layout and is now looking good for Eliza to give her some content to work with.
Sheng:
Same as Gabby, her site is coming along, her layout is completed along with some pages having working content.
Ruben and Mark T.:
They worked mainly on their showcase project today and has a good idea, but getting it together and tweaking it for elementary school students, may take a little more time.
Paochoua:
Showed up and said his flash files are now missing... Not much could be recovered or done but to try to start over rather than sit on what happened.
April and Laura:
They just kept quite most of the time and kept working. Questions were asked when needed and most of all from their project other than looking great is that they are relearning and taking photoshop to a new level that what was tough in class.
Thisa:
Her layout is coming along, most of the layout is completed and has started to put content on some pages. There are still some glitches in the layout that needs to be fixed.
Seng:
Worked quietly all day, and his hand drawing/colored Photoshop pictures are coming along just good. Not sure how much different files he's done with, but they are starting to look complete.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
March 6, 2010
Status update for everyone in the class. With two weeks until all the capstone projects are due, the students were busy working away the class time. Here is a status report on the students, their current projects, and what they hope to accomplish by next week (besides finishing up their capstone)
Williams
- Williams has been put in a strange situation due to Medic being backlogged in work, and hence unable to schedule enough work for Williams to keep him consistently busy. However, Williams has provided some great support to both Pa Ying and Kiki in their own projects, and continues to help out on the other capstone projects while he awaits word from Medic.
Pa Ying
- Pa Ying is working as fast as she can on the interactive powerpoint for the ITA yearbook. During this class period, Williams helped Pa Ying snap photos of some of the students who have so far flown under the radar for getting their pictures taken! Pa Ying is currently trying to catalog the photos of the students from the classes, and getting the powerpoints together. Williams is also assisting Pa Ying in making the powerpoint presentations. By next session Pa Ying will have a rough generation of the yearbook, which should be very exciting!
Mr. Tenzin
- Mr. Tenzin was having some issues incorporating all of the separate flash files (main menu, etc. ) into one complete flash file. Once all the files are together, Tenzin needs to have a screen that will adjust the difficulty level for the player, which then requires actionscript prompts. Chou provided some assistance to Tenzin, and helped point him in the right direction as far as online resources which may better help him in his project.
Amanda and Letara
- Amanda and Letara were modifying a thank you card that Ahana would like to send out to some recipients. Some of the issues they have both been having with the format is because of the card itself being a fold over. Ann provided some great advice during the session, and hopefully that helped them both work out the particular problems.
Brenda, Pari, and Alex
What you see above is a final example of the webpage for the Allied Wellness Cooperative. After many iterations, this group has come up with a great design layout and the color scheme is distinctly sublime. These three have come up with some great designs since their project began, hopefully the Allied cooperative will agree!
Monday, February 22, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
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,
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.
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.
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