bunk3 — Camp Magic MacGuffin

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Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

This is an old picture I had that was great for the optical illusion visual assignment. My friend and I were finding ways to make optical illusions one night because we were just bored and thought we’d make funny pictures. I decided that I wanted to cut her head off with some scissors & it really looks like I’m chopping off her head.

I actually used no real photo editing or anything for this photo. I just put the scissors in front of my camera and moved back like 15 feet from here and put the scissors in front of the camera near her head. Shockingly, it came out perfectly and she was clueless to the fact she was about to be headless.

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Find the Error

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

I LOVE mysteries, so I had to do the “find the error” photo. I wanted to make it easy, just fun at the same time. I know everyone loves shoes, so I found 2 pair of my bright colored shoes and some sandals and did the photo. This probably was the more fun one to day for me because I love mysteries, I love shoes, and I love colorful things.

This process was really easy. I used no photo editing, just a little switch-a-roo. In the original picture(top), I just put the shoes together regularly and took the picture. In the “find the error” photo I just switched the left and the right shoe. It was very simple and fun. = )

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Love In 3 Frames

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

Love. Ha, isn’t it wonderful. This assignment was inspired by my love for my male friend that means the world to me. When I saw they had a visual assignment that allowed me to show my passionate side I had to do it. The 3 pictures above are just a few pictures of us being us. We always hold hands, we always take professional pictures, and we also know how to be goofy together.

I used a picture collage to complete this assignment and it was very easy. All I had to do was pick which background I wanted and then added in the pictures that I liked the most. I had to do a little cropping to make the pictures fit into the small squares but again very simple and fun

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Postcard Home: Week 1

Monday, June 4th, 2012

Dear Loving Parents,
I pray that you are doing well. I hope that you did not miss me too much. I know that my presence brings joy to your lives and not being around as much is a terrible thing. Don’t worry, I will write you often. That way you will not miss me too much.

I survived my first week at camp (even though you said I wouldn’t). Now, don’t you feel silly? I met so many wonderful people here at Camp Magic MacGuffin.

Today, I ventured into new places. It’s quite exciting actually. I created accounts with Twitter, Youtube, Flickr, SoundCloud, and created my own site along with other exciting things. I am still figuring how to use these sites because I am a complete loser when it comes to the internet. Nonetheless, I am slowly getting the hang of it.

I also watched a video on Dr. Michael Wesch. He is such an inspiring person. The video opened my eyes to many things and have really enhanced my understanding on the issue of education and students. His video also encouraged me to continue exploring and shaping my identity through means of media. You would be very proud of me right now. Alright, I will write you later.

Take care of yourselves,
Sincerely,
Your favorite daughter.

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Michael Wesch Video Reflection

Monday, June 4th, 2012

I watched the video of Michael Wesch’s presentation. I have never been so inspired. It has enhanced my outlook on life. It is so beautiful to find people who possess the passion and strong well like Wesch. I aspire to be an educator in the future, and Dr. Wesch approach regarding the US educational system is something that I completely agree with. I too, have a problem with the educational system. The lack of motivation in schools is a great problem in today’s society. The educational system sets very low standards for students and focuses on grades more than what matters more, which is relating real life experiences to their educational experiences. A student can perform well on a test but lacks social ability or “street smarts.” On the other hand, there are many students who may not perform well on exams but are in fact very intelligent and are capable beings. The educational system is biased and restricts children from developing to their full potentials.

I have always been in the blogging scene. I enjoy having a personal space online, where I can share my thoughts and ideas on certain things or even interact with others who can teach me new things. Dr. Wesch explanation and views on media and creating a personal space is helpful in reflecting and pondering on deeper thoughts and being able to convey these feelings through writing, photography or other means of expression. Dr. Wesch also talked about “a lot of our identity is actually a reflection of our environment/people,” which makes sense on many levels. Our surroundings from people, school, family, friends, workplace, and everything we are exposed to defines who we are as individuals and shapes your identity. It also helps you find who you are in life. I find through blogging that I transform. Into someone I would have never imagined to become. I am constantly transitioning. I found the experience of blogging to be rewarding on many levels. Through this site, I will continue to discover myself. and I would like to invite you to join me on this journey of self-discovery.

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Kurt Vonnegut and Pixar

Monday, June 4th, 2012

Watching the Vonnegut “Shapes of Stories” reminded me of a similar story structure that I was introduced to by Mark Benno – the Pixar “Story Spline”. It (like Vonnegut’s) is simple enough to use with my elementary students, but allows for complex and engaging storytelling. The Pixar structure is basically Vonnegut’s “Man in a Hole” curve:

Once upon a time…
And every day…
Until one day…
And because of that…
And because of that…
And because of that…
Until finally…
And since that day…
The moral of the story is…

Combining the two, # 1-2 are when Vonnegut’s curve begins at the top, 3-7 are the plummet and recovery of the curve, and 8-9 the curve is back on top. Take “Toy Story”:

Andy’s toys lived a happy existence, lead by Andy’s favorite toy Woody.
Every day the toys played happily with Andy, and Woody was secure in his position as favorite.
Until one day Andy got a new toy, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody feared that he may no longer be the favorite. (Cue the drop of the Vonnegut curve!)
And because of that Woody was uncharacteristically mean to Buzz, and ended up pushing him out the window.
And because of that Woody had to go after Buzz and return him to Andy’s room which began a series of adventures.
And because of that, Woody and Buzz had to work together to stay safe and return to Andy, which began their friendship.
Until finally they made it back safely, and became best friends. (The curve rises again!)
And since that day they coexisted and played with Andy together.
And the moral is… well there are a bunch, aren’t there?

My students and I have used this structure to map out all sorts of stories – and now I have Vonnegut’s curves to help map out others.

Here’s the clip:

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Bryan’s Digital Storytelling

Monday, June 4th, 2012

Bryan talked about numerous ways stories are created and how other perceive the storytelling mode. The one I wanted to elaborate on is “Character Blogging.” Character blogging is when the blogger is a character and their personalities are shown overtime. The story I read in detail the “The Tweeted Titanic.” ”The Tweeted Titanic is a series of events that took place during the sinking of the Titanic and it feels as if you are actually there during the horrific event. I think this falls under character blogging because overtime it shows how people felt about the Titanic. I also feel that since it was told bit by bit with emotion and there are a lot of details present in the “tweets” that help you stay interested.

I feel that blogging a story is much more effective than creating a book or some sort out of the event. First off the “tweets” are short and simple, so you don’t have to read on and on to find out what is going on. Secondly, using this type of blogging allows us to compare our emotions to the emotions of the person/people telling the event and it gives us a special little view on the event. Thirdly, it allows us to see the crisis and the resolution. We seen read about what happened before and how the passengers handled the aftermath.

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Letter Home ; Week 2

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

Hey Mommie,

Whew, made it through another week of camp. This week I become more accustomed to the routine of camp. We had to do 3 daily creates. The first one I did was recording a sound that I basically hated, and I did styrofoam rubbing together. You can hear the sound here : http://soundcloud.com/kavon-lechae/sounds-from-tuesday-afternoon

Then for the second daily create I did was posting a picture of what the sky looked like and on that day the sky was semi-dark but the sun was shinning through a little. You can see that picture here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanonnie24/7302458906/

The last daily create I had to to was say “I love DS106 ten times.” It took me awhile because I kept getting tongue tied, but I finally mastered it. You can view that here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY-tDwJ8OdA

I also had to write a review on a movie or story based on a presentation by Vonnegut. He spoke about how stories are shaped and gave several example. The one I chose to talk about was how a low person starts off badly, but good things start to happen and continue to happen until they have that one memory that will last a lifetime. The movie I instantly, thought of was “Another Cinderella Story” and I did a review on that. We have one more assignment due, and I’m having a really hard time understanding exactly what to do. This is why I’m writing you now, so I can work on getting this assignment due before it’s due date..

I love you bunches and I hope everything is well at home..

P.S I receive the camper of the week award for week one = )

Sincerely,

Kavon L Johnson

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Starting Summer a Week Early, and Camp a Week Late

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

Only four days of school, and one of post-school remain this school year, along with a week of trainings and a few other commitments. My goal for this Summer is to write more, read more, and plan more for next year. Of course, that has been my goal for the last few Summers, not to mention school years. What’s my deal? Partly, I feel stuck. I have a group of amazing teachers around me to bounce ideas off of, to push me forward and reel me back. My resource team and a few others at school, my Tech Ambassador coaches, and of course my wonderful wife. Still, I find myself having the same conversations, and often knowing their responses before I begin discussions. I need to branch out, expand my PLC.

I think attending DML this past spring gave me the time and stimulus to figure some of this out. The people and ideas were wonderfully different and out there. For once, my thoughts and ideas weren’t the most radical, the most uncomfortable. New paths appeared for me to wander on.

I’m off to a good start. I got a bunch of thoughts out to my keyboard this afternoon on my students and my own experiences with the Makerbot. And after thinking about it a few weeks ago and letting it drift out of my head I signed up for the DS106 Camp Magic MacGuffin project (class? party? hackjam? thing?). I’m late, hopefully they will let me play along. I’ll do KP duty… I’m pretty good at peeling potatos.

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