Watercolor Painting Effects in PhotoShop

Good Morning - 

I hope you enjoyed your third Photoshop assignment which specifically covered Watercolor Painting Effects.  Please complete the following after you have finished your tutorial:

Image Before Water Color Painting Effects

Image After Water Color Painting Effects

1. Please resize your original image and your new Photoshop Image using the "how to resize your images for the web" handout.
2. Post both of your images on your blog (before and after) so we can see the watercolor painting effects.
3. Provide a brief write-up about your experience including
1. a description of the completed project
2. what you learned from completing the assignment
3. new tools that you learned in photoshop and how you could apply them in your everyday life
4. what you enjoyed most about the assignment
5. what challenges you faced as you worked towards completing the project

Thanks for a great post!  I look forward to seeing all of your work posted on your blog sites!

Mr. Rubin

A Blog Post

Good Morning!  It feels as though it has been too long since our last blog post!  Well, I guess it hasn't been too long but here's one anyways!  For today's blog please complete the following:

1. Copy and Paste what you have written in your cover letter into your blog.
2. Write a reflection on your cover letter to date.  What is well done about the cover letter and what still needs to be improved?

After completing this piece of your blog post, please go ahead and complete Unit 2, Lessons 2.2 and 3.1 in edutyping.

Happy Block Day!  We will get rolling with our new Photoshop assignment in just a moment!!

Squirrel on the Beach Drinking a Coke!

Good Morning!  I hope you enjoyed your second Photoshop assignment of the year.  For your blog post, please be sure to post your re-sized image of Photoshop Assignment #2 and then provide a brief write-up about your experience.  In this write up, you need to at minimum provide a short paragraph in which you describe your completed project, explain what you learned from doing this assignment, what you enjoyed most about the assignment and what challenges you faced as you worked towards completion of the project?
In addition, feel free to highlight any/all of the tools that you used and the different elements you personally Photoshop into the final image!

Hope you had fun!

Posting Adobe Photoshop Assignment #1

Below is an example of what your post should look like when you leave today.  You may have to open up your filters to see exactly what you used.  You can do that simply by double clicking where it says Filter Gallery under each layer.  Be sure to accurately detail the filters you used for each image as shown below.  In addition, please discuss why you chose the image you did for this assignment, what you learned from doing the assignment, what you enjoyed about the assignment, what you might do differently next time and what challenges you faces while completing the project.  

Filters:

Top Left:           Dry Brush (Brush Size 2, Brush Detail 8, Texture 1)

Top Middle:      Spatter (Radius 10, Smoothness 5)

Top Right         Colored Pencil (Pencil Width 14, Stroke Pressure 10, Paper Brightness 16)

Middle Left:      Color Halftone (Radius 8)

Middle:             Glowing Edges (Edge Width 3, Edge Brightness 8, Smoothness 2)

Middle Right:   Paint Daubs (Size 2, Sharpness 7, Brush Type Simple)

Lower Left:      Cutout (No. of Levels: 4, Edge Simplicity 3, Edge Fidelity 2)

Lower Middle:   Ink Outlines (Stroke Length 13, Dark Intensity 4, Light Intensity 36)

Lower Right:      Photocopy (Detail 2, Darkness 9) Neon Glow (Size -24, Brightness 50)

Be sure to complete this assignment by the end of the class period.  In addition, be sure that your image has been resized for the web and has been posted to Schoology.  If you have any time before class ends you can check Infinite Campus and/or complete any work for your other classes.

Thank you!

Our Final Mentor Meeting of 2013-2014

Good Morning!!!  Today we are going to begin getting prepared for our final mentor meeting of the 2013-2014 school year which is, yes, this Friday!!  That means it is the last chance you will be meeting with your mentor and is the last opportunity you have to leave a lasting impression - and you want that lasting impression (or their memory of you) to be a positive one.  Discuss a few things that you can/should do in preparation for this last mentor meeting that you feel will help leave a good impression on your mentor.  Why do you think it is important to finish the year with your mentor on a positive note and how could it benefit you down the road?

Put in a little critical thinking as you complete this blog post.  Come up with some good reasons, perhaps work towards having the best in the class :)

Thanks and we will get started shortly!!

Mr. Rubin

Academy Website Complete!!

Congratulations on completing your Academy Website!!  I hope that you, you and your partner or perhaps your small group are proud of the work you created.  Today you will need to post a brief reflection of the work you completed.  Below are the questions I would like you to reflect on:

1.  What was your impression of WIX.  Do you think it is a quality online website buiolding tool?  What were some of the features of the web builder that you liked?  What features would you also like to see included in the program?
2.  What do you think of the site that you created?  What would you say some of the best features of the site are?  What would you say (taking another look at the site) could be improved?  Can you make those changes?
3.  What do you think of the power of a website?  Is it a good marketing tool for the Academy?  What other marketing tools do you think would be valuable for a program like ours in which we require students to learn about and apply for the program?
4.  Lastly, reflecting on the project itself, what did you enjoy about this project?  What were some of the greatest challenges that you and your group faced throughout the design process?  How did you overcome those challenges?

Thanks for your thorough thoughtful responses.  In addition, please post a screenshot of the front page of your site and please include a link to your site.  Remember that your group is also responsible for emailing me a link to your site with all group members names in the email!

Thanks and Happy Monday!

Earth Day!

Good Morning and Happy April 22nd, 2014!  Today is Earth Day!  While I promise not to harp on it being Earth day, today seemed like a great opportunity to consider both the Environmental and Economic benefits of shopping at local stores.  Below is an image and a series of questions.  Please look at the image and then respond as best as you can (3-4 sentences each) to each question posed.

Question 1: What does it mean to you to shop locally?

Question 2:  Looking at the image above, what are some of the primary reasons it benefits your local communities economy to shop at locally owned and run businesses?  Give specific examples from the chart that highlight how much of your money stays nearby, where your money goes, etc.

Question 3:  Although it is not specified in the image (and, of course, because today is earth day) what do you see as the environmental benefits of shopping at locally owned and operated businesses? You can take a second to do a quick online Google search for an answer ... you'll find plenty of sites with ideas! 

Remember, your response to each question should be 3-4 sentences ... yes, a little bit longer of a blog post but a good opportunity to do some critical thinking about economics and the environment on earth day!

Thank you!

Sophomore Year Coming to an End!

Good Morning and Happy Monday!  Welcome back from Spring Break 2014 and the beginning of the final stretch of the school year!  We literally have 6 weeks or 23 days of class left until you begin your finals and actually a week less until you begin developing a presentation for one of your Portfolio projects ... that actually means less than 20 days of class left in here!  I am very excited and proud of those of you who have really been pushing hard and the many accomplishments you have made to date but it is important for everyone to finish out the school year strong, motivated and ready to take your next step forward to junior year.

As we ease into today, how was your spring break?  Did you work a lot?  Play a lot?  A little of both? How did you spend your spring break?  What was your favorite activity over the break?  In addition, what are you looking forward to as we approach the end of the school year?  Are you simply excited for summer or are there other things you are looking forward to during these last few weeks?  Finally, what is one thing you need to do/accomplish this week that has been troubling you/making you anxious that if you take care of, you will feel better!  Talking to a teacher?  Taking care of something at home? Etc?

Thanks for a great response!  We'll get into our groups shortly and continue with creating our Academy Website which is due Friday!  While you are waiting, please make sure you have completed Unit 2, Lesson 2.1 (Learning the 9 and 4 Keys).  If you have not yet, what better way to warm up those fingers after a relaxing spring break :)

Our New Academy Website in Motion!

Good Morning and Happy Block Day!

We have now started to design our second and final website.  This site, as you know, will be our newest marketing tool for the Menlo-Atherton Computer Academy.  I am excited to see some of you excited about the opportunity to create this site and add your own creative touch while informing people (both students and adults) of the unique opportunity.

With that in mind, having started your website, please brainstorm a few items that you think you might need as you develop the perfect site.  I would like you to brainstorm what you can on your own as we get started today but you can update your response as you and your team work on your site during today's block period!

Thanks everybody!  I'm excited to see your progress!

Wrapping Up Yesterday's Discussion

Yesterday we had an in-depth discussion on the importance of furthering your education and the benefits it can bring over the course of your lifetime.  Finally, as we close out today's class period, please write a call to action using both articles that we read today.  Within this call to action you will need to:

• Analyze the importance of an education
• Discuss what you believe the state's role in that process should be
• Use very specific statistics to further your argument
• Ensure your paragraph would be motivating to yourself, your neighbor or anyone else moving forward in their academic career
• Within this paragraph I would also encourage you to use first hand examples including:
• your personal experiences and/or those of people you know and how their education (or lack thereof) has affected their daily lives.
• Your thoughts on how a free education may change one's outlook on furthering their education as we move forward.  
• This final paragraph should be thorough, thoughtful and should also include some statistics from the articles you read that strengthen your argument.

The Importance of Professionalism, Responsibility and the College Education!

Good Morning and Happy Monday -

We are just 5 short days away from Spring Break which I am sure everyone is excited about.  Today, however, we are going to take a moment to read two articles and reflect both individually and as a class on your thoughts regarding the two.

The first article we are going to read discusses the rising cost of not going to College.

Article can be found here: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/

This article discusses the importance of furthering your education and gives detailed statistics and facts that will surely either curve or reinforce your opinion about a college education.  As you read the article, please take notes on a piece of paper and then share the five most interesting facts you learned or that stood out to you as you read this article on your blog.  Be sure to include an introduction of what the article was about before discussing your five chosen pointers.

The second article we are going to read is on Tennessee's plan to approve free community college for all high school graduates.

Article can be found here: http://goo.gl/WUsQac

This article, as the title implies, discusses the motivation behind Tennessee's plan to offer a free community college education to its residents.  In addition, it explains how a state like Tennessee would fund such a plan.  As you read the article, please highlight the following:

• What does the article discuss
• What are the benefits of a plan such as this one
• What negatives can you envision about putting a plan like this into place

Finally, as we close out today's class period, please write a call to action using both articles that we read today.  Within this call to action you will need to analyze the importance of an education and the state's role in that process.  As part of this, I would imagine you might discuss your experiences personally and/or those of people you know and how their education (or lack thereof) has affected their daily lives.  One discussion point could certainly be on how a free education, such as the one that Tennessee is proposing, may change one's outlook on furthering their education as we move forward.  This final paragraph should be thorough, thoughtful and should also include some statistics from the articles you read that strengthen your argument.

Thank you.

Sandwich Shop Complete

Good Morning and Congratulations on completing your first website.  I am looking forward to seeing some of your creativity.  To submit the project please follow these instructions:

• Publish your website
• Take a screenshot of the homepage only of your sandwich shop (see below)

• Post the picture on your blog.  Include a link to your site and invite the reader of your blog to take a look
• Write a brief reflection.  What did you enjoy most about this project? What challenges did you face?  How do you think a tool like WIX could benefit you or someone you know?  What type of site would you be interested in creating for personal reasons?

Thanks and I look forward to seeing your blog post.

4th Quarter!!

Incredible!  It's already here!!  We have made it through 3/4's of the year (maybe even a bit more) and the light is finally visible at the end of the tunnel!  With that said, as exciting as 4th quarter arriving can be, it does have the potential to be not only exciting but frightening as well!  Now that the 4th quarter has arrived for you, what are some things you are incredibly excited about with the end of the school year on the horizon and what are some things that you are nervous, concerned about as June arrives?  Is there anything you want to make sure you do/accomplish before you leave M-A for the year?

Thanks for your thoughts - we will get started shortly :)

The End of Quarter 3!

Good Morning -

There is no response necessary for today's post, however, here are some important details for today's class period:

1. All Flash Assignments (including your Talking Fruit/Veggie) must be complete and uploaded to your blog by the end of class!!
2. If you have trouble uploading an assignment to your blog export it as a .swf file and email it to me at crubin@seq.org
3. Any assignments that you have a "0" for in the grade book should also be exported as a .swf file and emailed to me at crubin@seq.org
4. You must be done with Unit 1 of Edutyping - I will not regrade Unit 1 after today!

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask!  

Thank you!

Luck of the Irish!

Good Morning and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While in middle and high school here in America St. Patrick's Day tends to be a day to wear all green and pinch your friends who don't, the holiday is very real and a celebration native to Ireland.  To kick off the morning today, it only seemed appropriate to spend a moment looking into the true meaning of the holiday.  For your post, share what or whom the celebration of St. Patrick's Day actually commemorates and 3 interesting/fun facts you can find about the holiday!

Thanks and we will continue with the Inside Job shortly.

CAHSEE

Good Morning and Happy Friday -

Today we are going to continue working on our Final Flash Assignment which will be due next Friday March 21st.  As you know, next week you will only be in here on Monday and Thursday/Friday due to California High School Exit Exam Testing.  For today's post please highlight the following:

1. What is the purpose of the CAHSEE?
2. What does the CAHSEE mean for you?
3. What are 3 ways that you can make sure you are as prepared as possible to do the best you can next week?

After responding to the blog, please complete Unit 2, Lesson 1.2 and then transition into working on your talking fruit/vegetable :)

Thanks!

Mr. Rubin

The Simple Post!

Good Morning and Happy Monday!  Today's blog post is simple - find an online blog on a subject you are interested in and share the blog on yours.  After including the link, tell us what the title and subject of the blog is and what you find interesting about it.  Finish off your blog by highlighting how your weekend was, did you do anything particularly fun and/or exciting? 

Thanks!  I know it's a little off topic in relation to Computer Applications and Flash but a little variety never killed anyone :)

We will begin shortly with learning how to record sound and import it into Flash.  Before doing so, however, we are on to Unit 2, lesson 1.1 in Edutyping!!

Thanks and Happy Monday!

Talky Talky!

Good Morning and Happy Wednesday!  Today we are going to FINALLY begin creating some characters and bringing them to life!  Today is going to be a very simple, relaxing start.  Your goal for today is to draw the various mouths you need in order to create a successful animation!  Ultimately, you are going to have a performing vegetable!!  We'll get there!!  Below are a few different examples of what your mouths can/should look like.  Remember to make each mouth about the same size and to name each mouth and save it as a symbol separately in your library!

Happy drawing :)

                                  






The pictures above can also be found in Schoology so that you can download and take a closer look!

Video Slideshow Due Tuesday

Good morning and happy Monday.  Today and tomorrow I will not be in class as I am attending a conference in Sacramento.  You will need to complete the slideshow that we discussed on Friday in class.  Remember, you need to include 5 pictures.  Please watch the tutorial I created on how to complete this project at http://youtu.be/gZ4a8RYFNeo or simply click play on the video located above.  My hope is that this video tutorial will help answer any questions or concerns you might have while completing the project.  You will notice in the video that I adjusted the way I searched for pictures which I think will make the project easier for you to complete.  Once you have completed the project, please post it to your blog and respond to the following questions:

1. What did you enjoy most about this project
2. What challenges did you face as you completed the project
3.  What new tools did you learn and/or have to use while completing this project

In addition to this project, please complete one lesson of edutyping each morning. That means on Monday and Tuesday you need to complete lessons 21.1 and 21.2.  Thank you, have a great couple of days, and I will see you midweek.

Preparing for the Future!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  As part of your every day life, I am sure that you are taking steps to make sure you are being successful and with that comes making some adjustments.  The same is true with the Academy program.  We want to continue to evolve to make sure that this program is as beneficial for you as possible.  With that in mind, for today's blog I am going to ask you to do the following:

1.  Please discuss all of the things that you love about the Academy.  What makes it unique, special, comfortable for you and how has it helped you be successful as a student?
2.  We will call this the constructive criticism piece which is important for anyone or anything to ever improve.  What would you like to see change about the program, how could it support you better and/or if you could make a single change in the courses, activities, structure, etc what would that be.
3.  Respond to the following set of questions, honestly, located at http://goo.gl/hVMWkc

Thank you very much!!

Following Up on Our Academy Check-In

Good Morning!!  I hope you woke up on the right side of the bed and have a bunch of energy today because some of you have your work cut out for you :)  While some of you may have already noticed, I left a number of assignments with no grade in the grade book before the progress reports were due - I'll explain why live in person today, however, those blank spots have now been filled in with a "0" indicating that the assignment has not been completed.  Today is your one and only day (90 minutes) to complete and submit those assignments.  Some have been on Schoology since the first day of the semester (I don't just post these assignments for fun) and they are still incomplete.  I have a feeling that some of you have completed these assignments but perhaps you have not successfully uploaded them to youtube and posted to your blog.  In addition, for each post, you must at minimum respond to the following questions:

1. what did you enjoy about this project?
2. what new tools did you learn from completing this project?
3. what challenges did you face as you worked on the project?

For today, here is the protocol -

1.  Find an assignment in Infinite Campus with a "0".  If the assignment is marked with an "M" for missing you may not make it up!
2.  Complete the assignment.  You can complete it using the link provided, type your responses into an email or even hand write your responses and turn it in - whatever is easiest for you!
3.  Any assignments submitted electronically, you must also complete a post it note with your name and each assignment completed.  You will hand that post it note to me at the end of the class period so that I can then check what assignments you have successfully completed.
4.  Once you have completed all of your assignments for my class, this time can/should be used to:

• Complete any/all work for your other classes

This time is dedicated to you and should be taken full advantage of!  Today is a study hall - you should be sitting in your assigned seats and should be working quietly and on your own.  I will not accept assignments from the first few weeks of school after today so assignments not completed in class that are marked with a "0" should be completed by midnight tonight.  Yesterday, some students were having trouble exporting their Flash assignments using quicktime.  If this is a problem for you, you can also export the assignment using windows (.avi) and then upload that file to youtube.  Each assignment, however, should be posted on your blog and then it needs to be noted on a yellow sticky note and handed to the substitute teacher.  Worst case scenario, if you cannot get the file on youtube, export it from Flash as a .swf file and email it to me at crubin@seq.org.

If you have any questions, concerns, etc. please be sure to email me during class so that you can move forward with your assignments and be successful!

Thank you in advance for an outstanding work period.  I will have your new, updated grades by Tuesday of next week!!  I also want to highlight that you and your 4th period classmates have work to do!  As of today I have the following grades in my grade book:

• 8 students currently have an F
• 2 students currently have a D
• 6 students currently have an C
• 5 students currently have an B
• 3 students currently have an A

With that said ... lets get to work - and please, as much as you want to help your classmates, focus on YOUR OWN work first!!!!

The Future Awaits!

Good Morning - 

Today we are going to complete our first Academy Check-in of 2014.  Please click on the following link and complete the form thoroughly and thoughtfully.  I removed some of the less pertinent questions so you could really focus on grades, attendance and planning on moving forward successfully!  The link to the questionnaire is: http://goo.gl/aU7d8d

You may want to write down some of your responses (ie. missing assignments) on a piece of paper so they are easily accessible to you.

After completing the form, please write a paragraph response on your blog that addresses the following:

• How satisfied are you with your performance this Semester?
• Are you doing your very best in school and/or where do you have room for improvement?
• What surprised you most about your grades, progress, etc as you went through Infinite Campus?
• Explain the importance of education in your opinion?  Is it very important, not important at all or somewhere in the middle?  Explain your response.
• Feel free to address anything else related to your academic progress

Thank you ... remember - your response should be a paragraph!  Not just 2 sentences.  We will discuss more upon my return!

Thanks!

Monday 2/24

Good Morning -

Today you need to complete your Flash slideshow using the 5 pictures you collected Friday...  Here are the simple steps you need to follow:

1.  Save pictures to your computer
2.  Resize the pictures to 300 pixels (height) using "Paint."  You can find it in the Start Menu
3.  Import the pictures onto 5 different layers in Flash.  Each picture must be on its own layer and must be converted to a symbol.  To import the pictures go to "file" --> "import" --> "import to stage"
4.  Once converted to a symbol, click on the picture 1 time.  A menu will appear on the side of the screen where you will need to select Alpha.  Where the picture starts, you should set the Alpha at 0 ... at the second key frame you insert (I would recommend 100 frames later, you will need to change the Alpha to 100.

This will result in each picture fading in.  The animations can be used in PowerPoint, on Websites, etc, however, you will need to upload your final animation to youtube and post it on your blog.

Thanks!!  Remember, if you finish early, complete through lesson 20.2 on Edutyping ... some of you appear to be pretty far behind!

Friday Flash Vocabulary

Good Morning -

Before moving forward with our next Flash assignment, I want to make sure we have a chance to make sure we are on the same page with terminology in flash.  I wouldn't call this a test, but I do feel it is important for us to be on the same page.  With that said, please explain each of the following Flash vocabulary terms, when you would use them and how they are helpful (or why they are important) when it comes to creating your animations - examples are appreciated where applicable:

What is a Keyframe and what is a Frame and when would you use each of these tools.
Symbol - What is it and when is it important to convert your drawings to a symbol?
Free Transform Tool - What can this tool help you do in Flash?
Line Tool - What are some special features of this tool besides being able to simply draw a line
Rectangle Tool - What can this tool be used to do.  What other tools are similar to this.
Classic Tween - Describe this tool and what it can do.  Please explain how you use it as well
Shape Tween - Describe this tool and what it can do.  Please explain how you use it as well
Classic Motion Guide - what does this tool enable you to do?
Layers - What are they and why are they important to include in your animations?
Selection Tool - What are some powerful features of this tool?
What is the Stroke and what is the Fill for every object drawn?

In addition to describing the above Vocabulary, please make sure that you have also posted both your airplane and ball bouncing down the stairs by the end of the class period today!

Our First Motion Guide and a Flying Airplane

Good Morning!!!

Today we are going to kick off the day by posting our most recent animation to our blog.  This animation will be your first created using a motion guide and should include a beuatifully drawn airplane that takes off, does a flip in the air and then lands.  Between take off and landing your plane could fly over a body of water, a city, a grassy plain, whatever your heart desires!!

After posting your animation to the blog, please respond to the regular questions which include:

1. The new tools you learned during this project (including any new tools you discovered on your own)
2. What you enjoyed most about this project
3. What challenges you faced as you created your final product!!

Thanks for posting a great animation AND for your thorough, thoughtful responses to these 3 questions!  After posting your airplane to the blog, please complete edutyping lessons 20.1 & 20.2 (oops ... it's been a couple days but we are getting close to the end of Unit 1 of Edutyping!!!)

Ball bouncing down staircase!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  I hope you have had a great morning so far.  We are about to add a whole new set of skills to our flash assignments but since I won't be here today I was going to give you a brief quiz - lucky for you, I changed my mind :) We are, however, going to work to recreate the video you see above!  This will require you to do the following today -

1.  Draw the ball and convert it to a symbol on 1 layer
2.  Draw the stairs on a separate layer.

In addition to this, I also need you to complete alledutyping lessons through 19.2 - I know some of you are already there but many of you are a bit behind!!  Don't let that drag your first progress grade down.  Also - if you want some extra credit, send a brief (3-4) sentence email to your mentor from this morning that includes the following: (1) Thanking them for taking their time to come this morning, (2) One thing that you really enjoyed about the morning and (3)  One goal you want to accomplish between now and May when you see eachother next.  Feel free to end the letter with "look forward to seeing you soon or Thank you Again." - don't forget to copy me at crubin@seq.org so I can give you credit :)

That's it for today!  Have a great Friday and a great Weekend!
Mr. Rubin

The Importance of a Resume!

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday -

Today we are going to start a project that will stick with you for the rest of your life!  That's right ... we are going to create a resume.  Regardless of whether you have started a resume, have a complete one or have never heard of one, today we are going to work together to build an outstanding resume!

For today's blog please respond to the following questions:

1. What is a resume? (feel free to do a quick online search)
2. Why is it important for everyone over the age of 15 to have a resume?
3. How can a resume help you both in school and beyond?

Thank you very much for your thoughtful responses ... now please open a blank Microsoft Word Document and/or the current resume you have started work on.

Thank you and we will get started shortly!

Sun Rising

 Our first complex assignment! I hope that you were both successful and proud of your first multi-step flash assignment. The keys to being successful with this assignment were as follows: 1. When drawing the various elements of your animation, you needed to draw them on different layers. In particular you needed the following layers:

1. Background layer (mine was a desert)
2. A road (on its own layer)
3. your car, motorcycle or other road worthy vehicle!
4. a separate layer for the wheels on your vehicle
5. A layer for your sun
6. A layer for your sky

Okay, now that you have all of those layers here are the magic instructions to make everything work:

• For the background layer, simply draw everything just the way you want it using the drawing tools.  Don't waste your time on the sky at this point
• The next best step would be to add your road (on its own layer)
• Next, on the side of the scene (or off stage) draw your car.  Remmeber your car and the wheels need to be on separate layers.
• For the wheels - Follow the same directions as the windmill assignment
• Draw your wheel
• Convert your wheel to a symbol (name it wheel)
• Double click on your wheel to open it in a new layer
• Now you will see  "wheel" next to "scene 1"
• Rotate your wheel 1/4 of a turn 4 times.  I would recommend keyframes 20,40,60,79.
• After you have completed 1 full rotation of your windmill (1 only), click back on scene 1.
• Go to "control," "test scene" and watch it move :)
• Now, put the wheels on your car highlight the whole thing using the selection tool and convert it to another symbol (call it car for example).  This will lock everything together.  Now you can simply insert keyframes and add a classic tween to make your car and wheels move together :)
• Next lets make the sky color change
• Add a layer called "sky"
• Using the rectangle tool, with dark blue for the fill color and no stroke color draw a box the size of your stage. (do not convert to a symbol)
• Insert a keyframe on your timeline (at 100 for example).  As soon as you insert the keyframe, change the color to a light blue to symbolize daylight!  Yay!  Your sky is done!
• THE SUN!
• The sun is easy ... draw your sun.  Position it where you want it to start.
• When done drawing, convert to a symbol.  
• Insert a keyframe where you want the sun to end and move the sun there.  That's it!

Remember ... you control the keyframes.  YOu can position them wherever you want!  That is part of your creative control.

Remember ... if your scene disappears when you add a keyframe, you simply need to insert a "frame" on the other layers and it will keep your drawing visible!

Posting Transformers

Good Morning.  For today's blog post I need you to post your Transformer assignment to your blog.

Be sure below your post to discuss what you enjoyed most about this project, what challenges you faced and most importantly what new tools you learned and/or used to create your final product!  Be thorough!  Thanks!

Below is a reminder on how to upload your transformers assignment so it will appear on your blog!

1. Ensure you animation is 100% complete and done to the best of your ability.
2. Go to File --> Export --> and select Export Movie
3. Save in your home drive with an appropriate file name and "Save as Type" - Quicktime (note: if a popup box appears, select export)
4. Go to your youtube account and login
5. Select upload and choose the appropriate file.  It should have a file extension .mov
6. Once uploaded, click the link where you can "view your video live"
7. View your video to make sure everything looks good.
8. Scroll down and click the tab "embed" (you may have to click on share for embed to appear)
9. Copy the embed code
10. Login to your blogger account
11. Begin a new post.  Before writing anything click in the top left where it says "HTML"
12. paste the embed code and then click back on compose.
13. Your video should be visible!!
14. Good Work!

WindMill Posted!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  For today's blog post I need you to post your Windmill assignment to your blog.  For this to be successful, before submitting please insert a "FRAME" (not keyframe) at 240 on your timeline on each layer you drew on!  This is very important.  Steps for making your windmill rotate are below:

Step 1:  Draw your windmill (the spinning portion only)
Step 2: Convert your windmill to a symbol and name it windmill
Step 3: Double click on your windmill - you have to click on some piece of the object you drew!
Step 4: Now you should see "windmill" next to "scene 1"
Step 5: Rotate your windmill 1/4 of a turn 4 times.  I would recommend keyframes 20, 40, 60 and then 78
Step 6: After you have completed a full rotation of your windmill (1 only), click back on scene 1
Step 7: Go to "Control," "Test Scene" and watch it move
Step 8: Open a new layer (or multiple layers) and begin drawing your background!  Make it fun, creative, colorful ... well ... and FUN!
Step 9: When complete, insert a frame on your timeline at 240 for every layer.  Just a frame, not a keyframe!
Step 10:  Follow the directions on the previous blog for upload instruction to youtube and then to your blog!

Be sure below your post to discuss what you enjoyed most about this project, what challenges you faced and most importantly what new tools you learned and/or used to create your final product!  Be thorough!  Thanks!

Staying on Track!

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday.  For today's blog post I need you to post your newest Flash video to your blog.  In addition to having that completed you need to discuss in your post the newest tools that you learned and used to create the 3 bouncing balls that you have posted.  Discuss what was challenging and what you like about these new tools you have used.

After posting your blog, please complete edutyping lessons 19.1 & 19.2.

Below are instructions for how to post to your blog:

1. Ensure you animation is 100% complete and done to the best of your ability.
2. Go to File --> Export --> and select Export Movie
3. Save in your home drive with an appropriate file name and "Save as Type" - Quicktime (note: if a popup box appears, select export)
4. Go to your youtube account and login
5. Select upload and choose the appropriate file.  It should have a file extension .mov
6. Once uploaded, click the link where you can "view your video live"
7. View your video to make sure everything looks good.
8. Scroll down and click the tab "embed"
9. Copy the embed code
10. Login to your blogger account
11. Begin a new post.  Before writing anything click in the top left where it says "HTML"
12. paste the embed code and then click back on compose.
13. Your video should be visible!!
14. Good Work!

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  For today's blog post you need to complete the following:

Complete your 1st animation.  This animation must include:

• 1 smiley face, 1 rotating square, 1 growing and shrinking ball and 2 other objects that move around the screen.
• You must export and post the video to your blog.
• Beneath your video, you must
• discuss two things you enjoyed about this project
• discuss the two most important things you learned about using Flash (more if applicable)
• the two greatest challenges you faced in completing this project

Thank you and Happy Friday!

Beginning Flash!!

Good Morning!!

Today we are going to continue learning about the various tools in Adobe Flash.  What did you like most about creating the square yesterday in class and making it rotate?  What did you find most challenging about that exercise?  Finally, what are you most interested in learning as we explore all of the tools accessible to you in an animation program like Flash?

Thanks for your thoughtful response...in particular, your response to the last question will help me guide our study towards things you want to learn how to do :)

Before we continue with Flash, please complete lesson 18.2 in Edutyping.

Thank you!

Welcome Back!

Good Morning and Welcome Back!!

It is hard to believe that it has been over two weeks since we have been together!  I bet you missed me :)  In any case, I wanted to start off the morning with a quick recap of your break!  How was it?  What did you do?  What was the highlight?  What is one reason you are excited to be back at school?

As a second part to today's post, as you know around the world as the New Year kicks off, people take an opportunity to examine themselves, their lifestyle and goals and are able to focus on how they would like to make a difference starting with yourself in the new year!  Did you make a New Years Resolution?  What are you committed to doing in your life in 2014 and how will it help you be happier, more successful, a better person, etc.  On a secondary level perhaps, what are some goals that you have set for yourself for the second half of the 2014 school year?  Perhaps bad habits you want to break, things you want to do better, goals you want to achieve, etc!  It's a new year, be realistic but dream big :)

Lets kick off the year right with a thorough thoughtful response addressing all parts of the prompt!  Thank you and Happy New Year! :)