Oct. 31

What I worked on today also relates to TEKS 18G and 18H. These TEKS require a student to manage time in order to meet deadlines and to complete work according to established criteria. I learned today that important points should be emphasized in presentations by being repeated three times, three times, THREE times. Also, I learned that text on presentations should be 30 pt. at the smallest.

Happy Halloween!!!

Today I tweaked my presentation some more. I changed all the text to size 30 and practiced the talk that will go with each slide. I think I'll have Mister Bjerke check mine again, just to be sure. Today's work relates to TEKS requirement 17B; describing various careers involving computer technology - the subject of my presentation.

I cannot wait for to trick-or-treating!

The Day Before Halloween

Today I added the finishing touches to my first presentation. (I added the insight slide and some pictures for the hook.) I learned more about presentation formatting and got to practice changing slide order and adding slides. What I did today relates to section 15-A; preparing technical reports and presentations. Tomorrow I am wearing my halloween costume... I cannot wait!

Oct. 29

Today I worked on my PowerPoint. This gave me some good practice with changing background color and other general aspects of formatting. Mr. Bjerke came and checked our presentations; I need to work on the structure a bit, but mine is pretty much finished. What I did today relates to the TEKS requirement 2E; using computer technology to record, locate, analyze, present, and exchange information. Also, requirement 15A is relative to today's work; preparing technical reports and presentations.

10/26/07

Today I worked on my presentation. I decided to start over completely because I had to change it so much. I'll have to work on it this weekend... grr. What I did today relates to the same TEKS requirements that I used yesterday and the day before. Creating this PowerPoint meets the requirement that students should complete their work according to established criteria and should prepare technical reports and presentations.

10/25/07

Today we're taking notes on presentation format. I'll be changing my PowerPoint today... I have to choose a better font and rewrite the information in bulleted format. I also have to fix the margins and positioning of the text on the slides. What I'll be doing today relates to the TEKS requirement that students should complete their work according to established criteria and should prepare technical reports and presentations.

10/25/07

Today we're taking notes on presentation format. I'll be changing my PowerPoint today... I have to choose a better font and rewrite the information in bulleted format. I also have to fix the margins and positioning of the text on the slides. What I'll be doing today relates to TEKS section 18(H); completing work according to established criteria. Also, this relates to TEKS section 15(A); preparing technical reports and presentations.

10/24/07

Today I imported my finished powerpoint onto the computer and saved it into my H-drive. Then, we took notes on how to make better presentations using PowerPoint. I learned from Mr. Bjerke's presentation that most of the information on a slide should be on the upper part of the page and that you should have at least 50% contrast between your text and background colors. I learned that you should have 1" margins (at least) on all four sides of the slide and that your font should have consistent line thickness (and should not be too thin), be around size 40, and be sans-serifs. I was also reminded that slides should NOT contain complete sentences. I will be altering my presentation quite a bit. What we did today relates to the TEKS requirements that students should complete their work according to established criteria and should prepare technical reports and presentations.

10/23/07

Today I worked on my powerpoint. I'm almost finished, but I'll have to work on it tonight. Mainly what I have to do now is find the pictures for the presentation. (I think all the information is on it already.) What I did today relates to the TEKS requirement that says students must use computer technology to record, locate, analyze, present, and exchange information.

Maker Faire

My favorite part of Maker Faire was the craft area. They had a focus mainly clothing and bags, and this area inluded the Swap-o-Rama where you could bring in your own clothes and take what other people brought.

Swap - O - Rama
clothing exchange














Stitch Demo













One demo that I watched at Maker Faire was at the Stitch booth. The person there was talking about different ways to transfer patterns or drawings onto fabric for embroidering. She mentioned that graphite paper worked well on most fabrics and that white graphite paper was good for especially dark fabrics. You use these papers to trace your design onto your stitching surface and they, unlike some other mediums used for this purpose, usually do not leave unwanted smears on your fabric. Also, she talked about different types of backing that you can place on the inside of stretchy fabric to make it an easier surface to embroider. (There are lots of different types - some stay on permanently, others you peel off after you've finished stitching. There are also different thicknesses; she recommended a somewhat thin type.)

Recycled plastic bag backpacks at a craft booth














Screenprinting Demo














Also in the craft area, there was a really cool screen-printing demonstration. They had a selection of prints and ink colors to choose from and blow dryers set up so that you could dry the print on your clothing before leaving.

Green Cars














Another neat part of the Maker Faire were the green/environmentally-friendly cars. There was a whole area devoted to alternative vehicles.

Art Cars














There was also a lot full of art cars. My two favorites were the Cameravan and the YarnCar.
There was also a car covered in astroturf, one decorated with sculpted metal, one covered with snowballs, one painted to look like bricks, etc.

CameraVan














YarnCar





























Bike-Music Sculpture














One last thing that I saw was a sculpture made of a bike with metal funnels attached on each end. It had strings attached on the front end and different music boxes attached to the other. The metal funnels projected the music pretty loudly when you plucked a string or turned a music box. It was a very interesting and unique piece of art.

Overall, Maker Faire was a cool experience... I'll probably try to go again next time!

10/22/07 - Chris Jordan photography

What do these pictures represent?
These pictures represent the huge levels of consumption in the U.S. They show the problems that the country is having with overusing resources.
What do these images convey to us?
These images convey to us that Americans are not reusing enough and are not taking care of their environment. (They show the wasteful habits and culture of the U.S.)
How are these images supposed to make us feel?
These images are supposed to make us feel concern for the damage we have all contributed to and make us realize that we are too wasteful. I think that the photos are supposed to spark an interest in consuming less and being environmentally friendly, but do so by shocking us and showing the impact that each person has depending on how they use and dispose of products and resources.
Why do you think that the artist chose to create these photographs?
I think the artist created these photographs as a call to action for the people in America. I think he meant to show people their own wastefulness and remind, or inform, them of the impact that results in people's behavior as consumers.
How hard do you think that it was to create the photos?
I think that it would've been fairly difficult to create the photos. Some of the photos seem to be unaltered, but some appear to have been altered or created using computer technology to show specific facts.

Spend about 15 minutes writing about one picture, and describe the problem that you think that it represents.
The pictures of the huge piles of cell phones that have been discarded is very strong. The fact that 426,000 cell phones are discarded in the U.S. every day is really upsetting. These pictures and this specific fact really inspire me to reuse instead of buy new. These pictures demonstrate the gross consumption in the U.S. and the idea that people are being extremely wasteful. Specifically, these show that huge numbers of people get rid of their phones every day to replace them with newer or better ones. This shows America's materialistic quality as well.

Possible solutions for this problem:

• Recycle old cell phone parts
• Reuse phones (hand down phones)
  
• Repair phones when broken instead of buying new
• Make less new phones so that reuse is the easier option
  

10/19/07

Microsoft PowerPoint, Open Office Impress, and IBM Symphony Presentations

Microsoft PowerPoint - Microsoft PowerPoint is a tool to create professional looking presentations and slide shows. PowerPoint allows you to construct presentations from scratch or by using the wizard
Open Office Impress - presentation software for free office software OpenOffice which has suites comparable to those of Microsoft Office
IBM Symphony Presentations - allows end users to create graphic presentations that can be shared with audiences via a slide show mode. The presentations created by Lotus Symphony Presentation software can be created from scratch or using the included presentation templates for a variety of looks

All of these programs are software used to create presentations. All of them use slide-show format to do this. The main difference between these programs are which company runs them and their set-up on the screen.

MLA Standard - Discussion

My partner was Juliet. We discussed the fact that MLA essays were probably intended to be longer than ours were. However, we both generally used the correct format for the heading, body, and bibliography of the essay. The TEKS added at the end were also not part of the MLA format (the works cited page is supposed to be last), but this part was altered specifically for the project. Her essay had a few extra spaces above and below the title, but other than that her paper was spaced correctly.

10 Requirements for a Presentation

1. Relevant to the assigned topic
2. Have information from several sources
3. Have a bibliography
4. Formatted in a manner that is fairly easy for the audience to read
5. Include relevant visuals
6. Use at least 2 real pictures (not just clipart)
7. All information should be on-topic and appropriate
8. Make it interesting
9. Have a minimum of 5 slides
10. Include details and examples of things you mention in your slides

10/18/07

Today I helped check mla essays to help people with their format. I also started my first presentation for tomorrow. I'm using the information from my essay and putting it into Powerpoint. Tomorrow I need to find some pictures for examples to go with the text. What I did today relates to the TEKS requirement for creating reports and presentations.

10/17/07

Today I finished my mla essay. I added the TEKS section to the end and checked over my work. There were a few formatting things I had to fix, but I finished most of it last night. What I did relates to part 6, section D of the TEKS; using a variety of computer resources to complete a project. Tomorrow I'll start my first presentation.

Quiz - 10/16/07

1. What are three things that you are doing in class right now?
Three things I am doing in class right now are writing an MLA essay, using blogger.com daily, and learning how to use different computer resources such as google reader and gmail.

2. What is your paper about?
My paper is about careers that involve both art and technology. I am mainly focusing on textile design, graphic design, and photography in this essay.

3. Why do you think that we are writing these papers? (your opinion is not relevant to the response, you need to explain the cause or reason)
I think that we are writing these papers to identify and explain roles of computer technology, as the TEKS requires. Also, this project requires us to record, locate, analyze, present, and share information as well as use a variety of computer resources. Also, again as TEKS requires, we select and sequence proper resources to gather data for this essay.

4. Name five things that define MLA standards.
Five things that define MLA standards are 1-inch margins on all sides, one space after punctuation, headers on each page with your last name and the page number, a works cited page at the end of your paper, and the writing printed onto standard white, 8.5 by 11 in. paper.

5. Why do you think that we are using MLA standards?
I think that we are using MLA standards because it is commonly used and easy to read. Also, this format gives specific directions for bibliography. This format apparently also makes plagiarism less likely to occur.

6. What two parts were added to your paper yesterday?
The two parts added to our paper yesterday were a bibliography and a section called 'TEKS' in which you list at least 3 (5 at the most) TEKS that apply to your paper.

7. What have you learned in the last week?
In the last week I have learned how to use the MLA format and the online writer Zoho. I have also learned some about the programs used in different types of art/technology careers.

8. What is one thing (be specific) that you want to learn in the next week.
One thing I want to learn in the next week is what our class economy for community service credits is.

9. What one thing do you think is the most important thing to keep in mind when you begin creating a presentation to give to the class:?
The one thing I think is most important to keep in mind when you begin creating a presentation to give to the class is to include information that is both interesting and important(relevant to the class).

10. What is one thing that you did not understand in the last two weeks (be specific)?
One thing I did not understand in the last two weeks was how to create headers that had different numbers for the pages in my paper on them. ( But I did figure it out.)

Oct. 15, 2007

Today I researched more for my art/technology essay and started writing it. I got the basics of the first two paragraphs finished, but I'll have to work on them some tonight and start the others. I learned that textile designers often use Adobe PhotoShop to design fabrics. Plus, I learned the general format of an mla essay. What I did today relates to the part of TEKS that requires students to know about CAD systems (which graphic and textile designers use) and that requires students to use different technology resources to complete projects.

October 12, 2007

Remember:
Documentation Management Blog
Class calander

Today I sent the job list for 1st period to Mr. Bjerke. I learned how to create my email signature and updated my blog subscriptions. This relates to the part of the TEKS that requires you to follow instructions; Section 7, part B. Also, I researched a bit more for my project... I decided that I am also going to talk about textile design in my essays and presentations. This project is part of the TEKS that requires students to identify and describe the roles of computer technology.

Oct. 11, 2007

Today I worked on my outline for my mla essay. (Last night there was too much homework to work on it!) Creating this outline is an example of the TEKS requirement of creating a plan to finish a project. I ended up having to put off creating the class economy until tomorrow. Right now I have to rush to complete the last bit of my outline before class ends!

October 10, 2007

Today I have been researching jobs that use technology to create art. I've been trying to find some background information on things like graphic design and video game design, but it has been hard to find things that describe the careers instead of offering classes or programs that teach them. I have been doing section 6, part D - using many different computer resources for a project. For the MLA standard essay I found a website that explains the format: mla formatting I'm probably going to try to finish, or at least work on, my outline tonight. Tomorrow I hope to work on my documentation management log and duties. (I think that tomorrow we'll be developing the class economy.)

October 9, 2007

Today I am going to work on an outline for my project and create a log for my job as a document manager. I'm probably going to do my project on either solving community problems with technology, with a mostly environmental focus, or art careers in technology. Todays task relates to section 2, part D of the TEKS - identifying roles of computer technology - and section 9, part B - developing a plan in order to complete a project.

In Period 1 the job list is:

Community Service Credit Accountant –

1) Joe Bass

Back up – Lex Ervin

Cleaning, Inspection, and maintenance –

1) Ben Knaplund

2) James

3) Seana

4) ? Tyler

5)

6)

Timekeeping –

1) Megan

Back up – Sophie

Planning and Resource Management –

1) Ben Zein

2) Juliet

Back up

1. Tyler

2. ? Evette

Waypoint and Project Review –

1) Rondo

2)

3)

Back up –

Asset Management and Inventory –

1) Alicia

2)

Back up –

Email Support –

1)

Back up –

Hardware Support –

1) Mohammad

2)

Back up –

Application Support –

1)

Back up –

Wiki Support –

1)

2)

Back up –

Attendance –

1) Mohammad

Back up –

1.

2.

Delivery –

1) Victoria

Back up –

Greeting, Passes, Badges –

1) Merie

Back up –

Duty Management –

1) Mariano

Back up –

1. Quinten

2. Byron

Documentation Management –

1) Joe Martinez

2) Charlotte Dennis

3) Justin

Back up –

Mr. Bjerke - my blog is not on the list!

Computer Applications

Name: Charlotte Dennis
Period:1