Thursday, January 31, 2013

Animation: Week 3 Assignment

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Free iPad Apps for Education (1/28/13 listing)

The following educational iOS apps are free today (Monday 1/28/13). Items in italics are newly free today. Download the apps as soon as possible as they can go to paid status at any time.
Once you download a free app, you'll enjoy its free price forever. For example, a paid app that you download today for free will remain free when you re-download it in the future, even if its price has gone back to paid. So, if you think you might ever want a particular free app, even if you don't need it right away, go ahead and download it while it's free, wait 24 hours, and then delete it from your device. You'll always own the app as free after that.
Art/Creativity
ELA
ESL
Foreign Language
Interactive Books
Math
Music
PE/Sports
Photography
Preschool/Primary
Productivity
Science
Social Studies
Special Needs
Teacher
Miscellaneous
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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

My Logo

"Bright ideas by CoCo" Logo
I wanted to limit it to 2 or 3 colors for contrast against black and white.
I close a bright blue and a yellow (primary colors) and left off the red since it felt a bit much.
I also wanted to play up my self description of being "bright" and idealistic so my main graphic is a light bulb. It is a play on the idea of something. being bright and that in comics and cartoon, the light buld appearing represents an idea.
The filament in the bulb is my nickname CoCo as it represents me as the object of being the source of bright ideas.  I obtained a new font called Comical Smash because it had the look of the letters being alive with electricity. Also my nickname looks incredibly like filament wires with their coils and curves. I just wanted to keep the whole thing very simple.
This is just the simple logo without my name or tag line added.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Personal Branding Reflections


When do/should we start teaching students about self branding?
Students should start self branding as soon as they can create a mark or sign their name. Self branding are simple statements of ability, style and awareness. They show how a student identifies them self in terms of what they can do.
    What concepts about branding are important to teach?
Brand image is the current opinion about a brand. It can be defined as a unique bundle of associations within the minds of prospective customers..  Your brand should reflect your beliefs about yourself and what you stand for.
    What strategies would you use to teach students about the concept of branding?
Brainstorming: Make a list of adjectives that describes the product.  Focus on a few of qualities of the product that you want known.
Critiquing: Allow the students to consider the impressions of some well-known brands popular with their age group. Have them to make a list of adjectives with each brand presented, and then afterwards, sit down to compare and contrast the words used to describe the impressions those brands leave.
    How can branding be used in an educational environment?
Branding can be a way for a student to self-promote and take pride in their work. It can also be used to promote competition among individual and among groups. Identities can be elevated when students are operating under the banner of a positive brand.
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Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Visit from Lamar University!

Friday, (1-18-2013) I was happy to host 2 Lamar University Professors at my school, W.R. Smith Sr. Science & Medical Technology Middle School.
 Dr. K. Abernathy (EDLD prof) and Dr. D. Sisk (Conn Chair for GT studies) came to see what technology we were adapting in our 1:1 implementation of iPads for students. My school is the first in Beaumont ISD (TX) to attempt this thanks to receiving the TIPPS grant from the state. I got a chance to update the good doctors on my action plan (creating and sustaining a teacher training program for implementing technology in the classroom). Our new additions for every classroom include SMARTboards, digital projectors with HDMI, LadiBug Document cams (dc125), teacher ipads and 550 student iPads. The school also purchased 3 HDMI monitors to create and run an in-school informational stream and student newscast.
Picture is me (the tall one in the back), Dr. Abernathy (right), Jimica Smith (center) [7th grade magnet student] and  Dr. Sisk (left) in the Range Room (my office & teacher training room at Smith MS).
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Teaching Tool Using C. R.A.P. (design elements)


For this assignment, I used clip art graphics to create a collage poster for the five senses. I wanted the design clean and basic, making it appropriate for the elementary and middle school classrooms. The way I utilized contrast was to create soft edges on the clipart, and giving it a soft glow of color instead of hard lines. I was trying to be clever in my repetition. At the top of the poster, I represented the 5 senses in pictures, and underneath the five senses are given in word form. At the bottom is the title, so actually you get 3 doses of the main idea. Because many people are visual learners, I decided to align my poster from top to bottom with the pictures at the very top. The words are aligned in the center, but I changed the sizes of the words so that your eye would fall to the title of the poster at the bottom. This is leading to my proximity decision of clustering the photos together, then flowing my words together away from the photos. I created the main section of my poster with the postermywall app, and put that over a background frame in Microsoft word. I also signed my digital signature in the upper right hand corner in case anyone was wondering what that mark of red was.
Citation for used clipart:
Microsoft Office (2010)[Computer Software]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft
(APA style does not require a citation for use of clipart, but does recommend that you credit the software when you make a handout)
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The Bedford Hours - design analysis of ancient book


My initial impression of the Bedford Hours inclined me to think that this book was probably a sacred text or holy book of some sort due to the decorative nature and intense embellishments. Every element of design can be found in this book. CONTRAST really stands out in the coloring of the pictures. The white page is the perfect backdrop to the bold colors of the illustrations. Within these illustrations, some of the figures are given golden halos or crowns to mark their importance. Within the text, certain words of importance are in red, while the rest of the text is standard black on white paper.
REPETITION is standard in the font and how the illustrations are framed to draw your eye to the center of the page.  The color schemes throughout the book is also a good use of repetition as red, blue, green and plum are the dominant colors. The ALIGNMENT is also impressive considering that all the text and illustrations are the result of a meticulous hand instead of the use of any machine. The text is aligned with the spine of the book and all of the captions appear directly under the illustrations. The PROXIMITY of the illustrations versus the decoration is reflective of the time period. The key images and text are framed near the center. Although the author fills most of the spaces with decoration (a key feature for illuminated text), the key pictures are boldly centered and are in close proximity to the center.
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