Taking a moment to reflect...

This week, I am taking a few moments to remember what I have and how lucky I am to be a citizen of the United States.  As U.S. citizens, we often take for granted the rights and privileges  that come with being born here.  Of course, the rights and freedoms that we have come to take for granted did not come easily; they were earned over the last 250+ years with a lot of blood and sweat and tears.

Each day, soldiers are injured and die in the performance of duty.  They are on guard to protect our freedoms.  They go where they are told, and they do it for pay that doesn't compensate enough for separation from their families and "normal" life.  United States military veterans are everyday heroes who serve people that don't always appreciate them and who fight for causes that they don't always understand or agree with.  They train year round to be ready to protect us at a moments notice.  They are patriotic, and they are proud.  They are our friends, our neighbors, our family members.  They are all around us, so you know a veteran or a current service member.  This week, say thanks in some way.  Tell a veteran that you appreciate their service, and take a few minutes to think about how fortunate you are to be a U.S citizen.

Bragging Rights

Today I had the opportunity to brag on the students in my Globaloria classroom.  I always love a chance to show off what we are doing and talk about it to someone outside of Globaloria!  The truth is, this is an exciting class and an exciting chance for all of us (students and teachers alike).

As students, you are used to having a teacher that knows all of the answers to your questions.  In this class, when students have a question, I have to ask you if you have read the assignments on the classroom wiki, and if you have googled for tutorials where you can find the answer.  There are so many resources out there available for your use in answering Flash questions.  I know this process is frustrating for you!  I have heard your comments about my not teaching and about my not knowing Flash.  You should understand that as a teacher, this is frustrating and scary for me, too!  I wish I had all of the answers, but that would change this whole class.

Remember during the first week of class when we watched the Did You Know Video about how much technology is changing, and we decided in class that day that we would have to change the way that we learn and work in order to keep pace with the rest of the world?  This class is teaching you to change the way you learn and work!  As the teacher, I am your guide, but I do not have an endless supply of knowledge about Flash or about online tools that I can dump from my mind into yours.  The ONLY way for you to learn how to use this software is for you to problem solve and work through the games you are developing.  (And YES, you do have to read the wiki lessons!!)  The wiki is there to guide you, I am here to guide you, you have endless resources on the classroom wiki, the knowledge area wiki, online at Adobe TV or other web 2.0 resources, with your classmates, and at the Globaloria Help Desk.

I hope that when you leave this class, the one thing you have learned is that you don't need a TEACHER to teach you, you can teach yourself to do anything, if you have the right tools!  That will give you and I both bragging rights... I can tell everyone to pay attention to my great students at RTC, and you can say, "Hey, look what I've learned, and I learned it on my own!"

Adding scenes and buttons

Your game demo is coming along and taking shape through adding scenes and adding buttons.  Remember, the point of the game demo is not the finished game, but to show everyone what your game will be like when it is finished.  It is a paper prototype made more interactive and informative.  As you add each scene or button, you should be uploading each step to your team page, and to your "My Projects" page.

You will find the pages that should be in your game demo within the adding scenes wiki page, under step 2, adding scenes to your game demo.  These scenes do not have to be actual scenes from your game, they can have other backgrounds.  The actual frames should be: 

Frame 1 - Game Intro (the first scene you already created)
Frame 2 - Team Intro (introduce the members of your team)
Frame 3 - Audience (who would be playing your game)
Frame 4 - Game Play (what kind of gameplay will be involved)
Frame 5 - Learning Goal (what should be learned from your game)
Frame 6 - Fun Factor (what will make your audience want to play your game)
Frame 7 - Smart Factor (what will demonstrate learning in your game)
Frame 8 - Style Factor (describe the look of your game)
Frame 9 - Originality Factor (what will make your game unique)
Frame 10 - Title Scene (the first scene a player sees)
Frame 11 - Instruction Scene (introduce the characters and rules of your game)
Frame 12 - Primary Scene (the first playable scene of your game)

Once you have compiled this information, added input buttons, animation, keyboard movement, mouse movement, and sound, you will be ready to present your game idea!  We will be making presentations BEFORE Thanksgiving Break!

Are we changing direction in the middle of the journey?

This week, we added an assignment of a video blog to the paper prototyping assignment.  It was exciting (and fun--you have to admit it!) to do, and for me to watch you all do.  This assignment was an addition that we weren't expecting and most of you protested having to do it.  In the end though, I think that everyone saw that the assignment had a good purpose.  This was the first time that each of you will be recorded on video, and it is good practice for your game demo presentation which will be coming up next month.  With just a few practice runs on this video, everyone had a pretty successful taping!

Finishing prototyping & moving on to designing your game

Paper prototypes were due to be posted to team pages this week, and most teams seem to be on track with that assignment.  It is so exciting to finally be able to see the artistic side of some of my students! 

Some of you are starting to realize just how much work will be involved in creating the games that you have decided on.  I have talked with one team about working with a Globaloria intern who was a student from a previous semester to help with coding of your game.  Some are watching online tutorials, and others have just begun to think about what coding a game will involve.  As we move into the next couple of weeks, I think this will be the most exciting time for you until getting your demo done, and then getting your game fully functional. 

Remember as you are working through your game, your most valuable assets in completion of your game are online!  The wiki has resources/links to pages in the help section including flash tips and numerous other places you can go for help in coding.  Adobe TV has CS4 tutorials that should be helpful.  When you run into a problem, become a problem solver.  Google your question, ask your classmates, or look to the West Virginia Globaloria community to find answers!

Where are you at?

This morning I realized that there are only 4 weeks left until the end of the first nine weeks!  With all of the things going on at EHS and even here at RTC, we have been busy just trying to keep up and catch up with our course schedule.  I want all of you to know that I have learned so much from the beginning of this course until now, I am working at the same frantic pace that all of you are!  When you are considering what your game topics are going to be and how you are going to put your idea on paper for the prototype, I am also trying to figure out how to do grading, how to help each one of you with the issues that you are having on a a daily basis, and still working on the "mysterious" things that teachers do every day.

What I'm trying to get across to you is this:  Think for a few minutes about what a unique experience this class is!  I am not the expert, I am a guide that is intended to help you discover how to learn in a different and exciting way.  What other class can you say that about?  Is there any other classroom where you feel like you are a peer with the teacher?  I hope that is the way that you feel in Game Design, because that is the way it is meant to be, the way that the Globaloria team designed this learning experience.  After all, you are all here in the Technical Center as a choice--many of you because you think that the best way to learn is to DO.  There is a lot of DOING going on in this class, and much more to follow!

Parent Teacher Conferences and other fantastic happenings

I met many of your parents tonight and talked about several of you!  What did we talk about, what did each parent want to know?  "How is my kid doing in class?"  The thing is, you are all capable of making an A in this class.  For those of you who are not hitting that mark, I had to think of the reason why to be able to tell your parents.  Those reasons varied, but most of them included the fact that I have to remind each of you focus on your assignments each day.  Truly, though, that is what I want, for each of you to make an above average grade in this class.

So, tell me... What does it take for you to succeed and make an A or a B in Game Design?  How can you earn an above average grade in this Globaloria/Game Design class?  Think about the tools you have been given to help you succeed, all of the time you have used (wisely or otherwise), and all of the resources you have online.  A couple of weeks ago, we talked about these things.  Give me one sentence, right here as a comment, each one different... hurry, you don't want to be last!