1. Students gathered together in the classroom and we discussed the progress of their animation practice. Students will have to hand in an animation video next Friday, February 8. It has to be an animation of a figure or some object that seems to move across the page. We talked about how it would be evaluated based on the obvious Art-related areas: creativity, fluidity of motion, care taken/attention to detail, completed project of no less than 150 photo frames.
2. They were given their next project, though they can still choose to work during class time to complete the last one until it is due. The due date for the second project will be Friday, February 15. Again it has to be submitted in video form, with no less than 150 photo frames as well. There are two differences with this project:
   1. For this one, there is to be no object shown moving across the page. This, instead, will be a scene or words / poetry / symbols that appear on the screen as the artist draws them but pictures are taken between the small steps of the drawing. It is very much like the “First Try” video I made and shared with the class.
   2. The second difference is that they are to use a different medium for this project. They can either use charcoal or pastels to add an extra texture to the drawing. With charcoal, the mood created would likely be a dark, moody one but pastels would allow for a lighter mood. One of the major focuses with this project is that their animation (the words, drawings etc) draws a strong emotional response from the viewer. In the same way that an author uses words to create a tone in their writing, the students had to plan in advance of their work for which tone they want to create and then plan how they would accomplish it.

Today was a planning day for many students as some forgot their cameras.

The plan for the method to hand in their animations is to use the Windows Media Player program that is on all the computers in the school. When they are completed,they can copy it into the Hand In box on the main server for the school where I have a folder with my name on it. All students can access this folder and I’ll be able to easily receive their projects.

1. For those students who braved the cold weather and made it to school, they were able to get ahead of others by spending their class time working on art-based projects they’ve had on the go.

1. Students were ready and eager at the start of class to get to the library to continue the projects they are working on or begin new ones with alternative spins and approaches. One student took another step, during some down time, and created a quick animation with a rubber band that bounced along the hand-drawn bumpy road he drew on the page. It is great to see how creative they can be with such a simple idea and I’m especially impressed that so many are trying projects of their own at home with alternate materials. Everyone’s making their own mini movies!! It’s great!

1.  Students spread out again in the library today to continue their efforts in creating short stop animation videos by using pencil and paper. Some realized their batteries had run out so we are experiencing those kinds of set-backs but you have to be patient when we’re relying on technology so much with this! I’m really pleased with how much interest seems to be involved with this. Keep it up!

1. We are going to make some stop animation videos and have a good idea of several types and formats we can proceed with. However, we looked at and discussed some of the common problem areas we would like to avoid, such as a choppy animation or one done with poor camera recordings. We talked it through and came up with a plan of action, which will begin on Monday.
2. Everyone seems to be fairly confident that they will either have a camera at their disposal to use for their project or be able to borrow one. Our next class it Monday and it would be a fairly long class that day if you’re unable to participate. 
3. I was very pleased to see that Nicola has already experimented with a stop animation project that she began the other day after class! She said she finished it last night and showed it to everyone, still on her digital camera. She cut out pieces of paper and created movement by moving the paper pieces, instead of with sketches. It was very well done and showed a lot of creativity! I am looking forward to what other projects the kids will be starting soon!!

1. Students got their books out and open right away as I walked by to check that they had completed their questions from yesterday. We discussed their answers and veared off on a few extra topics that came up as a result of some of their responses. They had great answers and it was clear they put a fair amount of thought into the topic. Issues like the fact that some countries have to restrict the amount of babies born, as they have a limit to their resources, so decisions about keeping children or giving them up to orphanages or killing them at birth are options for these people from certain cultures. What sounds unthinkable to us can be a traditional reality for others.
2. I read a dialogue out to students that they followed on their handout titled “Why Care?” We talked, they reflected and wrote responses, and then shared some.
3. There are several ways to get involved if you have concerns about the way our environment is being treated or decisions people or governments are making. One such way of being involved is by voicing your opinion through literature and music. We began looking at one and will continue tomorrow with another. 

This is an article posted online that says the rise in deformities among babies in China is attributed to their polution level. What do you think of this? Leave a comment below…

1. Students came in and listened patiently to my review of basic rules for classroom behavior, expectations, and procedures. They were curious, though, about the “mystery project” as indicated by the daily agenda on the board. I didn’t keep them waiting too long.
2. We watched several videos about animation that used different mediums, allowed us to see the difference between smooth animation and choppy, and gave us ideas of different types of drawing techniques to use. We stopped several of the videos part way through to discuss their observations (why do you think the artist chose to use charcoal for this particular animation – dark tone with the smears and smudges, etc) and to point out specific techniques to the animation and allow students to watch for it to see its effect (drawing shadows of the next movement before you actually draw the movement allows for smooth transitions between frames without as many frames themselves). 
3. Students weighed in on their thoughts about the project and then got right to starting their storyboards. We’ll continue Thursday!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/imrIlUngOUM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] Here's a great example of what we'd like to do.