Why 2013 is the best class EVER

This morning as I was greeting the students who came in to the lab, we were chatting about how much school they have left this year. I told them that I remember last summer when they were fresh out of middle school and still a little uncertain (even if they were pretending not to be) about heading off to high school and about what being in ITA would be like. But now, they have done their Many Uses of Computers camp last summer, so they can identify parts of a computer and they can make power point presentations; they have had a graphics design unit, either in Illustrator or Photoshop, so they can create and manipulate images for electronic media; and they have had a semester of web design, so they are familiar with html code and css design. They know a lot! They also have a lot of useful, hands-on, personal experience using software that most high school students their age are probably not even aware of. They are visibly more confident and relaxed (and taller) than they were last summer. I am impressed with them. They have worked hard all year and it has been a pleasure to be their instructor.

Today we started the day with a few minutes to finish up some things they need to fix for their Behind the Wheel project. AJ had evaluated their projects and saved some comment sheets for each team. They got right to work. Then they had 25 minutes to do a road test where they were required to build a  website when they were given the necessary files to do so.

Then, after a short break we went upstairs to join AJ for an introduction to Vegas Video camp. AJ did a great job of getting the students excited about what they can do this summer with video camp.

AJ talked to us about ways to plan a good movie and showed us a music video he made. Then I reviewed the design principles with everyone. Then AJ had the students identify props used in his video. This allowed the students to discuss and identify various elements that make up a movie. Then students brainstormed movie ideas.

AJ did a really great job of getting the students excited about what they can do this summer with video camp.