Mr Kingston's

Education systems across the United States have failed over and over whenever they allow the students to “get by;” raise the bar, raise the standards and students will soar. Lower them…give ‘em an extra chance…make an exception “this” time…make everybody “feel good” even if they don’t perform well…give them candy for doing what they are supposed to do…this is the formula for failure.

http://danjohn.net/100reps/

Term 1 for Year 11 Multimedia students at North Lakes State College is a Photoshop task.  Photoshop is an image manipulation program and is the Industry standard program for such tasks.

It doesn't take long for students to remember how the Photoshop program works because Photoshop has already been used in Year 8 and Year 10.  New students need to catchup on Photoshop basics by watching the tutorial video located on the school's network drive.  I encourage students to mimic the tutorial in Photoshop while they watch it.  This may mean a couple of lessons dedicated to Photoshop revision but it is ultimately worth it.

The task for students in Term 1 is to create a cd/dvd album cover, back cover and cd/dvd insert and a series of advertisements designed for use on a website.  The website is created by students in Terms 2.  However, before students create their advertisements they need to create their own original band/artist.

Students are also introduced to a variety of persuasive techniques and will examine and dissect a range of advertisements in class.  Their subsequent knowledge of advertising techniques will enbale students to disect and analyse their own advertisements.  This is the final aspect of the task.  Students are required to complete a journal detailing how their adverts were created, what techniques they used and finally reflect on the unit and their own performance.

Homework is ongoing and task related.  Students should source images at home rather than spending valuable time in class on the internet.  Students can also source Photoshop tutorials online and access Youtube tutorials at home.  Students should spend as much time in class as possible using the CS5 suite of applications.

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Term 1 for Year 10 Multimedia students at North Lakes State College has them revisiting Photoshop.  Photoshop is an image manipulation program and is the Industry standard program for such tasks.

It doesn't take long for students to remember how the Photoshop program works because Photoshop has already been used in Year 8.  New students need to catchup on Photoshop basics by watching the tutorial video located on the school's network drive.  I encourage students to mimic the tutorial in Photoshop while they watch it.  This may mean a couple of lessons dedicated to Photoshop revision but it is ultimately worth it.

The task for students in Term 1 is to create a series of advertisements designed for use on a website.  The website is created by students in Terms 2.  However, before they create their advertisements students need to create their own original brand and also choose a product.  There are specific categories of products students need to choose from.  The categories include a deoderant, snow wear equipment, a personal digital device, a breakfast cereal or a shoe.

Students are also introduced to a variety of persuasive techniques and will examine and dissect a range of advertisements in class.  Their subsequent knowledge of advertising techniques will enbale students to disect and analyse their own advertisements.  This is the final aspect of the task.  Students are required to complete a journal detailing how their adverts were created, what techniques they used and finally reflect on the unit and their own performance.

Homework is ongoing and task related.  Students should source images at home rather than spending valuable time in class on the internet.  Students can also source Photoshop tutorials online and access Youtube tutorials at home.  Students should spend as much time in class as possible using the CS5 suite of applications.

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Year 11 students of Social and Community studies at North Lakes State College focus on teenage issues in term 1.  The unit is designed to highlight key teenage issues and educate students about not only the dangers involved but also methods to deal with problems that arise from these issues.  Issues include Body Image, Drug & Alcohol Awareness and Bullying among others.

Resources for the unit include government fact sheets, videos, advertisements and guest speakers.  Class discussions on each topic will also be utilised throughout the unit.

The assessment for the unit is threefold.  Observational data will be coupled with the results from a pamphlet and a group presentation.  Task sheets for the assesment should be handed out by week five.

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This is a list of best practice I came up with for using Flash in a classroom.  North Lakes State College Multimedia students helped me to compile the ideas here, so kudos to them too.

1.  Copy Clickme.fla to your Drive.  Paste it into your Flash folder.  This way you don’t have to navigate the network drive every time you want to open Flash.

2.  Save Often (Ctrl+S).  Save before every Ctrl-Enter and every ten minutes.

3.  Save Backups.  At the end of every lesson save your work to your My Documents folder and then copy your Flash folder to your USB Drive.

4.  Save Iterations.  This means if your file gets corrupted that you don’t loss all your work. E.g. Project1a, Project1b, Project1c. Do this every lesson.

5.  Use Separate Layers.  Use a separate layer for every object – grass, sky, guns etc. This makes tweening and moving objects easier, as they are their own object.

6.  Utilise MovieClips.  Convert every object to a Movieclip (F8).  This way, your objects get saved to your library and you can drag the object out onto the ‘stage’ whenever you want it.

7.  Alt + F4.  This keyboard shortcut gets rid of that annoying pop up screen that won’t go away.  Until now anyway.

8.  Don’t Shape Tween, unless you really, really, really have to.  It slows down flash and has limited novelty value.

9.  One Tween per Layer.  You heard me; one.  Otherwise they won’t work.  Try it and see.  (Note: even if it does it will create a Tween object in your library – you really should not have a Tween object(s) in your library; they indicate poor animation skills).

10.  Use Folders.  Use folders to sort/store your layers into scenes, or your body parts into people.  Use them to sort your layers so that you don’t get lost using them.  You can also store your video clips into folders too.

11.  Lock Your Layers.  When you aren’t using your layers lock them.  This stops you accidentally deleting something.  Note: if you can’t edit a layer or an object check to see if the layer is locked.

12.  Use Key Frames.  Use them at the start and end of tweens.  Use them at key points throughout a movement.  Imagine Key Frames to be snapshots of the important parts of your animation.

13.  Watch The Videos.  Yes they might be boring but you will learn the basics by mimicking them.  Trust us.  It is worth it!

14.  Name Properly.  Name your layers, folders and library objects.  Be consistent with your __underscores and CAPITALS and     spaces.

15.  Trace Imported Images.  Imported images like jpegs etc will bloat your Flash animations and look dodgy anyway.  So, sketch them instead.  This will give your animation a more consistent look and feel.

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This is a list of best practice I came up with for using Photoshop in a classroom.  North Lakes State College Multimedia students helped me to compile the ideas here, so kudos to them too.

1. Name Layers and Groups. You will forget which layer is which.  If you want someone to help you naming your layers will help them.

2.  Collapse Groups and Layer styles. If you leave your groups and layer effects open you will end up scrolling through a layers panel till your index finger falls off. It is even worse when you have to scroll through someone else’s file and they have multiple effects on every layer and about 10 layer groups. Collapse them all for better organisation.

3.  Delete Unnecessary Layers. Get rid of accidental blank text layers and layers that are not in use any more. It helps for better organisation and work flow if someone else has to peruse your work.

4.  Select Readable Fonts.  People need to read your image’s words at a glance.  Otherwise they just won’t read it.

5.  Use PNG Format For The Web.  Transparency is easier and images are recognised by all browsers.

6. Don’t Merge Layers. Keeping your layers separate makes it easier to edit the image, if necessary, and proves that the image is your own work, as the individual pieces are still in the file.

7. Save frequently. There’s nothing worse than a corrupted file, so save regularly throughout your lesson.  At the end of the lesson save with the date after the filename, ie; photoshop_10/02/10. This makes it easy to see your most recent document helps to avoid corruption.

8. Work in Pixels. Don’t go making new files with dimensions such as cm or inches. Work in pixels because it is the generic photo measurement. That way is easier to compare pictures.

9.  Choose RGB.  When creating a new document make sure RGB is selected.  Grayscale will mean you can’t use colour in your image.

10.  Remember Left Click + Hold.  The icons in your toolbar often have more than one tool associated with them.  By left clicking and holding your click the varied options will present themselves.  An example is the Gradient and Paint Bucket icon.

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Certain year levels at North Lakes State College have been lucky enough to be offered entry into a laptop program.  The following advice will help those that took up this offer to make the most of your new laptop at school without annoying your teachers and other students.

- CHARGE your computer overnight so it has a full battery for your first session at school.

- BRING your laptop to school.  That is what it is for.

- PROTECT your computer by keeping it in its hard shell case.

- BE AWARE that using your computer before school and at break times will use up your battery.

- BE READY for teachers to ask you to vacate a school desktop for others because you left your laptop at home or you let your battery go flat.

- COMPUTER HARDWARE questions are for the school computer technicians - not your classroom teacher.

- DON"T use equipment meant for the school desktops.  This means don't dual screen with a school monitor and don't borrow a mouse.

- BUY your own mouse

- BUY your own LAN cable

- SET UP a file system to save all of your files into.  This makes it easier to find your files and to back them up.

- BACK up your files to an external harddrive or USB stick every week.

- ONLY use mains (via a power point) power to recharge your battery.  Using mains power with a fully charged battery in the computer can degrade the battery.

- NEVER play games in class!

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