Innovation Day!

My middle school Tools for Tech class wrapped up their Innovation Projects yesterday. Since this is a technology course, the only major stipulation is that there needed to be a tech angle to the project.

Overall, I liked their projects.  I had two music creators (GarageBand and Dubstep), one pixel art drawer, and one web designer.  Their final projects were good.  Good music. Nice graphics.  It was good for 7th and 8th grade work.

I loved that my GarageBand guy put together a Prezi for his presentation and included an Animoto video of his song.  My pixel art student did a great job of combining web building with his artwork.   There was some good work out there!

However, there is always room for improvement...

• I was discouraged that two of my four students "turned in" edit versions of their projects, not something published.  As you'll see on the links below, you'll have a hard time observing their work.
• We signed contracts at the beginning, but I think they forgot to check the contracts before they finalized things.  

You can find the projects below.  I'd love any feedback you have for me!

Max: http://dubstepo.weebly.com/index.html

Evan: http://minecraftpixelcreations.weebly.com/

Cole: http://prezi.com/isawlp1vjlff/my-inovation-project/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Mason: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1q0s3voHM2mhv8LYT7wuKZ1Ol_Dq2tYuzrJyXVhJOD6g/edit#slide=id.p

20% Time Projects

The end of the third quarter is upon us, and we are wrapping up our first round of 20% Time Projects. I'm quite proud of the work these seventh graders have produced.  The links below are evidence that if you give students some tools and the freedom to work, good things can happen.  Please take a moment to enjoy some of these sites, videos, and songs and encourage these students with your comments.

Websites/ Blogs
Cam APPaloosa
All About Animals
Connor's Art Wall
All about Animals
Evan's Awesome Site
Whit's Snake Site
websitecreator
Soundboard
Minecraft Pocket Edition

Robots
Maxx and the Robot

eBook
The Discovery

Original Songs
20%
Oh!
My Song 7
Tools for Tech
Please tell me if you can't access these songs. I had some trouble making GarageBand songs public.
With You

Wallpapers
My Wallpapers

The Projects Begin

Today was the first day my middle school students began their 20 Percent Time projects. I was excited to see them settle into work researching, creating, building, and learning.  Some things they got done today.

• Downloading GarageBand to start building his own soundboard web site.
• Listening to tutorials about programming a robot.
• Drawing pictures to post on a web site about art.
• Researching how to create an app.
• Writing a book on an iPad, hoping to learn an inexpensive way to publish it online.
• Writing the lyrics to a song.
• Writing a blog.

It was a wonderful thing to see them into their school work, and I am looking forward to the final products!