Before I get to writing on the prompts. I want to give some backstory into this my venture in here. To be quite frank, I asked for this class based on the fact I needed one more visual arts program. Parker Walcott and I had agreed to take this class together, but he switched out nearly right away. I felt stranded, but thankfully Trey was in here as well. I wasn’t very interested in what everyone else was doing, and I’m sure you saw that early on. To me, it was a glorified free-period after I watched some videos on the blog. I felt as though I wasn’t up to par with the rest of the class, so why even try? Days then seemed to drag by, and I felt like a sloth among chimpanzees. One day though, I dabbled in a tutorial, and I never once looked at the clock; I had been productive and enjoyed myself. It had taken nearly a whole semester, but I had finally done SOMETHING. I was given a new perspective of this class. Though I still find myself getting distracted by him, I moved away from Trey and am now surrounded by a bit more distant, but ultimately more productive group. I’ve found myself working more and more. AMP was introduced and I’ve been lost in making things, some better than others self admittedly.
TAG: Your It! “The Artist’s Guild” was founded earlier this year, but has given way to AMP. Apparently it will be making it’s triumphant return next year, so as a former member, I feel like I can have a bit of input. I’d suggest the quests be straight forward and to the point, yet still fun. The XP earned can be used to “purchase” rewards. You know how many times I’ve had to sneak peaks at my cell? Perhaps the XP earned can be used to purchase cell phone privileges. Maybe even food privileges?
AMP: I could be on either the “AMP is abused by the class.” or the “AMP is great!” bandwagons, but I want to be honest in this self reflection. All through out school we have had structured agendas that we have become used to: lectures, followed by brief reviews, then tests. Only in this class we’re we urged to act on on our own and see what our minds can conjure up. I really didn’t know what to quite do. I dabbled in and out of projects, but never truly committed to anything until 3/4ths of the year had dragged by. As I had said before, once I committed myself to a project, it was incredibly hard to stop. But I know I could have done more if I took the class more seriously towards the beginning of the year. I could say I took advantage of it, but the prompts says to reflect honestly.
ZIM: Every great teacher has a method to their madness. From Sensei Miyagi to Dr. Frankenstein, they all had what was deemed unconventional practices to achieve their goals. This applies to Mr. Skocko, who may be the most inspirational teacher I’ve ever had. He could have very easily just been like any other teacher, but he urged us to be creative, and to not suppress our inner individuality. That is what I took away from this classroom. In everything I’ll do in life, I don’t have to just do things how everyone else does them. I can explore alternatives to any problem, and that is the most important lesson I’ve learned through my high school career. Don’t settle for doing things like anyone else, do things how YOU DO. Let your mind drift into a creative euphoria.
