Kano Computer Kits (Mid-Kids) - Day 4

Today is the last day we all had to play around with the Kano computers. Everyone was saddened by this, but we still managed to power through this emotion and code some awesome stuff. While Dounia never actually got to summon water onto her farm, she still managed to build some awesome houses using some hacking she learned while coding.

Fear not, students, Kano is far from over though. Stay on the look out for future Kano coding classes.

TinkerCAD - Day 4!

Today marks the end of the TinkerCAD session. We are all leaving here with our own original designs! After battling though some struggles, we managed to to add the finishing touches to our designs. After that, all that was left to do was to pick a color and export the files to print. Now we wait for the prints to complete...

Kano Computer Kits (Mid-Kids) - Day 3

We got into some pretty heavy coding today. Now that we are familiar with coding itself, as well as the Kano computer itself, we were able to explore some of the Kano's more advanced programs. Everyone tried out the programs. Some loved it. Others...not so much. But no worries, the Kano had plenty of programs to try out and everyone found one they enjoyed!

TinkerCAD - Day 3!

Today marks the last week we have to finish up our 3D designs. They are looking really promising. We  are getting more in-depth with the software as we progress with our designs, having to use more advanced tools, like the align tool, to get the shapes we want.

With one class left, things are looking good!

Kano Computer Kits (Mid-Kids) - Day 2

Day 2! Today everyone got familiar with coding via Minecraft. The Kano includes a "hackable" version of Minecraft that lets you make entire floors made of diamond, giant water towers, etc.  By passing levels in the game that teaches them how to code in block style, the learn new skills that help them enhance the gaming experience.

We are hoping to get deeper into the coding world in classes to come! Kano offers many more programs with a different levels of difficulty. Some people even already started on that!

TinkerCAD - Day 2!

Now that we have the basics out of the way, we can start building our very own designs! The hardest part was probably deciding what exactly we wanted to make. After that, we all got in the zone and started grinding out an awesome 3D design to print out. We can't wait to see how the turn out

Kano Computer Kits (Mid-Kids) - Day 1

Today was the start of the much anticipated Kano computer classes! With so many new comers to the class, today was a debriefing day for everyone. We all learned the basics of what a computer is and got to put together our very own computer, too! Everyone got to tinker around with the Kano computer and got to see what it was all about.

From here on out, we are going to concentrate on coding and hacking games!

TinkerCAD - Day 1!

It feels good to be back! After a week off, PNG is back in session! We are starting off with a 4 part TinkerCAD class, where the students are able to design and print their own figures on TinkerCAD's website. When we are all done, we can print them out using our Makerbot 3D printer.

We have a lot of new comers this time around so we are starting of with the basics. Everyone has very promising ideas and we cant wait to see them come to life!

School Visit in the Summertime?

That's right, while most kids are off galavanting for the summer Mr. Uhler's class at Elmwood Elementary were hard at work improving their tech skills.

 For the final week of class Mr. Uhler invited me to visit the class and demonstrate the 3D printer and TinkerCAD. The kids all printed out a design of their own and hopefully they'll be stopping by the library in the fall for our next round of TinkerCAD classes!

Movie Making (Mid-Kids) - Day 6

Today was the last day to complete our movie! For some, a sigh of relief that they don't have to cut footage any longer. Others, a sad day that brings forth the end of a terrific movie.

We learned today that computers aren't the most reliable things in the world. They were unresponsive for a good 20 minutes, making us lose some valuable time.

Nevertheless, we went big with this movie. It was quite ambitious and we ended up with a pretty good end result. Not the hollywood movie we all wanted, but for a bunch of movie making beginners, they've exceeded expectations!

Stay tuned for more PNG classes soon!

Movie Making (Mid-Kids) - Day 5

This was the boring class...We all had to do what the worst part of movie making is...editing. Unfortunately, you can have a movie without it! We all had to power through and do our best attempts at making rough cuts so we are able to add effects on the final class. Hopefully we can pull through and have a good project to present.

Movie Making (Mid-Kids) - Day 5

This was the boring class...We all had to do what the worst part of movie making is...editing. Unfortunately, you can have a movie without it! We all had to power through and do our best attempts at making rough cuts so we are able to add effects on the final class. Hopefully we can pull through and have a good project to present.

Movie Making (Mid-Kids) - Day 4

Filming went on today as planned. With some editing skills in our back pockets, we can now slowly begin creating our own master cuts of our movie! We tackled some important decisions today...which backgrounds we shall use for our movie. Everything is going according to plan. Lets just keep this up now so we don't have 2 movie that were put on hold!

Movie Making - Day 4: That's a wrap?

We are undecided as to whether our movie should be finished or not. As for today's class, we spent the majority of the class learning how to use the program used to edit via making blooper videos (Except for Magnus, he actually made the movie!!) As for the now, the plans for the film are halted, but stay on the look out for a surprise release!

Movie Making (Mid-kids) - Day 3

Week 2 on set started today and we started the long awaited filming process. We have a good amount of raw footage to start with and our editors had a head start on how the actual editing process should work.

We are well on our way to a finished product. Also, look out for the blooper reel. Everyone poured their hearts out into making sure we had enough footage for that.

Movie Making - Day 3: Filming on the big (green) Screen

The actors today got into character and the filming long haul began, along with some basic editing so we are ready to edit. We are running extremely short on time. We still need to send the raw footage to our editing department.
 Hopefully our actors have a knack for editing movies and we can have a Hollywood-ready movie in 48 hours!

Movie Making (Mid-Kids): Day 2

As the future directors of the world familiarize themselves with the basics of cinematography, the screen play writers were hard at work, making sure our script is spot on and ready for filming.

Everyone is looking forward to the filming process and we even teased some filming and got some of the easy stuff out of the way.

Next week should be when the heavy filming starts. We have the make up and costume departments at our disposal so be ready for some world-class acting.

Movie Making - Day 2: All Work, No (Screen)Play

Second day on set today and all the actors are starting to get into characters. We developed a pretty interesting plot line  that will have audiences talking about it for months on end.

With the story done, we can begin the filming process. We only have two classes left so we are going to have to move quickly.

Movie Making (Mid-Kids)- Day 1

We have two movie sets working at the same time. The studio is on a time share. Nevertheless, we are working diligently to make a terrific movie to share with the world.

We have more time with this class so we will really have time to work out some fine details and really get to know our editing software, Adobe Premiere.

But for today, we are letting our creative juices flow and scripting our movie, shot by shot.

 Stay tuned...

Movie Making - Day 1: It's all scripted!

Today was brainstorming day. Everyone got together and put together the best possible plot for a movie they could think of.

Watch out, Hollywood. PNG is coming.  Tune in next class to see how the first day on set turn out. Our actors and actresses are eager to get this movie going!