Erika's Blog

December 10, 2018
by porte1
4 Comments

Final Project Progress

For my final, I decided to make little “mood jars.” Each jar will encompass a specific emotion that is more complex than just “happy” or “sad.” The group I would do this lesson with, 2nd to 4th graders, are at the age where they start to become more aware of their surroundings and may feel more distinct emotions that they may not be able to exactly identify. With that, I feel like learning something such as colors and the psychological effects it has is a fun way to not only learn something new but also be able to identify any feelings students may be having.

Each mood jar would be decorated using colors that correlate to the student’s specific interpretation of colors and color schemes using fun materials that will play around with the idea of light: transparency, reflectiveness, etc. Students can go absolutely decor crazy. They can even put specific materials they feel will embody the feeling more (i.e. softer feelings with feathers, intense feelings with cellophane, etc). Then, after they’ve decorated the jar, they start off by filling it with little “notes” that evoke the specific feeling the jar encompasses. This way they can start of with a general idea of what examples can go into which mood jar.

I want to do this project in the beginning of the year because I think it’s a fun introduction to color which can be super beneficial and also students can add to the jar anytime they want 🙂

November 25, 2018
by porte1
4 Comments

Scratch!

This project was definitely not like anything I have done before. I knew I wanted to do something relating to reptiles and amphibians because that is a topic I’ve been passionate about my entire life! I actually used to want to be a herpetologist 🙂 But my passion for reptiles and amphibians definitely made me want to work on my project significantly more. I feel like basing a project on a student’s passion for a specific topic would be super beneficial, because not only does it bridge the gap between art and academics, but it makes it fun too! I wanted to make it super open ended because as some students might be interested in different wild cats, some might be interested in different historic leaders in different countries. And that in itself can be super interesting because in the end I want the students to play each other’s games so hopefully in doing that students can learn some fun facts! Not only that, this project is that much more interesting and personalized because they would be done using the student’s own drawings. I think it’ll be beneficial not only in advancing drawing skills but also realizing that art can also be used in academics, which is an unfortunately common debate when discussing the importance of art.

Overall, I really did like my project and I’m really proud of the outcome! Drawing all of the aspects in the project was definitely time consuming but well worth it! 😊

Sprite project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/260695021/

Lesson plan: Scratch lesson plan-1ple2vw

Backgrounds:

Our little protagonists:

Animals:

Buttons:

Finalized scenes:

November 19, 2018
by porte1
3 Comments

Maker Day!

1. What moments stand out? When did a child surprise you, by doing something unexpected?
I think the moments that really stood out to me is when the project was finished, and the child’s face lit up immediately. They were so happy and proud of themselves once they achieved the final product and ran up to their parents to show them, and it was the cutest thing ever! It also stood out to me when the kids wanted to do every station on our table, because usually most kids would want to do maybe one to two, but we had so many kids do every single one, including the earring station even if they didn’t have their ears pierced! Their innovation and motivation were truly heartwarming. What surprised me was when this particular kid, Zach, who was in 4th grade I believe, who kind of sat by himself to the side. He was waiting for his sister to finish making the “light up watch/bracelet.” After about 10 minutes, he came up to us and revealed he had made a flashlight using a battery, LED diode, and some foam. I was honestly so blown away because it took me so long to find out how to do something like that, and he just whipped it out with no help from anyone else!
2. What did you observe about the interactions between the children and their adults?
I realized there was definitely a difference in interaction depending on the kid. Some kids wanted their parents to do every part of the project, meanwhile some kids refused any help from them. The kids who wanted their parents to do the project ultimately did not care for the overall outcome, whether it was because they lacked creative expression or because they were lazy, I will probably never know. The kids who wanted to do the whole project themselves seemed to not want any help because they didn’t want their parents to “ruin” their creative vision. One of the kids, Rio, wanted to have a taxi cab on his little “watch,” and when his dad offered to help, Rio said “maybe you can cut out a person.” Once the dad cut out the person, it was not what Rio had wanted, and so he didn’t use it at all, and didn’t let his dad make something else. His dad eventually convinced him to put it somewhere else because maybe that’ll look cool, and Rio listened. It was so interesting to see how some kids are so passionate about their creative vision that they almost become stubborn about it.
3. What worked particularly well?
I think what worked best was working through the project with the kids. Having visual instruction definitely helps out more, as most kids tend to be more visual learners. Even though doing demo after demo kind of felt like a waste of supplies, it was worth it to have the kids understand what to do.
4. What might you do differently next time?
I kind of wish I had thought of different supplies to use, such as colorful markers. I always felt bad when the kids asked if we have any colored markers and for some reason that whole idea slipped my mind.

November 7, 2018
by porte1
0 comments

Lantern Project

This project was more constrained than some of our other projects. You had a template to work with that determined the overall structure, you had to show 4 different sides of something/ using line art/illustrator and you had to incorporate programmed leds. How did these constraints help or hurt your creative process?

These all were definitely constraining for a number of reasons. For one thing, finding a design that was aesthetically pleasing but also could be cut out of the laser printer was kind of difficult. I had to really thing about how to draw out what I wanted on my lantern, or else my design could easily fail and just cause a sad, detail-less hole 🙁 The size of the project was also kind of restraining because then you have to take into account how much detail/imagery you can actually put onto the pieces. It was also super difficult using Illustrator because I had never done that before — I am not a technology person at all! I just followed along the PowerPoint and didn’t actually know what I was doing the whole time. I wish we had more time to learn how to use Illustrator/Photoshop, because after seeing that etching was an option (a more difficult one, with more knowledge of the programs, I would assume) I would’ve definitely incorporated that into my project! But because I have literally zero knowledge, I was unable. Programming LEDs through arduino was the only portion that I didn’t find too restricting. Learning how to make a circuit in 3D form was definitely super difficult, but after observing the sample and reading through the PowerPoint, I do think I got the general gist of it.

How did your process reflect (or not) design thinking?

This process definitely had a lot of design thinking involved. We had to think about how to make a successful design that all correlated to each other that wouldn’t get lost during the laser printing process, as well as decorate it using materials such as cellophane or tissue paper, place the LEDs in specific places so that the lantern is aesthetically pleasing, etc. The whole process was honestly one big design thinking process.

What did you learn? Describe your learning process.

I definitely learned how to make things for the laser cut printer, which was super cool!

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I’d also say I learned how to make a circuit in 3D forms! I was honestly so confused throughout the entirety of trying to figure out how to connect the wires, but after looking hard, it had finally sunk in on what to do!

What was most challenging? What was most fun?

The most challenging was wiring everything together. As I mentioned, I was super confused at first but I ended up getting it and being super pleased with myself!

The most fun, I would say, it watching the laser printer do it’s magic and cut my drawings through a wood surface!! It was super cool because I had never seen something like that before. Before I knew it, my little drawings really came to life 🙂

How did this activity connect (or not) to your prior knowledge of art and art education?

This completely did not connect to any of my prior knowledge of art education. Not only did we never do something like laser cut (because we would never have been able to afford it at my home school district) but also because I never did circuits of any sort anyway. Having it modified to be 3D really was something different for sure!

How might you use and/or adapt this activity in an art classroom?

I think this would have to be a end of the year kind of project for middle/high schoolers. I think I’d have to teach them more about circuits, LEDs, arduino, making circuits in 3D forms, how to make shapes that can survive laser cuts, and how to use Illustrator. Since I didn’t really have extensive knowledge of either of those (minus very limited knowledge of circuits and arduino), the project was rather difficult for me. I really want my students to be able to understand the individual elements first before throwing it altogether because not only would it be less confusing for them, but it would be a super rewarding to piece everything together and make a cool project!

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October 22, 2018
by porte1
1 Comment

Arduino Circuit

Address how this project is similar/different from the circuit card project, particularly in regard to your sense of intrinsic motivation/ tolerance for overcoming difficulties.

This project was similar to the circuit card project because, very obviously, a circuit had to be involved to light up an LED diode. This project, though, was still wildly different — we had to install an ATtiny with a code, which I had never done before, nor have every thought I would do. Doing this project was definitely much more frustrating because everything was very tedious when it came to the ATtiny. We had to put it in the red flashdrive thing properly, we had to have the settings set in a particular way, we had to have the code written a specific way or else it didn’t work, etc. Even if all of those were correct, sometimes if the breadboard was already connected, the ATtiny would be confused and refuse to upload the new code. It was all just things to fight against and solve (and SUPER frustrating), but in the end, the outcome would always be rewarding. Also, the fact that this whole process would later enhance my work made me super excited! The circuit card was significantly easier, and I definitely faced much less difficulties.

How did your process reflect (or not) design thinking?

This definitely involved a lot of design thinking because you definitely had to think of ways the LED light would enhance the piece, and strategically think of places to out them. Also, making the circuit as a whole involved some design thinking because we had to think of ways that the circuit will be successful with a switch AND using the pins on the ATtiny. The whole process involved both aesthetic and technical design thinking.

What did you learn? Describe your learning process.

I learned how to download codes onto the ATtiny, as well as make a code in general! I had never done either of those things so doing both of those was definitely a challenge. But doing those I would probably say I have a better grip on how to code! I obviously am no master at it, but seeing that it wasn’t confusing as I thought it was was definitely relieving. Once I finally learned how to install the code onto the ATtiny, it was time to test out the patterns on the breadboard.

I started off with one LED light to test the lengths that it was on/off.

Then, I added another LED light to the code, and eventually I got them to blink at different times!

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And then I started feeling a little ambitious, and added more lights with more codes!

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And then I finally incorporated it into my actual piece 🙂

Making the circuit was also a very tedious process because the copper tape was too big to connect to one leg on the ATtiny, so I had to cut it into fourths.

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(I did my spooky capybara drawing because it fit the season and I love capybaras!)

Overall I was really proud of the outcome!

What was most challenging? What was most fun?

The most challenging was downloading the code onto the ATtiny. The whole process seemed to almost never work for me, but when it did I really did enjoy it! But for the most part it just stressed me out.

The most fun was soldering the whole thing together and seeing the whole piece really work! Because I used 5 different legs, I was genuinely afraid that it would be super wonky, but it didn’t!

How did this activity connect (or not) to your prior knowledge of art and art education?

This activity REALLY did not connect to any prior knowledge of art or art education at all. Like I said, I had not done any of these things before! It was super nerve wracking, but I’m glad I have the knowledge now!

How might you use and/or adapt this activity in an art classroom?

I think this could work for high schoolers for sure. The entire process was confusing for me, so I feel like having this project for middle schoolers would confuse them as well. High schoolers I feel like would get a better grip, plus I think they’d be old enough to handle soldering! I think one way I might make this activity slightly different is by telling them beforehand that rhythmic lights will be incorporated, and have them make a piece to correlate to any ideas they may have in mind.

September 30, 2018
by porte1
7 Comments

Circuit Card

How can simple circuits add meaning to an image?
I think simple circuits add meaning to an image because it emphasizes a specific thing’s importance. Say, if you have a drawing, but you really wanted to highlight a heart or something that was drawn in there, you could make it light up, and suddenly the meaning of the entire piece changes into something symbolizing love, or love overcomes all, etc. Simple circuits have a wonderful way of changing the entire story to a piece, especially with the led light. It kind of gives it a softer, cuter essence, while still making a bold statement.

When making the first circuit card, I was kind of scared because I have literally never heard of soldering before. But, I do have an obsession with working with tools so I was excited! I know I have made LED lights light up before, but never in this way. At first, I was admittedly very confused, but once I soldered everything and folded the paper over the battery, to my surprise it worked! I knew this was only the beginning to a possibly very confusing project, so I was nervous but took in my success for as much as I could.

The next card: pretty much make up any design we wanted. I wanted to be experimental, but not TOO experimental because I knew keeping the copper tape parallel would be a little restricting. I figured, what symbolizes light better than stars? Plus, I love the stars, and almost everyone I know hates be because I point out the same constellations every night. But, it gets me excited! So I did a big star. I didn’t think the corners of the star would be so far away, but thankfully the led lights still reached. I definitely had to solder a significant amount more, not because of the presence of more lights, but because I kept accidentally ripping the copper tape while putting it down! I also had to strategically place the lights because for some reason there were little spots that when placed, didn’t even light up. Eventually, once everything was put together and soldered, it worked! I kind of wish I added another light to the last corner, but for some reason I thought it was going to be covered anyway. Oh well! I was still super proud of the result.

The last card: make a card for a person you care about. I decided to do one for my boyfriend, as his birthday is coming up very soon. An image popped up in my head of a cat playing with koi, and I figured the koi would be a cute representation of our trip to Japan together, and my boyfriend is obsessed with cats. I didn’t really know what to do at first, but then I saw the array of papers and materials we were given. I pretty much chose whatever items correlated to whatever color the material was. It worked out, because I used the foam for the bricks and water, tissue paper for water, and cellophane to help the water look more reflective. I also made the koi out of tissue paper because I feel like it gives it a more “watery” feel to it. At first, I was going to outline the (horribly done) cat with the copper tape, but I wanted to emphasize the LED light more, and a copper tape outline would take away some of the light; there would be less contrast. So I decided to hide the copper tape and have the switch on the other side of the paper that I will glue it to. It all ended up working out! I kind of wish I drew the cat better, but it’s hard because I needed a reference photo and I feel guilty taking my phone out in class. As long as it looks like a cat, though, I’m satisfied. Overall, I’m proud of how well the card came out!

In terms of learning from this project, I definitely learned a lot. I learned how to solder and how to properly make designs that will accommodate with the LED light and copper tape. The most challenging was finding a way for the copper tape to still be parallel enough to the point where the LED light will reach across and still actually work. The most fun was soldering for sure!

This whole thing honestly did not connect to any prior art education knowledge I had. I never really did much involving lights and circuits, but soldering was a definite no-no. To use this in a classroom, I feel like this would be super fun for middle school/high schoolers. I would definitely be iffy with soldering because some students can’t exactly be trusted with such a hot object. A high schooler maybe, but if I were to do this lesson in middle school, I think I would stick to tape to connect the light and battery.

September 23, 2018
by porte1
0 comments

Moving Pictures

Focus Question: How did the iterative design thinking process come into play in this activity?
Thinking of the design was definitely extremely difficult. We didn’t know what to do in terms of what the pictures will be. We were given a lot of magazines that features creepy, eerie bodies and people, so we figured, why not make a giant spooky creature! ‘Tis the season, right?
Other than that, obviously making the object in which all of the photos will be attached to was definitely difficult because 2/3 of us didn’t even know how to make a motor. We didn’t know what would work and what wouldn’t in relation to how to motor will make the entirety of this project moved. We eventually figured it out, but it definitely took a lot of design thinking.

Tell a story about your experience using a combination of words and images.

As mentioned above, we were given a lot of pictures featuring weird bodies and people, so we decided to make a creepy, spooky theme.

We decided to have a little fun with it, gluing body parts to different body parts, hanging creepy dolls on some strings, etc.
Then, we decided to place a burlap sack over it, kind of emitting a “boogeyman” kind of vibe to it. Then we started making the motor, and at first we wanted it to actually move, but unfortunately it couldn’t so we placed the creepy dolls and an ominous picture to it so that it would spin.

The overall outcome was admittedly not desirable due to unfortunately most of us not knowing what was going on and what to do, but for our situation I believe we did a good job.
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What did you learn? Describe your learning process. What was most challenging? What was most fun?
I learned how to connect a random array of photos to create one giant piece! It really took a lot of design thinking and at first I thought it was kind of a cheesy idea but I’m glad we went with it. The most challenging was probably everything. From connecting the photos, to making the motor, to the piece actually moving, the whole process was rather difficult. The most fun was gluing the body parts together for sure. It was definitely amusing.

How did this activity connect (or not) to your prior knowledge of art and art education? How might you use and/or adapt this activity in an art classroom?
This is definitely not anything I have done before. Using technology and making circuits was definitely not something we did in school, and moving pictures with a motor was pretty much unheard of. I definitely feel this could be done in a middle school or high school setting, but rather than just being thrown a limited amount of pictures, I would have a bigger pile so people could spend less time stressing on what they could possibly make because the whole thing in its entirely is honestly pretty stressful itself. I would also probably open up the time frame a bit and given students a week to work on it at least.

September 21, 2018
by porte1
0 comments

Drawing Bot

Focus Question: How did the iterative design thinking process come into play in this activity?
Well, we definitely had to extensively think about where to put the motor and how to attach something to it in order for the bot to actually move. We also had to think of a design in which the bot in it’s entirety actually functioned as a piece, as neither of us really knew how to make the bot. We kind of threw everything together in hopes that it would work, and eventually it did, but only when the design and form was considered. We unfortunately couldn’t make it all cute and whatnot because we lacked the materials 🙁

Tell a story about your experience using a combination of words and images.
We started off with a cup, 4 markers, scotch tape, the motor, the battery, and the 2 wires.
We both were kind of clueless as to what to do but looked at other bots for some inspiration. We tried sticking the motor on the top of the cup, and it didn’t work. I took out one of my erasers and stuck it onto the motor, and alas, it actually moved. Not at the speed we particularly wanted, so we cut the eraser in half, and sure enough, the bot moved a lot quicker.

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What did you learn? Describe your learning process. What was most challenging? What was most fun?
Well I definitely learned how to make a working motor and a moving cup standing with the support of markers! Everything I did was entirely new to me, so everything was something that I learned. My learning process really was based around trial and error, seeing if the motor went one place then how would it move, if the battery was attached another way, that probably would stop the motor from working, etc. The most challenging was definitely finding the right place to put the motor in order for the bot to move. The most fun was seeing what patter the bot made with his little marker feet!

How did this activity connect (or not) to your prior knowledge of art and art education?
This really did not connect to any of my prior knowledge of art and art education at all. I never did anything regarding using wires, a battery, and a motor, and especially not involving art with that. The whole thing was entirely new to me.

How might you use and/or adapt this activity in an art classroom?
I think this would very easily suit middle school students. Connecting the battery and the motor definitely was not all that difficult, and although thinking of a place to place the motor so the bot will work is definitely difficult, it is doable with a little thinking. This can introduce middle schoolers more into the concept of design an structure.

September 13, 2018
by porte1
2 Comments

Marble Run

(Sorry one of the images is horizontal! I can’t seem to fix it:( )

Compare/contrast marble run and glitch art
Much like the glitch art, you never know what the outcome will be! This process is both rewarding, yet VERY stressful. You don’t know if the overall outcome will be successful or just another thing to throw in the trash. The different with this, though, was that you kind of had more control of what was going on. You saw the physical piece right in front of you, and if the marble didn’t achieve what was supposed to be done, then it was easy tweaking from there.

How did your group’s process reflect design thinking?
We pretty much did our own stuff at first, what would be cool and hopefully successful, and then we incorporated it to our track depending how stable it was, how it’d increase the marble’s speed, etc. I wish we had more time because in the end, our run was only successful once 🙁

What did you learn? Describe your learning process. What was most challenging? What was most fun?
I learned how to kind of work with gravity and physics in a sense. I tried making so many different tracks only to find out that in the end the marble wouldn’t actually participate with it, unless I placed it elsewhere, where there is less momentum and speed exerted. The most challenging was seeing what actually worked. There were many times where I thought to myself, of course this’ll work! But of course, it never does. The most fun was making little things for the marble to go through that would be exciting. For instance, the spiral was a pain to make but once it was complete and actually worked, suddenly I was having the time of my life. Of course, although the whole process in itself was insanely stressful, it was fun.

How did this activity connect (or not) to your prior knowledge of art and art education? How might you use and/or adapt this activity in an art classroom?
This was actually a project I had to do in one of my middle school classes. It was a lot less stressful because we were given a week instead of just an hour, and we were also given hot glue guns which made it more stable. Making this in middle school was definitely a fun experience because it was something I’ve never done before. I feel like if I were to do this project in a classroom, I’d follow what I did in middle school and make it so that the children have more time to work on it.

September 13, 2018
by porte1
0 comments

Electric おりがみ!

How did your process reflect (or not) design thinking?
For me, I did have to think about where and how I was going to incorporate the light in the piece. I knew for sure I wanted to make cranes as that is something I’ve been making since my childhood, and still do to this day. After I made it, I figured how cool would it be to have the light coming from the center? I tried my best to somehow make the light turn on while it was still in the body as I haven’t made an LED light turn on via battery since elementary school. But, I eventually achieved what I was going for!

What did you learn? Describe your learning process. What was most challenging? What was most fun?
Well, I definitely (re)learned how to turn on an LED light with just a battery! I wasn’t given complete instruction on how to achieve it but what I thought was funny was when I was returning home with all of the pieces in a small plastic bag it lit up by itself! I was so amazed yet also offended that gravity did a better job at lighting up the light than me. The most challenging was how I could light up the piece without messing with the origami too much. The most fun was making the origami itself! Like I said, I have been making origami since I was a child (props to being Japanese) and it always brings me such solace and peace.

How did this activity connect (or not) to your prior knowledge of art and art education? How might you use and/or adapt this activity in an art classroom?
Origami was actually something I hosted at a summer camp I used to work at during high school and at my dad’s comic convention (we had a little kids zone)! Teaching it to little kids was definitely a challenge, but there are different difficulties with different types of origami. I feel like doing this in an early elementary school classroom is definitely doable, even with the LED light involved. For something more complex, such as making a lotus or crane, I would save that for later elementary school or middle school.