Sape’s Blog

Last week was one of the better weeks so far.  The kids are continuing to work on their own projects, and making great progress.  I hope to be able to post their work next week.  JStall presented to the rest of Avetec and the president of Central State, the college he attends.  Everyone seemed super excited about what we were accomplishing.  Perhaps when this is over, and Jeff and I look back, we too can share that excitement.  But now we are tired.

Missy was much better behaved this week.  She started animating on her own, and created some pretty cool little animations.  One was a worm squirling around and then splattering into a wall.  The other as an eye crying, then a heart thumping.  I hope she saved them so we can showcase her work.  But seeing her finally find something she enjoys was rewarding and energizing.

Kyle is almost done with his spawn.  He only has the face and cape left.  You know, the easy parts… Right.  I really hope he finishes it.  The twins are also beginning to fight less, or at least fought less last week.  Kody finished his chess set and is now working on texturing it.  He is struggling with figuring that out a little bit, but I think he will get it all textured up by the end of the Academy.

It seems the best way to teach them something is to get them started on a project and let them explore.  But getting them to work on a project multi-day/week without ever working on anything for more than a few minutes is very hard.  They will only learn what they need to learn.  They don’t seem to store tricks in the back of their head to use in the future.  That gets frustrating when Jeff and I try to teach them something they need, they don’t listen, then when they need it they ask us to reteach it.

Once we were able to let them explore and discover on their own they seemed to learn a lot and were much more motivated.  But it took us about 4 weeks just to get it to the point where they would rather work on a project than play XBOX.  Playing went from a necessity to something to do during a break.  Seeing that transition was also rewarding.

I think the main reseaon these kids were so resistant to learning was they just didn’t know how fun it could be.  They hadn’t ever really asked the question, “How do they do that?” let alone know any of the tools existed.  Now they have the tools and are starting to ask the question, and are able to figure out how they do it.

I guess my expectations were a little high.  But I don’t think it was unnecessarily high.  Perhaps the education system is failing them.  Failing to create curiosity.  Failing to encourage questions.  Failing to teach them how to answer their own questions.  But its very hard to do that.  It took Jeff and I, teaching the coolest thing we can think of to them, more than 4 long and exhausting weeks.  And we had about a 1 to 1 teacher to student ratio.  And Springfield thinks making one big school is will help them educate the youth.  It won’t.  It will hinder the education.  It was just the cheapest solution.  But that is another issue, I just feel bad that the twins and Missy might not be able to find what they are most interested in so they can pursue it.

I hope this last week can be rewarding enough to continue the program.

Today we played basketball and it was hot outside.

1. lunch
2. basketball
3. coding lesson
4. sleep

The above was part of a simple coding lesson for the kids. Introduced them to blogging and some basic HTML. Which they soon forgot after they started playing Tiger Wood PGA Tour 08. Week 3 went rather well though. Teaching the kids how to program has gone on the back burner because it seems the learning curve is too steep. But last week, week 3 (will get to week 4 shortly), we had just the twins and they were working hard.  Missy was not there b/c she went to another camp for a week and Del, well, lets just say he fights a lot, so he won’t be coming back.  Kody started modeling a chess set and Kyle was digging ZBrush. So it was great. They were working on their own projects, figuring things out on there own–which gave Jeff and I time to rest, plan, and work on our own projects. But they would still nag us. “Jeff! How do I…Oh, I got it.” Jeff would say, “Yes, see, you know all the tools, just stop and think for a second and you can figure it out!” A few minutes later. “Sam! It won’t let me…Nevermind.” All good, except we would still have to get up, get halfway to their seats, then do sit down. Get up, sit down. But they were making progress.

Jeff and I were thrilled they were starting to figure things out on their own.  They still relied on Jeff and I more than themselves, but it was becoming less and less. Then the weekend.

Monday. Missy is back, and with an attitude. No more Miss Pleasant. Kody is distracted again. But Kyle. lacking distractions, is working hard. So now Kody is distracted, and Missy just wants attention (writing on herself and dramatizing everything). She won’t participate in anything anymore.  Just wants to watch YouTube.  We have shown them everything, and the only person who wants to work is Kyle. So I just focus on Kyle. Sitting next to him so we can model together while Jeff gives a new tip. I try HTML again, they can’t follow along anymore. Missy is writing “Who cares!!” in her table cells.

7 days left.

We started a countdown. The twins won’t be there next Wednesday, so that should give us a day off. Jeff and I are tired and just trying to fill the time with stuff to do. Any one have any ideas?

Yes, the posts are going from dasy to weeks. I was never tired after work, until I started the game academy. For some reason I expected the kids to be interested in making games, cool graphics (and HOPED they would be interested in programming).

I don’t consider myself an early starter with computers, Jeff was–he had a computer all his life (mostly those ancient punch cards)–but at 14 I was already familiar with Photoshop and started learn how to make my own websites. And that was all mostly self taught, with some guidance from my Graphic Fartist Uncle and Coding Ninja Nick. But maybe that’s the key. I had some friends and family to support me. Same with Jeff. I don’t think these kids have that positive support for “learning” or self exploration. In fact, I know they don’t.

These kids have had rough lives and broken families. It’s very hard for me to relate to that. My family is awesome, arguably the best in the universe–that even breeds some jealousy or envy with my fiance. I should ask her advice on how to relate to the kids better and adjust my expectations. I don’t want to give up on them, but I also don’t want to exhaust myself the point of never wanting to do this again.

I figured they would like this kind of instruction, as opposed to the more traditional lecture style. Hands on, a short demonstration and a chance to go play. Perhaps they are too young. Perhaps don’t know enough to be interested. Or just too distracted with their own issues. Seems like the only things they are really interested in are playing games and mysapce. The most popular exercise is Photoshop. They love taking their picture and composting it with their favorite celebrity.

We ask them to just look up when we are talking, they don’t. So we remove the internet, they still don’t. Then we close the laptops, they still don’t. We bargain, pay attention for 30 minutes or you can’t play XBOX, and they still don’t pay attention. I have always thought highly of teachers, wanted to be one myself. Now I admire them even more. I’d have to jump off something tall if it was 12 or more of these kids.

Jeff tried to teach them coding yesterday. A simple sub 20 line exercise in Flash. Half of them couldn’t even listen for 35 minutes. One of the kids kept putting his headphones on and I asked him to take them out. He got all pissed off, like I tool away his candy. So when Flash crashed, instead of opening it back up, he goes into Photoshop and does his own thing. That pissed Jeff off and he expressed himself, which I thought was justifiable, and stopped the lesson. I just didn’t care anymore so I let them do whatever for last 15 minutes before lunch (well, still no internet or XBOX).

Missy, the girl though, is “A joy to be around.” Girls do mature much faster than boys (if boys ever mature). I think she keeps Kody in line because Kody has a crush on her. So I don’t know what we will do today. Give them a break? Do individual lessons and more free time. Let them play XBOX all day so Jeff and I can sleep. All can feel all the educators out there, laughing. Touché right? I know my Mother is laughing… Hopefully soon, I can too.