Drag and Drop Tutorials

Here a few links to drag and drop tutorials that I have found in my wondering in search of Flash knowledge.....

http://www.actionscript.org/resources/articles/26/1/Drag-n-Drop-and-Drop-Targets/Page1.html

http://monkeyflash.com/tutorials/flash-drag-and-drop/
(seems to be a hit in my classes)

http://www.webwasp.co.uk/tutorials/A_IntAct-02-drag-drop/index.php
(the best one, in my opinion)

http://www.flashvalley.com/fv_tutorials/advanced_drag_and_drop_in_Flash/

I hope these help......

Links to Tutorials

Here are few links I have to found to help my students find code for their games.

A nice shooter tutorial:
http://www.flashninjaclan.com/tutorialpage.php?ID=49

Cartoonsmart is a cool paysite with some free tutorials
http://www.cartoonsmart.com/index.html

Sothink SWF Decompiler 5.5 is a program that will convert SWF files to FLA files
http://www.swftools.com/tools-details.php?tool=7672718848

Flash vault is a site like FlashFridge with lots of tutorials
http://www.flashvault.net/
http://www.tutorialsphere.com/tutorials/flash


I have only scratched the surface on these sites. I haven't had time to sit and go through all of the sites in depth. I mainly just help my students do searches and point them in a direction and let them find what will work for them.

March to the End

With only a 4 days left in the 3rd nine weeks, we are quickly approaching our game presentation deadline. So most of my goals this quarter are going to aimed at helping my students complete their games and have their presentations in order.
My personal goals this quarter are 1)Blog more and try to promote more blogging outside of the classroom. At this stage of the class, I would like the students to blog about problems they are having or topics they would like to cover in class. This would allow me to have problem specific classes. 2)To guide my students to get their wikis in order and 3)to help my students gather there presentation materials and practice presenting in front of people.

False Sense of Security

It has been a difficult transition back in the routine. Things seem to be coming together a little too easy. I'm waiting for something bad to happen.Team Might Avengers seem to have everything in order to start putting their game together. Team somethingtrippy seem to be making it to school on a regular basis (except Pat who is always here) and producing a solid game platform. They should be ready to start putting their game together soon. Team THP changed topics but produced more work in 1 class period than they had in weeks of treading water on their first game idea. And lastly, team Architecture who resisted the game design have embraced the idea and are producing quality work at a fast pace. I hope to post their paper prototypes Friday for the world to see.
I hope that nothing else bad happens to slow the students down like 20 more snow days.

Blessing in Disguise

Before you start throwing things just here me out. I think all of these snow days have been a blessing in disguise. All of this time off has seemed to set a fire under my students' butts. I think I have gotten more production in the few days that we have been in school this quarter than I did in the first semester. I really appreciate the effort that my students,you guys,have been putting into this experience.
I think the break give me a chance to assess how I need to approach teaching this class. Trying to present the "facts" about what we are learn wasn't working. I think getting so far into our games and then having a massive break give you time to come with questions about what you want to do with your game. I did good bit of reading on Flash during the snow days and I think that time spent alone with the program didn't give me all of the answers but it enabled me to have a better of how to point you in the right direction. I hope I can continue to stay ahead of the curve now that we are back to school.......

When the snow stops...

When we get back from our extended snow break, my teams need to sit down with a calendar and come up with some deadlines for when each step of the design process is going to be completed. Also, we need to factor in some activities that you can work on without Flash, in case of another extended break because of the weather.So here is what we will be doing when you get back....

A streak.....

I want to say how proud I am of both of Globaloria classes. Since the January Academy things in class have really been moving along at a good pace. First, the Architecture class has finally bought in the concept of what were are trying to accomplish. It was an amazing sight seeing them working on their paper prototypes. This group has many tasks ahead of them to complete but Monday made me BELIEVE that it will happen...and happen amazingly!!!!

And today in my Globaloria class, it was good to see some returning faces. And the production seems to be at a higher level than what I was thinking it was at. I hope we can get things uploaded to the wikis later this week.

I would really like to commend my students for not losing momentum during our technical difficulties that we have experienced in the last 3 weeks. Please keep up the good work. i am really PROUD of you guys fir not quitting on me.

Motivation

I would love to say that I am the "Great Motivator" but I cannot honestly say that. In drafting I try to motivate my students by telling them about interesting buildings or jobs that I was able to work on during my career in engineering and architecture. But ultimately most are only concerned about how much that they can make an hour when they get out of school.

That bugs me to a point because I value an experience more than money. But that being said I do like being paid but ultimately it is more about the journey than the destination.

As far as motivating my students, I would honestly say it has been so-so in my 3 and a half years of teaching. I have the most success with 10th and 11th graders. I guess because they are more mature than freshmen and don't have senioritis like seniors.

What I try to do is get to know each of my students and find out what movies, music or hobbies that they like and try to put a drafting spin on it. I have several guitar players in my class so we are going to design a guitar maybe build it in the spring.

I guess what I try to do is get to know my students and assure them that I only have their best interest in mind. ANd hope they buy into what I'm doing.

After the break.....

This has been a refreshing break for me. I tried to spend the break recharging my batteries and laying out a game plan for the second semester. I think the one thing I need to change going into the second semester is that I need to quit being a player and be more of a coach. I tried to follow what my students were doing and try to teach from their perspective. That needs to change. I feel that has held back my classes progress. I would get hung up trying to do something and they would have to wait for me before we would move on.
What I'm going to implement when we go back is a short meeting with each team on the first day of class each week and determine goals for that week based on what needs to be covered.
I think I have a better grasp on what it is going to take to complete the games. I need to stay out of the way for the most part and set more precise goals, short term and long term. That being said, I hope my next blog is singing the praises of my new way of thinking.

Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will be judged by only one thing. the result.
Vince Lombardi

Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
Vince Lombardi