When I taught art at Wa He Lut my self-devised plan (since I'm not a teacher) was to only teach real skills that students might use in the future to earn a living or enhance their lives. For instance they learned how to make a T-shirt design then apply it to a silkscreen with photo emulsion and screen print multiple shirts of two colours. Another thing they learned through various projects was how to use tools - from hammers to electric drills to coping saws.
It was great to see boys and girls who at first recoiled in fear later know how and when to use tools properly and with confidence. Most of my children had no one in their family teaching basic skills so I felt it was important and empowering that they learn them in my program. So, I'm happy to see this Basic Self-Reliance/Maker Curriculum for Kids.
Labels: Wa He Lut
01 October 2007
Another year in the WaHeLut worlds portion
of the Cornell University education project
based on the ActiveWorlds platform has begun!
CTCuni morphed into CUni, the platform has been upgraded (thank G'al), this nifty doodly child's drawing is available in the WA, the UI has had a lot of changes, and I can't see where the name of an object's builder is stated. That last is annoying, but the information must be shown somewhere - hard to keep track of which students are doing what, otherwise.*
I had decided I didn't really want to do it again (as I became an unpaid volunteer at the start of last school year), but after speaking with Mothra I decided to do support (clean up, organise, fix things, interface with Cornell) but not work with children. It's too much when I'm alone with the students and particularly as time goes on and they don't know me. One reason for my lack of interest was that we built but didn't seem to use what we had built (mostly due to lack of computers). We decided to use the builds but not build afresh. Much better for this year. Although Mothra's class has 4 computers between 16 students (horrid), the new principal is trying to restore a computer lab** and if he manages it would help a great deal. Tiff is writing a grant. I repeated what I've been saying for years, which is that a mobile, wireless computer lab would be very useful for Wa He Lut. Space is at a premium in the building. When I specified all my needs for my artroom to the architects (after the flood destroyed the school), I asked for a walk-in storage room, flatfile, drawers, cupboards, etc. and got it all (and everything else I asked for, including an etching press***). I'm not sure everyone else said what was needed as storage is an issue in the building.
Anyway, another year begins. This is Year Four, I reckon.
*For instance, last year Tandy duplicated billions of things and I was able to turn off his build privilege and get Mothra to heap scorn upon him.
**I just couldn't believe it when the computer lab was dismantled - I always thought it was partially because they wanted to get rid of Mike but were scared of him, but that might be a flight of fancy.
*** that I had built by Takach in Albuquerque - now I don't know what's happened to it - I hope it's ok and valued even if not used. I should dig out the video I made of the tour I was given when Judy and I visited the factory.
Labels: Wa He Lut
05 June 2007
Labels: Wa He Lut
How Os would re-word Alliance Q9 if she could:
Q9) If a clam were in the Wizard of Oz which would it be?
A) The Tin Man
B) Cowardly Lion
C) Scarecrow
D) Dorothy
Actual question:
Clams do not have this organ:
A) brain
B) kidneys
C) heart
Last year we had the Siamese Monkeys and the something-or-others... this year's team names are boring but indicative of greater experience online.
Labels: Wa He Lut
Wa He Lut World
Last class day before we run the races* and end the school year, which will happen Monday morning. I rang Mothra last night and while we talked I ran the pathways, as I needed to know if the answers were on the correct signs. After lagging behind in the implementation of their question sign boards, Warcraft got busy last week (Isaiah, really) and have 9 good crustacean questions and one unmade question station. Alliance has 9 decent questions, although I needed to change the wording on one, and a duplicate/lame-o question that needs replacing. On the whole theirs are not quite as good as Warcraft's, and have several cuttlefish questions, indicating that someone found a cuttlefish Q&A on the 'net. Last week I told the children to find pictures to illustrate the animals in the questions, and they did, which is groovy. Today we clean up the paths/questions/spelling and I hope to take a few pictures.
When we are finished Rich will freeze the world as CTCUni is updating to a newer AW version. I know not what will happen next year. We had no funding this year, but for us, really, it made not a great deal of difference ( we didn't have our Cornell student mentors, so it meant more was expected of me).
*There are two paths which run up the sides of a mountain. The class is divided into two teams, with each given a topic and the task of creating 10 question stations along their path. One team has molluscs as its topic; one team has crustaceans as its topic. The races will be run with students essaying the questions along the other team's path. If the correct sign is clicked the student warps to the next question. If the wrong choice is made the student warps away and has to make his way back (although I've discovered that if you hit the + it stops the warp - but shhhhhhhhhh).
Labels: Wa He Lut
22 May 2007
I need something to eat. Obviously I am suffering from low brain juice.
Osprey: (to Mothra) Are there wrong answers on the Alliance path? And Tandy needs to fix Q7.
Osprey: Chu-Shid - find a spot on your path for a question
Osprey: and make it happen.
Osprey: If only one path is finished by race day that team will win by default.
Osprey: Tristan, we already used that gastropod question.
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by Mothra.
Osprey: We need a system so we don't put the same Q multiple times.
Osprey: System might be: RUN THE PATH BEFORE YOU ADD A QUESTION.
Mothra: wdsthhsewadsassssssssssddddddwasdswdw
Osprey: Hi Tandy!
Osprey: ty for changing the Q
Osprey: Want to do 8?
Osprey: Mothra are you speaking in tongues?
Osprey: (to CheyenneS) What question are you doing?
Osprey: I tilted the question signs in my valley to show some that we used already.
Osprey: =============:O I accidentally deleted one though.
CheyenneS: no problemo
Osprey: 10. What does the snail use to break up its food?
Osprey: A) A knife and fork
Osprey: B) The joke about the rabbi, priest, and minister
Osprey: C) The correct answer
Shania: Where do Whelks (missing verb - lay? cook? hide? fertilise?) their eggs?
Osprey: Whelks are cool.
Osprey: Isaiah get to work.
Osprey: All these rotating objects are making me dizzy.
Osprey: Isaiah looks like he is asleep in the air.
Osprey: Floating lying down...
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by Shania.
Osprey: Shania, how is it coming along?
Shania: not good
Osprey: no?
Osprey: Pick a question and go make it on the path.
Osprey: If you need a better question go and research on the internet.
Osprey: Maybe I will delete the questions we have used.
Shania: i love me
Shania: kinda hate me
Osprey: I like you.
Shania: ok
Labels: Wa He Lut
09 May 2007
When I logged in to the CT-CUNI Sci-Fair program yesterday I had a telegram from queenbee, who is the person who invented and guides that Cornell University VR teaching uh... thing which uses the ActiveWorlds platform (which is crude but runs on school puters). It's a wide range of ages and real-world locations from Wa He Lut Indian School fifth graders to infinity.
I met queenbee in 2004 when she came to run a workshop at the Lut. Our then-principal, John, had signed us up but neither he nor anyone else in the group except me had clue one about virtual reality. I was overjoyed to learn of the proposal, and because Mothra is my special pal, we have wound up doing it these three years. (Me in 2006 when I told Mothra I was having to stop working - "Do you want to do Sci-Fair next year?" Mothra - "Not without YOU.") Therefore, I am unpaid but happy in the service of the Lut.
Anyway, in 2004 queenbee was glad to know I was a virtual world person, and she said she'd have to try Second Life out. The telegram asked for denoobification help and gave me her SL name. I'm already trying to decide how I can rope her into doing a GBC show on the Sci-Fair program or perhaps on coming to SL from other worlds... or maybe an editorial... hmmm...
Anyway - welcome to Second Life, queenbee!
Labels: Second Life, Wa He Lut
01 May 2007
Start Yer Search Engines!
Today in CTCUNI SciFair with my class of Fifth Graders.
Osprey: We are still making new questions.
Osprey: Next week we will start making the paths.
Osprey: :D
Osprey: All right - start yer search engines!
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by Isaiah.
CheyenneS: vrum
Osprey: :D
CheyenneS: XD
Osprey: Your Q should not be too easy.
Osprey: Remember you are going to compete.
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by ChuShid.
Osprey: But - not impossible to answer.
CheyenneS: ='(
Osprey: Are you Googliing?
Osprey: Get to work.
Osprey: Work until 2:20 then we can build or visit other worlds.
Osprey: =========8>
Immigration Officer: You are being joined by Tristan.
Osprey: #;-[]
I sent them off at 2:20 in a contest to come back with the coolest object. They brought back ENORMOUS things which then made me get all mixed up as I couldn't see and they were duplicating each others, so I erroneously proclaimed Isaiah the winner instead of the rightful winner Shania. She said WHAT??? then they all left before we got it straightened out. We need a lesson in "If something is not correct say what is wrong as saying WHAT??? doesn't help."
I tried to call Mothra but the school was on the answering machine.
Labels: Wa He Lut
03 April 2007
Man Races in WaHeLut2
Went all right - I was interested in having the students do this as I thought they had no clear knowledge of moving
Midway through I noticed some weirdness and saw the Worlds tab was empty. I decided to relog quickly in case it was me, but suspected it was something at the server end. At first I couldn't get back as it said the worlds were not there, then I was able to, and called Montrose. I still don't know what happened.
Tandy changed into Hotep and greeted me by saying, "I'm Osprey" Ha! That's Tandy in the screenshot. We have a new student and I need to set him up with an account. He did quite well, although trying to change his man (they had to changed the color in the race) didn't work as there is no word command for purple. Forestgreen, magenta, aquamarine, and copper, yes - purple, no. Plus hex codes, of course.
Labels: Wa He Lut
28 March 2007
Last week at the Green Conference Mothra's students were slated to give a short demonstration of the Wa He Lut 2 world. Isaiah and Shania were the speakers. As it turned out, the people before them had a very brief skit, and so we had AN HOUR. Ha ha! Mothra said the time went fast, as Isaiah went up the salmon questions path, and Shania explained and demonstrated making signs and making pictures and other things we do. He said it went fine and didn't drag. I think we were originally to have ten minutes (or maybe ten minutes per student).
I had replaced all the instructional signs I'd made, with the idea that they could use them to explain what we were doing - not sure if they did or not but I'm glad it went well. That was a big hurdle, not least of which was the techno end of things as Mothra is not much of a technodude.
Labels: Wa He Lut
27 March 2007
Missing Something?
I was rather amazed that Cornell University's SciFair project isn't on this list as I've been teaching a class in it since 2004.
Metaverse Roadmap
So I suggested it to them.
I must be doing a lot better since I doubt I'd've got that far yesterday.
Labels: Wa He Lut
23 March 2007
For some strange reason there wound up being 3 events listings for Friday Fights, me hanging out morosely, and a few nooblets who mostly poofed mid fight through being overwhelmed. One was very fast at learning, though, but he left after one fight as he wanted to explore.
I hate being totally alone there. I made a sign for the 'bots as I had observed (I was standing atop a nearby tree doing something for a while before 2) a person approach Ned, sit on him, then beat a hasty retreat. I reckoned that meant he didn't know what to do, and remembered Doc saying we needed lots of signs. Lately it's been tough going as many new people don't speak English and/or don't have streaming media enabled and so can't watch the movie. Last week I walked someone through enabling media, and honestly, just that with nothing else was a big enough lesson for the day.
In no particular order: Enj and I went to try out the new Sine Waves animations. I made a Movie Night 2: The Sequel! poster. Discovered that First Look (didn't it NOT do this for a while?) crashes me in Bodega (again or still). I tried it several times including once walking from Bolinas to Bodega, crashing when I put foot over the line. Whilst filing a bug report a person came over and stripped/equipped and attempted to... uh... I dunno... so I filed an AR as well. I used to tell nude men to go to Amsterdam, but perhaps they should now go to ebay.
I was trying to take android pictures in Laran when Snoopy and Woodstock flew over. In a fit of irritation I did the Sven murderer animation I made for the play - Snoopy (cell-shaded and a bizarre contrast with a chrome android - wished I'd had a moment to take a picture) turned tail immediately and skedaddled.
Scary?
Then someone flew over - I coundn't think who it was - then remembered it was the woman who caged/orbited me yesterday. Super-crowded remote sim.
Rhiannon TPed me to look at a billion of my tents she, Frans, and Amu were setting up for a podcasters jamboree of some kind. She congratulated me on the Fox Atomic thing, and when I said "I'm sure we will get the prize one day ," told me that a truck with 50,000 linden trees was going to pull up in front of my house, sent by a confused Fox. I was taken with the idea - a much better prize.
I talked with Johannason about the extra-specially bad day/time of Friday Fights, as he had said he'd love to be there but couldn't due to work. I think we need to change it - either that or stop doing it. If I weren't a captive audience there'd be no freaking way I'd be home at any time on a Friday - day or night.
jF teh Blogger just ate half my post :( GAH.
B<3 emailed and told me how busy everyone at school is, and asked me for the password that would enable them to update the website. The... what, now? I have explained before and explained again how to access the homepage folder. It's on the black server. <-- There it is! They have a techie - why not ask her about mythical passwords? Mike, then Alex couldn't get me remote access as the BIA is teh weird* and I don't have a fixed IP address. ** All someone needs to do is login on the server itself or access it from another school computer, using their admin password. Doesn't that seem... uh... elementary? Alex is still there - they could ask him.
*The bureau gets attacked a lot.
** ---unshared caustic opinion---
Labels: Second Life, Wa He Lut
16 March 2007
Judy called me from New Mexico - a nice surprise. She asked me right off the bat something she just couldn't think of but knew perfectly well. I told her, and she said she'd always had me finish her sentences for her when she forgot something - ha ha! I only vaguely remember that. She told me she'd never seen the new school, which was mind-blowing as it was built 10 years ago. I knew she'd left before it was finished, but assumed she'd done a drive-by on an Oly visit since her son lives here. But no. She has never met Tiff, either. The new school was built after the flood wiped it out in er... '96. After the flood Judy and I held classes in part of the State Capital Museum and she had the children write and draw about what had happened. Ginger wrote, "The flood was horrible, but cool." It was, it's very true. We were in the school at St. Placid Priory for ages. I hated that place. I spent a lot of time there at night alone doing work for the school , and its reputation for being haunted by old nuns never seemed far off the mark. The new school was pushed through in record time as a BIA pilot program, and we moved into it in '98. Maybe it was '99 when Thomas died - he was a former student and that hit me very hard. It's just wrong to see a boy in his coffin and think, "He's grown." :( I have his photo in a frame on my refrigerator.
Tiff arrived just then. Although she said, "No, it's ok, it's ok," I hung up and went to hang with her. I had questions about what REALLY happened in the episode of Jeff and Brad and the puppet show in the men's room in Brazil. She said she never found out the truth but it just COULDN'T be the way it sounded. Ha ha! She cooked me food then we looked at Juanita, the mummy, who languishes in the museum in Arequipa, Peru and is the jumping-off point for her first children's book. She told me Jeff is going on another trip with her and Brad - now where was that too... hmmm. I misremember.
Then I went into SL and met with Salazar in his office at the steamworks. He has a spot for the GBC that just needs to be... uh... concocted. I've finally got it down to how it seems to work all right for the machinima, I think. Well, it didn't take once I actually started thinking about it. I remade the 640x480 spots for the ones that hadn't been chucked already, then I threw away, between the video and the 99 versions of robot frames, about 30 gigs. I went to Paris 1900 and skated around, then jumped off the Eiffel Tower with a parachute - only to rise quickly up, up, up. That was teh strange.
Labels: Second Life, Tiff, Wa He Lut
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