From the desk of Mr. Walters

Even if you know nothing about design! Designed in Canva... in 1 minute. Okay, graphic design is a classically snobbish topic in most of our minds, and historically most of our students really had little opportunity to experience it or interact with it. Today, we live in a visual landscape that is constantly getting more competitive. Everyone has a connected device, including most of our students. They see great design all day on web sites, apps, user interfaces, advertisements, and even E-cards from their middle school bae. The visual elements of most of our classrooms, though, from educational / inspirational posters to handouts to our Power Point Presentations (do people still use Power Point to make presentations?) look like amateurish garbage made by a well meaning but under-skilled octogenarian trying to design a bake sale flier for the local Rotary club. We can get away with die cuts, glitter, and Karen's Kids clip art until about fourth grade. Soon, though, kids are...

Here's an infographic I made for my game design students and future blog posts because I didn't like any of the graphics currently available. I'm open to improvement suggestions. I used Easel.ly https://s3.amazonaws.com/easel.ly/all_easels/13957/Flow/image.jpg Edtech tweeps, if you're writing about Game-Based Learning, Gamification, or Game Design, and you want to use this in a post, permission granted. If you have ideas on how it could be better, comment below or hit me up on Twitter .

...that aren't overdone. This year, my colleagues and I moved into a renovated building. One of the upgrades that every teacher experienced was a classroom equipped with a ceiling-mounted computer projection unit, a Mobi (mobile whiteboard), and a Laptop.  As a result, the number of us using PowerPoint for every lesson has grown exponentially. The explosion of Power Point aided lessons has in some cases led to an exponential growth in students placing Power Point on the same level as thick worksheet packets and lengthy standardized assessments. Further, many teachers are starting to feel the same way after being subjected to poorly constructed and delivered presentations by students. What happened to this tool that at the start seemed so engaging and dynamic? Essential Question: How do teachers navigating this new world of projection screens, Smartboards, etc. keep things fresh? Let's look at some presentation tools and techniques available to any teacher with an Internet ...

In my eighth grade classes, students spend the first few weeks learning the basics of Photoshop and Illustrator. We look at everything from simple drawing and photo editing to adding custom presets and libraries. One of the more nuanced skills that doesn't receive near enough air time in class, is how to use these two powerful applications together. Here's my first part in a series on Illustrator / Photoshop work-flows.

Hey Peeps, Long time - no post. As you may or may not know, I teach seventh and eighth grad CIT.  My class is essentially charged with the mission of providing a transition point between the Elementary "Computer" classes and the High School's Business, Technology, & Graphic Arts departments.  A lot of students want to do things with computers for a career, but most are confused when they see the HS course selection guide for the first time and see no category for computer classes.  They're really floored when they see that "Technology" means "Shop" Anyway, needles to say, my favorite part of my curriculum is the Introduction to Design, which introduces: Graphic Design - Art Department Photography / Photoshop - Technology Department Web Design & Publishing - Business Department I'm always looking for new resources with which to challenge & inspire these kids. Most of these make use of the Adobe Creative Suite.  If you don't...