Saturday, August 16, 2014

Multimedia Arts Camp Day 5:

     The multimedia arts camp finished up today as a big success. The students put their final touches on their videos and presented them to the entire camp. Before the videos were shared, students had time to either finish editing their videos or tour around the campus. I took my students to see some of the buildings around campus and to meet some students because a participant wanted to talk to Clemson students. Together we checked out Hardin Hall home of the History, Geography, Philosophy, and Religious Studies department. The participant enjoyed an opportunity to talk to a professor about what college is like and how things at Clemson work.
     Afterwards the students met in Godfrey hall to have a martial arts lesson from Tamika. This lesson had mixed results, some of the students really enjoyed it, but it seemed like the majority of the students just wanted to sit around and not participate. If I were to do this again I would figure out a way to try and make the activity more engaging for the students so they wanted to willingly participate.
     After the martial arts lesson the students moved into the basement of Tillman to watch the videos they had made. Across the board the videos were good and one could tell that the students had worked hard on them. Jordan had technical difficulties with her computer, but the students still came upstairs and crammed into the DML lab to watch the completed video.
     The paper plate superlatives given to each student were a huge success. I was doubtful when Dr. Rogers ran the idea by us but the students really seemed to enjoy them, and they were a nice way to tie off the camp. All in all, I'd mark the camp down as a success. The projects were spectacular, the students had fun, and the Moore Scholars group as a whole got some new teaching experiences.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

     Day 4 of the Multimedia Arts Camp, complete! Most students are getting excited to share their videos tomorrow to the rest of camp, while some are a little shy and nervous about appearing on the "big screen." It has been a privilege to witness some of these students slowly come out of their shells. They are each incredibly unique, which, as future teachers, is something we all need to gain more experience with.
     Today, we spent the first 30 minutes completing a writing activity with the students that Dr. Rogers prepared for everyone. We then shared our favorite parts of the camp, and reflected on what had been written on everyone's papers. Some of the students even shared that camp was the best part of their summer! The next 30 minutes were spent working in groups on presentations, but then we soon reunited and went to Godfrey to play games in the dance room for a little mental break. Some Moore Scholars prepared a game of "Relay Charades", which was both competitive, humorous, and a definite bonding experience for everyone. While some campers were not too excited about the idea of "playing games" for an hour, I believe everyone enjoyed the time spent in Godfrey today.
     For the last hour, students worked on their presentations again. Some groups even finished their iMovie a little early, and had to luxury of enjoying the beautiful day out on Bowman Field and the North Green, overlooking the reflection pond. The group researching deforestation were lucky enough to take a trip to the Botanical Gardens, which I'm sure was a treat for the students of the DAR School. I got to witness the group researching bullying finishing up their footage of some cheerleading and dance routines.
     All in all, it was another productive day at the Multimedia Arts Camp here in Clemson, and it's looking like we will definitely have some students interested in returning next year! Excited to watch the movies tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wednesday August 13, 2014


Moore Scholars Multimedia Arts Camp Day 3 Blog Post


            Well, we’ve made it through two days of training and three days of camp, we are in the home stretch everyone! The students are definitely warming up to the scholars and seem to be enjoying themselves, for the most part. As always, there are those select few who do not want to participate, but as future teachers, we must realize that that’s reality. The videos seem to be coming along quite nicely, and today, we had several visitors on campus!
            The group doing the video on a fitness campaign had a visit from a Clemson basketball player named Jaron Blossomgame. Jaron is a 6 foot 7 inch sophomore who plays forward for the Clemson Tigers basketball team. Jake arranged a meet and greet with his students and Jaron. There was even a small pick up game on the quad basketball court! The kids loved it, and I’m hoping Jaron did as well.
            The group doing the video on intergenerational story telling had a visit from Kenneth Wilson, Dr. Rogers’ relative who also attended the DAR school during his teen years. Mr. Wilson visited the students and discussed the DAR school then and now. Rebekah’s girls seemed to thoroughly enjoy bonding and sharing stories with him. He even brought an old DAR yearbook and some other memorabilia.
            The group doing the video on preventing animal abuse had a visit from a dog today. The dog, named Brooke, came to campus and starred in some video clips with the students. Hailea’s students absolutely loved playing with Brooke; there was even a game of fetch in the Walter Cox Plaza after the filming was over.
            The Moore Scholars broke up a day of filming with a game of civic engagement charades in Godfrey Hall during the second hour today. The students were surprisingly really good at charades, even stumping our scholars at times!  It was a great break from the hard work of filming and video making, and provided some more insight into our theme of civic engagement.

            All in all, day 3 went over quite smoothly and was very successful! I’m looking forward to completing filming tomorrow and then presenting projects on Friday! Great job everyone! 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Multimedia Arts Camp Day #2... and a Rainstorm

Today was the second day of camp for Moore Scholars Cohort A and it was a productive day. The students were opening up and even more excited to get going on their projects. They all have wonderful ideas for civic engagement topics and how their final video project will show these off. The campers creativity and wide range of ideas continues to surprise me with every idea they share. From human trafficking, animal abuse, to bullying and every topic in between you could imagine these students are making videos about. Some are just aiming to bring awareness to a campaign and others are creating their own campaign showing the problem and their own ideas for possible solutions. We are all getting excited to see the final projects from the ideas we heard during the group updates today.

Camp started with a get to know you activity called "What's on your plate" where the students had paper plates with 4 sections drawn on them and each section they wrote about themselves so we could all get to know each other a little bit more. Next, we all brainstormed iPad safety ideas and a Moore Scholar showed the campers how to use iMovie, the application the final video projects will be created with. We hoped to show the students the lab next door in Godfrey Hall that has a dance studio space. Everyone made a run for it in the pouring rain and the door was locked so we had to turn around. Hopefully there are clear skies and the proper key so we can check out the space tomorrow.

Tomorrow is when most of the filming for the projects will begin. Actors will be preforming skits, props will be made, puppies will be on campus, a special guest for our inter-generational story telling group, basketball players will make appearances and many other talents will be showcased. These campers are so talented and their creativity is going to shine through in their final projects. They are already learning more about civic engagement and these videos have lots of promise.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Multimedia Arts Camp Day 1

August 11, 2014

Multimedia Arts Camp Day 1

Today was an exciting day for Cohort A of the Moore Scholars Program. It was the first day of our Multimedia Arts Camp which is the first summer immersion project that we have ever experienced. It was an exciting day as we waited in anticipation for the campers to arrive. Most of the campers are middle-school to high school in grade level, and many of them come from the Tamassee DAR School. Most of the students from this school have been taken away from their parents and homes for various reasons. Because of this, this experience for the Moore Scholars is incredible for our research and understanding in how to reach underprivileged and troubled children.

The theme for our Multimedia Arts Camp is civic engagement. This opens up a wide variety of topics that the children can choose for their multimedia projects. Many groups have chosen topics such as animal abuse, helping the elderly, health and fitness campaigns, etc. The group of children that I am working with has chosen to try to raise awareness about how to prevent and inhibit human trafficking around the world. I thought this was an extremely mature and challenging topic to choose, which demonstrates the abilities of these students. The students in my group are so full of life and ready to dive into the project head on. They already had a tremendous amount of ideas as to how they wanted to construct their video and props that they wanted to bring to assist them. I was amazed at their enthusiasm and eagerness to start their project.

It is so incredible that all of the campers at this camp are researching ways to improve society and the world. These children have the potential to be the future leaders of society and inspirations to many. All they need is someone to show them that they have the ability to succeed. The theme quote for the camp from Anne Frank is incredibly fitting for these children. It reads as follows, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."


Sunday, August 10, 2014

Sunday August 10, 2014
Camp begins tomorrow!
                
                Tomorrow, the Moore Scholars embark on a journey that is in its inaugural year. We are leading a multimedia arts camp in which we invite students from the surrounding area to come to Clemson University campus. At this camp we plan to talk about the topic of Civic Engagement with the campers and then assist them in creating a video that is meant to raise awareness about their subject. For the past two days, all of the Scholars and our instructor, Dr. Angela Rogers, have been training and preparing for the students to arrive on campus. During our training we talked about topics like what to do in case of weather and health emergencies, learned about the students that we will be working with, etc.
                  As I sit on the eve of our camp, I have many emotions and feelings regarding the camp. I am very excited to meet all of the campers that are attending our camp and to get to know them. I am excited to brainstorm topics that the campers want to work on and learn what their interests are. On the other hand, I am a little nervous for the camp. First of all, I feel that since it is the first year of the camp, there are still some small kinks that will need to be worked out as we go along. Secondly, I am worried that the campers will not connect with us as counselors. However, I think this is a concern that many groups have in situations similar to this.

                  All in all, I am very excited to get the opportunity to participate in this monumental occasion and look forward to gain many experiences along the way!

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