Class 10/25

So... Even though this morning I was HELLA tired from midterms and other things that I had for today and this week...Todays class was hella interesting, chiefly because of the two TED talks we saw; the first speaker was John Maeda, the second was Scott McCloud.

The first was fun to watch because of Johns take on simplicity and complexity in our lives. After seeing and listening to his speech, I think he is a more simple person than he claims to be. Yes, he does have numerous titles, as he had stated, and have lots of things on his plate with work and his family, but his outlook is that of an exceedingly simple person individual. Most people with so much things going on in life tend to be FAR more stressed and less happy than someone as excited, animated, and enthusiastic about their lives as John Maeda. But, that's just how I perceived him to be in watching him speak about the experiences of simplicity and complexity in our every day lives.

The second speaker, Scott McCloud offered a very different experience. He he spoke a mile a minute, and everything that came out of his mouth was impactful because he images on the backdrop that changed not only as fast as he spoke but also they all were a part of his speech in support as a visual aid to everything he said. However, as a result of him speaking so damn fast, I was left with one lasting impression, which is that of the story about the scorpion riding the frogs back across the water, where the scorpion ends up stinging the frog, both dying, and when they are about to die the frog asks why only to hear, "because it's my nature". I thought, "daaaamn, that's like me" without getting specific, hearing that made me realize that if I don't act upon this realization that my habits, or "nature", are just going to end up keeping me down. Time for change.

Class 10/20

Todays class was funny as hell. We all presented our image and 10 headlines, which everyone seemed to hit right on the mark. But the best part of todays class was the whole body language discussion and exercise; we all went up in front of the class to say three things unique about ourselves, with one of the three being a lie. the audience was to judge the individual on their body language and attempt to guess which statement was a lie. I always find it very interesting how intimidating it is to speak in front of a crowd, even for myself. I typically do fine with public speaking, I dont really get nervous and i have the opportunity to practice it often. I thought i was decent because i have been told so by many people, however i was unaware of some of the things i do with my hands while i speak. In my defense, i feel that i have done it many times and i feel comfortable up there, therefore i move and act as i do when i am speaking casually with friends, family, etc., at least that is how i FEEL. Big difference from what is really going on.

As for gauging others' body language, the speaker's movements, facial expression, and hand gestures are exceedingly impactful toward the audience's level of attention, thus the speaker must be practiced in their public speaking skills to have an effective speech. But this doesnt just apply to giving speeches. as Jimmy explained to us, it is an important part of a designers career for us to be able to demonstrate and effectively explain to people our designs and the backstory to go with them.

I hope that we have more opportunities to practice this in the setting Jimmy has created for us, one that is purposely designed to scrutinize our skills in effort to perfect them.

Class 10/18

so...im a little behind on this blog, mainly because i am not used to this type of stuff and find it hard to get myself to sit down at the computer and write things down.

Anyway, this past monday in class was fun because we sat in a circle and went over our homework assignment, which was to have an image with 10 headlines that change the meaning of the image. Mine sucked. But after going around the room and hearing that most of my classmates were on the same page as me, with a few exceptions, i felt better about myself. He then asked us to repeat the assignment with a new picture and 10 better headlines, which was great! it gave me, and the rest of us all the chance to improve upon ourselves and complete the task correctly. Usually, an instructor will just tell you your wrong then assign some new work. I really like how Jimmy allows us to move at our pace so that we are able to create higher quality work, which is great practice for all aspects in life.

Class 10/6

When we met for class last Wednesday, 10/6, we watched a video of a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson of which standardized testing was one of the few topics that really stuck out to me. 

Something that sets me apart from the majority of other undergraduate students is that I have a family, not just like I live with my mom and dad; I have my own house, kids, dog,  full-time job, hella bills, and basically a jam packed lifestyle. School is my side gig and the last item in my list of important tasks.

Now how does this apply to standardized testing???? Well, my older boy is in preschool but the teacher is recommending that we put him in Kindergarten starting in Spring. The elementary school where we want to send him as an entrance exam for Kindergarten, which is not so much out of the ordinary. We had the discusion with his teacher and the preschool director about our son and his options for the beginning of next year last Tuesday evening, then the following day in class I watch this video with Sir Robinson speaking on standardized testing. Hit close to home.

I am for it, particularly because it was beneficial to me growing up. Although there are many factors going into a student taking a test where the outcome may be affected by countless external factors, the student will still be able to perform and complete a vast majority of the exam. Consequently, the instructors can focus the attention to the areas in the students academics where he/she struggled the most in the exam. Ultimately leading to the potential future successes in high school and college/university.

However, thats just my personal opinion derived from my experiences growing up in Alhambra, CA

Class 10/4

Yesterdays Concept Development class was pretty chill. It was interesting to look at the pictorial stories my classmates drew as to how they ended up in Cal State LA.

The Mind Mapping was cool as shit. I'm planning a trip to San Francisco next weekend, 10/14-17 with someone who has never been there. I'm not an expert on the place but, Cali is my home state and I've been all over this place more than once; Frisco being one of my favorite places in Cali, the mind mapping/brainstorming assignment was hella clutch. With just 20 minutes to make it happen I wasn't able to get into as much as I had liked. Fortunately, Jimmy (the professor) gave us the same assignment for homework and is allowing us to re-do the mind map we did in class. I always lag on my stuff so I probably wont hit it up until later tonight, but, I am actually looking forward to doing it.

Until next time players...

E. Garcia

First Day

Whats good....first day on this, first time blogging, first day of class.

Art 220 at CSULA looks like its going to be very interesting. I am anticipating to see what it is going to be about and am glad to have a teacher as animated as Jimmy Moss. It is still too early to have a feel for how it is going to be so, I'll get back at it real soon.

E. Garcia