Final Project

In my class, Emerging Tech, we are doing a project about our family history. we had to make a prezi and an infographic about the information that we collected from multiple family members. I first interviewed my grandma and my grandpa to get all of my background information then I sent an email to my Uncle Pat to collect more information to tie everything together. After all information was collected, we put it in a Family Echo web. All that information was then made into an infographic and a Prezi.
You can find my Interview questions here
You can find my email here
You can find my Family Echo here

November 24, 2014

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Do you have any traditions? Go in to detail about your plans for the 5 day weekend.

Every year for Thanksgiving, I always get together with my family in town. My family usually gets together with my dad's side of the family with my grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. This year, we are going to my Uncle's house in the afternoon for a late lunch on Thursday. Then, early Friday morning, I am planning on going shopping with my sister. I'm not sure where we're going but this will be my second time going Black Friday Shopping. 

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November 19, 2014

Reflecting on the comments and grade of your stop-motion animation... what you would do differently if you had to do it all over again? Would you manage your time better? Find better lighting for your photos? Come up with a better idea? Explain what you would change about your video.

If I could do my stop-motion animation again, I would change a lot of things. I feel like my idea wasn't very creative and, in my opinion, I thought it was boring. I think I could have done something that was more exciting and fun to watch. If I did this idea again though, I would have changed the lighting because there were some glares on the fist time doing it. I would have also spent more time doing this. I really rushed into doing this and didn't give it very much thought. Also, some of my pictures that I took weren't very focused so I think I could have spent more time to focus them then take them. 

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November 17, 2014

Tell me about your weekend.

This weekend wasn't very exciting. I didn't really do anything besides hag out with a few friends and homework. I spent hours on hours doing a Biology paper for our year-long project that is due tomorrow. Once I was done with that, I had volleyball practice yesterday which was not my favorite thing to do but I enjoyed seeing all of my friends. After practice, I had an end of the season little get together with my basketball team at Orange Leaf. It was sad to "say goodbye" because I had been playing on that team since I was in 4th grade. But it was even more sad for me because everyone else on my team is playing school basketball so they will see each other all the time and I wont.:(

November 14, 2014

Tell me about your experience with taking your stop-motion photos. What problems did you run in to? What did you find difficult about the process? What would you go back and change about HOW you took the photos? Explain yourself.

While taking my pictures for my stop motion animation, I ran into quite a few problems. First, I had to find a puzzle that had the right pieces and I had to make sure I could put it together quickly. The first main problem I had was that I didn't have a tripod hat held an iPhone; so I had to improvise and tape my phone to a camera tripod so it would stay. Next, I had to put the puzzle together so it wouldn't take me as long to take pictures and I wouldn't move all the pieces trying to find which piece fits which. I finally got the puzzle done and i had to take it apart one by one and put it under the tripod so it could look like I was doing the puzzle as I went. I found at the end that my shadow from the lighting in my kitchen was in some of the shots and the pictures weren't very clear. Some things that I would change about how I took pictures is that I would make sure that I had lighting that was clear and my shadow wouldn't be on the puzzle and there wouldn't be any glares. 

November 11, 2014

What is your idea for the stop motion animation?How is it creative and innovated? How are you going to execute your idea?

For my stop motion animation, I thought about doing a puzzle. I could make it look like it is being put together in a matter of seconds. I think this idea is creative because it seems unique and I don't think very many people would think about doing this. I am thinking that I am going to have a tripod above a poster board and build the puzzle one piece at a time and speed it up all in the end. I'm not sure what puzzle I am going to do but I think I am going to do one that is around 200-300 pieces.

November 10, 2014

What is stop motion animation? If you don't know, look it up! Explain.

"Stop Motion animation is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own." In other words; its a cartoon made of a bunch of different pictures that look like they are moving.

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5 Frame Storyboard

November 5, 2014

Tell me about your idea for your 5 frame story board. What is the plot? How do you plan to make the story creative? Who's the main character? What is the beginning, middle and end? Tell me about your plan of attack.

For my 5 frame story board, I'm doing me late for class. I am going to be looking at my watch and then I am running through the hallway to get to my class. Then, I get to my class and the teacher yells at me and sends me to tardy tracker. I tried to make the story creative by having pictures that looked like real action photos of someone late for their class. I am just going to have my picture taken of me looking at my watch and then me running down the hall. I am going to find a teacher that is willing to take a picture with me, who looks pretty mad that I am late, then me going into tardy tracker. 

November 4, 2014

Yesterday you edited and uploaded photos to your blog. Tell me more about your photos. HOW did you edit them? Why did you choose the photos that you did? Explain your assignment.

The photos that I took and put on my blog were my favorite out of the ones that we took for the photo scavenger hunt. I also picked the photos I did because I thought those would be the best ones to edit and look different after editing them. I edited most of them by using the "burn" tool and focused all of them. Then, I used the saturation and use the one that makes the photo look the best. Next, I do white balance and filters. I usually find the one that makes the picture looks brighter and the colors look more vibrant.

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Edited Pictures

October 29, 2014

What do you know about photography and/or photo editing? Do you take photos? How do you take photos? Do you edit photos before posting them on social media? How do you edit them? Explain any background or knowledge you have about photography and photo editing. Do you like it? Do you have any interest?

I don't take photos how some of my friends take them. They take them with their fancy Canon cameras and really spend a lot of time finding the perfect picture; I don't really spend that kind of time. I do enjoy taking picture because I find it so cool that there are so man different ways to see things through pictures. I usually just take pictures on my phone and on occasion, with my family's camera. I don't post very many pictures on social media either because I never really find pictures that I like enough to post. But when I o post some, I do edit them; just with the usual Instagram filters but they still make that picture look better than the original one.

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Poverty Prezi

October 20, 2014

Tell me about your weekend. Share pics!

This weekend I went to my uncles annual bonfire. He has one every year around Halloween time so its a little chilly, which is the perfect bonfire weather. My uncle lives on a lot of land and usually has a local band play throughout the night. This year he had multiple singers and groups play to keep the rest of the crowd entertained. There was also plenty of food served, the usual cookout foods: hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans and so much more that guests had brought. I look forward to this every year because its fun to get together with my family and friends and have a good time by the fire:).

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October 14, 2014

Below is a letter written to the editor who wrote the article 'Enforcement of dress code creates negative effect' that your blogged about last week. Most of you wrote on your blog that you agreed with the writer. What are your thoughts after reading the letter below and seeing a different perspective. Are they the same? Are the different? Do you agree? Disagree? Explain yourself.

I disagree with this letter because the article was an opinion (hints where it says "Riley Miller Opinion Editor". This article was written by someone who has obviously been told multiple times by teachers to fix her outfit because it "too revealing". I can see that the administrations want our students to carry on a professional attire at school to "prepare them for the future" but school should still be a place where students shouldn't have to worry about looking so nice all the time; they should wear what they feel. I don't see wearing spaghetti-straps as a "unprofessional"; certain shirts can have straps with less than two fingers width and still look professional. I also do not see the difference between wearing things "at certain times and places". If I wear something out with my friends, its defiantly not going to be something that I'm embarrassed to wear or think I couldn't wear it at school. 

October 13, 2014

I think that there are so many classes that will not help in any way at all when we are starting our careers. For instance, I don't think I'm going to need to know how to find the Orthocenter of a triangle when I am in college. We should be able to pick all of our classes that we think will help prepare us for what we are striving for in life. For those who do not want to go in to certain areas, they should not be forced to take the classes. I'm not sure what area I want to study in college but I think that taking some classes in high school will help me figure it out.

Infographic

easel.ly

October 7, 2014

The following article was in the September issue of The Tiger Print. Read the article (even if you already have) and respond to it below. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Consider all perspectives of the article while you respond.

I think this article has a very powerful meaning to it and I completely agree. We, as high schoolers, should be able to choose an outfit in the morning that we want to wear, not something that they think they wont get in trouble for. If these teachers are trying get us ready for "the real world", I don't think that there are going to be people telling us that our shorts are too short or that we need to put a jacket over our shirts when we're 20. People with short legs and shorts arms don't really have a problem with the thumb rule. However, people with long legs and long arms can have some major trouble finding shorts that come below the thumb. I don't think that shorts that show a little more leg would be a problem (unless you are able to see things that shouldn't be shown in school). I think that the teachers should let us have a little more self- control on the thing we choose to wear.
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October 6, 2014

Tell me about your weekend! If you don't have anything fun to share, tell me about the city you live in. What do you love about Kansas City? Do you have a favorite place in the city? Favorite team? :) Favorite event? Explain.

This weekend mostly consisted of watching the Royals and watching the Chiefs; not much but still enjoyable. Those are a few things that I really love about Kansas City: the enjoyment and support for our teams. This year, we've been fortunate enough to have some really successful sports teams like the Chiefs, Sporting KC and, of course, the Royals. It's really fun to see everyone in the community so supportive and excited how they are going all the way to the ALCS! For each "important" games they're played (and won) there have been fireworks going off in nearby neighborhoods celebrating the victory and the team moving on. I really hope that the Royals go all the way and "take the crown".

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September 30, 2014

What is an infographic? If you don't know, go look it up. Read about it and then in your own words
tell me what an infographic is. What do infographics do? How do they work? What makes a really good infographic?
Find an example of a really cool infographic on the web and place it on your blog.

An infographic is a visual image that represents a piece of information. It's a simple photo that can easily be understood and can be used for many parts of the information it's representing. Some popular infographs that people use are graphs and charts. Most infographs have many bright colors and animated pictures.

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September 29, 2014

Tell me about your Homecoming weekend! If you didn't participate in the Homecoming festivities, what did you do? Share pics!

This weekend was quite busy. On Saturday, I was planning on waking up on Saturday morning late with plenty of rest and get my hair and makeup done and have more than enough time to relax before homecoming pictures came at 5:45; but that's not exactly how it went. I had a volleyball tournament at Shawnee Mission Northwest so we had to be at Blue Valley at 6:45 to catch the bus that took us to the tournament. Our last game was at 3:30 so I went home and get ready really fast! My group had pictures at my friend Sydney's house and since there were so many people at pictures, it took a while. Once pictures were done, the picture groups split up for dinner. My group went to Newport Grill in Prairie Fire. After dinner we all went to the dance. It was a lot of fun to see everyone so nice and dressed up. Once we were ready to leave the dance, we went to my friend Drew's house for the after party. It was a great night with great people. :)

September 24, 2014

Imagine Mr. Bacon has asked you to suggest one way of improving Blue Valley High School to make it a better place for students. Think about the changes that are needed at your school. Pick one change you feel would really make a difference and explain what it is and why you'd make the change.

A change that I would make to improving Blue Valley High School would be to get bigger lunch room tables. At lunch, we can never fit all of our friends at one table so we either have to pull up chairs or they have to sit somewhere else. We have had to pull up chairs every single day this year and it get so crowded. Another solution could be to maybe get smaller lunch tables so people would be forced to move to another table. 

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September 23, 2014

What are your favorite apps on your phone or tablet? Why?

My favorite apps on my phone are Twitter and Snapchat. I like Twitter because I can communicate with people and keep up to date on what they're doing just by reading their tweets. I like that I can so keep the people who follow me updated about my life. I like snapchat because it is like you are having a "selfie war" with your friends. I have had snapchat for a long time and I think I will be using it for a long time in the future. 

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September 22, 2014

What is email? When do you use email in your own personal life? List reasons and ways that people use email. What do you know about "email etiquette"?

Emailing is mailing things electronically. I don't really use email in my personal life because if I need to send something to someone or need to talk to them, I can just text or call them. Some people could also use email to send documents, to inform people about upcoming events or even to just talk. I don't really know what email etiquette is but I can imagine that is would be like being proper in your writing and using the right wording.

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September 19, 2014

Now that you've been in Emerging Technology for several weeks... what do you think? Do you think the web tools (Drive, Evernote, Bubbl, etc.) are helpful to you? Do you think they will be helpful throughout high school or even college? Explain.

I think that Emerging tech so far has been very helpful in learning new tools on the computer. I have enjoyed doing the blog posts everyday and the different projects that we are doing in class. I think that the tools that we have learned will help me in the future like Google drive will be so much more useful so I don't have to email myself the word document every time I write an essay. I may not use bubbl.us because I really like writing out my outline on paper rather than on the computer but its still a really good tool to know how to use. 

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September 17, 2014

Do you enjoy writing? When do you enjoy it? What kind of writing do you enjoy? Why do you think the ability to write is so important no matter what kind of writing it is? Give an example that you enjoyed writing or hated writing. Why?

There are times when I enjoy writing and times when I don't. I mostly like writing if I'm involved with a topic or when it's something that I'm interested in. I think that writing is a very important tool that you will use for the rest of your life. Writing is a way that you can express yourself. I enjoyed writing when I am talking about things that have occurred or relate to my life. I really don't like writing papers that I feel that I'm forced to write such as research papers and things where I am given a specific prompt. I like writing about things that doesn't take that much thought, that I can just write carelessly.

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September 16, 2014

Reflect on this quote. Give an example of a time in your life that this might have been the case.


I think this quote means that if you do not take the time to prepare for something, you wont be successful. When I am studying for a test, I know that I am getting ready to do my very best on that test. Another example is when you go to practice for a sport. If you don't go to the practices, you wont know what you will need to be prepared for for the game in the future.

September 15, 2014

What did you do this weekend? Share pictures if you have them!

This weekend, I didn't do much. On Friday, I went to the football game and the pizza dance after. The game was a lot of fun because we played West and that's always a big deal. After the game, I got to see a bunch of my friends that go to West and it was really exciting to see those people I haven't seen in a long time. After seeing all of my West friends, I went to the pizza dance. Even though I was forced to go because I am on student council, I still had a pretty good time being with all of my friends. For the rest of the weekend, I mostly played basketball. My team was in a tournament on Saturday and then had two more games on Sunday. We won the tournament and split the games on Sunday. Overall it was a good weekend!

September 12, 2014

What is the importance of research? Why do you need to know how to research? What have you learned in high school about researching topics and finding quality resources? Have you had a helpful teacher that has taught you to research? Explain.

Research is important because it helps you know what things are about. Research is very important and it is a very good tool to know for the rest of your life. In college, there are going to be many cases where you will have to do research and you will possibly need to know that for your profession. In high school so far, I have learned how to find good sources and where I can look for research in each database. This year is really the first year that I've ever used databases so it was interesting to learn about. One teacher that has really helped a lot with research and got me started researching was Mrs. Nocita from PSMS. Even though we never learned about databases all that much, she really helped teaching us how we know that a cite is reliable or not.

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Global Issue Selection

Global Issue Selection- Katie Upton


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For my global issue in Emerging technology, I chose poverty in America. I have begun researching the issue and you can find my research questions here.

September 10, 2014

These kids these day; I'll tell ya. They are just all over those cell phones. Kids just spend hours and hours on little black screens. Back in my day, kids would be out on the streets playing with one another. But now, they're all inside on gaming devices or another electronically gadget. Kids nowadays have lost all manners too. There's no holding the door for the elderly, no pulling a chair out for a lady, there's no class in the cities anymore.

September 9, 2014

Tell me about the global issue you selected. What do you already know about the issue? What are you looking forward to learning about it? Explain.

The global issue I picked was poverty in the US. There are many causes to poverty and a few are unemployment, natural disasters, malfunction in the government and more. I know that this is a large topic all over the world and is trying to be resolved or helped as much as possible. Some things I want to learn about while doing this project are what are the different types of organizations there are to help provide for those who cant provide for themselves. Another thing I would like to learn in this process is how many organizations and shelters there are and how many people have been affected by this issue in the US.

September 8, 2014

What did you do this weekend? Share pictures if you have them!

This weekend, I went to the Blue Valley football game against Shawnee Mission North West. It wasn't the most exciting game but it was very fun because that was my first football game being in the student section. Even though my friends and I were in the back because we're freshmen, I still had a great time being with all of my friends. On Saturday, I went to the Freshman Volleyball Jamboree here at Blue Valley. I had to go because I was refereeing, but I still enjoyed watching all of my friend and seeing some people who I haven't seen in a long time that go to different schools. 

September 5, 2014

If I were to make my own schedule, it would probably look something like this:

Sleeping: A+
Eating: A+
Running: F-
Procrastination: A+
Waking up early: D+
Being lazy: B

PSA

September 3, 2014

Yesterday I asked your to "think differently" and push yourself to be uncommon with your PSA project using Google Slides. Why do you think I asked you to do that? What is the point? Why not just use bullets and headers? Explain

I think you would ask us to be different with our PSA's because the topics that were chosen are very serious topics that should be taken seriously by everyone. By making each PSA different, some presentation could catch someone attention and they could really take it into consideration. Another reason why you may have told us to be different is because most of us have seen so many presentations about smoking and drinking and all those boring things so we needed to make something that people would want to watch and would actually pay attention to. 

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September 2, 2014

Tell me all about your Labor Day weekend. What did you do? Include photos!

This Labor Day weekend, I went to the Metro Volleyball Slam at St. James Academy on Saturday. There, my friends and I watched the varsity team play Olathe East. I also watched St. James Academy play Olathe Northwest. It was really fun to watch because I love watching volleyball games, especially high school varsity teams. I think they are really entertaining to watch because they are all so talented. The fun thing was, was that my friends and I got on TV! All the games were being filmed and from time to time, the camera men would show the fans and he happened to pick us.

August 29, 2014

Read this small newspaper clipping and then write a blog post about it. What are your thoughts? How does it make you feel? Do you agree? Disagree? Explain yourself.





After reading this article, I feel that what John Tapene said about teenagers needing to grow up was very true. I think that teenagers who get in trouble seem to think that they will get out of a punishment by blaming someone else or making to one giving the punishment feel guilty. I think the teens should "stop being a cry baby" and start getting their life together by looking and building for the future.

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August 26, 2014

What is a Public Service Announcement? If you don't know what it is, Google it. In your own words, now tell me what it is? What are they used for? Can you recall an example of a PSA you've seen before?


A Public Service Announcement is a message to get the public aware about a certain topic through some type of media. One PSA I've seen is the smoking commercial where a girl goes to pay for the cigarettes but the cashier tells her she doesn't have enough money. Then the girl rips off part of her skin and gets the cigarettes. There are so many PSA's and we don't even know we'e watching them.

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August 25, 2014

After watching the short clip of Ashton Kutcher's acceptance speech what did you take away from his advice? What does this quote mean to you -"Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use."

After watching the short clip, I realized that you make your life how you want. You're the one that makes the decisions and you decide how you want things to turn out. This quote means a lot to me because I feel that you can make a difference in anything you do. You are different from anyone else and no one thinks the same as you. Make your own difference and strive for your own dreams, not for anyone else's.



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