Officially submitted for printing, the Kapa’a Middle School 2012-2013 Yearbook is now complete! Feel free to scroll through the 60 pages of students’ custom designed layouts, original photographs, captions and stories. Although stressful at times, Yearbook has become one of my favorite classes to teach! Nice job K.M.S. Yearbook Staff!!!
This was a collaborative effort between two 8th Grade advisory classes at Kapa’a Middle School. Mr. Ryan kicks things off with his dance skills while I had the pleasure of filming/editing the mayhem that ensued.
Be sure to check out Mrs. Sanderl’s version too… CLICK HERE!
PBS Hawaii – HIKI NO Episode 414: Hosted by Students from Kamehameha Schools from PBS Hawaii
This is Kapa’a Middle School’s debut episode on PBS Hawaii – HIKI NO. Appearing during the intro at 1:08 and featured at 20:42, the instructional video “How to Make a Beaded Bowl” was produced by three students in my Media class. It was an incredible experience working with the production team at PBS Hawaii and we look forward to our next contribution to the show.
As a class project, students worked in teams to create various “How To” videos as an introduction to visual storytelling. After the process of pitching ideas, storyboarding, scheduling, production, editing and re-editing, many great videos were made; however only one could be selected to air on local television. Congratulations to Malina, Mia and Sabrina!
A special Happy Birthday to our sister-in-law, April! We’re so glad that David, April and William were able to spend the week with us in celebration! Although it was a short visit, we packed in tons of fun including our first geo cashing experience and our first whale watching trip. William is such an awesome little guy and we’re so happy to have spent some quality time with the Wagners. Thanks for making the long trip over!
The Christmas spirit was in full effect at the Wagner house this year. It was complete with all the traditional holiday recipes, a huge prime rib, a beautiful tree, lounging with family by the fire, etc. We were also happy to see Aunt Mary and have our first jam-session with Uncle Greg. Hopefully next year we will sound better than screeching cats. Another highlight was enjoying our Christmas gift with Ben and David on the mountain. Mom and Dad Wagner surprised us with an all-inclusive day of snowboarding at Stevens Pass and we all walked away unscathed, for the most part. We couldn’t have had a better Christmas! Can’t wait till next year.
This is the result of Part 2 from our “Stitched Sanctuary” imaging project, an introduction to HDR photography. Students photographed a range of 5 different exposure levels from dark (-2 stops) to light (+2 stops). Using Adobe Bridge for file management, Camera Raw to edit/color correct, and custom settings in the Merge to HDR Pro PhotoShop plugin, students created these outstanding HDR images. Period 2 is above and Period 3 is below. The level of creativity, technical ability and artistic skill continues to impress me!
This is the result of Part 1 of our “Stitched Sanctuary” project for Kapaa Middle School’s Gifted and Talented program. Students created these panoramic images from a series of 5 overlapping photographs taken of their personal sanctuary. Each panorama was aligned by hand and blended in PhotoShop to create a unique final image. Behind the lens, students leaned about landscape photography and how to use environmental tripods along with various composition techniques. During post-production, students were introduced to content aware fills, clone stamping, and the liquify tool.
Upon completion of the project, each image was thoughtfully critiqued in a class discussion and then written about in a final self-reflection. Scroll through Period 2 Panoramas above and Period 3 Panoramas below.
Back in October we had an awesome visit from my brother’s family. We spent the majority of our fall break lounging at the beach with Jason and Debbie, while the kids, Bella, Ava and Jack, rampaged in the sand. Daytime hours were filled with surfing, hiking, snorkeling and chasing Jack around the house. Most evenings involved chef Jason cooking up his specialties, or eating out at our favorite local spots. It was a perfect and relaxing vacation before heading back to work. Here’s a quick gallery from the week’s worth of fun…
As Kapaa Middle School gears up for the Hawaii State Assessment (HSA), computer students contributed to a positive and encouraging test-taking environment with their latest class project. In an effort motivate test-takers that frequent the school’s computer labs, these posters have been blown up and displayed in each grade-level’s PC lab. Outstanding 7th grade work is above and below is finished work from 6th grade.
Using the drawing tool in their Google Drive accounts, students created these colorful posters which included hand drawn designs, customized word clouds, famous motivational quotes, and various text and imagery. My computer classes are taught in the 8th grade computer lab at KMS. Below, you can see the semi-permanent installation that is now making the room a more vibrant learning environment. Great job to all my Computer Wizards!
Here’s a quick gallery of all the fun things we did with Momma Ruth and Big Daddy Wags a few months ago. Highlights included daily snorkeling and beach adventures, incredible dinners every night, Smith’s “Tropical Paradise” Luau with Pele the goddess of fire, a visit to the neighborhood swimming hole, and trying to pose for pictures that make it look like we’re rock climbing. We also had an awesome fourth of July celebration with live music and fireworks at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kekaha. And to top it all off, we even got to spend an entire day on a boat with friends in Hanalei bay! As always, it was a memorable trip and we can’t wait for the next visit!
These little guys were the newest addition to our ohana, nearly four months ago… I’ve been a bit behind posting updated pictures. They’re just about fully grown now, but still as cute as day one. Our older chickens have been producing fewer eggs lately and I think they’re getting nervous with the replacements moving in. Although the newbies aren’t quite old enough to start laying yet, we should be expecting large brown triple grade A++ eggs within another month or two. Can’t wait!
Here are the results of my first project as a Yearbook Teacher! This collage shows every student’s work from my 6th-8th grade Yearbook Class. Students used Adobe Photoshop to create a Wanted Flier reminiscent of outlaws in the Wild West. The fliers includes five examples of exceptional behaviors or actions that each student is “Wanted For”. Within each example students were required to incorporate theme-specific western language that ties their text to the Western era. Technical requirements for the project involved simulating the look of aged paper with multiple grain enhancing filters, creating burnt edges with different brush techniques, choosing theme-appropriate colors/fonts, and constructing a thoughtful layout to maximize the visual impact of their end result. Leading into the school’s yearbook theme and cover contest, this project served as a great introduction to page layout and theme-related content. Nice work, Yearbookers!
Here are the results of my first project as a digital media teacher! These collages show every student’s work from my two classes of 6th-8th grade Gifted and Talented. Students used a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create inspirational posters that included a motivational quote, their digital signature, and stylized photos. Technical requirements for the project involved using multiple gradients for the background, a minimum of two artistic filters applied to one central image, visible blending options on every layer, and a cohesive layout that easily communicates each student’s message. I am incredibly impressed with the outcome!
