DigCit Blog 12: Cyberbullying PSA

   This week in digcit class, we worked on creating our PSA videos. My group happened to be a very solid group and as a result, we did not have to edit our storyboards like the rest of the other groups(not to brag). We all contributed to the PSA very well and we did everything we could to keep it running swiftly. However, if something was not right or could have been improved, we spoke up for the sake of the outcome.

   My job was to make the last three slides in the PSA. Our PSA revolves around cyberbullying and how it can impact a person. We really hope that when people see our PSA, they will think twice about cyberbullying someone. In addition, we also hope people will be upstanders rather than bystanders if they encounter cyberbullying.

   Another job I was in charge of was partially producing the music for the PSA. I helped create the original music for the PSA. However, when we meshed the music into the PSA it did not give off the effect we wanted it to so it was altered. The new music on the PSA was created by my accomplice who did a great job. 

   This was fairly easy because I do not like cyberbullying and think it is very childish even though it can really hurt someone. I have not cyberbullied anyone before and I luckily have not been cyberbullied by anyone in the past(knock on wood).

      If you know anyone who has been cyberbullied before or has cyberbullied anyone, please be an upstander and do something. You never know the full power words have on people. 

    Samatha. "How Can We Prevent Cyber-Bullying in the Social Media Age? - Multiple Mayhem Mamma." Multiple Mayhem Mamma RSS. Multiple Mayhem Mamma, 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

Dig Cit Blog 11

   Yesterday in class, we had a meeting with a successful freelance artist/ documentarian/ photographer/journalist named Kevin Beatty. Kevin used to live in North Carolina, went to college in Boston to get his bachelor in science and film, and now resides in Colorado. He makes a living off projects he works on. My teachers scheduled this meeting because his profession is corresponding to what this class tries to achieve; working on a passion project to have an impact. 

   If there is one thing he stressed its the importance of marketing not only your project but yourself in addition. I feel very confident because I think I am doing a good job at that. After the community pitch, the picture of my poster was shared on my mentors personal facebook page as well as the facebook page of the nonprofit organization itself. Due to that action, I have been contacted by people wanting to learn more about what I am doing and some also want to join me. 

   Another thing that I picked up from the hangout was how important marketing is OUTSIDE of social media. Don't get me wrong, social media is important in marketing but that is just a fraction of the bigger picture. Kevin showed us a booklet he made to market what he plans on doing and he sends it to people he wants to work with or just people who might be interested. I am pondering the thought of making flyers or posters to promote the event but I will have to do that closer to the event. It definitely was a great idea! 

   Below is a screenshot of his website and located below it is his website which goes into more detail on what he is about! I recommend you all check it out!(: 

 

  Works Cited

Beatty, Kevin J. "Mixed-Media Story Telling." Mixed-Media Storytelling. Kevin J. Beaty, 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. <http://kevinjbeaty.com/cover/#start>.

DigCit Community Pitch Aftermath

   My digcit community pitch was last night and it went way better than expected. I made my own poster dedicated to informing the public about my project and what i plan on achieving. In the poster, I had pictures of Michael, his children, and his wife Linda who is my mentor as I previously have stated. I had a column on what GBM is and some facts on it. I also had a column dedicated to Michael and another one dedicated to what my final product will be. 

   I met lots and lots of people who were very interested in my poject and what my cause is. I was very scared at first but the people were very welcoming. A lot of the parents were there as well as students which was really nice because they actually comforted me. It was very encouraging all the support I gained from not just the students but the admin as well! I definitely gained some supporters! 

Genius Time Blog Update

   This week ended up being really good for my genius time because it helped clear up what I wanted to do. Next Friday, I will be meeting up with Linda and another representative from the organization so we can organize the event. At that time, we will be discussing the location of the event, what we hope to accomplish, and how we want the video to play out. With that, I will be getting info that will help me get a better understanding of how the video should ultimately play out. I will try and pitch a couple ideas and also get some feedback from Linda and the other rep on what their ideas are. From there, I will be able to plan out a final draft hopefully on the video and go from there. 

DigCit Genius Time Reflection

   This week I have completed the digcit folder. In that, I completed the "Using the Internet to Engage People in Social Causes" activity, the "Change.org Video Questions", and also the "Time to Innovate!" assignment. 

   With these assignments, I have better learned how to raise awareness in social media. I finally realized how big social media is in terms of raising awarness. Social media can be seen as a medium to channel personal thoughts and feelings but can also be used to raise awareness by things as simply retweeting or reposting things and can be as big as having a unified account for an important cause. 

   My final product has become more of a blur over the past couple of weeks. I have been trying to figure out how I can make the video outstanding for both Michael and Linda. I honestly am way better at just doing things in the momment than precisely planning things out because I tend to overthink simple things. My schedules benchmark is semi-completed but I do not mind because I feel like its what I need to do to make it the best it can be. 

   My goal for next week is to try and have a better understanding of my project and how I want it all to play out. Once I have a better understanding of how I want it all to play out, I can finally take action but for now im just going to have to keep brainstorming. 

"Fight The Good Fight 5k." - Home. Fight the Good Fight, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. 

Failure v. Success

   Failure and Success are very important in both life and in school. Lots of people think failure in school means failure in life and vice versa. Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Charles Dickens, Elton John, Ringo Starr, and Princess Diana all dropped out of school and became very successful in life. Lots of students also fail in life to some extent, but they may do great in school. So what exactly is the point of failure and success?

   I personally think that failure is crucial to life and success. People usually think that failure is a word that means no success, no pros, and nothing in return. I would have to disagree though. In life, ive failed countless times. Every single time I fail, I always learn something about myself. When I fail, I think of it as experience that I can learn from. I usually end up learning about what kind of person I am and what kind of person I want to be when I get older. In other words, I learn wether or not something is for me or not. Experience is very vital to growing as a person and the most important kind of experience a person can have is failure. Failing may seem like a bunch of cons, but in terms of growing into the person you want to be its a pro. With failure comes realization. If I fail at something I personally think is important, I always learn about what I can do to improve. With that improvement, I change my approach and sometimes even my mindset into something more realistic or even more creative and unique. 

   In school, failure is just bound to happen somewhere along the lines. If I were to ask all my teachers how many times ive failed, im certain they would all laugh because they all know that ive failed more times than they care to count. This is just bound to happen like I said. But with all my failures, ive learned to better understand myself a little bit better. Some of my failures made me realize that I should put in some more effort to get better grades, some of them showed me that some things are just not for me, and on occasion ill make mistakes and want to genuinely improve because I care about the topic/material. All of those are okay, because in life I dont think I will be remembered about how well I am at math, or how well I am at remembering the periodic table, or how well I am at remembering dates. I also dont want to be remembered for any of that, but some school material may come in handy from time to time. 

   If someone feels like a failure, they should know that they are not. The word "failure" in my opinion is very misunderstood, making it a big misconception. Everybody fails sometimes. Some people fail in one thing and others succeed, but everyone fails in things that others find success in. Its all mandatory. If someone who labels themselves as a "failure" really wants to succeed at the task at hand, then they shoud keep pushing because there will come a day where it all pays off. If someone considers themselves a "failure" at something that is irrelevant to them and what they want to be in life, then that is totally okay. Ive been there too and its alright for that to happen. 

PD Reflection Blog (9/28/15)

   Me and my partner Ryan presented the app "Nearpod" to teachers in a professional development presentation. For me at least, this was very easy because I have always been a supporter of Nearpod so I felt like it would be pretty easy for me since I knew what I was taking about. 

   Going into this presentation, I was a bit concerned that the teachers were going to be insanely judgmental and critical. I felt like some of the teachers were just not going to care at all and would not participate which would make it a lot more difficult for me and the class.                

   Overall though, it went a lot better than I expected it to be. The teachers were nothing but cooperative and it helped create an easy and fun atmosphere. This was great because it made interaction easier, it got our points across, and it was a great example of what I think a good and healthy relationship between students and teachers should look like. The presentation really surprised me because all the teachers seemed like they were having fun learning how to make both their jobs and the jobs of students easier. I felt like I contributed in creating a very efficient and consistent atmosphere that made it easier to learn as well as having some fun in the process. If I were to improve anything it would probably have to be wording and how I got some things across. However, I thought me and everyone did phenomenal jobs. 

   Me and some of the teachers had great conversations on Nearpod. If they needed help, I was more than happy to help them out. Some still were unsure on how it would benefit the class but I felt like I talked to those teachers and made it even more clear. I had a lot of fun teaching them and I think most of them were happy to be there as well!