Author: Becky Stern

I love to make things and share them. I live in New York City and when I'm not making or publishing, I ride bikes and motorcycles. I love my pit bull dogs. I'm a full-time content creator and also teach part-time at SVA. Find me as @bekathwia on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

Lessons for Students

from a friend and teacher, Zach Lieberman: Lessons for Students

Lesson 3: Questions are key. Questions lead to conversation, conversation leads to learning.

At the School for Poetic Computation we start the first day always with the same activity — sit quietly by yourself for 20–30 mins and write down every question you have about what we are studying. Then, in smaller groups (and then finally in a larger group) we organize and collate these questions, developing a taxonomy. In some ways this is a contrast to typical school term, where you are presented with a syllabus that kind of lays out the answers.
The reason we do this is that invariably questions lead to discussion and talking and we’re really of the mindset that education is basically structured conversation — that the key to learning is talking, and through talking, we can find better metaphors, better illustrations, better explanations to make harder things simple, or explain how a gets to z.

Sewing and Soldering

Adafruit Guide To Excellent Soldering

Let’s Put LEDs in Things!

Marianna has the special LEDs I brought in for you guys, check with her to get some! If you need more switches or batteries, you can check out your local Radio Shack or order LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs.com, Adafruit, or elsewhere online. Order early if you are having anything shipped, so you have time to work and play with your materials!

fb-monsters-opener

Free Range Monsters

10 Adorable Stuffed Animals You Can DIY

Tips for Making Toys

The 5 Best Fabric Stores In New York according to CBS 2012

Fabric stores list on Shop the Garment District

Project Documentation Videos

Here are the notes we took about great project documentation videos today in class:

SMILE
stabilize your footage (use a tripod)
explain or show the thing in the first 15 seconds
choose appropriate music – free music archive
always credit your music
show the affects/impact of your project
use fast motion to your advantage
be aware of pacing
less is more– shorter videos better
show not tell
bring personality to inanimate objects
dip audio levels around voiceover – ducking
text overlays – fewer words at a time, use multiple frames to deliver complex information
interesting concept
consider typography
surprise your audience
provide context
let your audience know where to find out more information
establishing shot – frame of reference
style of video should match project or be contrasting for a purpose – neutral gets you nowhere
time of day/lighting
use clear audio – edit out background noise where you can
look at kickstarter for inspiration