Computer Science.

While many people are dreading having to take this class, if you do, don't despair. The class is actually pretty fun. You get a chance to chop up photos and make websites, as well as very practical things like learning Excel and Powerpoint. My absolute favorite was playing around with PhotoShop, editing photos until they are perfect. So if you're worried about this class, don't be. Mrs. Belisle is a great teacher, and you'll really enjoy what you learn.
Good luck!
xoxo, Alaska.

Photographs That Lie.

When we were assigned this project, my first thought was one of immense anticipation. This is exactly the type of thing I’ve wanted to do for a while now. The very first image that popped into my head was that of a striking, timeless yet contemporary, fairy. For this juxtaposition, I chose two separate photos, one of a butterfly, and one of the fashion model Coco Rocha. I just typed “butterfly” into Flickr’s search database, and there were hundreds of beautiful, pristine photos of any sort of butterfly you could imagine; I did the same to find Coco Rocha’s photo, and there again was I met with dozens of stunning images. Once I’d found the two pieces to the puzzle I wanted to create, I cut up and colored, blurred and brushed, and painted the picturesque fairy image I had imagined. The revised photo, obviously a fabrication, can’t really do much damage, as it is merely a whimsical mirror into a more beautiful world. While it is true that both images have been severely altered, I don’t believe it could start up any controversies over said adaptation, as neither image are associated with a delicate topic of any sort. The fact that Photoshop can create this type of image from two distinct, separate photographs by a novice photo editor, is both intimidating and intense; we can manipulate a photo to serve an evil aim, but we can also create beauty that jumps right from the page.

PowerPointPresentations

In class presentations can be pretty scary. But I'd say we did pretty well. One of the PowerPoint presentations that struck me the most was Noelle's. I have to say, Greek tragedies have never really been something that I've been really interested in. Yet her retelling of Odipeus Rex, actually got me pretty interested. I love how she presented her information and her PowerPoint was very nice and professional, yet fit her topic perfectly. Another I really enjoyed was Will Prudich's. His presentation was professional, yet really interesting and amusing. He kept the presentation light and almost conversational, which makes everyone more comfortable and relaxed. Great job presenters!!

PowerPoint!

PowerPoint can be a very intimidating program. However, it is a pretty useful tool when you have to give presentations. So, instead of having you read and research the best ways to handle PowerPoint, here are my 5 PowerTips to help you on your way to PowerPresentations.
1. When I took BCIS in 10th grade and we learned about PowerPoint, my teacher had a rule about text on slides: no more than 5 bullets, no more than 7 words each. This actually works pretty well because it helps eliminate clutter and keeps each slide simple.
2. Do NOT use use a bajillion and one photographs and stop to explain every.single.one. We as the audience will get very bored very fast. Limit photos to the necessary, and know what you want to say about each so you don't ramble on about your pet fish named Harold for 20 minutes. No matter how cool Harold is, I can promise you- we don't care.
3. Be original in your colors/animations/etc. We're still kids. We like bright colors. Make your photos zoom on and off the screen. Make the background catching. Add music or a video. Keep us interested. But don't go overboard. Simplicity is a virtue. Learn it.
4. Make sure we can see it from the back row. If your font is teeny, we can't see it, and will get bored. Make pictures, charts, graphs, diagrams, etc. large enough so we can easily see what it is and/or says. This also forces you to keep it simple, as 100 words per slide just will not be viewable from the back row.
5. And just to make sure you completely understand- do NOT, under any circumstances, make a 5 slide PowerPoint into a 50 minute presentation. You are saying way too much. You need to cut down the material on each slide, know what you want to say in advance, make animations fun but simple, and make sure we can easily view what is on the slide.
I know PowerPoint seems like a ginormous mass of scary computerisms, but never fear, you're bigger than that computer! Go take charge and use your new knowledge to grasp PowerPoint by its pointy ears and make some stellar slideshows.

CLT

The first floor of the library is a magical place. The quiet air, the millions of musical books and compositions, the rows and rows and rows of journals on every subject you can think of. One such treasure of the first floor is the CLT, the Center for Learning and Technology. In this wondrous place, one can use a high-tech, high-speed, highly useful computer, (whether you be a Mac-person or a PC-person,) to accomplish many, many things. From media production to scanning in and editing scanned text documents, the CLT has it all.

XL

I had my first encounter with Excel in 10th grade. It was a terrifying experience. Typing in number after number and formula after formula was monotonous and seemed to have no real purpose in my life. However, now that I've had a little refresher in the program, I really see how useful Excel really can be. The IF function, something I hadn't learned in my 10th grade BCIS class, was definitely an interesting addition to my knowledge of Excel. I honestly do enjoy working in Excel because it is structured and simple and you can use it for so much. Being familiar with Excel has definitely proven to be helpful with other classes like Biology and Statistics. I have, just on my own, made spreadsheets to organize class schedules, grade-sheets, and so much more.

Google Scholar

Most of us use the internet to search for something almost everyday, and Google is one of the most common of the online search engines. The only problem, is the colossal heap of information, some helpful, some not, that is dumped upon your lap in .17 seconds. Chris Nolan, who is an Assistant Librarian here at Trinity, gave us some great tips to help narrow down our searches and get the best, most accurate information possible. One such tip he gave us was Google Scholar, an extra feature of Google that I personally had never even heard of. Google Scholar provides you with scholarly articles that are not often viewed through a regular search, but have far better, more reliable information. When you type in your criteria to search for in Google Scholar, many legitimate articles, books, magizines, scientific journals, news results, images, etc., pop up on your computer screen for you to use as actually valid information. And if you want to limit your findings to just books, Google has a subset of Google Scholar called Google Books which does just that; instead of articles, news and images, your results show only books. The internet can be an overwhelming place with the easy access to all sorts of information of varying degrees of truthfulness, thank goodness there’s a sure site to find good information on.