Fall Festival Booth

Over the last few weeks, our class was assigned a Fall Festival booth to design and decorate as we wished.  The only prerequisite was that it had to have a fall theme.  I made the majority of items and only bought two items (a ghost and a toad) as I could not figure out how to build them.  I changed the design and items in this booth many times during the past few weeks, but am finally happy with my result.  Here are some pictures as I was decorating and building items in my booth.

I started with a black floor and curtains hanging from the left wall but decided to change it out in my finished product.

Here I am beginning to build raspberries.  The purple dots are the beginning and you can see my bat background that I created.

 

And here are my finished raspberries.

Here is my process of building the tree and then the rocks at the bottom of the tree:

 I originally had a barn door on the front of my booth but decided to delete it in the end.

As you can see I ended up moving my tree to the corner and I changed the back wall.  Here are some more pictures of the tree and rocks:

Here's the beginning of my dirt road and what it looked like as I designed and determined the final spot to put it.  And now my fence with the grape wall behind it:

Here's a picture of the well that I built.

Here's the frog that I bought.  If you have your speakers on you can hear it croak.

Here's the ghost that I bought and then applied a rotating script to it so that it would move around.

On the back wall you can see the title of my Fall Festival booth which is, "Ghost Town" by Robert Frost 1915.  Here is a picture of the inside of my booth in the end:

Oh and I added a black ceiling with stars on it.

I really learned a lot while decorating and building this booth.  It was difficult but I enjoyed the learning process.  I learned to always have a design in mind before you even begin building. I changed this booth so many times over the last few weeks.  Be very careful of the delete button.  I originally began in another booth and managed to delete two walls and had to move to another booth.  I wasn't even sure how I was able to delete them but it happened.  Next time, I plan on having a predetermined design and what objects that I would like to include before I even begin.  I can see how someone can be their own worst enemy when designing something in Second Life.

Unit 8 Article Reflection

1.  Reflection Teaching with Second Life by Kathleen Hulley - This was an interesting article and I thought that it was great that teachers were collaborating using Machinima and Second Life.  By working together, both teachers found out a few things about students in general as follows:

• By providing an atmosphere where Machinima students could work with other students, creativity improved and projects were completed on time.
• By providing an alternate atmosphere (such as Second Life) for the Machinima students, they were able to collaborate anytime online.
• Second Life provides students with another way that they can have group meetings.
• Students learn more when they are responsible for their own learning.

 2.  What Second Life Taught Me about Learning by Diane Murley - Diane has always loved learning and didn't quite realize how much she enjoyed it until she tried learning Second Life.  It took her several attempts before she learned that she had her own learning preferences and had to consider others preferences as well.  Through going through the process of learning in Second Life, it taught her that she was a multimodal learner, which is where someone learns more from material being presented in a variety of formats.

3.  Leveling the Educational Playing Field by A. Williams - this article talks about a teacher from Suffern Middle School named Peggy Sheehy, who has a teen virtual learning space in Second Life.  I think the best thing about this article is when Peggy states, "It seems that when students enter the virtual environment of Second Life they drop many of the inhibitions that might have otherwise have prevented them from participating fully in a real world classroom.  Teachers and students engage in a deeper level of discourse while many of the social and economic divides that often isolate students are set aside."  Peggy learned that by having this new learning space in Second Life, all students were now participating.  She also notes that the children in this class seem to feel more at ease as each student is on equal footing when in Second Life.

4.  Engaging the YouTube Google-Eyed Generation:  Strategies for Using Web 2.0 in Teaching and Learning - this article discusses Web 2.0 tools that teachers could use to incorporate into their everyday teaching.  Since students have grown up in a technology filled world, it is important to find tools that will meet them on their individual level to make them responsible for their education.  The tools mentioned in the article are Blogs, Wikis and YouTube.  Each has their own merit, and each can be implemented into an educational curriculum to enhance the learning experience of students.  I thought it was interesting that Web 2.0 has moved from just reading what is online to actually writing and posting items online to provide socialization, collaboration and networking.  I think that utilizing the tools described in this article as well as other Web 2.0 tools, will provide children with an endless amount of content, collaboration and overall better learning experience.  It will also better prepare them for the future.

5. SL Etiquette- This reading notes several definitions of etiquette while in Second Life.  While the majority of them were common sense to me, I couldn't believe that there are some people that actually do this.  I'm glad that there are reporting measures set in place through Linden Lab to stop violators in their tracks.  In the "Interactions with Others" where it says, "Find a private place to Change Your Appearance."  I was puzzled by this as I do not know what is considered a private place to change my avatar's appearance.  To date, my avatar has always changed out in public.  (Cheryl - If you know of a private place, please let me know.)

Going on Vacation

This week I visited twelve sites to find out more about them  and also to just gain exposure to what sites in general have to offer.

#1 - Halloween
 I thought that this sight might be a little creepy once I saw the grim reaper but little did I know that a massacre had occurred inside.

This one reminded me of the movie, "Poltergeist."

 

This virtual world wasn't scary but it was definitely bloody and not to my liking.  I can honesty say I will never revisit this place.

#2 Magic Happens at Camelot

 This site claims that a visitor can practice magic, ride a horse, go on a flying broom tour, ride on a boat and shop for magic ritual supplies.  The only one that I could figure out how to do was ride the broom.  The main area has lots of clothes for sale and the first ones that I came upon were to skimpy to post a picture.  The next outfits were dresses of all types for purchase.  Here are a few pictures of them:

There is also a lot of Apothecary for sale here:

 As I was walking around I came upon a Gypsy card reader:

And here I am waiting to have a reading.  No one ever showed up to do the reading.

 

I flew around a bit and found this lighthouse:

I continued walking around and found a park where I decided to relax and read a good book.

 

I was determined to find this broom so that I could ride it and as you can see I found it.  I sat on it and then went for a ride around the island.

The last place I visited, or attempted to visit here was the cottage where magic can be practiced.  I had to join the group just to gain entry and then had to touch the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 so that the door would open, but it never did.  I tried on numerous occasions to gain entry and was unsuccessful.

 

 #3 London Park 1850

  This virtual island is built along the Thames River.  It features shops and a park to walk around in.  Here are some of the snapshots that I took:

This is where you want to go if you want to purchase furniture or lamps from this time period.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of cheese as it is one of my favorite foods!

Here I am relaxing in a tent:

 

The last place that I visited here was the actual park.  Here are some photos:

Here I am sitting in the gazebo in the park.

I just had to watch the ducks!

 

#4 Titanic-Charming Lake

Here are a few pictures of the private dining room:

  

Here I am sitting at the bar:

I then went outside the ship to the front of the ship.  I clicked on a poseball named Rose and as you can see I am doing the same thing that Rose did on the movie The Titanic:

And here is a picture of the outside of the ship with me standing on deck:

#5 Real Waves-Mountains of Creta

This virtual world is very calm and relaxing.  There are lots of places to sit and contemplate and you can even hear the sounds of waves crashing against the land  Here are the snapshots that I took to document my visit:

   

#6 Christmas Shop

This virtual world is how I envisioned it with lots of Christmas scenes.  Another bonus was listening to Christmas music while i walked around.  Here are some snapshots to document my visit:

 

#7 Castle Q Castles-Gardens of Venezziola

This virtual island is for dancing, relaxing and just enjoying the scenery.  Here are some snapshots that I took to document my visit:

I found this swing and just had to swing on it!

 

#8 Teacup Cottage-Lamplight Cottages by the Sea

When I first chose this place, I thought that it would be some quaint cottages by the sea to go in and look around.  I think that these cottages are actually for sale in Second Life as they are all completely empty inside.  Here are some snapshots that I took to document my visit:

  

#9 Oahu Vacation Resort

I think that this virtual island is similar to the cottages listed above as I believe that all of the houses are for sale or rent for someone who wants to take a vacation in Second Life.  Here are some snapshots that I took to document my visit:

Sitting at the bar having a drink.

Sitting by the fire on the beach.

Soaking up some sun.

#10 Da Vinci Gardens

This is a very nice place to visit.  The only problem that I encountered was I spent more time in the water than I did on land.  I guess I need to practice my flying skills!  Here are some snapshots that I took to document my visit:

Here I was able to "Rez a Gondola" and here I am taking a ride on it.

    

#11 The Chocolate Factory

Ever since I was a little girl, I always loved the movie, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and to this day it is my absolute favorite movie.  This virtual island pays homage to Willy Wonka with a small area that resembles what the inside of the Chocolate Factory looked like. 

Inside the main gates there are lots of shops to buy things and here I am sitting on a moped.

#12 Zen Country Club & Stables

I wanted to end my vacation in a peaceful, relaxing place.  Here are some snapshots to document the finale of my vacation:

  What a great vacation!