Voting Some More

Currently, Itinerariez for Noobz and College Tips 101 are tied, so we're resetting the vote and including the new submissions.  Two more options have been added:
Travis Knight's Surf Forecasting
Amanda Arnold and Ubi Kim's AP Studio Collaboration

Since we want to allow more time for votes to trickle in, we're keeping the voting open longer this time.  Check for the results Thursday night, but the showcase may certainly take place earlier or later depending on number of votes.

That said, vote away in the sidebar to the right!

Also, don't forget to submit your blog statistics.  A link to the blog stat submission page has been added to the main navigation bar.

Amanda Arnold and Ubi Kim's Submission

AP Studio Art Collaboration

Amanda Arnold and Ubi Kim captured the spirit of collaboration in their AP Studio Art portfolio submissions.  By working together, they both eased the work load and made some truly stunning pieces of art.

From Amanda's blog:

"Ubi and I had decided to collaborate on the concentration piece of the AP Exam. Ubi's concentration topic is black and white portraits and so he asked me to take pictures of some people so he could draw from them, in doing this I had gained pieces for the breadth and quality section of my AP Exam. As we continued to work on this, Ubi began to realize that the size and time of his charcoal drawings were just to big so through more collaboration I taught Ubi the art of photography and worked with him in the studio. We successfully completed the AP Exam on time and honestly our stuff is the bomb, check it out."

Give the post a full read if you've got the time.  Amanda goes into the details of the AP Studio Exam, and explains why it's so much harder than most people probably think it is.

Amanda's photographs are on the left; Ubi's drawings are on the right.

Click "Read More" to see more of Ubi and Amanda's photography.

Travis Knight's Submission

Travis Knight has made a Prezi that contains a lot of the surf knowledge he has gained over the past year.  He breaks down the some of the more technical elements of surf forecasting.  It makes for an interesting read whether you're a surfer or not.

 

Voting for Friday's Showcase (5/24/13)

Voting for tomorrow's showcase is up!  Your choices are Itinerariez for Noobz (a now official name thanks to Matthew Patel) and College Tips 101.  Cast your vote in the right sidebar.

Valerire Gonzalez and Socorro Ramirez

College Tips 101

Valerie Gonzalez and Socorro Ramirez have been working on a blog to help college-bound students.  Here's what they have to say:

"We are Socorro Ramirez and Valerie Gonzalez, both Seniors at Righetti High School, and we're ready to start our education beyond high school! We decided to make this blog after realizing that a lot of students go through senior year blind of what is to come in college. Some people only have movies and rumors to educate themselves on applying and going to college! Well, this blog will be filled with advice from current and/or graduated college students because, as experts in the college experience, they know exactly what they're talking about."

Also, big thanks to Valerie and Socorro for including a description in their submission.  For any future submissions, this is a great example to follow.

Blog Statistic Reporting

Use the form below to submit your blog statistics.  This will be used both in the peer evaluations, and in the grade conferences that Dr. Preston originally needed them for.  If you're having any issues submitting the form, feel free to send an email to us at 2013peerassessment@gmail.com.  If all else fails, you can still report your statistics to Dr. Preston directly.

Showcase 5/23/13

It may have witches and magic, but Charlotte and the Witch, a novel in progress by Alex Lane is no fairy tale.  So far he has written the prologue and first three chapters, but it's already off to a breakneck start.  The basic premise of the story is the possession of a little girl, named Charlotte, by a witch.  The girl learns magical powers, and is compelled by the witch to commit several grisly crimes.  All the while, Charlotte remains conscious of what her body is doing, even as she internally protests.  This dynamic makes Charlotte an intriguing character.  It'll be interesting to see what direction Alex takes the story from here.

Here's an excerpt from the story that captures its darkness well:

She stood back to watch the wooden structure go up in flames. She heard herself laugh. There was a voice echoing inside her skull, “You’re mine now child!” Charlotte heard the screaming of the people that used to be her parents. She tried to cry, but her captor wouldn’t let her."

Sound like something you'd be interested in?  Give it a read on Alex's blog, and leave some feedback for him.

Adviser Assessment Template

The idea behind this assessment if for you to show your best work. In order to make it easy for the judges to assess so many people we need everyone to make a post with three links to three posts they made on their course blog. Josh Ng will also set up a Google Form where you need to post your stats (page views, comments, post number). This form will be found on the Main Blog page.  This is important to the accurate evaluation of your blog.

Important

• For the sake of organization, please do your best to keep it to three links
• If the post you are linking was for a class assignment, make sure to also include the context of that assignment (either by linking to when it was originally assigned or by providing a brief summary)
•  It doesn't matter whether the 3 posts you do were for the course or outside work as long as they are quality

Advisers will start their assessments on Monday and they will end on Thursday 12:00 AM.  Make sure your post is done by Monday morning (12:00 AM).  We'll only be checking the blogs submitted in time. Don't worry this post shouldn't take you a long time and you have about 4 days to do it. Here's the format that your post needs to follow:

1. "Link one"
1. "Link to the Assignment" (if its post outside of Dr. Preston's assignment then write a description here instead) or "Copied Assignment Text"
2. "Link two"
1. "Link to the Assignment" (if its post outside of Dr. Preston's assignment then write a description here instead) or "Copied Assignment Text"
3. "Link three"
1. "Link to the Assignment" (if its post outside of Dr. Preston's assignment then write a description here instead) or "Copied Assignment Text"

Voting for Thursday (5/22/13)

EDIT: Votes are in!  Charlotte and the Witch edged out Itineraries for Noobz by a single vote.  The spotlight will be written up and posted tomorrow.  For those that supported Itineraries, it'll be back up for voting tomorrow.

So, we've got two submissions to vote for today, which can be found on this page.  Your choices are Alex Lane's story Charlotte and the Witch and Itineraries for Noobz (an unofficial name) by Matthew Patel and Ming Chen.  Vote in the sidebar to the right!

Alex's Submission

Charlotte and the Witch

Alex Lane has been writing a novel titled Charlotte and the Witch for some time.  While the story is still a work in progress (the prologue and first three chapters are done) it's absolutely worth a read.  Don't miss the chance to the development of a story from the beginning!  Also, even if you're not voting for Alex, I'm sure he would appreciate some feedback -- especially from some of the more literary-minded students among us.

Matthew's Submission

Itinerariez for Noobz

Matthew Patel and Ming Chen are working on creating itineraries for traveling to other countries.  Matthew will be attending school in Paris next year, and Ming plans to visit Taiwan.  Through their personal plans, they'll be teaching the uninitiated how to properly prepare for a trip.  Their outline contains everything from traveling expenses to dining and even culturally specific tips.  If you're planning on traveling the world after graduation, be sure to keep checking in with Matt and Ming!

Showcase 5/22/13

For today, our showcase is Justin Thompson's nature blog, "Nature Can Do That?"*

"Nature Can Do That?" is kind of like all the interesting parts of Animal Planet on one site.  There's unbelievable animals, stunning ecosystems, or the occasional silly video (pictured above) featured twice a week.  Some nice posts to check out are the horned lizard, western parotia, the Socotra Island, the comb jelly and the Goliath bird-eating spider.  However, be warned -- the earlier posts are of questionable quality.  Once a research and writing system was set up, the posts become a bit better.

If you enjoy the content, consider becoming a member!

Tomorrow's showcase will actually be voted on.  After 6:00 PM, click this link to vote:

Voting for Thursday's Showcase (5/23/13)

Want your project to featured in a showcase?  Submit it before 5:00 PM each day either through email (2013peerassessment@gmail.com) or by a comment on the submissions page.

*Don't worry, this isn't us flaunting some kind of perceived totalitarian authority.  We wanted an example of what the showcase would look like, but forgot to ask anybody in class for permission to use their project.  Auspicious start, right?

Introduction

Welcome to "2013 Peer Assessment."  For now, the main focus of this blog is to highlight student projects.  This is both an opportunity to give props to those that deserve it as well as drive up attention for projects that benefit from it.

Anybody in the class has the opportunity to nominate either themselves or others to be showcased.  In the evening of each day,

So what do you have to do?

Step 1:
Have your project online.  This can be in any form you choose, as long as you can provide links that will give a full picture (or adequate summary) of what your project is.  The easiest way to do this is by writing up a quick overview of the project on your blog.

Step 2:
Send an email to 2013peerassessment@gmail.com with links to your project.  All these links will be compiled and posted on this blog.

Step 3:
Submit your blog for spotlights.  This can be done either through a comment on the Submissions Page, or an email to 2013peerassessment@gmail.com.  Do this before 5:00 PM.  From 6:00 PM-10:00 PM, the day's nominations will be put up for voting.  If you can't make the nomination cut at 5:00, don't worry; your submission will simply be moved over to the next day.

Step 4:
Vote!  Wednesday's spotlight will be chosen without voting just to get the system started, but you can vote for Thursday's spotlight.  At 6:00 PM, check the right side bar to vote!


This system will continue for the few remaining days left in the year.  We're not exactly sure how the scheduling will work out, so if it turns out to be hectic (or nominations are too slow to come in), the periods for nominations and voting will likely be extended.  Of course, this is all totally optional.  If there is a lack of nominations or votes, projects of note will still be showcased on this blog -- they'll just be chosen by a few individuals rather than a majority of the class.