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Indiya's slide

Posted by Indiya Johnson in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
tech prestation
​Today I’m going to be talking about how I made this one slide about me. My slides theme is dance because I have been dancing since the age of two and it’s been a big part of my life. Dancing has always been something that I loved and enjoyed doing. Which is why I choose my theme to be dancing(My me magazine was about dance).
 Over the course of the few weeks, I’ve learned about how to make a somewhat good slide. With using many resources online such as presentation zen, youtube, and zachholman. I learned many things but I could only incorporate so many into my slide. The most important things that I came across and incorporated into my slide were huge text, contrasting colors, and fewer words. Another was to use as less space as possible and to bleed and basically bleeding is when you cut some of the picture out of the slide.
 In the beginning, I thought about the image I’d be using because it needed to represent me in a way and catch people’s eyes.  Then I thought about what I could say to which would match my picture. At this point, I stopped to think “Would this catch someone’s eye on a highway and be able to go straight back to driving?” I got a few opinions and they said it would catch your eye. At this point, I was almost finished my draft. I lastly enter my name into the slide and moved around my words. I put my slide on presentation and looked at it for like five minutes. I remembered that I should bleed which Mrs.Hull also told us about. Then I changed the color of my font and also the type of font because my white background and black font didn’t look very nice so I went for a brighter look and choose blue but neon blue because it’s one of my favorite colors. Lastly, I intended to use the rule of three’s but I don’t think I did it right. This is actually one of the things I would fix if I had more time because I think it could have been better.

My Life -Kankoue Folly

Posted by Kankoue Folly on
Life of me

Script



My slide is really bland and it has a soccer ball on a field as the background if I’m being honest all I did was try to make my slide as similar to the ikea sign and works with the idea that the fonts should be large and the picture should be the words which creates less words.



Reflection

After my presentation I got some critique from my classmates. For the most part they talked about how to make my slide better by making the fonts a different color. Then they said to try make them into one line.  Ms.Hull told me to try to make my font color match those of the ball so I tried to do all these things in my new slide. At first I didn't really want to make the changes to the slide but then I did what my classmates suggested. When I compared it to my old one and I decided that the edited version is better.  The updated version might not reach simplicity but it got closer to reaching it in my opinion. The research is the main benefactor to this project. Without the research I think my project would be worse than it was before. The research made me rethink many things I did ,for example writing less and letting the picture be my words.My main source for creating this slide is the ikea sign that is what I focused on the most because I saw it dragged the viewers attention without having too much in it. This project thought me many things and that is something I appreciate about this project.

Design Project Slide

Posted by Alexander Guigar on
Design slides
My design incorporated several ideas from the presentation zen website. Presentation Zen talked a lot about “glance media”, specifically, keeping the design easy to understand and easily readable. Which was tough for my design so the best I could do was try to bunch up the different logos as much as possible without making it look too crowded. Another thing presentation zen talked about was making the type big and understandable. I think I definitely could have done more with my type but it still works. I think it also helps the flow of my slide because the attention goes from the main info (the slide)  to the title.

Isabella - Single Slide

Posted by Isabella Torres in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on
tech

My goal for this slide was for it to be simple, clean, and straightforward. I wanted it to have “2015 tumblr vibes” and I think I accomplished that. I know I wanted have a simple, pretty background that wasn’t white, but I also wanted the pictures to be the main point of focus (obviously). So I chose white marble as my background. At first I didn’t know what I wanted to be my focal point. I wanted it to be something most people remember me by when they look at me, my big curly hair. I chose photos that show my defined curls. I angled the photos more to the right side so I could I could have some negative space, and where I can put my heading. For the heading, there’s no need for me to put a whole paragraph because who has time to read that? I put my name, it’s straightforward and what people call me.


Zachary Sanders- Life Slide

Posted by Zachary Sanders in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on
In my slide I decided to base it on something that I love to do: Play video games. I don't remember what age I got into video games but I think the first type of hand held game I had or got handed down to me was a Game Boy from my mom. And from there I got a Game Boy Pocket, my first Nintendo DSi, a Wii, a Nintendo 3DS XL, an Xbox One, and finally another Nintendo 3DS XL since my second one broke along with the first one. Currently most games I play are FPS, platformers, and RPGS. FPS aka first person shooter are games where you, well, shoot things. For example the games Destiny and Destiny two that I have in my slides that are one of my favorite games. The next which is a platformer are pretty basic parkour type of games like Mario. Last, RPGS are popular games like Skyrim or for the older people out there a popular one like Dungeons and Dragons which isn't actually a video game but still goes along the terms of an RPG. Now explaining everything else in my slide like the procrastination and lazy things like the panda is pretty simple. It’s really just that, well, i'm a teen and there are times when teens are lazy and just don't want to do which is basically what I am expressing. But with all that in mind this is my slide.

Single Slide Design

Posted by Randy Le in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on
Tech Slide

When I first began to create the slide, I found that something that would be incredibly important is large text. From the “Slide Design for Developers” page, I found that one crucial point was large text that even the people from the back seats could even see. I made each text size at least 50 pt so that the text can pop. In addition, I made sure that the text was something simple and quick because a paragraph is dreadful to see when watching a slideshow. Next, I wanted to pay attention to the colors I used. I wanted some colors to pop while giving a pretty decent contrast in colors. This creates flexibility for the text, backgrounds, and objects. Now, I wanted to make the background something simple and not overwhelming. I used a grey radiant gradient background which added a touch of movement by giving a bit of difference in color. Next, I went back to the “Slide Design for Developers” page and found that my text could be used as shapes and I played around with the font and how the text was arranged and came out with something that would look better than 3 straight lines of text. From here, I decided to add a couple of images. One of them would be a simple wire while I would also have a Playstation console. I knew both of the images will add movement because there are almost guidelines. I tried to make the images go along with the words by following the same tilt of text. Overall, I tried to be simple focus on large text, less words, and colors that were consistent and close to each other.


Antonia-Single Slide

Posted by Antonia Solar in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on
Slide

In my slide I wanted to incorporate one point method. It is simple but informative at the same time by having both visual things and a minimal amount of writing. The lines leading from city to city show movement to lead the viewer’s eyes around the entire slide.  I also chose for the layout of my slide to have the main things centered and the rest of the things to show a rhythm. The big font was purposeful so that people would stay engaged in my slide and so that the slide would be clear and easy to read and understand. I also wanted to use very vibrant colours and for the colours to show a contrast to attract people to my slide. The colours I used in my slide are in what is called a triad which is three colours that compliment each other. Even though the colours have darker value, they still have bright intensity.


Tech-My Life

Posted by Jasir Chavis on
My Life
The slide you see here is based off my life hence the name of the title, but also what makes me who I am. I made the slide the way it was because it somewhat fits my personality as something simple, however after reading the Slide Design website I found that everything can be used to your advantage. In my slide I made a collage of my family because that have impacted my life in many ways. The decision to use my family came to me when one day I was just thinking how did I become the person I am today? And the answer was clear to me my family has and still has a huge impact on me and my decision making. My slide is not perfect, but neither am I, I believe my slide represents everything I care about and I now walk away wanting to redesign and redo the entire concept of my slide. In conclusion our assignments class was to make a slide one slide about things that pertain to your life and I did that by showcasing my family.bottom line my family is completely crazy they look harmless and nice, but underneath they are crazy, but they´re also very loving and caring and that was my goal when making this slide Thanks for listening.

SpaceX Slide design

Posted by Matthew Nguyen in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on
Slide Design #2

SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies is the future of space exploration and is a major interest of mine.  Future astronauts will, to quote Star Trek,  will boldly go where no man has gone before.  They will start first with the Falcon 9 with the dragon capsule bound for low earth orbit to the International Space Station.  Then they will go manned with Dragon V2 to the ISS.  The final step is to set up a permanent Mars colony using the Falcon Heavy These aren’t just astronauts that will go to Mars, but rather paying customers.  Just like the Airplane age of decades ago, space travel will be available to most rather than just the governments of a few nations.  

The design itself of the slide involves few words for quick reading as people do not like to deal with large walls of text on a poster or anything along those lines.  The Background is not filled with an image but rather just negative space for further simplicity and it is a dark color to contrast with the colors of the rockets and the text.  The rockets bleed beyond the slide, which is another important design decision for grabbing people’s attention.


Magic..

Posted by Akossiwa Koffi in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on
This slide is a message to all those out there who don't feel like their being seen. The little black girls who have role models that don't really look like them. The young girls who don't feel like their being seen. This doesn't really apply to me, itś just to motivate those who feel alone. It's to tell them to keep moving forward and that one day, they will be seen. I chose those pictures to show that there are beautiful black role models for them to look up to. It took me forever to choose a topic about me, so instead I chose to do a topic thatś not about me.

- Click the post to see it.
Tech Design Slides
Tech Design Slides

Birthday

Posted by Rasa Watson in English 2 · Pahomov · E Band on

I never really understood why some people don't care about their birthday, or don't want people to know about their birthday. But I think I kinda get it.  See Tomorrows my birthday, and the closer it gets the less I care about it. Now normally I have a countdown to my birthday and I make sure everyone knows when my birthday is. I constantly tell people about it because I'm so hype for it to be “my day.” Sometimes my birthdays don't always turn out that well but I always look forward to it. This year is different though. Its my 16th and that's supposed to be a big one. I was making it big. A few months ago I started planning a sweet 16 with some of my good friends. I wanted to go all out. But as it go closer, we were rushing everything. We had to do so much last minute. Like the food, decorating, music, lighting, I even invited people late. That wasn't even what was really getting on my nerves. I don't really like people spending money on me and my mom spent a lot. So whenever we would talk about what needed to be done she would get really upset. It was just hard to deal with. One thing that really hit me hard though,  was what she said after I told her I didn't want her boyfriend at my party. She told me she wasn't going to go. If he didn't go she wasn't going to. I was so confused. Because your boyfriend doesn't go you don't want to? But I'm your daughter and if he's there i'm not gonna have the fun i could without him being there. But I knew that if she didn't go I was gonna get hell after. She put alot into it and if she missed the party she would be pissed. I'm not having another sweet 16, it's only the one. It just hurt hearing that she chose someone she hasn't known nearly as long as her own daughter. And that she didn't really care about missing my sweet 16. I knew my decision was hard, but if I wanted everything to be ok I would have to let him come to the party. I cried so much because of what she really said. I was shocked and hurt. The next day was hard I wasn't really looking forward to the party I kind of just wanted it to be over. But surprisingly it was pretty fun I got to dance, take pictures and celebrate my birthday. I didn't get to eat as much food as I would like to but overall everything went good. There wasn't one mistake. But my birthday is still on the way. And i'm not looking forward to it. I don't know why, but I don't really care about it anymore. None of my close friends want to do anything with me on my birthday. My mom hurt me with what she said.

But maybe it can still turn out ok. Maybe everything will play out fine.  My birthday is “My day.” and i shouldn't let anything stop me from enjoying it. My birthday is going to be ok…


Single Slide - Ethan

Posted by Ethan Friedman in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on

My life doesn’t really change very much. Most of the things I do have stayed the same for the past 4 years. I spend most of my time programming or playing games to find new ideas. My goal for the last 4 years has been to become a programmer full time once I’m out of college. I want to be able to provide the    same amount of financial support that my family has provided me and my family when I’m older. I want to be able to go out to eat and travel the world. I want to be able to meet new people and understand different cultures than my own. My parents take my education very seriously and for a good reason. They have taught me to understand how important it is to work now. They didn’t have the same experience, both dropping out of college because they were making good money when working full time. Since they both regret it, they want me to go to college and study hard to become the best that I can be. I want to make them proud.

Coding also affects the way I speak. I think about things differently. I look into the backend of things more than what meets the first glimpse. I want to know why things work and not just know that they work. In math class, I like to know why ratios are equal just my multiplying the flipped opposite and then dividing by the remaining. I want to know why that method works without shortcutting. That’s how it relates to school.


tech media fluency slide

Posted by Giavonna Jordan on
Tech media fluency

Tech script



In this project, I knew I wanted to go for something minimalistic, like the billboards in the presentation zen video, but to still be able to have my point be done and made to the best of my abilities. For my layout, I made sure to keep the rule of three in mind. I kept all of my text in the first part while having my images in the second and third part. I wanted the font to have a bright hue with a high intensity. I’m really interested in art and aesthetic so I went with a colorful mandala design for the centerpiece of the slide. I am also, really interested in travel so I added a small barcode with a quote saying “travel is in my blood”. I loved the barcode idea because the barcode represents a label of some sorts and if someone wanted to know what I thought was most important to me, my mind would instantly go to travel. Also, because of my love for aesthetically pleasing photos, I chose to have a flower to also represent me. It kind of shows a delicacy that I feel I have a lot. Kind of like one touch and all the petals would fall off of me. For placement, I wanted to have the flower bleeding into the bottom corner as if it was kind growing there in a way. For the background color, I wanted to have that negative space that black gives off and I knew that the colorful pieces I chose to be on the project would pop with that negative space.


Monologue//Broken Pride

Posted by Jayden Tull in Foundations of Algebra · Estey · D Band on

Thanks Coach! (Coach walks away after giving him a pat on the back now he is to himself on the sidelines.) Let’s get it. Finally I got some real play time. Not 5 minutes, not 10 minutes, but 15 whole minutes, plus while I was out there I had a shot on net, I mean I didn’t make it but still. I need to make sure I’m ready go back in cuz the way I was playin, I’m def going back in.(sips water and walks over to bench and slightly limping) oo that walk kinda hurt. Woah its starting to hurt to stand. (sits down) Let’s gooo Cosmos!! This cleat getting tight and my foot really hurts. I must’ve kicked that ball harder than I thought. ( takes off cleat) ooo that meg alejandro saucin it up today. Yo what is going on with my… is that my toe?! That jawn dumb fat. I-I-I-I can’t move my toe(starts panicking) crap I done messed up my toe. It’s cool I’m good I can still play ain’t nothing keeping me from getting back into this game.(tries to put back on cleat) are you serious, I can’t put a cleat on because my foots so fat.
GOALALSO!!! (tries to stand and celebrate with team but fails) ah I can’t even stand. That’s it I’m out for the day. I gotta tell coach that I think I broke my toe. I’ve broken bones before no problem, I broke my wrist last summer, my pinky before that, my other pinky before that, even my thumb. Like all them bones and not one tear but this one got me about to cry like 2 year old whole couldn’t that one doll out of the toy store. So why is my toe different. Is it because of the pain cuz trust me this crap hurt like my whole foot is immobilized by the pain. Like every movement of my foot,ankle, and leg hurts. Like i can’t do nothing without bringing the stinging pain to my foot. Like I can’t compare this pain to nothing I’ve ever experienced.(holds foot) Or is this deeper than pain, maybe because we all know that this it for me, for my season.(pauses and looks at field) ooooooohhhh Alejandro wit the rainbow.(looks at coach) sorry coach I’m out I think I broke my toe….. How? Ummm that’s good question. (back to self thought) That kid! Number 27. That fat white kid. The one who messed up my shot. I remember now. When I kicked the ball it wasn’t the ball. It was his foot. That’s how it broke. I already didn’t get a lot of play time. Now I could be out for the rest of the season. Look I know I’m not the best player in the world but I try my hardest and I give it my all every time I touch the field. Who am I kidding. Lets face it I’m top trash. I can’t dribble I can’t do none of that fancy stuff like Alejandro, my passes are inconsistent and my shot. Tuh my shot I don’t even know if I’m right footed or left footed. But I still try my best and this.. this what I get for hard work. Is this the result of my training. The worst part is I feel like I was getting better. And so did coach. You know last practice was the first time I went a whole practice without a single insult from coach or a player. No you suck or no jokes about how I can’t aim. Or how I ride the bench every game. I finally felt like part of the team. Well that’s all over now. and my mom. She’s gonna kill me when she finds out. To her I’m always breaking something but I’ve only broke like 5 bones is that really a lot? I mean we have 206 bones in our bodies. What’s 5 to 206. Practically nothing. But she don’t care she gonna be mad I’d rather act like nothing’s wrong than deal with her. I want revenge when I get back I’m scoring in 27’s face and I want his ankles. Ima tell coach he’s mine he better be ready when I get back. I mean If I get back.

Slide Design

Posted by Zoe Kwasnicki on
Tech Presentation Design Slides
This slide represents me and how I have changed over the course of my short life. I decided to draw because I believed it would be more personal to the viewer that way and would set apart my slide from other slides that just used photos. The photo is placed in the center of the slide taking advantage of the lines of focus and open space, drawing the viewer’s eye directly to the drawing.

Andrew's Slide

Posted by Andrew Bowers in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
​Hello! My name is Andrew Bowers!

My passion is skateboarding. I can skate whenever and wherever. I have been skating since I was 5 years old in kindergarten. I raced in my first skateboard competition when I was 9. Its called the Broad Street Bomb it goes from Huntington Park to FDR Park. I was the youngest rider to race it ever. The most recent race I attended was the Broadway bomb. It goes from Riverside Dr & W 116th to Charging Bull, Broadway & Morris St which is 8 miles. I was racing against the world's fastest rider Kiefer Dixon who got first 7 years in a row. I got 10 the just a few minutes behind One day I hope to be as fast as him. 
I picked this picture because it's of me doing a kickflip on my skateboard and I wanted to show you my move so you don't think I'm a poser. I also enlarge the photo and made It bleed off the page because my research shows that making your picture bleed off the paper is more pleasing. I also edited the pictures background to be black because it was all colorful and if I would've left it as a very colorful slide it would have looked like too much was going on. Also, the pop of yellow draws your attention to the board. That's why I picked the picture because it’s easy on the eyes and there’s not a lot that’s going on in the picture. 
I picked this phrase because it has a double meaning. One of them means you have to keep working and you will get what you want to achieve. The second meaning being performing a skateboard trick known as “the GRIIIIIIIIIIIND”. I learned how to make a great side and use tricks to help my sides look a lot better. Thank you Ms. Hull.

Untitled presentation

Me Slide

Posted by Payson McConnell on
MeSlide
​-I made a slide about me using the information from the sources Ms. Hull gave my class. 
-After reading the presentation zen article, I realized that I had to resist the urge to put a lot of text so I wouldn’t give my audience cognitive overload
-It also taught me that strong contrast is good for making things pop out, so I used black, the darkest value color, for the background and white, the lightest value color, for the stormtrooper and my name
-I also researched the rule of thirds because it was a little confusing. It meant that if the slide were to be split into 3 by 3 squares, you would place important things on the intersections of those boxes. I used the rule of thirds to figure out the best spot to put my stormtrooper.
-Before reading the sources, I thought I knew how to make a good slide. It turns out I was wrong and I will use what I learned from it on all my future projects.

1-Slide Project

Posted by Ami Doumbia on
1 Slide Presentation
​Right off the bat, I want to start by explaining the foundation of my slide, then the reason why I chose what I chose, and last the reasoning of why I put each specific thing on my slide.
First the foundation. So when making the foundation I thought about color and theme, which is something we learn about through the articles. One thing that they said that stuck with me was when one of the articles said pick a color/theme with a lot of contrasts because it will help your slide with flexibility, text, and objects. That’s why my foundation was a color many people know, love and that goes with everything. Black. But right after I chose the pure black background I started thinking about how when I put words or a picture on top of it that would immediately become/ be seen as my theme. So I thought what could I add to it in order to get my point across…… EVERY COLOR. That’s when I decided that a rainbow was best. That’s when I started brainstorming what to put down on the slide. And after getting some ideas from other classmates, I thought why not put a quote, but from myself. Finally when I got it I started questioning what color I was gonna make it. After trying a lot of colors I finally figured out that a bolded black was the best way to go. This is because unlike using all the other colors putting black on rainbow creates more balance within that color scheme and the slide. Then lastly the white was just to add one more pop of color that I felt went well with the colors but also complimented the black.
Finally getting into what I put down. I put down the quote “My greatest goal in life is to be my unraveled self. It's a life goal because, and I say this as literal as possible, I’m simply complex” I put this down because it literally says everything about me. It shows how instead of trying to jam myself into the words of someone else, I’m the type of person that would find some type of loophole and get what I need to say out there; that being that I cannot be defined in one slide. Plus the statement is also just a fact about me.

Tech presentation

Posted by Jackson Shumard in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
Tech presentation
​In this presentation I learned a lot about how to make a slide appealing. I learned that having a good selection of colors and big text helps the reader see the information. Something else I learned through research was to keep fewer words on the slide and explain more. That is why I did what I did, I chose the colors black and yellow because they are opposites, black is a dark base color and the yellow is very bright and makes the words pop. I also chose to make the circle bleed off the page a little to catch the person's eye. My whole design of my slide was based around what I learned, I made sure I had few words but the words I did have stuck in your head and made you think about them.

Media Fluency: Anthony Castro-Gomez

Posted by Anthony Castro-Gomez in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
Technology Benchmark (1)
Hello, my name is Anthony Castro and this is my 1 google slide. So first, I searched up how to make the slides interesting. Like ads on a billboard, I learned that when the image “bleeds” off of the slide/picture it looks more interesting. I read this on https://zachholman.com/posts/slide-design-for-developers/ So, I took an image from google of a basketball hoop that didn’t show the entire image and used what I learned from http://youtu.be/axj8IedTzfc?hd=1 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to use the image as the background. The reason why I chose a basketball hoop to be my image is because I have a passion for basketball, and I feel as though some people don’t and would never be able to comprehend it as well as I can. Basketball was what linked me to my friends back in middle school, that was the only way of interaction in a sense to get closer to your friends. After this, I wanted to find words that describe me the best in my opinion. I came to the conclusion of putting down ambition, dedication, and success. I am a very ambitious person, I strive to become better at whatever it is that I am doing. Basketball, for instance, is one thing I am always trying to improve in. Dedication describes me because it takes dedication to get to where you want to be in life. It takes dedication to get better at something. Finally I picked the word success because that is what comes out after hard work. I am a hardworking person, therefore success usually comes from my improvements. After picking the words, I added a reflection and changed the color of the font so it stands out and looks pleasing to the eye. I feel like it looks more interesting when I space the words out like that because it make you think about and take into consideration each word. I feel as though the significance of the word spacing is to show that the words are different from each other but they all are connected. The reason why I chose 3 words was so that it looks like an ad sort of, so you can quickly glance at it, manage to gather all of the information you need in like 10 seconds, then look away. This was my google slide based off of my me magazine and thank you for listening.

Michal's Slide

Posted by Michal Czapla in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
Soccer (1)
 Soccer has been with me ever since I was a young boy. I think I learned to kick a ball before I learned to speak words. That has lead me to create a slide involving soccer. As you can see, I’ve formatted the slide using the rule of thirds by adding the foot and soccer ball in one corner and the quote in the top left. This allows the focus of your eyes to draw into the composition instead of just glancing at the center. I also put some empty space to achieve a more balanced look in my slide and use the empty space (or night sky) to my advantage. I even made the foot bleed off of the page to really add more “umph” and only focused on the foot itself since that’s what the quote is about. The quote I placed in is from soccer legend Zinedine Zidane (who is one of my idols) and it really connects with me because it teaches me to be grateful for what I have even if things don’t go well for me in life, whether that’s in sports or in schoolwork. I put it in EB Garamond font because I found out that most people use that font when writing quotes. The font color itself is white so that it can contrast with the black background and catch the viewer's eye easily. 

All of these steps have allowed me to attempt at making a professional slide. This whole experience has really taught me a lot about slide design. Before this assignment, I legit didn't know about most of these tricks, and now that I know about them I can see how it improves the look on my slide. I'm definitely going to be viewing billboards and ads differently from now on. My whole perspective on designs has completely changed, and it will help shape bigger and better projects in the future. 

One Slide Assignment

Posted by Tayah Brunson on
Untitled presentation
​Tech Presentation/ Slide Script
Tayah Brunson
Blue Stream

When learning about slides I learned that color matters and it is one of the first things someone sees when noticing your slide. This slide had to depict aspects about me that I want people to see and to also show my knowledge on how to create a slide that is noteworthy. I chose the color blue because this is mine and many other’s favorite color, I also feel that having a blue background could bring memories to the audience maybe of a bright beach day with the family with the blue sky and bright sun looking down on you. Or a day that you went a road trip and when you looked out the window you noticed how exactly blue the sky was, or a memory of being at the aquarium and watching the fish swim through the water. Next I know your attention probably shifted to the sunflower in the corner. When children we made pictures with blue skies, characters, then a sun in either corner that was either fully or half way there. This sunflower was not put there to point out that memory of a younger you in art class but it does strike a memory to me that could show you more of me that you might know. Sunflower is a nickname I received from a student teacher in preschool. I was terrified and lost and fairly uncomfortable. We all had pictures on our place mats and cubbies and my picture was a sunflower, my teacher told me that I was special because her favorite flower was a sunflower. She called me her little sunflower so that I embraced my environment, she helped me feel more comfortable and I remembered where my stuff went and where I ate everyday. The message I chose to put is a message that many people hear throughout life but this is one that I’ve taken to heart. I see so many people scared to be who they are and I used to be one of those people until I truly stopped caring about what other people thought and become comfortable with what I know and that’s what and who I truly am. I know that I stand for more than just my race or age, I am more than just a student, I am not voiceless, and I dare to be me because no one can teach me how to live my life. I dare to be me and I dare to dream and to chase all of them, to learn, to make pathways for people like me, also I dare to be different because ordinary is too boring.

Direction: The direction in which your eyes are supposed to go is from the upper left corner to the bottom right corner. While your eyes travel over the space of my words you have no choice but to read the words I have placed on the slide to tell the viewer a bit about what my presentation is based on. The reason your direction of focus is perceived to go in this way is because the bright sunflowers will draw attention first and the negative space makes it easy for your eyes to be guided. 
Size:The size of the picture I put in the slide is to not take too much attention from the rest of the slide but to also draw positive attention to itself so that it is noticeable and I can touch on it. But it is also not to big as to take away from the other components that make up the slide. The size of the words were supposed to leave negative so that your eyes can be clearly directed in either two or one way but either of them being diaganal. 
Balance: I chose not to put so many words on one side in order to weigh down on 3 quarters of the page but to compliment the other side of it. 
Unity: Each component is meant to tell a story in their own way, the blue can trigger a memory, the flower can trigger a memory fear favorite color favorite person, the words will make you see me differently hopefully.
Negative Space: When I looked at the negative space on my slide I started to fill it in with my mind and picture other lines that are similar to the quote I used. It leaves space for the mind to wonder and fill in the blanks with thoughts of their own.
The Hue: The shade of blue I feel can make the person who is looking at it warm inside.

Bad Habits -- Madison Siegel

Posted by Madison Siegel in English 2 · Pahomov · E Band on

Bad Habits

Okay so it’s been a year since we moved. My friends from back home seem to be doing good. When they asked me why I don’t move back because Mom lives in Vermont I wasn’t really sure what to say. I made a new life here in New York City, and not that I don’t miss them and would love to see more of them, but things were just so complicated when we lived there. I’m sure you understand. You’re my brother and that’s why I’m telling you about Mom.

I mean Mom and her crazy drunk moments. Dad always disappearing to go to the casino. It was just not fun. It was terrifying. I understand that the last two years before we moved was when it became ugly. The yelling every night, Mom treating us terrible because she was drunk and replied to it with anger, Dad lying about where he was going. I feel the exact same way you do. After realizing what they have been doing I would search Mom and Dad’s room to see if Mom had hid another bottle in there. I just wanted to know if she was still drinking. I would put the bottle back after I touched it, I just wanted to know. I was hoping each day that she had taken her last sip and that we had reached the bottom of the hill our lives were going down. I mean she had to know that she had a problem or else she would have kept the bottle with the rest of the alcohol in the kitchen. I mean your my brother and I know that we both handled this in a different way. I stayed quiet when all of this was happening, and you expressed your voice to them. Yes. I know I can’t leave Dad after everything he’s done for us. I mean he quit going to the casino and took us here so he could have a job and take care of us. When he saw how much we were affected by everything he took matters into his own hands. That’s  what’s  important. I feel like my life belongs here because it doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past, it matters what he’s doing now. The difference between Mom and Dad is he got his life back together. He is making an effort. After finding that bottle hidden in Mom’s house I now know that she’s not making an effort. She abandoned us, and that is what makes me sad.

Wait? He did what in Florida?

A few months ago? He lost how much money? $1,500!?!

Where did you hear this? Mommom told you? You’re telling me that a 96 year old lady recognized this, but we didn’t? I can’t believe this! I can’t believe him! I gave him money to help get everybody presents for Christmas and he just ended up wasting it at the casino? I knew that all the money wasn’t adding up right. He seemed really worried about it and kept saying that he spent most of it on gifts. When they didn’t even cost that much and I paid most of it. Wait? He also hasn’t been giving Grandma the rent? So the money we give him each month to live in our house is also just going to the casino. None of it has actually gone to the rent? Well what was the point of all of this if both our parents are still doing the things they were supposed to stop?

I mean they’re acting like children,-- even I feel more grown up then they do. The worst part is that Dad comes to me when he’s in trouble. He owes me $1,700 at the moment and instead of trying to pay me back this is what he does? I’m not even sure who I’m mad at more Mom or Dad? The thing is that I still see Dad trying to put his life together and raise us right where Mom doesn’t even seem to care and is just out drinking 24/7. I get that Dad lost a lot of money, but at least he is trying. I think he does it to try and have more money for the family. So I guess at least his intentions were to help. We should confront both of them and try to get them to stop. Wait. If I confront Mom she’s just going to deny it. She’s going to fight with me about it and nothing will ever be solved. Maybe I should just let Grandma know what’s been going on and tell her I know about Dad’s problem. What do you mean I can’t tell anyone about Dad’s problem? If I talk to Grandma she’s going to want to help, not get mad at you and never speak to you again for telling me. So I can’t confront both of them? So we’re just going to have to continue letting them hurt their lives and ours? This isn’t fair. I have tried my hardest. It’s their turn.


A Daughter's Disappointment//Monologue

Posted by Daeja Richardson in English 2 · Pahomov · E Band on

** Phone Rings**

Hey mom.

Yeah, I’m really excited about that trip! We haven’t seen you for like two summers. And we usually go every summer. I can’t wait to come to Jamaica once summer breaks comes around!

Wait, what?

But I thought you already did. Because you told that like two weeks ago.

I know but I still thought everything was all together  for next year. It’s gonna end up being a another boring summer for me.

What do mean we might come for Christmas? We don’t even have our passports together so how?

No, it’s nothing never comes out in my favor. I ask for so little and now it’s not happening. I doubt that Jamaica in Christmas will happen too. **sighs**

It doesn’t matter anymore…..

(hangs up)


Daughter(thinking): I figured that  was gonna’ go again. It’s like she doesn’t even care. Knowing that my passport expired two years. She should’ve contacted the people then. And she always  waits to the last minute. And then she gets mad at me for looking miserable all the time. ITS HER! It's like I can't even tell her about her actions because I’m a child. According to her I would be getting smart or would be having an attitude. But that is never the case. And that's the thing with me, I’m always biting my tongue. But what if I did speak? I shouldn’t hesitate…...right? She should want to know my thoughts. She should take my statement under consideration right? But I’m just a child and I need to stay in a child’s place. But when talking to her I feel a bit imitated so that’s I keep my mouth shut. And there I go again biting my tongue.