Watching the final project was really cool and interesting. I liked how even though each group was working off the same concept and plot, our individual productions were really different. I especially liked hearing the kid’s voices because it really made it feel like we were partners in this whole thing. Working off of video chat was a little complicated and I would have liked to have felt more interaction and involvement. However seeing it all come together I definitely was relieved that we all made it happen and we were successful in making our vision come through.

We did not have a meeting with the kids this week because for some reason we were not able to connect. Last meeting we gave them some photos to start working on so hopefully they were able to get those done. For the next two weeks we are going to be writing the script so that by our next meeting we will be able to give the kids all of the photos they need to recreate.

Today we had more students than last time but a lot less focus. We really did not get much done except for assigning a few pictures for the kids to get started on. I do not think they had a teacher present which is why the kids were pretty unfocused for the most part. I think the fact that we didn’t have a concrete plan for the meeting today also contributed to things. We gave the kids homework to get started on the pictures throughout the week, and then we will go from there.

This was our best meeting so far. We had two students in attendance, Jayden and Joy, and they were both very attentive and excited to work. We went over the bulleted points of the plot and had them act out/improv each scenario while we recorded their dialogue. We went through about 5 or 6 scenes/plot points and they put a good amount of effort into every scenario. Next, we are going to write out the script by incorporating their dialogue and go over it with them to see if they are satisfied/want to make any changes. Then we will hopefully get them to start drawing.

This week we got a little further in the kids’ understanding of the new plot. Only two of the kids really participated, but they were pretty engaged in what we were doing. One of them read out the summary of the new plot and the bullet points that outlined a play-by-play of the act. Both kids then went through the bulleted list and attempted to put them into their own words and set the scene. They were able to relate to the characters in the sense that they were familiar with the concept of ‘playing hard to get’ and spreading rumors. We did not get very far with actually re-formulating each plot point and they had to leave pretty abruptly. Overall it seems that at least a couple of the kids are excited about the project, and we gave them the outline to look over throughout this next week. We are hoping to start drawing within the next couple of meetings. There was a lot of distraction, but we always had at least one kid completely engaged in the task at hand.

The first week working within the groups went well. It was helpful meeting as a group to talk about what we wanted to do with our act before meeting with the kids. I think the first time meeting with the children was good. There were only two kids for the start, but they were pretty engaged and were asking questions/participating. Another girl came near the middle of the session. We did introductions and then described the premise of the play and watched a short video. The kids seemed kind of confused about the plot – it being pretty complex – but once we explained that we were only doing one part of the play, they were relieved. We told the kids how our adaptation was going to work and they were ready with ideas (like using robots as the characters). Before we meet next time, they will hopefully be more familiar with the plot and we can get started on some concrete work.