I found scratch to be extremely frustrating. Everything I attempted to do didn't work or negated something I had successfully done. I didn't feel creative while using scratch at all to be totally honest. I felt like I was attempting to follow pre made steps in order to get a reaction from the object on the screen. Any idea I had for where I wanted the project to go, I couldn't successfully make happen. I'm guessing that if I had a better understanding of scratch and how it works I wouldn't feel this way but I honestly thought that I would figure something out through the process and I still feel as though I have no idea how to do anything. Using scratch was unlike anything I have ever done before and I am glad to have had the experience but I have no desire to work in this process again. From the onset of the project I truly didn't think I was going to even get my sprites to move or change costumes, I spent a lot of times trying different things to get no reaction. It was just very confusing to me.
Even though scratch is a program designed for kids, I think it is something I would only ever want to use with older students. I think students may get very frustrated with the process, as I did. Before using scratch in the classroom I would explain different ways of using the programming language and have them try specific steps to see the reaction that they cause. Possibly even hand out a sheet with information on what does what and how so that they can look to it for reference to ease the frustration. I think it would be interesting to see how students make something creative with the sprites provided. Every one will choose which sprites they want to use and how they want to do so. This is a good way to open up the creative aspect, while still giving a limit to what they have available to use so that it's not overwhelming. I think students would need a decent amount of time to work on this because it can take a very long time to accomplish anything close to what you want and takes a lot of experimenting with different things. Another interesting way scratch could be used in the art room is by having students use their own art works and have them create some sort of animation from them. I find combing physical and digital mediums very interesting and it makes you look at and experience your work in a completely new way. How students go about editing the works and creating something new for them would be up to their discretion. The biggest benefit to manipulating a work digitally is that you can always undo and restart without damaging the original image. Again, I would only want to work in scratch with older students, probably high school age as I feel it requires a lot of patience and being able to work through frustration.
Even though scratch is a program designed for kids, I think it is something I would only ever want to use with older students. I think students may get very frustrated with the process, as I did. Before using scratch in the classroom I would explain different ways of using the programming language and have them try specific steps to see the reaction that they cause. Possibly even hand out a sheet with information on what does what and how so that they can look to it for reference to ease the frustration. I think it would be interesting to see how students make something creative with the sprites provided. Every one will choose which sprites they want to use and how they want to do so. This is a good way to open up the creative aspect, while still giving a limit to what they have available to use so that it's not overwhelming. I think students would need a decent amount of time to work on this because it can take a very long time to accomplish anything close to what you want and takes a lot of experimenting with different things. Another interesting way scratch could be used in the art room is by having students use their own art works and have them create some sort of animation from them. I find combing physical and digital mediums very interesting and it makes you look at and experience your work in a completely new way. How students go about editing the works and creating something new for them would be up to their discretion. The biggest benefit to manipulating a work digitally is that you can always undo and restart without damaging the original image. Again, I would only want to work in scratch with older students, probably high school age as I feel it requires a lot of patience and being able to work through frustration.
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