01May 2021 by jay No Comments
Pew Pew Lasers!

Pew Pew Lasers!

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I managed to score a great STEM grant (as a drama teacher!) from Ingalls Shipbuilding to purchase a Glowforge laser cutter and some greenscreen technology. I use it to teach set design and video production. Right off the bat, I was able to do some seriously cool stuff like: A 1/2in. scale model of our school stage, shown here with the set design for our production of Little Shop of Horrors. The cool thing is that, now that I've done the hard work of measuring and layout, I can cut as many models of the stage as needed. I could give every student a small empty stage and turn them loose to make their own set designs. I also used the Glowforge to create gifts for the principal cast members.…
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01Mar 2021 by jay No Comments
Nerdy Masks

Nerdy Masks

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Returning to in-person school, we were required to wear masks all day long, so I needed quite a collection to make it between laundry days. Why not make them fun at the same time? It was also a good way to figure out how to use my Cricut machine for iron-on graphics.
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01Jun 2020 by jay No Comments
Video Fun

Video Fun

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When the pandemic sent us all home, I started to play around with several pieces of fun technology to enhance my lessons. I used a greenscreen to change my backgrounds for lectures and presenting material. I tried to have a different one each day. Almost all of them were animated. I also combined the greenscreen with some stop-motion animation. I came up with this class intro. It's long, but I shortened it down to about 8 seconds after the first time or two. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZkHYC-eZsM Lastly, since we went entirely virtual when the pandemic hit, I wanted to do something fun for my students. I offered them some extra credit for sending a video clip to participate in my year-end dance party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqHpcqKPNoc
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12Jun 2019 by jay No Comments
Photography

Photography

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I love having a DSLR camera, but I don't use it nearly enough. My sister invited me to join her for a week at the John C. Campbell Folk School in the North Carolina mountains (almost in Georgia.) While many of the classes like blacksmithing, woodworking, and pottery have a great deal of appeal, I decided to do the photography track. Part of the problem with not using my camera enough is that I never really feel like I know how to properly use it. We spent the week working with our cameras and taking some day trips to scenic destinations. Here are a few of my favorites: A year or so earlier, I tried to really dive into my camera by taking at least one picture a day. Like…
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03May 2017 by jay No Comments

The Flip Side of the Bivocational Coin

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I wrote this for the Center for Healthy Churches. It was also picked up by ethicsdaily.com, which was kind of cool. It was inspired by some things I learned as a part of the pilot program for CBF's Ministerial Excellence Initiative. The Flip Side of the Bivocational Coin The treasurer reported that everything looked good. Giving was slightly exceeding our budgeted needs and financial obligations. Immediately, there were smiles all around the room. Everyone relaxed, happy to know that we didn’t have to worry and stress about our church’s budget this time. Everyone, that is, except me. We knew it was going to happen. The grant money that fully funded my position would not last indefinitely. Our small church wasn’t in decline. In fact, we were seeing growth and our…
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13Mar 2017 by jay No Comments
The Foreigner

The Foreigner

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Another theatre project. This time, I'm directing Larry Shue's The Foreigner for Gulfport Little Theatre. I love project like this because you can do a little bit of everything. Here's my poster for the show: [singlepic id=113 w=350 h= float=center] Below is the "before and after" shot of the set. The top image is my original concept design made in Sketchup. The bottom is the finished set. I'm very pleased with the result. I had lots of help with both the construction and the decorating, but I love seeing something from my brain brought to life. [singlepic id=114 w= h= float=center] Lastly, the local TV stations are pretty good about supporting the Arts. Here's some coverage we got on one of the local news shows: http://www.jaylynn.com/files/Wxxv_cut.mp4
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09Nov 2016 by jay No Comments

I Like My Echo Chamber

Essays, Musings, Personal
We've heard a lot lately about how we have filtered our social media feeds to hear only what we want to hear. We have created echo chambers for ourselves and that's bad. I say not so fast. That depends on your echo. My criteria is simple - is this person a jerk? Do they substitute snark and sarcasm for intelligent thought? Do they view cruelty as just another brand of humor? If their public discourse generally belittles others, then I try to have minimal contact with them. I've spent a considerable amount of time cultivating my Facebook feed and social media contacts. I'm long past accepting every friend request that comes my way just because we come from the same home town or spent a few hours together on a…
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01Nov 2016 by jay No Comments

Who’s Your Scrum Master?

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Originally Posted at the Center For Healthy Churches Blog: The game of rugby uses an iconic formation called a Scrum, players with arms linked around one another in a tight formation, working in concert to move the ball a few feet forward against an opposing group from the other team. From a spectator’s view, it looks like an unruly knot of violent pushing and shoving with no real goal. In reality, the actions of the scrum are governed by strict rules of conduct and the participants are specially trained players with specific roles. Those requirements not only maintain the competitive fairness of the situation, but protect the players from serious injury. While we see only their hunched forms in a large tangle of bodies, the players are doing what they…
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