Welcome to The Tech Cafe Journal! If you’d like to know what goes on here, watch the highlight reel below:
¡Bienvenidos al diario Tech Café! Si desea saber qué sucede aquí, mire el video destacado a continuación:
¿CÓMO AYUDAN PROYECTOS COMO ESTOS A HACER EL MUNDO MÁS POSITIVO?
The Tech Cafe uses a monthly menu. Each menu has project inspirations for the social issue we’re talking about. Here’s the latest:
El Tech Café utiliza un menú mensual. Cada menú tiene inspiraciones de proyectos para el tema social del que estamos hablando. Aquí está lo último:
September 22, 2026
For today’s journal activity, watch 3 or more videos and fill out the persuasive techniques used in each one.
September 14, 2026
Our first social issue is called Selling You. We’ll be learning how brands get you to buy, why buying more things doesn’t always make you happier, and how to fight against companies that only care about your money.
For our first journal entry, your job is to use any art tool you want (e.g., colored pencils, paint, watercolor…), and recreate at least one brand’s logo. Once you finish one, keep going!
September 10, 2026
Well hello! Welcome (back) to The Tech Cafe- where we use arts, crafts, music, movies, and more to make positive changes in the world.
Before we get started MAKING. I want to set a few ground rules for our Makerspace:
Clean up. The Tech Cafe is one-of-a-kind. It’s incredible and it’s ours to share. Put things back where you found them and leave The Tech Cafe better than you found it. That may even mean **OMG** cleaning up someone else’s mess!
Don’t steal. There are so many cool tools, art supplies, and play things here. If you want to borrow something, ask! I usually say yes. But you should leave here with your pockets and your backpacks the way they came in.
Take risks. When you MAKE things in our MAKERSPACE, it is never for just you and me. Nope, it’s for THE WORLD to see. So be brave and put your best work out there. AND, as members of The Tech Cafe, ALWAYS support your fellow Makers…because it’s the right thing to do AND sooner or later, you’ll be next up.
This year, we’ll be brainstorming our ideas in Maker Journals. Below are some ideas on what these brainstorms can look like as well as the DO’S and DON’TS of your journal:
June 1
After months of storyboarding, filming, and editing, here is Scarlet, Deborah, and Scarlyn’s film about how relying on AI for friendship can affect your human relationships:
Here in the Tech Cafe, we’re all about recognizing what humans (not AI) can do. Our ability to SEE the world in all its color and form is something most of us take for granted– but it’s MAGNIFICENT. Avi created one of her signature Zine templates for you to celebrate this incredible gift.
Here is Josh’s wonderful version of this Zine template. What will you create?
Here’s an interesting video about whether or not AI has consciousness. Do you think AI is just using code to predict what we want to hear or is it now a being that has its own ideas and emotions?
may 28
As we begin wrapping up the year, here are a couple of AI-themed films by 7A students. Each one shows how kids on the Lower East Side are wrestling with how Artificial Intelligence should be used in our daily lives:
…And in our continuing series of Zines, here is a How To template by Avi:
Here is an example of what a Zine like this could look like:
Not sure what HOW TO to do? Here are some ideas:
I noticed that for some of your How-To Zines, the illustrations deserve an upgrade. Here’s a helpful resource for leveling up your stick figures:
may 26
This week we will be focusing on Zines. We’ll begin by learning a little more about what they are, then using a Zine template created by Avi to make our own!
Here’s how to make a Zine:
Now that you know what Zines are all about, it’s your turn to make one. The Zine template made by Avi shows two things that make humans special and different from AI: Our senses and our feelings.
Want to make more Zines? CLICK HERE for a list of inspirations.
