Johnathon's+Journal

I have had a love affair with gaming since I was six or seven. From the first Atari, to the first Nintendo, and finally the first Playstation and four connotations of that; I have loved playing games. From getting hooked on River Raid and Pitfall to now playing Madden, Golf, and first person shooter games I have enjoyed playing games. My fondest memories on weekends playing NBA Jam all night with my best friend Scott. Then of course going to Putt N’ Video on Mondays for Monday Night Madness games have been a big part of my life. I have game apps on my phone and Kindle that I play all the time. I have never gotten into playing computer games except Jeopardy and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader and of course back in the day playing Oregon Trail.

When I play sports video games I tend to play as myself creating an avatar with a similar likeness and playing career mode to develop him into a superstar. I was recently Arno in Assassin’s Creed and Batman in the recent versions of games. Finally, playing soldier in many different first person shooter games. Identities in real life I take on the football fan and Wrestling fan and finally teacher. When I am at home I am myself but when I walk into the classroom I put on the identity of teacher.

I like the concept of “literacy” that Gee gives us. I never thought about it before but children and students are playing games from the get go that some adults are struggling with. I think that I have played many different games that have given hints and tutorials built right into the game as you develop your character. Initially you build quicker but as you advance in the game the purchases grow in price and are more difficult to earn. I think that if I had the time as a teacher now I would try to introduce some of Gee’s ideas. Giving a student an object and asking what is it to introduce an object or subject matter would be fun. Allowing the students to explore and develop their own ideas that I can highlight and give more information about and take on the role of information desk would be interesting and exciting.

School in a two part semiotic domain. I come to class and I am in one domain that helps in the other domain in the future. I find the semiotic domain of teaching different in the classroom I am teaching students in the staff lounge I am listening and discussing student behavior and friendly things. At school I am learning how to become a better teacher how to look at different ideas and concepts, and have become the student. All of these moments in the teaching domain have been learning moments. Another domain being the gamer world where I can interact with other gamers and adventure out of my comfort zone to play unknown people from around the globe. I also get to play a variety of games and find my ability in each game.

The new games I have played this week was Transformers Angry Birds. This game really does not have a tutorial just a bunch of helpful hints that tell you what you need to do next. I find the game a nice way to kill time but gets kinda of boring quickly. You keep playing the same levels over and over again until you reach a level that unlocks more of the world but it takes along time to advance. The visual output is decent and the music and effects are not bad but in has a tendency to get monotonous.

I have been sitting here trying to come up with a plan that virtual and projective identities may be important in my teaching. I am trying to give thoughts about one subject area. What if I gave a student a story that puts them in a real world situation that they would be required to interact with measuring implements. For instance, I have them choose from different measuring instruments. Like having them be a contractor and they need to measure the surface area of a wall. They can choose from a ruler, yardstick, tape measure, and a closed reel tape measure. Through trial and error they would discover what the tools do and hopefully discover the correct tool and the correct measurement. With students now being asked to use rulers as a straight edge or inch and cm lines to draw small objects. Using a real world use of these tools and giving them an identity of someone that actually uses them the student gets a stronger sense of what the tools are used for. This can be done in both reality and a virtual world where the identity is controlled by actions done on a keyboard. This would be used as a way to introduce the concept of measuring. By asking the student to write down or draw what the tool shows. Then we can use this as a jumping off point.
 * Weeks 2-3 Questions (Chapters 3-4) **

I do not have any interactions with a student with a damaged identity. Of course I have seen the media’s versions of a student with damaged identities. They are really mean or really subdued. However, I have no knowledge of the actuality of these images.

I think that the earlier example of the real world identity that I would give my students is an example of situated meaning in the content area of math and geometry. By using real world applications the students not only interact with the implements, but also see that there is a reason for using them.

I have been using the probe, hypothesize, re-probe and rethink cycle for the last two terms and will be probably using it for the rest of my life. I am involved in a research project that is requiring me to delve deeper into a chosen subject than I have ever before. As I research and discover the different point-of-views on my chosen subject I have to think about it probe deeper, change the concept or add to it and end up rethinking and changing my own point-of-view. It is never ending and a continuous cycle.

Of the games that we played for class this week I found some decent and others trying and frustrating. First, Mission U.S. is interesting to be playing a character in the 1700s at the dawn of our nation is intriguing. To step into the Avatar of a copy boy for a patriotic newspaper in the era of the Son’s of Liberty. It is entertaining enough to keep playing but I wonder how much true historic learning comes from the game. As much as I enjoy game playing I would probably choose to play something else as I do not enjoy playing RPGs as much as sports and action.

The second game is ReDistricting I found this game to be frustrating and not so instructive on how to play it. I tried several configurations to get the districts right to benefit my party but never got it right. As I continued to struggle the game got less and less fun.

Unfortunately the only time that I can think of “Just in Time” being used is when as teachers we introduce the pop quiz. As this is based on what the students have been learning in the prior couple of days. I think that as a teacher we use this as a gauge for us to know how well as teachers we did. However, the students see it as a way to catch the students that have not been keeping up on their studies.
 * Weeks 4-5 Questions (Chapters 5-6) **

I am trying to think about teaching my students in a subdomain of the real domain. It has come abundantly clear that students are still not taught from a real world scenario. However, I have seen a scenario that kind of fits this category. The fourth graders at Mt. Vernon are asked to imbed themselves and take on a role of someone on the Oregon Trail. Some are bachelors and some are family men. They have to make decisions that affect their fellow wagon trainers and their own wagon. I think that this is a great way to illustrate the harshness and hardships that people could go through during that era.

I think that as a teacher there are many times that we ask students to expand what we previously taught them. One example is how we grow students understanding in fractions. As I observe these expansions it is hard to view how the real world scenarios that the students are placed is a real expansion. They see it written on paper and can gauge the information but real transfer could be done so much better with hands-on experimentation. I could see giving students a recipe and the correct tools to accomplish their goal and standing back and letting them figure it out. In addition, we could throw in some different concepts that the students would have to work through. For instance the recipe could ask for 2/8 of a cup of something and only have a fourth of a cup in the tools.

I have come across things that have challenged my cultural model in my education that several times. My only interactions with disabled individuals were by observation from afar. Learning from the texts and different classes has opened my point of view to change and see these individuals in a whole new light. Then when my interactions became real world and I interacted with these students on a personal level my cultural model changed again.

I played a few new games this week but the one that I am choosing to look at is NBA 2K15. This game starts by placing you as Damian Leonard and teaching you the basics of the game. I will say that this is a long process and that it is done not as correctly as it could be done. There is no standard of practice once you accomplish the tutorial. Some things you remember but for the most part you are thrown into the game with little experience. As you play through trail and error you begin to learn the correct button configurations and the right time to release the ball during your shot attempts. Growth is slow but when you get it the up swing is significant.