Kaitlyn+Etter's+Journal


 * Video Games: Journal Entry #1 **

I do not have a long history with video games. I had a Super Nintendo for a few years as an adolescent, and recall playing Super Mario Bros occasionally. I also played the Oregon Trail computer game in school. As an adult, most of my experience with video games has been in social settings. I have had the most exposure to Wii games. My boyfriend and I own a Wii and play Wii Sports or Mario Cart. He also plays some other games like Okami and Jeopardy.

This question baffles me a little. I have taken on many “real” identities as an actress in musicals over the years. Most recently, I took on the identity of a nun in the tour of Sister Act for a year. In every day life, I take on the identity of home-maker quite often. I like to cook and clean for my household. I also take on the identity of daughter and girlfriend and friend. I most recently took on the identity of “student” again. Virtually, when I play Mario Cart, I take on the identity of Yoshi frequently (he is my favorite character). :)

I connect with Gee’s definition of literacy quite a bit. I believe that every student brings something different and unique to the classroom from their past experiences etc. This feels like a no-brainer for me in the areas of teaching that I plan to enter. In music and drama, literacy is certainly not as black and white as the traditional definition.

At first, I thought that ‘semiotic domains’ were only applicable to the world of video and computer gaming. After reading the chapters and reading about the different examples, I have a better understanding of the concept. I think that this definitely brings validity to the different activities and provides a nice sense of comradery within these worlds. Some of the ‘semiotic domains’ that I have experienced include theatre, music and dance. There are definitely different definitions of literacy within each of these domains.

This week I played DragonBox Algebra for 30 minutes and Resilient Plant for 30 minutes. I wish I could have spent more time in both games, but my time management this week just didn’t allow for it. In Resilient Planet, you take on the role of a marine ecologist. You operate the Hercules ROV and explore the ocean floor while collecting data. It was pretty easy to get set up and figure out the controls. I like that the game makes you use the scientific method to interpret data and form conclusions. The first mission that I started was in the Gulf of Mexico and Dr. Bob Ballard is asking for help in saving the turtles. I did not get very far into this mission, but I think this game is pretty neat. DragonBox Algebra is also a neat game. I have played an iPad game that is similar in graphics called Cut The Rope. I thought it was really interesting that the directions for this game used a lot of pictures so that non-readers can understand the concepts/rules of each particular level. You can pass each level with one, two, or three stars. You receive one or two starts for solving the puzzle, but with the wrong amount of steps. You get three stars if you solve the puzzle with the fewest amount of steps. I really enjoyed the graphics in this game, but I may have a bias because of my experience with the “Cut The Rope” game. I think that this game would be really beneficial for students who are struggling with math concepts.


 * Video Games Journal Entry #2 **

1. The concept of virtual and projective identities that Gee discusses is important in strategies for teaching because it is another way to be aware of where my students are coming from. The example that Gee gives of the poor, suburban African American children being against the idea of “white” literacy was very relatable to me since they were then unable to be open to learning. One of our main jobs as educators is to identify these identities, and help students commit to learning. It is important to recognize student’s projective identities about the specific subjects I am teaching, their background or past experiences in the subject, or their views about school in general. Coming up with a class identity is also important. Specifically, in a drama/theatre setting, creating an identity of actors or musicians is essential. The collective, cohesive nature of this identity will help students identify as part of the ensemble. So, not only the projective identity of students in the classroom, but also the projective identity of ensemble members.

2. I have quite a bit of experience working with shy children, which, in a theatre or performance setting can be considered “damaged”. I’m not sure if this 100% lines up with Gee’s definition of “damaged” identities, but I feel as though the steps of “repair work” apply. Perhaps, they have had a bad experience with performing in the past or have a lot of expectations put on them by their parents. When I recently worked for a company called Northwest Children’s Theatre doing a week-long summer camp, certain students were nervous to perform in front of their parents at the end of the week. We focused on getting them excited about the material by allowing them to have a voice in what we chose to work on and learning songs in small pieces so that the students could start to see their progress. It was important to bridge their real-world identities with their “classroom” identities to enable full potential learning. The steps of repair that Gee described include: the students must be enticed to try, put in lots of effort, and achieve some meaningful success when effort is expended.

3. I feel as though this concept is extremely applicable to both drama and music. Situated meaning is the concept that words/ideas have different meanings in different contexts. In drama, students have to be able to define what different words in the script mean before being able to say them in context and make sense of the emotions they are conveying. Students also have to understand the time period in which the theatrical piece is taking place, and this will inform their acting.

4. Recently, in our cultural perspectives class, we did an exercise where we had to build a tower with paper, silently in small groups. Our professor handed out 15 sheets of paper and a roll of tape to each group of 5-6 people. The only instructions she gave us was to “build a tower” and the only rule was that we couldn’t speak at all. She said we had 10 minutes to complete it, and didn’t give us any time to discuss before the silent time started. Taking non-verbal cues, someone in the group would try something then we all would try to catch on to the idea. Somebody would “probe” and the rest would begin to hypothesize. Then, if the idea failed, someone else would “re-probe” and the group would “re-think”. I think that Gee explains this theory of learning very clearly using the idea of a toddler experimenting and gaining knowledge.

5. This week, I played Quandary and iCivis: Win the Whitehouse.

Quandary was an interesting game. I liked that it was exemplifying people who had differing opinions, but were still working towards finding solutions. I would nickname this game the “making decisions sim”. I didn’t find it super easy to follow after the initial instructions were given. The concept is that you are a leader of a space colony-listening to the villagers and making decisions. You have to do some Investigating and deciphering the facts. It was good in that it separated the idea of opinion, fact, and proposed solution. It was interesting. However, it seemed unclear what the game wanted you to do with the information, once sorted.

Politics fascinate me, so I really enjoyed iCivis: Win the Whitehouse. This game focused on strategies and the basics of politics. I appreciated that you could choose your age range and that there were tutorials, which made this game very easy to follow/understand. You start off by making a presidential candidate and running against one opponent. For each turn you can take, you can either do an action or gather data from states. The options for taking actions in each state are to: poll the state, raise money in state, run a media campaign in a state or make an appearance. For each state, the data you can gather is: how many electoral votes or how much money is available for fundraising. Once the state is polled, you can see which way the state is leaning and if the momentum has shifted. The game does a countdown of 10 weeks. It was very realistic in that you could “run a campaign” to shift momentum, and counter your opponent in personal appearances. I liked that it presented a range of issues popular with each party, that the game seemed unbiased between parties, the game made fun of political ads, and the candidates you can choose from are very diverse-which is good for inclusion. I didn’t like that fundraising was primary goal, but am aware that this is a huge part of politics :)


 * Video Games Journal Entry #3**

1. Just-in-time method is when information is introduced just as the student needs it, and it is most relevant. One example of this is in a Shakespeare class while reading through a script, the teacher can explain the meanings of some Shakespearean words and exceptions to the prose rules just before they show up in the Shakespearean text. There are a lot of rules when reading Shakespeare prose, therefore leaving out the exceptions until just before they show up is a good way to ease confusion and use this method.

2. In a drama classroom, this principle can be incorporated through any sort of improvisation game. The basic concepts of the game will be set up, but there is an inherent trial and error principle in improv games. Students are immersed in an environment/scene and are learning about what works and doesn’t work with their fellow actors/improvisors. It is a learning device because since nothing is planned, everything is essentially “learned” throughout the course of the activity. Another example that may apply is in a band or choral class. Students can learn about blending and listening to one another only while singing or playing their instruments. You cannot really teach “blend” of sound without just doing.

3. A technique that I might use to help students transfer early learning to more complex ideas would be learning about the basics of script analysis in a fundamentals of theatre classroom. Discussions about dissection of characters and plot are introduced. Making sure students know these are techniques they will need in later theatre classes will help with the transfer principle. These concepts would translate to later theatre classes, like directing, when students would be expected to do a full analysis of a script and cast their classmates in a play based on the early knowledge of these fundamentals. Referring back to these basics of script analysis in earlier theatre classes would help to make the connections and further knowledge.

4. In the book, Gee discusses the cultural models of students in the science classroom being challenged with the physics lesson. I’m not 100% sure that this applies, but I grew up taking ballet and jazz dance. When I went to college to get a BFA in Musical Theatre, I had to take Tap as part of my dance curriculum. Tap is very different from other styles of dance and challenges a lot of the things that you are taught in more classical forms of dance. For example, in ballet and jazz you are taught to keep your ankles very rigid to point your feet. In Tap, however, you are supposed to have your ankles very loose. When you have spent a lot of time working on pointing your feet and keeping your ankles rigid, this is a very hard transformation to make. I was told for so many years to point my feet and control my ankles. Therefore, when I took my first tap class, I felt like my cultural models were being a little challenged.

5. I played CSI: The Experience this week. I mostly chose this one because I love crime investigation shows, so I thought it would be fun.

When you enter the game you are able to choose between five cases: “Rookie Training” (Beginner), “Canine Caper” (Intermediate), “Burning Star”(Advanced), “Bitter Pill” (Advanced), and “Fatal Interactions”(Advanced). I chose to play “Rookie Traning” first. In this “case” you are able to explore five sections: Forensic Biology, Toxicology Lab, Firearms and Toolmarks, Medical Examiner, and CSI Ethics. Each section is exploratory (rolling over images to learn different facts or how something works) and then you take a quiz to move on out of the section. I liked that it is designed so you “unlock” facts and clues. It is very interactive and interesting. After going through “Rookie Training” and passing the quizzes, I tried out “Canine Caper” which was an actual case. You have files for Tools, Evidence and Locations. The characters in the game guide you while you move through. It is very interactive with lots of description and exposition.

I feel like even the “intermediate” case was pretty tricky with some high-tech vocabulary, so I’m not sure what ages it is intended for. It seems to be at least high school. I could see this as a great tool for future forensic scientists. I looked at some of the reviews, and it seems that the only complaints are that there are only 5 cases you can play, currently. Students want more!