Erin's+Journal

Week 1 Questions (Chapters 1-2)

 * 1) Describe your background and history with video and computer games.
 * 2) What are some of the real and/or virtual ‘identities’ you take on?
 * 3) What impact might James Paul Gee’s definition of ‘literacy’ have on your teaching?
 * 4) What experiences have you had learning in new ‘semiotic domains’?
 * 5) Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: //Resilient Planet//, //Evolver//, //Dragon Box Algebra, Fair Play//, and //Ludwig//.

1. I grew up in a family that played (and still plays) video games. My grandfather was into quite a few of them, and got me interested in them at a young age. I grew up playing Nintendo (Mario Bros., Zelda, etc...) and even some Atari games. From an early age I was playing King's Quest (can't wait for the PS4 version to be released!!) and Laura Bow mystery games. As I got older, my dad, sister and I got involved with the various consoles. We've had xbox, xbox 360, the original playstation, ps2-4, wii and even sega genesis. I have also stayed maintained an interest in computer games, mostly The Sims and the hidden object games. I like the open "sandbox" games that include storylines but allow for free play as well. I prefer games that take time and progress skills/levles as you spend more time playing.

2. As far as real identities that I take on, I am a teacher, wife, daughter, sister, student, and friend. Virtually, it depends on which game I am playing. In The Sims, the role changes depending on what kind of character I want to control that day. I generally prefer to be the more helpful, nice, friendly person when playing games. However, get me on GTA, and I can be the exact opposite, causing as much destruction as possible. As I stated, my virtual identity depends on the game and my mood at the time.

3. I have recently been introduced to several "new" definitions of literacy and Gee's definition fits within them. Margaret Voss stated the following in one of her works, “I intend the word literacies to mean those understandings that allow an individual to make meaning in a symbol system- spoken or written words, art or music or wood or media (p.14)," and "The children’s varied literacies- talk (linguistic literacy), creating and building with tools (mechanical literacies), consumer awareness (consumer literacy), “reading” people (interactive literacy)- can be seen as literacies because they are ways of making meaning by reading signs in the surrounding environment (p. 14).”I am currently working on an IRB proposal that involves identifying "hidden literacies" within struggling readers to try and increase their reading skills by incorporating the observed literacies outside of the classroom. I like how Gee related the video games to "read" and "write" showing that they do, in fact, relate to literacy itself. I plan on using this definition of literacy when planning classroom instruction and activities, so that I can look beyond just the reading and writing of the students.

Voss, M.M. (1996) Hidden Literacies: Children Learning at Home and at School. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

4. Anytime I attempt something new, I am entering a new "semiotic domain', from starting graduate school to which video games I play. I once worked at a camp for children with disabilities in Texas for three summers in a row. My first summer, I had a whole new "area or set of activities where people think, act, and value in certain ways (p. 19)." There were new languages involved, including American Sign Language. I've also entered new "semiotic domains" when becoming a fan of certain t.v. shows (i.e. The Walking Dead). Again, it is a new area where other fans of the show have their own way of thinking, acting, and valuing events and characters. The same can be true for just about anything, just as Gee stated when he listed some examples, "a nearly endless, motley, and ever-changing list (p. 19)."

5. I tried my hand at the Evolver (Windows) demo. It took a while to get used to the controls as it involves moving the mouse for "looking" directions and the WASD keys for walking around. As a demo, I could only do the tutorial and the first mission. Evolver is a math game, available both on and offline. As mentioned, there is a tutorial included that helps the player learn the controls and pattern of the game. While the mission(s) are loading, the player has the opportunity to review the math concepts by clicking a button "math". The game is set up like an adventure game and other characters lead you through the missions. Each mission involves using the math concepts from the loading screen to open gates in order to progress. At the end of each mission, there is a short quiz that assesses the information from that "level". Overall, it appears like it could be a fun, educational, adventure game for students. There were some glitches in the video, not sure if it was game effects or actual glitches with the program. They were slightly distracting for me.

Weeks 2-3 Questions (Chapters 3-4)
1.How might virtual and projective identities be important in your teaching?

If we can incorporate some of the virtual and projective identities into some learning activities, those students that respond better to video game stimuli might actively engage in the activity and gain something from it rather than passively attending and not retaining the information. If reading tasks incorporated forms of virtual/projective identities, how much more involved would these students want to be?

2.Describe an experience you’ve had in teaching a student with a “damaged” identity.

As an instructional assistant, I spent a lot of last year working with one specific student that has autism. There were times that he refused to do work because he felt he could not do it. This student had trouble coming up with ideas to write about, much less writing anything on lines and legibly. He claimed that he could not control his letters to keep them on the lines and did not like writing because of it. This student also had an obsession with toy cars. I used this to my advantage and did a mini-lesson with the lines on the paper being a road with a toy car. He drove on the “road” for a while and then I put a letter on top of the car and he drove it some more. We talked about what happens when a car goes off the road (out of the lines) and compared that to letters. From then on, he was able to write nicely on the lines and this eventually led him to writing some great journal entries and thinking of his own writing topics.

3.Give an example of a situated meaning in your content area, and describe how you might help students gain a more embodied understanding of it.

(This is part of my LEDP…) As a former kinder teacher and an IA in first grade this past year, we spend time teaching the student high-frequency words or sight words. The rationale behind this is so that we recognize these words on sight and become more fluent readers, only having to sound out new words. Kindergartners and first graders have a hard time understanding the importance of knowing these high-frequency words. To embody this concept, I started having the students use real books, grade-level appropriate, and locating the sight words within the book. They had to write the word after finding it and then tally how many times it appeared in their text. They were surprised how many times “the”, “we”, etc…. actually showed up and had a better understanding of a sight word’s importance. 4.Describe a recent learning experience that involved using the probe, hypothesize, re-probe, and rethink cycle.

For another course, I created a teacher website for my final project. I had to use this cycle to create the site. I probed for different templates, topics to include, and sites to link to. The part of the website that fits this cycle perfectly was creating the “contact me” page. The online tool I was using to create the site, had an option for a contact form directly on the page. I thought that would be a nice addition instead of parents having to open email to send a message. I added this form and tested it…I never received the test email. I changed the forwarding email to my personal account and received the test. Retried my work email, only to assume that there is some filter keeping the email from going through. So, I had to rethink the contact form, and in the end, removed it from the site.

5.Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: ReDistricting Game, Mission US, iCivics, and Quandary.

I played Quandary and Mission US (Mission 1). I enjoyed the historical aspect of Mission US, but found it quite long. I like that it did include vocabulary and allow the player to make choices, but there wasn’t much achievement or incentive to continue. Quandary also allowed for choices and was good for debate practice. It was interesting getting to hear the different scenarios and “choosing” the outcomes based on inquiries with the citizens. It was probably just as long as Mission US but did not seem as slow-paced so I felt more involved with the action and game overall.


 * Weeks 4-5 Questions (Chapters 5-6)**
 * 1.Give an example of 'Just in Time' information presentation in a classroom activity.**

An example of “Just in Time” information for a language arts activity would be introducing a word family or common rime. Have the students practice reading sounds/words with the specific rime or ending sound. Following the practice, students are given a text to read that is full of examples of those specific sounds/rimes. Being introduced and allowed to practice the sounds prior to reading the text allow the student to have the information readily available “just in time” for reading the story.


 * 2.In a content area of your choice, how might you incorporate teaching in a 'subdomain' of the 'real' domain?**

If I were doing a lesson or unit on community workers with lower elementary, I would begin with discussing the workers within the school setting, a subdomain of the community (real domain). After discussing all the jobs within the school, I would expand the concept to the immediate surrounding community and so on.


 * 3.Describe a technique that you might use to help students 'transfer' early learning to more complex problems.**

An example that I have done to help students ‘transfer’ early skills to complex skills would be patterns in pre-k and kinder. I always started with the basic AB pattern and had the students color in squares on a chart following the pattern. I would then progress to different patterns (i.e. ABC, AAB, ABB, etc…) but always have the students return to what the learned about patterns with the AB lesson and implement the same concept. At the end of the year, I had the students drawing/coloring their own pattern and then describing it.


 * 4.Describe a learning experience you've had where one of your 'cultural models' was challenged.**

An example for me would be my working as a camp counselor right out of high school. I had always believed children with special needs were capable of doing things but in my own mind, based on lack of experiences and general “knowledge” from peers, I had created my own limitations for them. For three summers I worked at Texas Lions Camp, a camp for children with various disabilities (cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, epilepsy, etc…). I remember being completely blown away that first summer by seeing the things these children were capable of! They did ‘rock climbing’ and ropes courses, rode horses, had successful campouts, and so on. Each year those limitations I had created were whittled away as was my “cultural model” of their abilities.


 * 5.Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: Villainy, Inc., CSI: The Experience, Oncology, After the Storm, and the Sports Network 2.**

This week, I played ‘After the Storm’ and ‘CSI: The Experience’. I started with ‘After the Storm’ as I was considering using it as my educational game review. I found it a little slow but it did have some good language arts concepts reflected within the game play. I really enjoyed ‘CSI’ as it was right down my alley with mysteries and solving cases. It also did a great job describing and explaining the different instruments used in forensics. I personally found ‘CSI’ more intriguing as it had me doing more things and had more options of what to do next (as far as what evidence to examine, person of interest to talk to, etc…). Either of these two games would be great for higher academic courses, especially for students interested in either journalism or forensic science.


 * Weeks 6-7 Questions (Chapters 7-8) *Extra Credit***


 * 1.In a content area of your choice, give an example of a way in which the 'affinity group' "enforces certain patterns as ideal norms.**

I was recently introduced to “Battle of the Books” via a webquest ([] ). I took the webquest idea a bit further and am going to implement a book trailer as a literacy project in my classroom. The students will form groups based on books read in class throughout the year and plan, shoot, and edit a trailer for the book. Each member of the group will bring forth their ideas and talents with the common goal/endeavor being the completed book trailer.


 * 2.Describe a classroom activity where students are able to 'leverage' the 'distributed' knowledge of their peers.**

As discussed in Chapter 7, a jigsaw activity for any subject/content area allows students to ‘leverage’ and ‘distribute’ their knowledge amongst their peers. A science example would be having groups of students research and share information on the different biomes. Each student within each group would be responsible for a different aspect of the biome (i.e. animals, plant life, climate, etc…). The groups would then get together and discuss, plan, and create their presentation putting all their information together.


 * 3.How might you give students more direct control (as an 'insider' or 'producer') over their own learning?**

I am still learning more about them as I would like to incorporate them within my classroom for multiple subjects, but interactive notebooks are the perfect example of this learning principle. From information I have gathered so far, interactive notebooks allow the students to create their own study tool/textbook with their own input on learned concepts. []


 * 4.Which Principle of Learning do you feel is most-applicable to your teaching, and why?**

I think the Discovery principle is the most applicable to my teaching style. I like to offer students the opportunity to explore and discover (with me as a guide/coach) their learning rather than “force” it upon them. I feel that this makes the concepts stick with them better and they are more apt to use the knowledge later on (transfer principle).


 * 5.Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: Peacemaker Game, Global Conflicts: Palestine, and On the Ground Reporter.**

I attempted Peacemaker Game this week. I can see how it gives the player a different cultural view and understanding of the situations overseas, however, I personally found the game boring. I randomly made selections based on what I thought would increase both sides views of me as the Prime Minister, but it usually only ended up making one side happy and not the other. I wasn’t really getting anywhere near having Israel and Palestine at 100, only one. It did give a good sense of how difficult it is and would be to appease a whole nation, not to mention its neighbor(s).