Lelia's+Journal

=Week 1 Reading Journal= >  For much of my life we had some sort of video game system in my house, but they were rarely advanced, and I often didn’t have access to them. The first system I remember having was a Sega Dreamcast. My brother and I would avidly watch my parents play games on it. After that broke we had Atari emulators, so we could play Pong or Pac Man. In the last few years, I have started playing more video games. Thinking back on the most prominent games, I would have to include Skyrim, Stardew Valley, Minecraft, and Sims 3. A few months back I purchased a 3DS, my first portable gaming system, and since then I have been working through games that I always heard about, but could never play. I finally played my first pokemon game (Alpha Sapphire), as well as the latest installment (Pokemon Moon), and I own both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s mask. Mobile games can also be quite appealing to me. I am definitely attracted to games that I can play, but easily set down if/when it becomes necessary. One large limiting factor for me when it comes to gaming, is that I have a history of getting severe motion sickness with first person POV games. It can get to the point where I have to lay down, and can be down for the rest of the day; making these games not really worth it.
 * 1)   Describe your background and history with video and computer games.

>  In any game I play I take the username Jintenlia (Gin-Ten-Leah). I created this by pushing buttons on a keypad when I around 10 years old, and it is never taken. While I’ve played some multiplayer games, I don’t really consider this an “identity”. Most multiplayer games I play are with people that I know, and am often actively speaking to during gameplay.
 * 1)   What are some of the real and/or virtual ‘identities’ you take on?

>  His definition of literacy isn’t exactly a radical concept to me, but it is intriguing. It is similar to the idea of linguistic relativism in that your first language, or how you think, affects future thought and interactions. Every person is going to have a different viewpoint going into reading a book. If a student has only heard negative or positive things about a book, this will shape how they begin reading. If the topic is controversial to a student’s personal beliefs, then it potentially could be difficult for them to focus or gain information.
 * 1)   What impact might James Paul Gee’s definition of ‘literacy’ have on your teaching?

>  Fair Play was a very dated game. It took a bit for me to feel comfortable moving the character, as the controls were not the almost universal WSAD that we see in computer games nowadays. After getting past the initial struggle with the controls, I was a bit excited to go through the world and interact with the various people, especially because the instructions prompted you to talk to as many people as possible. It was frustrating that you could only really talk to the people that were highlighted, and that the interactions had very few (if any choices). While the game is supposed to simulate the struggles that a person of color entering into a master’s program, it was difficult to engage with the character. It felt like the player had few choices, and that I was more watching a video that actually playing a game.
 * 1)   Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week.

Evolver felt like a way to get students to work on their math, without necessarily realizing that they are doing math. While the instructions were a bit lacking, and I struggled a bit to fully understand all of the goals, I thought it was and entertaining and worthwhile game. There was a lot going on, which could be a bit distracting, or even overwhelming, for some students. I could definitely see either this game, or a game similar to this, being included in my future classroom. Games that are engaging, but help students learn, are definitely a must have.

Resilient Planet, while engaging and entertaining, definitely had a fairly small niche for classroom usage. It could be an educational game that students could select on their free time, as it promotes their reading and comprehension skills, as well as exposes them to various aquatic issues and facts. Otherwise, unless students are studying aquatic wildlife, I don’t see it making its way into general curriculum. This game seemed to be aimed at older students, either advanced late elementary school students, middle school, or some high school age. Younger students, or students who struggle with comprehension or reading would have difficulty benefiting from this game, much less actually playing it.

Dragon Box Algebra presented math in a unique way. Each level built off the previous, with explicit instructions whenever there were new things to be learned. I can definitely see myself using either this game, or another game by this company for either my classroom or my own children. It is an engaging way to start thinking about complex math concepts, without necessarily realizing it. = = = = =Week 2 Reading Journal= >  Reading is often described as “taking the reading to another world” or “allowing the reader to see through another’s eyes”. While I am a full supporter of reading, both of these descriptions can also be true for video games players. Some literature is going to be better than others in having the reader think critically, and truly experience another way of thinking; this is also the case for games. Games can be supplemental to lessons, and they can help students who struggle or balk at reading experience similar forms of projective identities as stronger more passionate readers. Unlike reading, the player has to immerse themselves another level in that they are more readily and critically involved in this alternate identity.
 * 1)   How might virtual and projective identities be important in your teaching?

>  As a teacher I often find myself connecting with “difficult” students. Many of these students struggle academically, with reading often being a large area of disappointment and anger. One child in particular stands out to me. I was doing a two week sub job, so I was trying to follow the schedule as closely as possible, while still teaching in my own way. He hated reading, it was difficult for him, so his reading identity was “damaged. I worked with this kid for just a couple minutes every day, and by the end of the two weeks he would come ask me when I would could read with him. Giving him the positive time and attention helped him break out of this shell. He had a long way to go, but hopefully he will continue on a positive path towards being more comfortable and confident in himself.
 * 1)   Describe an experience you’ve had in teaching a student with a “damaged” identity.

>  I will be teaching in a full day elementary classroom, so my content area is everything so it is hard to narrow it down to one example. One thing I see as a sub is that students get very worked up and worried with the mention of quiz, test, etc. Taking the fear off of that word, helping kids understand it doesn’t have to be scary, is something that I want to work towards with my class.
 * 1)   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.

>  Often a positive science lesson will include these steps. In the two week sub job I worked recently, the teacher tried to implement this, but it wasn’t the most positive experience for the kids. They were given seeds, and they had to explore the seeds. Then they hypothesized what they would grow into. After a week they examined their seeds again and saw that they were lima beans. The final step was writing about what could they have done better in how they tended their lima beans. The final step is fine, but they didn’t think about this until most of the class’s lima beans were dead and moldy. Had they had a chance to hypothesize the best way to plant, tend, and/or water their plants it would have been a more cohesive unit altogether.
 * 1)   Describe a recent learning experience that involved using the probe, hypothesize, re-probe, and rethink cycle.

>  The ReDistricting Game taught me a surprising amount about gerrymandering. My one complaint was that if they explained why party lines were not passed, it was not obvious. The player would have to look up laws that were cited on their own, or they would have to use context clues to determine what was wrong. This would be a beneficial game for high school age students studying politics, but it wouldn’t be useful for students that were much younger. iCivics was an engaging game platform for several games. I tried out “Win the White House”. Early on the game asked what level of school you attended. As I want to be an elementary school teacher, I selected that age group. I did later go back, and the differences were hard to spot at first. The differences that I could spot within the first two minutes were just the maturity level of some of the topics; the elementary level had less volatile topics. The game did walk you through a fair bit of the steps, but it would be difficult for any except for advanced 4th graders and older. There would need to be a lot of pre-scaffolding to make this a useful game for students of any age. Quandry sets you up as the leader of an isolated colony on another planet. You have to make decisions based on the people, facts, opinions, and your own gut instincts. It has low costs to you, as you’re not actually there, but it has high costs in the game. It can help students critically think about how their actions affect others. It’s a nice game that could be played by several different age groups. = = = = =Week 3 Reading Journal=
 * 1)   Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week.

> Providing students with the instructions at regulated intervals so they are all working together/not rushing through the lesson, and spending quality time thinking. During a science lesson, giving students instruction after they have completed preliminary tasks so that they have a base with which to understand the content.
 * 1)   Give an example of 'Just in Time' information presentation in a classroom activity.

> When introducing a new method of teaching, then having a trial or practice run could help students be more successful. Perhaps in a science class, leading up to a complex and lengthy science experiment, there can be several short, simple(r), and related projects that will lead up to the larger project. The larger project would be an example of how other science experiments would proceed in the future. Two or three mini example experiments, and then a larger scale experiment in the format that will be followed the rest of the year
 * 1)   In a content area of your choice, how might you incorporate teaching in a 'subdomain' of the 'real' domain?

> Saving student’s work and after growth and development have occurred, showing them a before and after. This can be especially useful if the student struggled with the work throughout the development. Their progress displayed in the before and after can highlight to them that they really are growing and changing and that the work they are putting in is worth it.
 * 1)   Describe a technique that you might use to help students 'transfer' early learning to more complex problems.

>  The oncology game was fairly scaffolded, if you had the patience to read all of the instructions. Younger students may struggle with the vocabulary, but if it was presented after discussing cancer or medical fields it could be beneficial. It also could be used as a game to introduce them to those topics, without going in depth in the classroom to discuss them.
 * 1)   Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: