Katie's+Journal

1) I do not have much experience at all with video and/or computer games. I am not even really much of a fan of them to be honest. When I was younger I did like the Nintendo games and Donkey Kong. I think I also had some games on the computer that I enjoyed. But since my younger years I can't say I have played any... Well wait... I guess I play games on my phone so does that count? Nevertheless my history with computer games is very much limited. 2) I am in my last term of my Masters at Western Oregon University. I played basketball for the Wolves during my undergrad and have been an assistant coach there for the past three years. I will be getting married this summer just outside of Silverton, OR and CAN 3) I am a Physical Education teacher so literacy is present in my field but in different ways. Students will not be spending lots of time reading or writing in my classes. However, they will spend time interacting with others and listening to directions. �Visual literacies� is part of Gees new literacy component and I think its value in PE is critical. The idea that people learn by trial and error is completely compatible to the concept of physical education. Students need to be able to experience things and draw conclusions based on what they are doing. 4) I am a Catholic and I think through that I have learned in semiotic domain. By reading about the Roman Catholic religion, practicing that faith, and living that faith I have a better understanding for what it really embodies. I have learned about this my living that type of lifestyle. I think this is what Gee is referring to as a semiotic domain. The symbols and ideas embodied in the Catholic faith are known worldwide.
 * Chapters 1 & 2**

This week I played a baseball math game online. It was pretty easy and kind of boring but it was a different and probably more engaging way to get kids to work on their math skills. I also played a game called Good game Empire and it was about building a castle and doing all the things that need to be done for it to stay alive and prosperous. I think it would be a fun game for younger kids. However it did involve a lot of light reading as well. __I also WATCHED my fianc� play COD, which I didn't/don't enjoy. Nor can I see how anyone could sit there and play that game for hours, doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me. I also watched him play NBA live 2010. I love basketball so that game wasn't as bad to watch. At least I knew the names of the players and understood the point to it.__ This week I played Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean of our Xbox 360. The game starts out at a port and you can run to four different choices of ships for whatever movie you want to play through. I choose part 1 and it stays very close to the movie expect they some of the violence with humor. I didn’t complete the whole game because it was taking a long time. But it has great music and the puzzles are fun yet challenging. Each different character has their own different ability and Jack is the only character with a compass that can be used to find clues. 1) //How might virtual and projective identities be important in your teaching?// I think it’s important to be able to separate the person you are at home or hanging out with friends and the teacher you are at school. A teacher needs to lead my example, be professional yet personable with students. They need to be able to set boundaries as to what’s appropriate language, appearance, attitude, opinion, etc. I don’t think a teacher has to change who they are when they are at school compared to when they are at home but I think it’s important for that school identity to be appropriate. If students respect their teacher I am confident more learning will occur and less distractions/ behavioral problems will take place. That virtual/projective identity is highly important within the school atmosphere. //2)// //Describe an experience you’ve had in teaching a student with a “damaged” identity.// I am currently teaching a middle school girl who fits into this category perfectly. She is sort of known as the “nerd” or “non-athletic person” and therefore never gets picked for teams and sometimes gets yelled at by other students. It’s interesting to observe because to look at her you wouldn’t think she does well in PE class. She is overweight and sort of frumpy looking. However, she is as sweet as a button and gives 100% effort during PE class. I think students have a hard time when she messes up because of this “damaged” identity so she is basically at a disadvantage from the get go. When in reality if an athletic student messes up they don’t really face any judgment from other students. We have lots of talks during class about being respectful to each other, helping each other out instead of yelling at each other, etc. I like to always check in with her, ask her how her day is going, etc. just to make sure she stays positive and doesn’t let other student’s actions bring her down. I think it’s important for teachers to not always interfere with students issue and to sometimes let them play out. But I think there is a fine line between what’s ok and what’s not. She has my support and I know I will always back her up if any situation crosses the line. //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.// I am having a hard time with what “situated meaning” is. I feel like for Physical Education it is somewhat like the Tactical Games teaching approach in that students should experience things with little or no instruction first and foremost. After they begin to discover the task on there own or work out ways they are successful at the task/game then the teacher steps in with some ques, directions, helpful hints, etc. and explain why they do it that way. Students can then make adjustments according to how they were performing before and know why it’s important to do it the correct way. Am I at all close to what situated meaning is? Embodied experiences need to be connected somehow to personal discovery in my opinion and that’s the objective of tactical games. //4)// //Describe a recent learning experience that involved using the probe, hypothesize, re-probe, and rethink cycle.// Last week I was teaching volleyball to my 9th grade PE class. I was trying to set up a very basic, well in my mind it was basic, passing drill. They class was quiet, I had all eyes on me, and I was giving clear instructions of how to do the drill. I even had a demonstration group for the visual learners. But once we set up the drill, it was a complete mess. I was getting frustrated and didn’t understand why the students didn’t understand what to do. I had to think about how I could translate the drill and how I was describing it so that it made sense in their minds. My conclusion was to break it down again and go through the whole thing, including rotates, at a walking pace until everyone had been at each spot in the drill at least once. It worked! I could see the wheels in their heads turning and everything finally clicked. So the probe was that the students did not understand the passing drill. The hypothesis was why are they not getting this? What am I not explaining clearly? The re-probe was walking through the entire drill at a walking pace, and the rethink was the final piece, is this working better, YES. I think sometimes teachers do this so quickly and repeatedly throughout the day that we don’t even think of this process as a cycle our brains are going through.
 * Chapters 3 & 4 **