Jbarfknecht09

Gaming for the week
I tested out a few of the demos posted on the moodle page. One of the games was really old and seemed like a generic FPS game. The other was about the little robot that crashed on earth and that game seemed like it had potential to be good, nothing I would play, but good. Besides playing League of Legends, I also played Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed on steam as well as a game called Trine 2 “which I should write a review about one or either of the games”


 * Describe your background and history with video and computer games.**

I grew up playing video games. I am the youngest of 5 children and first remember playing the Atari 2600 with my siblings. I also remember going to arcades and playing tabletop Galaga and Pacman with my Dad. Since then I always had a game system from the NES, Genesis, Turbo Graphics, continuing on up until my 360 and PS3. I have always been a gamer yet always put sports ahead of games so I wasn’t a total gaming “nerd”. I could write on forever about games and systems but you probably already get the idea.


 * What are some of the real and/or virtual ‘identities’ you take on?**

In real life I am Jesse Barfknecht, father of Katie and MAT student at western. During my student teaching days I am known as Mr. B and pretty much the same person. I am pretty shy when I first meet people and then open up

During most games I play my name or handle is Tsiawd. It is a combination of an Eagle Talon Tsi All Wheel Drive that I used to own. I pronounce it “Sigh-Odd”. Tsiawd is known for dominating league of legends games with the champions Poppy, Karthus, Eve, and Zed. Tsiawd could also be known as a careless “troll” during non “ranked” games who likes to experiment with different champions and items.


 * What impact might James Paul Gee’s definition of ‘literacy’ have on your teaching?**

I think that most people only see literacy as how well you do on the four core subjects in school. Learning can be done in any fashion. For example, take a person who plays Super Mario and lifts up the controller when trying to get Mario to jump instead of pushing the correct button and compare them to someone who has played awhile and their fingers barely move. I think physical education “my background” has many different ways to learn and they all should be explored and I will see many different skill levels and need to teach them in many different ways to help get them “literate” at an activity.


 * What experiences have you had learning in new ‘semiotic domains’?**

In sports when I get a new coach that had new routines and drills I would have to either forget what I learned and learn it a new way, or transfer what I had learned prior and adapt it to what was being taught now. It’s difficult, doable, and sometimes frustrating but its all part of the learning process.

Another example is playing a new online game. You don’t want to run up and face check the bushes or you could get “ganked” and die extremely fast. But as a new player, you are exploring the area and don’t know what walking into bushes is a bad thing all by yourself.

**How might virtual and projective identities be important in your teaching?**
This is very important in teaching. I need to project a person who is in charge and confident in the activity I am teaching for the day. There are days and lessons that I have may not have a clue in, but if I show weakness or being lost or confused the student will jump all over me. Also, when it comes to discipline, there may be things that I don’t find troubling personally, but as a teacher I need to stick to my guns and follow the guidelines of the school.

**Describe an experience you’ve had in teaching a student with a “damaged” identity.**
I had a student at North Salem High School who was always left out and deemed to be a “loser” when it came to activities in PE. This student wanted to play games, but always just kept his head down and stuck to himself. One day, I started playing catch with him with a Frisbee and saw how talented he was. He had the skill of the best Frisbee techniques I have ever seen. The next week I started a Frisbee unit and I used him to be my partner when I was showing the class how to perform the skills I wanted to show them. After the class saw how amazing he was with a Frisbee they all wanted him on their teams when the game play started.

**Give an example of a situated meaning in your content area, and describe how you might help student gain a more embodied understanding of it.**
During the Frisbee lesson play I have the students play catch back and forth. While they are playing catch I ask them if they can tell me the key elements of throwing a forehand or backhand pass with the Frisbee. After I few seconds I normally get a few, but not all the answers from the students. I then have them play catch again but think about how they are throwing the Frisbee and what they are doing with their body when they do it. I will then ask students to share with a partner what they found they do, and then I will go through the steps with the students as a group having multiple people demonstrate the activity. After that is done, I then resume the tossing of the Frisbee and see if more people have a better understanding of how to throw it properly.

**Describe a recent learning experience that involved using the probe, hypothesize, re-probe, and rethink cycle.**
When I was playing Sonic All Star Racing Transformed I could not get past a certain challenge level. I had a ghost racer whose time I had to beat to complete the level. After 2 tries I focused on why I was losing and if there was something missing. I then hypothesized that the ghost racer had a short cut in the map that I did not previously find. I then re-probed the area and found the shortcut that the ghost racer had been using. I then thought how I would set my racer up to reach and complete the challenge of completing this shortcut, as there is always some risk involved.

The only game played this week was League of Legends on the PC. I jumped in a few games this week just because a few friends were playing. It’s a great multiplayer tower defense game I had a busy schedule with teaching and my daughters T-ball games.

=**Extra Credit**= The affinity group principle is a fairly easy principle to talk about in my content area. Gee says that the “affinity group” is bonded primarily through shared en devours, goals, and practices and not shared race, gender, nation, ethnicity, or culture. A shared en devour in physical education can be found in common interested in a sport, physical activity, or any lifetime fitness activity. People of many cultures, in many nations, enjoy many of the same activities and are brought together in unity because of a common goal or practice. In PE class this can be any unit ranging from hockey to running or cooperative games. Students come together because of something that like love to do and continue to work together. One major example of this outside of PE would be the Olympics. People come from all over and are bonded by a common interest in a certain activity, and yet, have never even met each other.
 * In a content area of your choice, give an example of a way in which the 'affinity group' "enforces certain patterns as ideal norms".**

Cooperative games are activities are a great example of this. Each student may have knowledge about a particular set of skills and shares it with others, but he also needs his teammates or partners to help him also. We have an activity called radioactive river that students work together on. They must get across the gym floor without touching the ground using only the equipment that I have given them. They share ideas, thoughts, and work together to complete the task.
 * Describe a classroom activity where students are able to 'leverage' the 'distributed' knowledge of their peers.**

**How might you give students more direct control (as an 'insider' or 'producer') over their own learning?** Gee says that the learner is able to customize the learning experience and the domain/game from the beginning and throughout the experience. This is a little more difficult to do in a PE setting compared to normal classrooms. In a classroom you can give the students “choices” of assignments or activities to do that produce learning and the results you want. In PE, you can’t really have that many choices of different activities throughout the lesson, but you can have small modifications that allow for different choices. Giving the students choice in how they want to learn the curriculum is a big deal and kind of allows them to be the “producer” of their education. The students can’t really change what they learn, but they can learn it, and see it in the way they want to. Throughout the year I feel it’s good to guide the students throughout the “game” of school and help them be the producer of the class, after all, they are going to be producing their life soon. For PE, the principle that relates most to my teaching and philosophy is the Semiotic Domains Principle. According to Gee, the learning involves mastering, at some level, semiotic domains, and being able to participate, at some level, in the affinity group or groups connected to them. I don’t believe in teaching to master a skill, but I believe in teaching to understand what the skill is used for and have an understanding of the environment the skill is used in. Not all people have the same physical tools in order to be a great athlete, but everyone can have a good understanding of a game. In my teaching, I want my students who are not the best athletes to be able to participate if someone asks in future because they have a real understanding of the concepts of lifetime fitness activities. An example of this could be ultimate Frisbee. Teaching my students the rules and fundamental of Frisbee, as well as invasion games would allow for comfortable participation throughout their lifetime, even without being the best “athlete”
 * Which Principle of Learning do you feel is most-applicable to your teaching, and why?**

I havent had much time to game this week. I have been busy finishing up the term and getting my worksample and action research project done. This is part of the reason on why I missed last weeks journal posting. I did play Doritos Crash Course 2 for the Xbox 360 a few times. It's a fun game based on the TV show "Wipeout". It's a free Xbox live game and is multiplayer and well worth the price ;)
 * Game of the week.**