Cool+School+(Renee)

= Cool School //**=**//

//**Brief Description:**//

 * This is a free game is called "Cool School". The game is designed to teach kids about conflict resolution. The game begins with a little information about age, gender, zip code and other slightly personal questions. The player can choose to not answer the questions and just play the game instead. The reason this is included is mentioned in the section to teachers so that they can track their student's progress and learning to aid with the lessons in the classroom. The game begins with an introduction on how to move around the game and earn trophies. Next, you are directed to click on the map and begin in any area you choose. The goal is to pick an area, listen to a conflict, and then make a choice of how to resolve the conflict. The map has many areas the kids could choose that are typical of a school setting. There is the playground, music room, classroom, library, gym, cafeteria, and others. If you click on the library you get a conflict happening between the characters of bullying. Then you are able to decide between four choices of what is best for the situation. Every time you make a choice the game plays out the scenario to show you what would happen even if it is the wrong choice. Then you are asked to try and make a better choice and this continues until you choose the right choice. Once you have made the right choice you are awarded a trophy and return to the map to explore another area.

**//Learning Involved://**

 * As I played I learned that the choice was always mine. The game allowed me to make mistakes or bad choices and then learn from my mistake. I could choose anything and then see how my decision played out in the end. Then, I could choose another choice and see what would happen then. When I made the correct choice I was instantly rewarded with a trophy for my case. I could go look at all of my trophies anytime and feel good about myself. The tasks required were simple and consistent in the way they were presented. This would be very important for the elementary age level that I teach. For a first grader the consistency that each choice looks a little different in what they are doing and where it takes place but each time the choice chalkboard looks the same. The terminology is at a kindergarten/first grade level and does not introduce vocabulary that most children this age have not heard before. For children at this young age, this may be new content for them and not just practice since they learn conflict resolution formally when they get into first grade in our school.

**//Teaching Involved://**

 * The game taught through choices, consequences, and small rewards that were instant at every point that you made a good choice. This gives the player the feeling that they are able to earn rewards fairly quickly and then see their rewards at any time throughout the game. These small incentives allow the player to want to continue on through the game. The feedback at each choice was great. The game let you see the results of your choice whether it was good or bad and then talked you through the outcome if you had made a poor choice. The game would also then allow you try to make another choice and learn from each one. This feedback was great to teach the kids how to think about their actions when dealing with conflict. There were a few principles used in this game. The first is the psychosocial moratorium principle. The players are able to use real life situations and take risks without the heavy consequence. The players also use the achievement and practice principles. The players are rewarded at every good choice however even when they make a choice that is good yet not the best choice, the game will tell them that their choice was good but to try to see if maybe they could make an even better choice. This simple verbal positive praise goes a long way with motivating the younger kids. The practice principle gives time for lots of practice and for a young child this would not be boring. I think kids would spend time trying the poor choices even when they know they are not the right choice but will still learn from it. Kids often test to see what would really happen in class if they talked back to the teacher or just refused to do something. These kids are unable to test without getting in trouble but they do learn from their mistakes. I think a game like this where they can test and see what happens without getting in trouble helps them to learn from their mistakes in a safe way. And finally, the bottom-up basic skills and the transfer principle because the player learns the skills in context and and then can transfer the knowledge to other parts of the game. An example would be that if the learner chooses to tell the teacher and it is the best choice, the player tries it again at every choice. However, this is not always the best choice because the player turns to tattling and never learns to solve problems (small ones) by themselves. The game forces them to try to talk out situations, walk away and even ignore certain behavior. The player can take the knowledge they have learned and then use it in situations that are appropriate but not in every situation.
 * //My Reflection://**
 * My overall thoughts on this game are good. As a first grade teacher I would use this game as a whole class on my smart board while teaching a conflict resolution a unit. I liked the colorful graphics and the fact that it is age appropriate along with tying it into school. The game talks about all areas of the school which leaves room for teachers to expand on the scenario with their class. What I did not care for is that the game uses chalk, crayons, pencils and other things as the characters. I would like to see the same colorful graphics but instead use people as the characters so it is more realistic to the kids. Also, the size of the game was not full screen and I would want the size to be larger. Anytime a game is not the whole screen the students lose some interest. Maybe this is because at home they are playing high quality games with their WII and Xbox so they have high expectations with all games.

//**Online Sites:**// > [] []
 * This site is if you would like toplay the game.
 * This site has a nice review of the game along with a video which shows the game.