Day 4 Shutdown, Power Off

Positive:

• Continued to learn more about the game--feeling more comfortable and confident, willing to take risks.
• Helpful instructors. :)
• Received stipend and t-shirt today. :)
• Figured out how to include sound files.
• Fewer crashes today.

Negative:

• Glitches on "say" function.
• Not able to use updates yet (hopefully tomorrow).
• So much more to do--a little overwhelmed.

Day 4 Afternoon

What interested you in video games as a form of teaching?

The potential to capture students' interest and engage them in a problem-solving activity is what interested me in using video games. I also like to stay up-to-date with ways to use technology in educational settings, so that was another reason I wanted to use video games. For the HI-FIVES workshop, I wanted to design a game that involved the counseling curriculum, because that seems to be an area in which technology is underutilized; thus, this was another reason I became interested in using video games.

Day 4 Morning

What do you do well when connecting with your students? Do you have any concerns about connecting with your students?

I am usually able to establish a good rapport with most of my students. I don't have a particular strategy, I just try to show them that I enjoy working with them by taking an interest in their lives and listening to them. Lots of patience helps, too! I take their interests into consideration in planning lessons and make an effort to incorporate activities that they will enjoy and that give them some flexibility within the topic that we are learning. I genuinely enjoy working with adolescents and they realize that--they know that the kindness and respect I give them is sincere. I do not have any concerns about connecting with my students.

Shutdown, Power Off

Positive:

• Confidence increased!
• Significant progress made in building game world.
• Learned new tricks (chain reactions, sound, etc.)
• Patient and easygoing instructors!
• Finishing on time.
• Better understanding of the "grand scheme"--what's expected in the coming year, next year, etc.
  

Negative:

• Need more help with sound tomorrow.

Day 3 Afternoon

Describe how your students learn best.

I believe that my students learn best when they have the opportunity to explore a concept through a variety of activities. This is what I usually consider when I am planning lessons/units and I try to incorporate activities that tap into different learning styles and that allow students to work in a variety of settings. I use traditional delivery methods--lectures, notes, readings, class discussions--as well as more creative methods--hands-on activities, labs/experiments, small group projects, open-ended exploration activities, skits, games, etc. These activities also allow for more flexibility and student investigation--if they become interested in a particular topic, they can study it further on their own. As I discussed in my previous post, teaching in this manner keeps me interested, too!

Day 3 Morning

Describe your teaching.

As a classroom teacher, I found that my students learned best when they received information in numerous ways--reading, taking notes, watching a video, conducting an experiment, creating a game about the topic, etc. Now, as a counselor, I still try to conduct lessons using a variety of activities because it is more engaging for the students and helps meet their learning needs (kinesthetic, auditory, visual, etc.).

A good way to describe my teaching as a counselor is to share some of the activities I'm planning to do with my students next year as part of a unit about conflict resolution. Students will use tangrams/manipulatives in an activity about communication, misunderstandings, and perspective; this is a "hands-on" lesson. Small and large group analysis and discussion of their experiences during the activity will follow. During another activity, I will show students several video clips of people in conflict, with individual and small group analysis following the clips. At another time, students will create and perform brief skits demonstrating conflicts and the skills that they have developed to resolve such conflicts. I am hoping that for the final part of this unit my students will be able to play the game that I'm designing for HI-FIVES, which will be about conflict resolution.

I like to have a diverse teaching experience for myself, too--it keeps me interested and engaged along with my students!

Shutdown, Power Off

Positive:

• Learned how to begin putting things together to develop a world.
• Learned how to teleport. :)
• Very patient instructors-even when I was frustrated!
• Confidence much higher than yesterday afternoon.

Negative:

• Getting kicked off the server frequently. :(
• Feeling very frustrated and incompetent first thing this morning.
• Some items causing errors in the game when they were inserted into the worlds.

Wish list:

• A finished (or nearly finished) game that I can view/play.

Day 2 Afternoon

How does the technology that you currently use enhance your students' learning and your teaching? How do you know?

Using CFNC with my eighth grade students helps them begin planning for high school and college. Having them complete a career interest survey on the CFNC site gives them an idea of what careers would be suitable for them, which then assists them in deciding which courses to take in high school. Based on student evaluations for this activity, the students felt more confident selecting high school courses after completing the interest survey. I have conducted student evaluations after other activities with groups of students (see previous entry for activities), and they consistently state that the use of technology (videos, Powerpoint, websites) keeps them engaged and interested in the material. They also state that using the videos makes the related discussions and activities more realistic and age-appropriate.

As a teacher/counselor, using technology with my students helps me keep them engaged in activities. It also allows me to provide them with very current and relevant resources (college information, study skills, etc.). Integrating technology also helps me stay up-to-date professionally.

Day 2 Morning

How do you currently use technology in your classroom?

As a school counselor, I use various forms of technology in both large and small group guidance sessions. I help each of the eighth grade students with whom I work create accounts on CFNC (College Foundation of North Carolina) and complete the career interest survey on that site. I use videos of scenarios involving conflicts and problems as a starting point for discussion and activities intended to help my students develop conflict resolution or decision-making skills. I am hoping to maintain a wikispace next year where I can post useful resources for my students, such as links to websites about study skills, self-guided activities about anger management, etc., and announce upcoming events or small group sessions. I use email to communicate with students, teachers, and administration and I maintain all of my student records electronically. Powerpoints are useful when discussing topics like high school course requirements with students. Our guidance department is hoping to utilize a self-guided conflict resolution program (on CD-ROM) next year as an alternative to suspension for some of our students.

Shutdown, Power Off

Positive:

• Very helpful and patient staff/instructors
• Enjoyable work environment
• Good food :)
• A diverse group of teachers and students
• Getting started on the game design before the end of the day

Room for improvement:

• Could pre-workshop communication be improved? It would have been helpful if all involved could have downloaded the necessary software prior to arrival this morning.
• For those of us bringing personal computers, knowing the necessary minimum system requirements would have been helpful ahead of time (graphics card, processor, etc.).

Day 1 Afternoon

Why are you here? What are you excited about?

I'm combining these questions because the reason I'm here is also the reason for my excitement. As a classroom teacher, I frequently used technology in various ways with my students. This year I began working as a school counselor, and I have had a harder time figuring out how to integrate technology into this new position. So...I was excited when I heard about this workshop because I immediately thought of some problem-solving situations in my new curriculum around which I could develop a computer game. Conflict resolution, anger management, making healthy decisions, handling peer pressure--these are some of the skills that I help students develop and that could be incorporated into a video game. I'm looking forward to being able to bring technology into the counseling curriculum, two areas that most people would not normally tie together!


What are you concerned about?

Well, I have a number of concerns...I consider myself to be fairly competent in using a computer for "daily" tasks, but that is a far cry from designing and implementing a video game! I'm worried about not being familiar with the language, basic functions, etc. needed to develop a game. I never play computer games myself, so I'm concerned about not understanding how games operate and how to actually play a game successfully. And, since the whole purpose of this workshop is to create a curriculum-based game that my students will enjoy, I worry that what I create will flop! Eighth graders are a tough crowd! :)

Day 1 Morning

What are your personal feelings about video games?

Personally, I rarely play video games--computer, PlayStation, etc. I watch my husband play them quite often, though! :) I played video games frequently when I was younger (Zelda, anyone?), but lost interest as I got older and I've never gotten back into playing them. I guess I'd say that I'm ambivalent about video games at this point in my personal life.

What are your feelings about using video games as educational tools?

As a learning tool, I see great potential for the use of video games. Students of all ages play video games and this is a medium through which we can capture and maintain their interest in many content areas. The integration of technology into classrooms has increased exponentially in the past several years, allowing educators to make students' learning experiences more authentic and engaging; using video games is a natural fit in this trend.