The Art of Video Games

This Saturday, I had a much needed day off, and David and I decided to go to the EMP to see "The Art of Video Games" exhibit. I'm generally not a huge fan of video games (with the exception of anything from the Nintendo 64) but I thought David would enjoy it, and I would enjoy the arts side of it. As soon as I got to the exhibit, I started thinking about my students and how video games could be an awesome influence for them. Art and technology really do go hand in hand, but it's something that I don't really hear too often.

Below is a picture I took from the exhibit that says "Games are a toolkit we use to create." I loved this quote! It made me think about Blooms Taxonomy of higher order thinking, and how creating is right up there at the top.

 Another favorite quote from my trip is in the picture posted to the right. It says "Games have so much freedom. You can go wherever you want." In our tech class we've been talking about using technology to help our kids experience things that they would not be able to before. If we're reading a book with a character from Thailand, how cool would it be for students to be able to quickly look at google maps to see Thailand. When we talk about technology, I didn't really think about including video games until now.

 I had to include this last picture because it was so suprising. It was from World of Warcraft, I think? I was blown away by the sketches here. Art and video games!


It was so fascinating to see how far we've come since the 1970's and 80's as far as technology for video games. They are so engaging, and I wonder if there could be a future for something like this in the classroom, and I wonder what that might look like? If we were to use something in the classrooms, like say Minecraft, that already has students so engaged, how could we use that as a tool for learning and creating?

Tracking the Trackers

"Just as the internet has opened up the world for each of us, it has also opened up each and every one of us to the world. And increasingly, the price that we're being asked to pay for this connectedness, is our privacy. With every click of the mouse, every touch of the screen, we are like Hansel and Gretel- leaving breadcrumbs, or personal information, everywhere we travel through the digital woods."
-Gary Kovacs: Tracking the trackers 

After discussing issues of online privacy this week, I saw this Ted Talks video and started watching. This Ted Talk is all about the information that is being collected about you as you surf the web. Before watching this video, I had no idea to what scale this was being done, or for what reason. After I watched this, for lack of a more fitting phrase, I was freaked out. I feel like there is a crowd of people following me (or according to Kovacs- stalking me?) wherever I go online.

“I am being stalked across the Web. And why is this happening? Pretty simple: It's huge business.”-Gary Kovacs.

What could this mean for our students? According to this Ted Talk, the example of a nine-year old girl was used, who web browsed something close to 4 sites and ended up having near 25 follow her. This is a process that could take less than a minute- easily! 

Taking a step back, the person who did this Ted Talk works for Mozilla (Firefox) and potentially wants you to install his software to "track the trackers". Just as he commented on why trackers are tracking people across the web, having you add his company's software significantly contributes to their business. I think referring to the web analytics tools to follow user behavior as "online stalkers" is a strong term, but it isn't a comfortable thing either, and I think it's because it's this thing that is mostly unknown. And there is such little regulation regarding it in our country. So for me it's something to keep thinking about and to be mindful of. 

The take home message for me after watching this video is that internet history is a permanent thing, and that students need practice in being safe students of the web. I think schools have a responsibility to teach ways to be safe online. What's so interesting is that those ways to be safe online are changing, and this Ted Talks video was a reminder of how quickly the web can change and how proactive users need to be about being safe on the web. 

Edmodo Possibilities

I'm trying to go to things in my placement that will help with my professional development and also to experience more of the "teacher culture" of my school outside of class time. This week I went to a technology class Wednesday after school and on Friday I met with my grade level teachers for our Professional Learning Community meeting. The tech class was focused around Edmodo. First, I have to say, that a tech class after a very long Wednesday was a little rough. One of the teachers was leading it, and it was a good way for teachers to get tech hours without having to leave the school or plan a special day to do it- they could just stay after school until 5 (which, most of them do anyway) and spend time learning this new technology.

Edmodo is actually AMAZING. If I could sum it up for you all, it's almost like an education focused Facebook with much more security. Edmodo is capable of much more than I was able to learn about in our one tech class, but I will be blogging about what I learned from that day. The person who was teaching us this tool teaches 5th grade. He uses it as a part of his teaching and created a group space where all of his students can access (and only them). It is essentially a closed Facebook-type site where students can post notes to the whole class, access assignments, and ask for clarification on assignments. There is a parent account option as well, and he has all of his students parents/guardians on Edmodo, and he uses it to send out weekly newsletters. It was really exciting to see the potential here for using it in the classroom. I actually haven't completely ruled out Edmodo for kindergartners either- maybe I would just use it to keep in contact with students families? I think there is definitely potential there! 

One thing I immediately thought of when I heard that it was a "Facebook-type" site, albeit a closed, safe community, was bullying. This teacher, who has been using Edmodo for about 2 years, said a few things about that. One was that he has his group set so that each post to the wall of the group sends him a text to his phone, so he monitors it frequently. A key thing for him was making sure that students realize that he 1) reads everything that they post, and that 2) they can all read everything that everyone posts. It turns out that after they recognize those two things that he doesn't actually need to do a whole lot of monitoring. And if someone abuses the classroom rules for posting, he can set them to "read only". I loved that! They are still a part of the learning community and can access the information, but they are in a posting time out. When I was listening to teachers talking about this all I could think about was how important something like this would be for my students. I was part of the generation who figured out Facebook in high school, and I don't think I was fully aware until later on that everything that I post might be up there for a long, long time. Students don't always realize that the stuff we post online is up there for good! How valuable might something like Edmodo be for students to get a safe version of a Facebook-esque site before the real thing? 

Transition Songs!

Exciting news! Today I found a blog from a teacher who is just as excited about using music for transitions as I am! For those of you who have no idea what I'm so excited about, let me digress. One of my teacher idols, who has many fabulous ideas, had one particularly fabulous idea to use music as a signal to students to transition to another activity or subject. She chose a few songs (lots of Creedence Clearwater Revival. I was a fan.) and when students heard the song, they knew it was either time to put things away and move to the carpet, to clean up for lunch, to get ready for the day, etc.

One of my least favorite things in my main placement is our transitions during the day. We usually do a count down and by the time we get to 1, students should be seated at the carpet, or wherever our next lesson will take place. It actually takes a lot of effort that I, as a student teacher, could use that time getting set up for my next big lesson. Every second counts! So I've been doing a lot of reflecting on how I could make this better and improve on what method we already have for transitions throughout the school day.

So I am ridiculously excited that I found this blog from a teacher who uses music in her class transitions- oh, and did I mention she uses her SMART BOARD to do all this?

I am just downright impressed. This is going on my list of things to do when I get my own classroom. With the exception of the song list. Maybe I could have students help me choose the songs and we could have a collective class list of music. I'll admit though, I will draw the line at any Miley Cyrus songs because 1) Copyright infringement, and 2) those songs are way too catchy and they would get stuck in my head immediately. This idea is a work in progress!

Be The Person Your Dog Thinks You Are

"I'll allow myself to be myself, because ultimately that's what students need- a teacher with a thirst for learning and a heart for wisdom."

This is my mantra for the week!

I am really diggin John Spencer's book. I think the first few chapters are especially pertinent to us, as student teachers, because we are in another person's classroom. It's a struggle to model your own teaching practices after your cooperating teacher's, while discovering yourself as a teacher. We had a guest teacher on Thursday, and it was a helpful reminder that there are so many ways to lead a classroom (and it's okay to be quirky!).

Spencer's book is helping me to analyze my own personality and to figure out how it could be a strength and a weakness in teaching. He says, "for example, I'm funny. This can help me motivate students. However, this can also lead the class off-task if I'm not careful." I wrote down a few of my own, and for the sake of being candid in my blog, I'll share one. I'm a "softie". This can help me build a caring relationship with all of my students, but it could also mean that I wont be as hard on my students as they might need. This is a part of the important reflection of who I am and who I am becoming as an educator.

In chapter 2 that Spencer writes, "find someone who knows you well who will affirm your identity as a teacher even during the hardest parts of the year." This was a helpful reminder to thank the people in my life who have been encouraging me and putting up with my stress fueled antics since last March! They are amazing and supportive and wonderful. And, it really helps to be a part of such a tight knit cohort. I think we should take this time to pat ourselves on the back... and just because this reading has been inspirational, and this blog post has been reflective and focused on appreciating others, I think it is only fitting to leave you with an inspirational picture.

First Week Back!

It's the first week back, and I have the energy, inspiration, and that extra "oomph" that I will need this quarter. Yes! 

The perfect book for my current frame of mind? A Sustainable Start.

John Spencer shares from his life and experiences and asks the reader to think of their own story. If I could write my own story for going into teaching thus far, what would that look like? Spencer talked about his own experiences in school, which sounded mostly negative, and his desire to want to change the system. My experiences in school were resoundingly good, and I have a desire to work in a school like the one I attended. It was a small, poor school with a group of brilliant teachers who had autonomy in their classrooms. I remember lots of projects, music, art, science, "field trips" (for a poor school, this means walking the 10 blocks to a small lake to take soil samples. It sounds boring, but it was fabulous.) This is similar to what I dream my career will look like. Student focused and a plethora of subjects and creative freedom!  I have big hopes and dreams, and I look forward to my student teaching where I can help shape my classroom and give a positive learning experience for all of my students.

I've only had Spencer's book for a few days, but I'm delving into it. He shares some of my same insecurities, questions, and struggles. Right now I'm thinking about how inexperienced I truly am- how much time I've really had in my main placement, compared to the years of rich experience my cooperating teacher has had. I have so much to learn. One thing I've taken away from this week, which was my mantra for Allison's class Friday, is to value taking risks. This will be the quarter of taking risks, and trying, and being appreciative of feedback. My first observation is in a few days, and so this mantra will continue on!

Also, for anyone else who would like to add Mr. Spencer to their blogroll, here it is.

Final Post of the Quarter

As a blogger, I've begun to tend favoring writing about my own real experiences in classrooms. When I started this blog, I was writing about theory and important, relevant books, and about what I envisioned my classroom would look like, etcetera. I think I do my most interesting blogging when I'm writing about what really happened to me. Real experiences > hypothetical future situations, as far as writing interesting posts goes. Then I compare those real experiences to themes we're learning from our classes.

My blogging has become more interesting because I've put myself out there a little more, and write really honest pieces. I definitely do a lot of picking and choosing topics, and I feel restricted in my writing and wont write about every experience I've had in my placements (which is good! Teachers ought to have a good, sturdy filter). 

I think one of the main things that makes some of my blog posts more accessible than others are the use of PICTURES! I know I'm certainly drawn to blogs who have photos on the posts. I think including pictures makes the blog posts more accessible, more interesting, and therefor something that will be more likely commented on. One best post that really highlights this is my post Update on Real Students, Really Blogging. I included some student work (without names) that cracks me up. It's fabulous! It was a topic I was really jazzed about, and I wanted to showcase the students creativity and humor. Which reminds me- I need to check in and find out who won that competition!!