Day 5--Afternoon

Question: Who supports and who benefits from your participation in this project? What other technology do you wish you could use or have support for?


My support comes basically from NCSU instructors and myself. My county does not even know what I am doing. I know that my new principal will be interested in this but she is on maternity leave at this moment. But, I know that I will catch her up to date when she comes back. I would love to do a workshop on I-casts and how to implement them into my instruction. I benefit from this workshop in gaining knowledge and teaching strategies. I feel that my students will benefit as well once I can implement my game successfully.

Day 5--Morning

Question: How do you see this game as a tool for connecting with your students?

I can see this game as a way to catch their interest and allow them to learn in a fun manner. This game can combine a student's love of video games and a course's knowledge into one. Students will not get bored and will hopefully have a goal(points, or winning) to learn the material. I feel that this game will allow a connection between what they see as recreation and real learning. It will make my job as an educator easier if my students are alert and interested in their learning on a day to day basis.

Day 4--Shut down/Power OffR

Reflection:
Today was one of learner and screaming. I worked with my world all day and I think that I deleted as much as I placed into it. At the end of the day, I just happened to venture into the HUD. Boy was this a mistake. I then began receiving error messages every time I tried to go into the play mode. Oliver promised me that he would fix it tonight. I bet Oliver will be glad when tomorrow is over so he can go back to sleeping. I have learned many new techniques and short cuts into placing objects/sound/motion. I still need to come up with an idea for my game and I am at a loss right now for what I need to focus on. The two topics that I may use are the cell and its organelles or ionic compounds/bonding. I need to do some more thinking and evaluating. Hopefully, I will have an idea soon.

Day 4--Afternoon

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


I noticed the preoccupation that my students had with the video games, I-Pods, or MP3 players. They could listen or play with these devices constantly. I figured anything that can interest a teenager for this amount of time needed to be used to relay educational knowledge as well. I did not know at the time of my decision just how much time and practice it was going to take to make a video game. I know the concept can work but it is going to be a learning process for me and my students. But, the fact that they can teach me something may be a way to make that needed connection or interrelationship between a teacher and her students. I am not a pro at video gaming so I have alot to learn but I am willing and that is a start.

Day 4-Morning

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

I think the best thing I do when I feel that connection with my students is when I relate to their world in my methods of teaching. In my school, adults are seen as the enemy and not to be trusted. They have never had an adult to depend on or rely on for anything. I have to prove to them that I can be trusted and that I am there to help them. When I started this job in January, it took me at least 9 weeks to connect with the kids in my classroom. This was terrible and I almost quit because I need this connection to feel successful. The different environments from which I am familiar with and my students are familiar with causes me much concern. I want to relate but a lot of what goes on in their homes would not be things to which I could relate because I had a rather safe and caring childhood/teenage life. My kids say that I have lived a shelter life. Maybe, I have been sheltered compared to what they have experienced but who says that I can not shelter their lives for the time in which I have them in my classroom.

Day 3--Shut Down, Power Off

Today was great!!!! I learned many new things and am eager to try them out. I hope to have more time tomorrow to build in my test world and try out the sounds. I hope to practice some tonight as well.

Day 3--Afternoon

Question: Describe how your students learn best.

My students learn best when they are engaged. In a 90 minute block, students need to be offered a variety of activities to keep their interest or at least, their eyes open. I also find that my students learn best in small group discussions. If my students feel that they are being actively involved in the learning then they are more apt to listen when I do need to lecture or give notes. They know that in order to be successful in the activities/labs/discussions that they must be aware of the background or underlying concepts discussed earlier.

Day 3--Morning

Question: Describe your teaching.

I did not think that this would be so hard to do but it is. My teaching involves a variety of techniques/strategies that using relate to the topic being studied. My classes are 90 minutes and this gives me time to use different methods in a class period. I usually start off the class with a review activity (questions to discuss in groups, mapping, class discussion, short quiz). After the review, I state the objectives and give the students a run down of what we are going to do. I then pass out notes/voc terms/material needed to know or have them write it down. We discuss this for a few minutes. I then have a group activity/ind activity to reinforce the material. We wrap up the day with a journal writing or have an open session for questions. The next day would be an activity or lab that further analyzes the topic.

Shannon

Day 2--Shut down, Power Off --Reflection

Today has been a slow day. I have been trying to learn the techniques/operations that can be done with the software available. It was aggravating when the program would crash or the system would throw you off without saving your material. I have also had a few moments of sheer frustration when my objects did not go where I pointed and I had to search the air for several minutes to find my object. I know the more that I interact with the software, the easier this project will hopefully become. I am going to practice some at home tonight when I am by myself and in a quiet environment.

Day 2--Afternoon

Question: How does technology you currently use enhance your students learning and your teaching? How do you do know?

I feel that technology enhances my students learning and my teaching by allowing the students to take ownership of gaining knowledge. It allows me to be free to take on the role of being a facilitator. The students seem more interested in gaining the knowledge when using technology even though it is more work for them at times. I see higher success on quizzes/tests and see more in-depth discussions on topics when I use some form of technology in my lessons.

Day 2--Morning

Question: How do you currently use technology in your classroom?

At the present time, I am teaching Biology & Earth Science at Sampson Early College High School. Incorporating technology in this environment can sometimes be a much harder task than it should because of our resources and time lines with the community college computer labs. I do several activities in which my students use laptops to visit an Internet site and view animations, interact with the program by placing items or describing items, as well as answer questions on a worksheet to be turned in to me. I have my students develop a newspaper on a select invertebrate using Microsoft Publisher as a six week project. I have developed several quizzes and tests that the students must take on-line after participating in a tutorial on that particular subject. I am in the process of producing a web-site for the students to access in order to help them study, get missed assignments, or get extra help from other science sources. I also have my students find 2 news articles a week for a six week on the Internet that deal with science and write a summary of each with the correct bibliographical information. In reviewing materials, I have had my students construct concept maps with ICMaps (I think that is correct). The first one is usually hard but the more they work with the program the better they grasp the concepts. I usually start off by doing the first one on poster board and then have them repeat it through the software program. When doing labs, I have my students make tables/charts using excel to record their data. I use Power Point in lecture & class discussions & games.

Day 1--Shut Down, Power Off

Question: Reflection on the events of today.

Today was a little crazy. Everyone was trying to get the programs downloaded which took most of the day. I was happy when Dr. Park went over some of the concepts associated with the game. I am afraid that my computer is going to crash with all of this gaming stuff save to my hard drive. I may try to move some stuff tonight. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 1--Afternoon

Question 1: What brings you here? or Why are you here?

Question 2: What are you excited about?

Question 3: What are you concerned about?


Q 1 Answer: I am here to learn a new style or method of instruction for lecture material. I hope this gaming workshop will allow me to involve my students with a more hands on method to learn material that has usually just been stated or given to them during a lecture or class discussion.

Q2 Answer: I am excited about understanding the background of gaming in general and in acquiring a tool that promotes learning in the classroom for me and my students.

Q3 Answer: I am concerned about the technical material associated with gaming and my lack of experience in this field. As stated before, I did not play games as a young adult and really do not have the foundation to understand today's youth never-ending interest in this area. Hopefully, I can gain enough knowledge to squash my fears or at least give me a little confidence.

Day 1--Morning

1) What are your feelings about video games in general?
2)What are your feelings about video games as learning tools?

Answer to question 1: I personally have never been interested in video games but that could be related to my age. I remember my brother(seven years younger) having to have the latest Atari, Nintendo, or X-Box each Christmas. He is 30 now and his wife just bought him a new gaming device. My extent of gaming was when I had to babysit him and played to keep him happy. I remember shooting ducks on the TV screen with a wireless gun. When I was growing up, I did play the occasional Pac-Man, Frogger, or Space Invaders at a friends or a skating rink but my parents were not as financially stable then as they were when my brother came along, so money was tight. (no video games) But, I never really had an interest. I played basketball, volleyball, and softball. I wanted to be outside and loved any outdoor activity. It is a whole new world today because most kids have to be coaxed to even leave the TV for 30 minutes for an outdoor activity.

Answer to question 2: I feel that video games do help develop a child's hand & eye coordination quicker as well as hold their interest better than reading/writing. Really, it does not matter how I feel because this is the way in which today's kids can be engaged for periods of time without becoming bored. My job is to teach these children with whatever tools I can in order to be a successful teacher. For me, the hard part is trying to stay ahead of these kids when in the fourth grade, most of them have surpassed their parents & teachers technological knowledge. I have to grow as an educator in the ways that interest the children.