Food for Thought

1. How would you describe the best of you? 
2. As to your role in Globaloria, what do you think has been your best or greatest accomplishment so far this year?

STEM and Civics

I have thought for several days on how to address this topic, the correllation between STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Civics I suppose it is sort of like my thoughts about Art. As I tell my students, Art is everywhere, it surrounds us, it is in our homes, our media, our clothes, products we use, etc. According to the Encarta Dictionary, Civics is: "Civics – civ^.ics (noun); definition: study of citizenship; the study of the rights and duties of citizens".  If we are looking at being good citizens then we should look at ways to improve the way of life for others, whether in our own communities or in other areas of the world.

I believe that our Globaloria students become confused about their role in developing the games that they do.  One of the first things we ask them to do is to go to the "Play to Learn" section of the wiki and the first link takes them to another page where the one of the first links are to action game types. Perhaps this leads them to think that their most important function in the class is to create a game that is full of action and extensive game play. I don't think that is our function. I think our students' most important role is to develop a mindset of creating a fun, rigorous, educational experience for THEMSELVES as well as the gamer.
In a round-about way I suppose what I am trying to say is that any game can be tied in with STEM and Civics, just by the virtue of making the games relevant to being productive and socially aware global citizens.

Love this dancer

So this was posted on Jarraca"s page on Braxton High's wiki. I wanted everyone to see it. More later


Isn't this great! My students loved it. To me it shows a joy of life and just danced for the sheer joy of it. Shouldn't we all feel that way about what we do? Sometimes teachers and students get bogged down with the 'have to's and forget to enjoy the 'right nows'. Just a reminder to live life to the fullest and enjoy the moment. A timely reminder right before Thanksgiving week. Be thankful for the good things in your life and have a great week!

Last time, this time...

Ok, last week I posted about what makes a good game but now I want to know about what makes a good team. While some schools have their students working individually (and of course at the college level it would need to be working on their own), I think one very relevant aspect of the Globaloria program is having  students learn to work as a team. Later in life students will be required to work with people that they don't know, have no common ground or possibly that they even won't like but they will still have to be able to work with them to complete projects or to get the job done.  If they have learned from this program how to put aside their differences and look for the common ground then they will have a life skill that is priceless.
To my students in the Computer Assisted Art/Globaloria class, write a blog about what you think is crucial in creating a successful team for designing and completing a thought-provoking, fun, STEM or Civics  based game. How many on a team? What should the different members be able to do? Should there be one overall manager/leader or does everyone have an equal role? Answer these questions and other topics relevant to the team-building process.

Making a "Worthy" Game

Ok, so our students have been reviewing games in the Play to Learn section of the Globaloria program. Several of the games are about the type of game genru that can be created. Now the question is...What makes a GOOD Social Issue Game? Do some serious thinking about this and post a RICH blog about how you can create a fun game and still cover a Social Issue, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or Civic Issue. 

Saturday Night Live

Do any of you remember (or in the case of our students seen it on reruns!) Gilda Radner's character on Saturday Night Live called Roseann Rosanna Danna? She was one of the best they ever had on that show. She was definitely one that died too young... Do you remember when she would do the news with Dan Acroyd (I think it was him) and at the end of one of her rants about something he would say something like "what does that have to do with anything?" and she would say her catch phrase: "Well, it just goes to show you, if it's not one thing it's another". That is how I feel. After finally getting over my bout with bronchitis I now have messed up my back. Trying to do some wheel thrown pottery, I sat in the wrong position for too long of a time last Sunday and strained my back. I have babied it along all week but it really became much worse on Friday evening and I was very disappointed to not be able to go to our home football game. I like to support our students as much as possible so I felt bad twice - once for the back pain and once for not being there for our team. Hopefully it will improve.
I did go to our local Communities in Schools fundaraiser on Saturday and helped my Art students do free face painting for anyone that asked. Five students had said they would come and help but only three showed up. We had a good time but since I had to fill in for some of the missing students my back became very tired.
And this leads in a round about way to my closing thought "If it's not one things it's another!" I'll try and stay focused on the positive and let the rest go by the wayside. Don't remember Gilda Radner? Check out one of her videos.

What I learned in...

Do you remember the book What I Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten ? Well, this post is more about what I learned in the first days of school. Some good, some not so good. To get it out of the way I will begin with the not so good:

- First, our school is going through a major renovation which I believe is about 3-5 behind schedule. This led to not having all of technology up and running when school began.
- Schedules were a work in progress for several weeks.
- Laptops did not work because of blocks on students until all AUP (acceptable use policies) forms were turned in and students could be allowed to even sign into computers, much less use the Internet
- When laptops did work, the Internet went down again.
- I got bronchitis and missed a lot of school

Now for some of the good:
+ I have a greaaaat class of students! That makes up for almost all of the frustrations (except for the frustrations the students have felt about the technology)
+ We have several tech-savvy people who are willing to go above and beyond to help us fix our technology issues. We truly appreciate their help and understanding when we get very frustrated and cranky.
+ I was told about a site where you can download a free program called Blender. I have not had the time to work with it but one of my students said it is awesome. It is supposed to compare to Photoshop.
+ The culture of our school has undergone a very positive change this year. We have seven new teachers (we are still waiting for two more new teachers to come on board) and they are a very diverse group. While a few are from WV, one is from Romania, one from Peru, one from India, one from Virginia, one from China and one from Detroit, which is kind of like a foreign place to our rural students. All of the new teachers are doing a fantastic job and I believe this has given new life to the teachers that have been here a while.
+ The students have been very receptive to this diverse group of teachers and responding well to the new alternating block schedule.
+ I am now feeling much better, not well, but much better than I was.
So while there have been great frustrations about some things, the overall atmosphere of the school is hopeful and positive. To my students, write your blog about your impressions of the first weeks of school. Discuss your hopes and expectations (and maybe your fears!) about your learning in the Globaloria program this year. To fellow teachers, please comment about your experiences so far this year and...Gooooo Gloabaloria!
Squirrel!