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Teaching the Digital Natives

I have to start with a quick rant. When I was a child, if we went out to dinner I was required to, among many other things, sit at the table the entire meal, keep my elbows off of the table, draw only on the paper that my mom would bring for me (but mom, the white tablecloth is perfect for it!) and stay attentive and enjoy the time with family and friends. These days, I go out with my friends and half of the table spends most of the meal tweeting their food (which I typically steal some of while they are hashtagging it #delicious #2fresh #FoodasArt). Meanwhile, the young parents at the tables next to me feel like the only way that they can entertain their little monsters (not a Gaga reference) is to give them their phones, pads, etc or let them tear around the restaurant. Withholding my beliefs on those parenting tactics, I'll just say that these kids are missing valuable opportunities to establish memories and relationships with friends and family to play Jewel Runner for the 232nd time.

I bring this up, because these are the children that will populate the classrooms that I hope to stand in front of some day soon. What must I do to ensnare their focus? I think this is, in a way, what we have been trying to answer throughout our time spent in Teaching with Technology. I think there is an unexpressed understanding that technology must be involved in the classroom for kids to glean the most from the lessons and teachers. How should we do that though? Do we try and teach all of our lessons with technology? Do we let students bring their own technology into the classroom and hope that they "respect" us enough to stay off of Twitter and Snapchat? Do we find a way to engage them through technology outside of the classroom so that they connect the home to the classroom? Which technologies do we bring into the classroom? Prezi? Vocaroo? Cel.ly? Youtube?

 Or perhaps it is a combination of some of all of the above? It's such a tough conundrum because we all come into this profession with some expectations of what will work best for us and for our students. Then when we are in training learning how to become a teacher, we are given even more information about what is best and what should work. Yet, what matters more than anything else is understanding your students, the context of the classroom, and what will be best for the most students at that moment. And this shifts from space to space and year to year. The same questions and quandaries are applicable to technology as well. Every year there are new technologies, new problems and new solutions to be understood and implemented. So how do we manage all of these problems to properly engage a collection of students who have the attention span of a goldfish (which is a saying I've never understood, are we to assume because of their confinements that they are easily distracted? Perhaps because their reflection is all around them? Thoughts of a goldfish: "Hey who is that?" "Wait who are you?" "Man why won't anyone talk to me?"). I'm not sure I really have the answer to that question, but equally doubtful that anyone has an answer that works in every context. What I do have, is a willingness to try and a great (developing) background knowledge in technology and education which will serve me well. Hopefully that will persist and I won't ever become a grumpy old jaded teacher saying...

 The phrase digital native is a curious one. To me, it suggests that these kids are born into, and have no choice but to grow up with the fingers on the keys and their eyes on a screen. I wonder how true this is though. Right now, as elementary and middle schools exist, most students aren't imbued with technology in the classroom. The trajectory of schooling though is such that, pretty soon, we might create that environment. If we do, will we be fulfilling the "digital native" label for even more students, making that label even more appropriate and honest? Would that ultimately be a good thing? Based on my experiences and opinion of technology I would hazard saying yes...but then I think back my restaurant experiences and I'm not so convinced. How about you?

Cell Phones in the Classroom

Imagine a kindergartner with a smartphone. To me, and I would imagine many others, it's too baffling to even take seriously. What would they do with it? Who would they call? Are we to assume Billy down the street has a cell phone as well? Imagine that conversation.

Jimmy: "Hey Billy, which caterpillar is your favorite? I had an ice cream sandwich today."

Billy: "Girls are gross. I picked the weirdest thing out of my nose earlier. What did you say?"

Jimmy: "I said that I like bugs and I think...."(drops phone in sandbox and decides to bury it).


Even though this is pretty far off topic, as far as my blog post is concerned, it does have some relevancy. Liz Kolb, a professor at U of M, came in and spoke to our class about using cell phones in the classroom. During her presentation, she posted a graphic about what percentages of children have phones at various ages and there were actually kindergartners with smartphones. Anyway, just an interesting aside.

To the actual topic though, Liz brought up some very interesting points arguing for students to have their own phones and/or technology in a classroom. Among them were access to the internet for questions, an alternative way to participate in class (through a polling website or via text), and increased participation. She gave some examples of how various teachers were using cell phones in the classroom in subjects such as history, math and even English. After listening to her give her talk, I'm not sure how I really feel about the subject anymore. Before her talk, I would have scoffed at the idea of letting students use their phones frequently in the classroom. I may have entertained them being able to access them once in the middle of class, but certainly not have them out on their desks all day. I remember how I was in high school after I got my cell phone, and I was one of the better students in my grade.

After her presentation though, I can see some of the benefits that might surface from this availability. In my classroom, there are a number of students who are very bright but very shy. As a result, they rarely speak up in class and contribute to conversations which is quite sad because they have so many insightful comments on their homework assignments. If they were able to send in their thoughts electronically though and remain anonymous, I'm sure some of them would contribute a bit more. Additionally, I think that the idea of being able to quiz students online or even have them submit things via text or voice recording is really appealing as a teacher. It would be much easier to access these assignments, there would be no concern over losing papers or assignments and I feel as though students would enjoy this more than writing out all of their answers all of the time.

Despite these benefits, I'm not sold to the point that I would implement it overwhelmingly right away. In many classrooms still today, there are marked differences in the quality and cost of students' phones. It is very possible that a student would feel very self conscious having to pull their phone out if they felt that it wasn't as nice as some of their classmates. To that point, some students might not even have cell phones yet and they would be put on the spot for something that they can't (and shouldn't) control. The urges to use them for reasons other than academia are incredibly strong, and I can say that as a perpetrator of such restrictions. The school could make an effort to restrict the internet but as long a student has a data plan, these restrictions are meaningless. Despite the study that she showed us yesterday, I don't believe that texting has any effect on increasing the reading level and literacy of a student. I think that students who have access to phones and to large texting plans also likely have access to greater resources such as books and tablets which are far more likely to improve a students reading level and reading scores than text (Rite? Itz cray 2 thnk that talk lke this wld improve a students reading skillz. lol. Neway I'll ttyl, gtg start studying). Regardless, I certainly appreciate Liz taking the time to come in and speak to our class. I think that there certainly are great ways to involve cell phones outside of the class (polling students, having them turn in quick synopses via text, etc) but I'm not sure I would let them into my class with any sort of frequency yet. I mean, there are still ceiling tiles in a lot of classes, what if someone hid another person's phone in the ceiling?

And then this happened in your room?

That. Was an overreaction.

Tech(nology) Spec(trum)

My parents love to tell stories about writing papers on typewriters when they were in college and younger. Anytime my sister or I complained about our relic computer, my parents (as many do) started to remind us that, "we didn't even have computers to type our papers when we were younger." I used to roll my eyes and return to whatever I was doing. Now that I am back in a school environment though, and putting myself back in that culture, I'm starting to understand where they are coming from.

Reflecting on the tech in our placement assignment, it is surprising to see and hear how much things have changed since I was in high school. Even at Community, where there isn't a major emphasis on technology in the classroom, there are laptop carts for teachers to check out, a state of the art computer lab for the students, and encouragement from the administration to incorporate tech more. What was even more shocking than my experience though, was listening to the other students share their schools and classrooms. On one hand, you have Andrew's classroom in John Glenn where they don't even have wireless in the building and on the other you have Saline High School (Griffin and Laura) where they let students carry their phones with them at all times and even provide them with chargers for their phones in the classroom. I wonder what the effect of this access vs. absence of technology has on the students? Will students from Saline be more prepared to deal with the technology they are likely to encounter in their professions or will the students from John Glenn be better suited moving forward because they don't have the distractions of technology while they are in the classroom? Community seems to lie in the middle of these two extremes. There is technology, but it isn't all over the place nor is it the center of attention. I guess what I found most interesting from this assignment is the difference in how technology is used throughout high schools and classrooms and the difference that it might have on the students that attend these classes. Even within Community, there is a marked difference in how much the teachers utilize the technology that they have at their disposal. And what sorts of experience are students bringing to the classroom? Laptops are fantastic to have for the students, but if you have to spend two weeks teaching the students the basics of the technology, is it worth it?

These themes are not new to this class. On the contrary, we have been having conversations about these topics throughout the program. What is new though, is that now we are seeing it play out in actual classrooms and getting a better sense of what the effects are on students as opposed to just speculating and discussing in our classes. It will be interesting to see how these technologies become more or less involved during the rest of the year. And because I've included an Office reference in nearly all of my posts, here you go because...

Prezi vs. PowerPoint

"PowerPoint." "PowerPoint." "PowerPoint." For many of us, that is probably not something new to hear. In high school and in college, PowerPoint seemed to be the universally accepted best means of relaying information. History, science, english, you name it and I've seen a PowerPoint of it. So when I was introduced to Prezi the other night during our ed. 504 class, I was certainly intrigued. Our colleagues (and presenters) made a pretty convincing case as to why one should choose Prezi over PowerPoint the next time they want to present some information visually in a classroom. Prezi is far more interactive. You can zoom from slide to slide, choose your own design and transitions, imbed photos and documents into other photos and documents, and easily set your slideshow to music among other things. As a history teacher, I can certainly see the benefits of this vs PowerPoint (this word is starting to look and sound really strange to me....PowerPoint....same effect for you? PowerPoint PowerPoint) or some other means of conveying information. If you were presenting famous battles during the Civil War, you could have a map of the Eastern side of the United States and then zoom in to a particular part of the map to illustrate a battle that happened there. Then, when you were done, you could zoom over to a different location to present another battle that happened in this new spot. In my opinion, this caters to different types of learning intelligences (as expressed by Howard Gardner) therefore making the impact and retention of the knowledge much more possible. If you wanted to do something like this with PowerPoint (ugggh), you would have to set the map on a wall or the whiteboard, or you would have to create a new slide showing the map in between the slides of information for the various conflicts. But there is a bit more to these presentation tools. Speaking of presentation tools...

PowerPoint does have its benefits. For one, it can't induce the same nausea that a poorly designed Prezi apparently can. Second, it presents things in a neat and organized fashion, and the emphasis is on the material and not on the showiness of said material. With Prezi, depending on the age/maturity of the students you are presenting to, one could run into some trouble keeping kids focused on the necessary information when they are zooming all over the place between slides. But for what PowerPoint does well, I think there are far more things that aren't so great. Along with all of the ones that I have mentioned above, you have to have the program downloaded onto your computer and if you wanted to show it on a different computer you would have to be sure that the other computer has the program as well. All Prezi needs is the interwebs and everyone has that now, except people who have dial-up...and people who don't have the internet at all (duh). Fun fact, Dial-up is actually the original inspiration for the creation of Dub Step, just ask Skrillex. Finally, PowerPoint requires constant upgrades, downloads, and takes awhile to get used to (see model below). Prezi has a simple and easy to use tutorial and can be mastered fairly quickly. So next time you are going to Prezient something, Use Prezi.

A Camping Checklist

There are very few places in this world where I feel completely at peace; and I mean undoubtedly, absolutely, and unequivocally at peace. Camping is one of those places. Something about the experience affects me in a way that I cannot properly convey. It gives me an appreciation for the things that I have, the people I am with, the places I am in, and the life I am so lucky to be living. Camping can mean any number of things to any number of people. What follows below are my necessities to finding that peace and appreciation that can come from a trip "into the woods" (you don't always need to be in the woods but I certainly recommend it).

1.) Camp in a Tent -- Even if you have access to a camper most times, struggle through setting up a tent at least once. In doing so, I'm confident you will gain a sense of accomplishment unlike anything you have felt before.

2.) Eat S'mores -- Be liberal with the chocolate and don't burn the marshmallow. Spoiler alert, you will likely end up burning it by accident.

3.) Camp Near Water -- Eventually you will want to swim. And I will tell you some of the most picturesque moments of my life were watching sunrises and sunsets over water while camping. (See below for example)

4.) Bathe in Said Body of Water -- You may be somewhere that has showers, don't use them. Be that family that wades out into the water and tosses the shampoo bottle around to the dismay and confusion of others.

5.) Go on a Hike -- Whether 2 or 20 miles, pull out a pair of appropriate walking shoes, grab a bottle of water and a granola bar, and just start walking. You will find that you have time to think, appreciate nature and enjoy the company you choose to keep. Bonus points for taking your phone (for emergencies) but turning it off for the whole excursion.

6.) Make Food Over the Fire -- Some of my favorite meals come straight out of a pie iron. Hot Dogs, Eggs, Grilled PB&J, Brats, Fish, where there is a will to cook something on the fire there is a way. Embrace the smoke following you around, enjoy the conversations you have while cooking, and have fun with it.

7.) Get Dirty -- There are so few times in life that it is socially acceptable to be dirty. Camping is one of those times, so grub up.

8.) Bring a Deck of Cards and a Good Book -- Especially in Michigan. The weather can turn in an instant (Crazy right??) and if you are stuck in a tent all day, you will be thankful that you have something to do. Even on nice days, it can be very enjoyable to just sit by the fire and play a game of Euchre or Rummy or get lost in a novel.

9.) Look at the Stars -- I'd imagine a surprising number of people have never seen the stars, and I mean really seen the stars the way that you can in the wilderness. Once clear of the pollution, both light and otherwise, appreciate the colossal nature of the universe, and world, that we live in/on and understand your smallness. Don't adulterate the moment with ipads, phones, charts, or anything, just be in that moment.  

10. Leave The World Behind -- Again, just be in that moment. Don't bring tablets, computers or (heaven forbid) video games/ gameboys and use your cell phone as little as possible. In fact, leave it in your vehicle and only check it every few hours, if that even. Bring a camera, but use it sparingly. I recently went camping and the night that the above photo was taken, on our way to the beach for the sunset, we passed a family of three; a mother, father and son. The mother was on her Ipad, the father on his cell phone, and the son on a laptop, all in their camper. If they only new what lay just beyond the walls of their camper and their screens. Be in that moment, leave the world behind.

(A Superheroine for one thing!)

Finally, and last but most certainly not least, watch the video below and do exactly zero of those things.

The Power of Siblings

Before I get into this post, I must address a few issues. Not everyone has, wants, or can develop a strong relationship with their siblings. What follows is my experience growing up with a sister. It might not be representative of most sibling experiences and it might not resonate with you. But I hope it makes you think and I hope you really stop to consider where you stand with your loved ones. For those of you who don't have siblings, the message can just as easily be applied to parents, cousins or best friends.

As some of you may know, I have been blessed with an incredible sister. She has inspired me in more ways than I could possibly share. She has modeled for me, perseverance, fortitude, kindness, compassion, loving and giving of yourself selflessly, and truly chasing what you want and making the most out of life. She is the yin to my yang, and I use that metaphor deliberately because as different as we are, we strike a lovely harmony when interacting with one another. We are very different people. I definitely don't own a beet farm...yet, and she isn't quite to the point of driving mustangs into graves without realizing it...yet, but in a way we are Dwight and Dwight's brother. We most certainly have not always gotten along, but even when we weren't "playing nice" we were teaching each other valuable lessons and helping each other grow.

You can probably count on one hand the people in your life that you might spend more time with than a sibling. We grow, change, play, fight, and learn from our siblings. We are given an opportunity to be a friend, a source of comfort, a beacon of hope in troubled times and a shoulder to lean on when the going gets rough. We can be inspired and be inspiring. We can be a role model and have a role model. We can encourage and be encouraged. We can love and be loved. Again, it's not easy being a sibling. It's something that must be worked at and it will most certainly not always be a love-love relationship. But there are few relationships that are hardwired to stand the test of time the way a siblingship (totally a legitimate world) is. There are few relationships that come prepackaged. That doesn't mean that they are not difficult. Yet at the end of the day, if cultivated correctly, they can be an invaluable lifeline.

Again, I feel as though I should emphasize that my sister and I don't always see eye to eye. We still argue to this day and I would gamble that we will continue to do so for years to come. But I challenge you to think of a meaningful relationship that you have with someone in which you always agree. More importantly though, I challenge you to stop and think about your siblings if you have them, or a close friend if you don't. I don't know you and I'm not pretending that I do. If you have a deep seeded reason for not talking to your brother(s) or sister(s) then so be it. But if you have siblings that you interact with at least on a semi-regular basis, let them know how much they mean to you. Thank them for all the times they played dress up (and spun around in your moms dress and heels at your request and subsequently destroyed their face on the corner of a wooden chest to please you...just a hypothetical situation), legos, video games, school, house, pretend or whatever else they might have done with/for you. Blood really does run deep, and the better our relationships are with those people we call kin, the better off we will ultimately be. After all...other people matter, period.

Lessons From the Classroom, Lessons From The Office.

As the first section of our teaching with technology class comes to an end, I'd like to devote a blog to some of the takeaways that I have so far. And because it's late, I'm distracted easily, and I like the challenge, I'm going to try and do it with a series of videos and images.

Here we go.

1.) Technology is certainly beneficial, but can definitely be misunderstood and misused.

The opportunities that technology provides are incredible. We can figure out just about anything within seconds by pulling out our phones and opening our Google apps. We can stay in touch with friends that have moved 2000 miles away; with the simple click of a button we can not only talk to them but we can see them as well. We have the power to, in our classrooms, open up a document and watch as 6 different group members all edit the same page at the same time. We can, in our history classrooms, open up Google Earth and instantly transport our classes to the Andes, the Great Wall of China or the Grand Canyon. Yet all of this must be taken with the understanding that it can be abused and misused. There are countless internet scams and the amount of propaganda and useless information on the internet may very well surpass the useful. We must understand that simply because a technology has advised us or encouraged us to do something in a particular way, it doesn't mean that we should follow the advice. Otherwise, we might end up driving our car into a lake because the GPS instructed us to.

2.) Technology has its place in the classroom, but must be kept in check.

We have been shown all of the wonderful ways that technology can aid our classrooms. We've discussed Google Docs, Primary Pads, Evernote, online assessment methods, iclickers, byod policies and more. And the potential that these resources have is wonderful, but they must be kept in check. At the end of the day, the student is using the technology to advance and enhance their learning and that is it, nothing more. And the temptation that some/most of these technologies provide to being distracted must be kept in mind.

3.) Whenever told new information, we should always consider the source and the underlying message.

This idea pertains to all means of conveyed information be it a friend telling us, a newspaper reporting on it or some other medium. It is particularly important when dealing with information on the internet though. Every bit of information is conveyed by someone who has opinions, beliefs, values and a voice. The internet has developed a reputation as a place that people take to in order to share these things; hell look at what I'm doing right now. As a result, we must consider the sources of the information that we may be gathering as well as the potential biases and opinions that may be employed to get an underlying message across. With this healthy skepticism, we can be better prepared for taking information from techonlogy.

4.) Despite what obstacles you might face, if you are on the right path you will willingly accept the challenge.

So this one has less to do with technology and more to do with the course and the program as a whole. An unfortunate, but common (and necessary) thread throughout our courses this summer was the daunting task that we are undertaking choosing to become teachers. We live in a time where standards are becoming stricter, assessments are becoming more critical, pay and benefits are being cut and resources are lacking. Despite all of this I couldn't be more excited about my future. I know that these obstacles loom like a hurdle at the end of a 3200, but I am more than happy to take on the challenge because I know that what I am doing is one of the most important things that someone can choose to do. I will be teacher, I will make a difference, and I will never, ever, ever give up trying.

The EdGamer Channel: Worth a Look

It seems a bit odd to praise a fellow blog (actually a podcast) and encourage readers to visit a different site on my own blog. Wouldn't that be a bit like David Letterman telling all his viewers how hilarious Conan or Jimmy Kimmel is and to flip over and watch their show? Not that it is really a fair comparison in the end, these guys have a whole professional website and I've got a free blog thanks to Google.

As a part of the EdReach network, the EdGamer podcast is solely dedicated to discussing the educational value and impact that video games can have. They discuss all matters and all video games, not just those that are specifically intended to be "educational". In on particular podcast, the subject of interest was violence in video games. They discuss the potential damaging effects that these games have on students and they also discussed the potential for MMA games, despite their violent nature, to have a beneficial effect on children as a means of releasing their frustration and aggression in a virtual and non-harmful fashion. The host and the various guests always try to keep the topic relevant to the classroom, but sometimes they stray away from the classroom and discuss video games as they are. In the same regard, they also don't always stress video games in their podcasts, one of the recent podcasts was about the Top 5 (ish) Digital Creation Tools.

Enough about the specifics of these podcast (hey, they have an archive and I gave you the link, check it out yourself) though, I'd like to discuss why I think this project is very relevant these days. I don't really need to remind or tell anyone about the impact that gaming and technology has on our children. For better or worse, these screens are a daily component of their lives. Therefore, efforts should be made to highlight the benefits of these various mediums and to try and stress/encourage the potential good that might come from these technologies. That is goal of this podcast. It addresses current issues and hot items in this realm (particularly video games) and it does so in a way that is current and interesting. They aren't writing editorials about it or hosting a radio show. They are a living example of how these things can be used for good. Even better, they don't limit the scope of their topics of discussion to things that are purely academic or good. They take on controversial topics and games, such as Mortal Kombat and GTA IV, and try to make sense of these issues.

Who might benefit from this series of podcasts? Honestly, I think that everyone would benefit from checking out some of the work that these guys do, but specifically parents and teachers. This is a very easy, approachable and informative resource to keep these people in the loop about what games are popular, what technologies are being used, and the impact that these things are having. Additionally, it can give the parents and teachers ways to both encourage certain types of gaming or involvement that are positive, and deal with those that are not.

Gaming is not a fad that seems to be going away anytime soon. It has moved from platform to platform and has certainly waxed and waned in popularity over the years, but it has remained a major part of our society over the past two decades. The EdGamer podcast is a way for people who are not necessarily privy to this type of entertainment to access the language and the major events occurring in this world and take advantage of the opportunities that they present.

It's Virtual Reality?

Today during our Ed. Tech course, one of our instructors challenged us to think about how we might be able to structure a class like a video game in order to entice students who might otherwise remain disengaged. I am going to happily accept that challenge. What follows are my thoughts on how a classroom might be able to resemble a video game.

• On an Xbox 360, a player is prompted to make a profile before they start playing games. They pick a gamer photo, a gamertag, enter a bit of information about themselves if they would like to, and are then ready to play. At the beginning of the school year (or of the timeframe you are looking to use this strategy) a student could be asked to do the same. Pick a username they would like to be referred to as (obviously staying appropriate), bring in a photo they would like to put up on their profile and write a bit about themselves. These "profiles" could be put onto poster boards and hung up around the classroom. These will provide a location for them to post their "achievements" which I will describe below. The students could also decorate their profiles to be representative of who they are and their interests.
  
• The next thing that Xbox 360 has done with their games to make them a bit more rewarding is to introduce the idea of "achievements". Each game comes with a list of accomplishments (the aforementioned achievements) that when reached,  reward the player a certain number of gamer points. Each game is usually made up of 1000 gamer points divided into different achievements based on difficulty of the task. For example beating the first level of a particular game might be worth 10 points while beating the entire game might be worth 100. In a classroom setting, particularly an English class, each project or book that you assign could come with achievements. Let's take The Great Gatsby as an example. If you finish the book, you get 75 points. For each chapter you finish, you get 10 points. If you can name and describe one character from the book, you get 10 points. If you can name and describe 3 characters form the book, you get 40 points. If you can explain the significance of the green light at the end of the dock, you get 30 points. These achievements would be determined prior to the assignment, and then the students would work to get the highest "gamerscore" possible for that book. To determine whether or not they have reached these achievements, the teacher could ask them to write paragraphs, talk to them about the topic, or some other means of assessment. For each achievement, the student could get a little notecard with the achievement and the point value (often times achievements have clever names i.e. in Tiger Woods 2012, if you land a shot 5 inches or closer to the cup you get the achievement "Scared of the Dark").  They could then take these note cards and post them on their profiles. For the sake of discretion, you could have the achievements be posted under the name of the particular assignment or novel so that kids don't feel bad if they don't have many achievements for that task. And the idea of achievements extends beyond books; you could do it for research papers (30 points for three sources, 40 points for a rough draft) or any other idea. The key here is to be creative and emphasize the important information.

• Next we can move onto what the gamerscore could mean. The easiest answer for me here, and the one that makes the most sense in the classroom I think, is that you could offer kids rewards for reaching certain milestones within projects or within the class as a whole. For example, if a kid gets 500 points on the Great Gatsby, he might be exempt from one upcoming homework assignment. If he gets 750 points, perhaps his final paper on the novel can be 2-3 pages shorter than the requirement for other students. If they reach a score of that level, clearly they are grasping the novel quite well. Another option could be basing the students grade off of the gamerscore. If they get 750 points for a particular project, that get be a C. If they get 850 a B, 950 an A, and so on. This could be a neat way to get kids energized about their projects and their grades.

As a parting thought, this could even be offered as an alternative to the normal classroom curriculum and structure. That way, if kids are interested in relating it to video games they can and if students feel like they would learn better the traditional way, they can choose that instead. And these are simply some thoughts about how a classroom might operate like a video game. I'm sure there are other options for blending the two into one desirable product.

More Like Ocarina of Timeless Games.

For those of you that know me well, I'm sure you could imagine the grin on my face when I was given the task of investigating a video game for its educational value in my Teaching with Technology class. As a self-identifying "gamer", I am thrilled at the chance to impress upon the world the value that video games can have for children. From the education and literature paradigms, there are few positive commentaries on video games. Most of the discussion is devoted to the harmful and damaging effects that many believe come from playing violent video games. And while this may be the case, it is equally important, in my opinion, to recognize when and where video games provide us some value and can have a positive influence on children.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT) is widely considered by many gamers to be one of the best if not the best video game of all time. The tale follows a young hero named Link (or a name of your choosing when you start the game) in his quest to save the beautiful Princess Zelda and defeat the evil Ganondorf. Along the way, the player must overcome a series of increasingly difficult challenges in the form of temples, monsters, and the most annoying "helper" that you will ever experience in your life (HEY! LISTEN!). The intricacies of the game, the detail given to world (granted detail circa nintendo 64 in 1998) and the thought and attention that must be constantly given by the player makes it a frontrunner in the world of video games. For me to best explain the educational value of the game, I'll break it down by lessons that it taught me. Mind you these are merely single examples drawn out of a bundle of options from this adventure. (Potential SPOILERS below).

Creativity: In the very first temple that you face, you run into a number of doors and openings that are covered in spider-webs. You cannot cut them with your sword, you cannot run through them, and none of the items that you have at this moment are helpful. To get past these webs, you must pick up a stick from the room, light the stick on fire with one of the torches in the room, and then burn the web to the ground. The game doesn't give you hints or tell you what you should do; you must figure it out for yourself. This game challenges the player to think creatively to solve problems. Often times the obvious way is not the best, or even the correct way. This translates to life and the classroom quite readily. We must be able to be creative in order to help accomplish tasks and generate ideas.*

Problem Solving: The situation mentioned above involves some problem solving, but the example provided below comes a bit later in the game. After the first temple, you must sneak into the castle, past all of the guards, and talk to Princess Zelda. The patterns of the guards differ from spot to spot. Therefore the player must begin to recognize these patterns to get by without being spotted. Our classrooms and our working world are littered with problems waiting, needing to be solved. This game helps to develop that mentality and prepare the players to recognize and tackle the obstacles that they will face in life.*

Following Directions: At one point in OoT, you are offered the opportunity to take up a side quest for which you will be given a great reward. You are then tasked to deliver an item to a character in the game who in turn requests you to do the same and so on until you find yourself doing the job of the sporadic, passive aggressive and pompous mailman (seriously, he isn't that fast). In doing each task, you must recall what your delivering to who. At other points in the game as well, you are given clear instructions that you must follow in order to move forward. The applicability of this to learning in children seems obvious, but for the sake of clarity, children must do this every. single. day. Whether it is at home, on the bus, in school, at recess, or playing sports, children are given directions that they are expected to follow. This game provides an opportunity to organically discover the value of following directions and to be motivated to do so.

Patience and Dedication: Finally, the most important takeaways from LoZ OoT (too much "acronymizing"?) are patience and dedication. You cannot beat this game without developing a healthy sense of patience. OoT is challenging enough and complex enough that you will inevitably fail along the way. For some people (myself included) it takes a number of tries just to figure out the Forbidden Forest at the beginning of the game. But the game teaches you that by being patient, dedicated, and motivated, you will be rewarded in the end. These virtues are invaluable in a classroom and for learning. If you don't get something right away, staying patient and staying dedicated to the task at hand are the most important things you can do in that moment. If there are only two critical aspects learning (which certainly isn't the case) they are patience and dedication.

 

 Unless you are attacking a chicken, then it's best to avoid dedication to the task.

To be honest, I could write a novella on the benefits reaped from Ocarina of Time and a full series on the Legend of Zelda games. This blog could have just as easily have been written about A Link to the Past, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, etc. The LoZ series has always captivated me because of the value that these games have outside of pure enjoyment. They teach the player lessons that are necessary in almost every domain of life. And if this learning process can happen while the individual is having a great time, well that seems like a win-win to me.

*For those with experience in the game, I could have simply put the Water Temple down for every category and made my point.

Avoiding The Michael Scott Mentality

"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." --Abraham Lincoln

 A very interesting perspective was brought to my attention several days ago, regarding both my post about Facebook as well as the website itself. One of the professors for my Teaching with Technology course suggested that Facebook often times is simply our "best" selves. We can choose to put up our most inspiring/interesting thoughts, our best photos, and the things that we think portray ourselves in the best light. Not only that, but we can come back and delete these things at a later date if they haven't been received well by our peers (in terms of likes or comments). In essence, he was suggesting that we need to approach an online portrayal of an individual with a healthy skepticism because it might not be an honest depiction. This idea turned out to be a wonderful transition to our class today. We played a rousing round of 20 questions (I'm sure you are wondering, "Is that possible?") in which our instructor gave himself the ability to lie twice. Quickly, our cohort started to try and close loops; fact check prior questions by asking new questions that eclipsed aspects of those that came before in a way that could check for honesty. In doing so, we proved that we were capable of approaching a task with a healthy skepticism. I should mention that, prior to the game, our teacher told us that this activity had important implications in regards to doing research online and using the internet at large. This connection is the same healthy skepticism mentioned above in regards to online selves. When we do research, read a story, or interact with the web in some other way that demands a certain level of credibility, it would behoove us to make sure that we are getting the full story including as many perspectives of the events as possible.

I'll be the first to admit, I don't do this enough. I've come close, at least half a dozen times, to ignorantly declaring the death of Charlie Sheen while he is still alive and....well not well I guess. Fortunately I have this handy website to refer to in the future. All jokes aside though, this provides another opportunity for me to reiterate the point that my Professor (he had many other outstanding points) and I are hoping to make. If I gathered my news solely from this source, I wouldn't be doing the topic the due diligence that it deserves, assuming that I have a vested interest in the vitality of Charlie Sheen (which I do, obviously...#winning). One area, among many, where this does have practical and real implications is when doing research for a job proposal, school assignment, lesson plan or anything else where your reputation is factored in. You need to ensure that the information that you are including in your work, the material that you are wedding yourself to, is accurate and honest. Nothing deflates an argument faster than false information; consider it the pin to your fragile helium balloon. But in taking some simple precautions and approaching the process of your internet research with a healthy sense of skepticism and inquiry, you can add a nice layer of Teflon to that balloon of yours! (Might not float so well anymore). Looking beyond just the interweb, I think it (it being the healthy sense of skepticism) is appropriate for addressing books, magazines, even photos and such.

Finally, if I might add as a closing thought, I don't think that this practice of ensuring that you are receiving an honest and fair depiction of an event/idea/etc is reserved for things of a professional or academic nature. I think that it deserves just as much consideration when you are having discussions with friends, sharing your opinion over the internet via some sort of social media website or perhaps, hypothetically, filming a documentary at your paper business in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Organizing Your Online Life

If you are anything like me, your bookmarks are completely overflowing with useless pages that you thought were interesting three years ago. And with half of these bookmarks, you can't make any sense of why you felt it was worth marking in the first place. Occasionally you find a gem, (20 year old Casey bookmarked a page about "the 35 manliest mustaches of all time") but most of these pages have long since eclipsed your interest. For this reason, I was super excited when I got matched with my website for this assignment. Diigo, is an incredible useful tool for anyone that spends a reasonable amount of time using the interweb. Through it, you can bookmark pages, add sticky notes to websites to remind yourself of something on a later visit, and highlight passages that you would like to remember among other things. The most convenient thing about the website, is that anytime you do one of the above functions, it automatically puts it into a very sortable and accessible library on Diigo's website. Best of all, the website is free to use and starts with a fantastic instructional video explaining how to do everything. An accurate comparison of how I felt when discovering this website, is how Michael Scott feels about Wikipedia.

In going through this assignment, I realized how much my online self is like my actual self. Most of my bookmarks were things that I would classify as "happy", "funny" or "optimistic" which are three things that I try to be on a daily basis. Additionally, there is very little, if any, semblance of organization in my web browser and on my computer. Up until this point in my life, I have managed to survive without setting up a strong system of keeping careful track of things, but I believe that needs to change now. As we start this program and as I realize the duties of my hopeful profession, it's time for me to "grow up" in that sense. And this website, which was only brought to my attention because of this assignment, will play a huge role in that organization. All in all, I'm grateful for the opportunity to discover such a helpful tool and I'm excited to see what others have to say about their websites.

What's a "Like" Worth to You?

Social experiment time. If you have a Facebook, go to your wall and click on your Activity Log. This new comprehensive activity feed tells you everything that you do, including what you "like". Do me a favor and look at the past five things that you liked. When is the last time that you spoke to that individual in person?

I'll go first.

1.) A photo of an old coworker posted by his girlfriend. The prior about a year, the latter never.
2.) A photo of an old childhood friend. Probably about two years ago for maybe five minutes.
3.) A photo of a friend. At least a year if not longer.
4.) A status of a facebook friend. Maybe spoke once or twice in high school; possibly never.
5.) A status of an old college roommate. At least 6 months.

I could continue on like this, and probably about 80% of the answers would be the same. Yet, when I post this blog to Facebook, I'm certain I'll feel better about the content and the message if I get several likes. Hell in the past, I've timed the posting of a photo or a link to match when I think the most people will be on Facebook in order to get likes. But if the people that are liking my posts are anything like myself, there is a chance they haven't spoken to me in months, possibly years. So even if I get a lot of likes on a particular post, does that really mean anything?

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that we are changing the make-up of self-esteem for future generations. Even someone who considers himself to be a well-adjusted, friendly and likable (pun intended?) guy feels differently if something I, I mean "he", posts on Facebook gets no likes or a lot of likes. What does that mean for adolescents that put their thoughts and beliefs out there and remain unreceived? In perhaps the most tumultuous period of transition throughout our lives, when we are already scientifically prone to low self-esteem and self-consciousness, this has the potential to be so, so harmful. What happens when they put something out there that they find is amusing and no one agrees? Do they start to question their sense of humor? Do they start to believe that what they think is funny isn't? Same scenario with a cry for help, a plea for someone to care and to recognize that they are suffering. What if this status goes unnoticed or overlooked? Even worse, what if someone likes it in an attempt at mockery? How about an actual suicide note? Sadly, these are not simply hypothetical situations (see video below). In a world where we are relying more and more on technology, both inside the classroom and in our personal lives, we are inevitably, and most likely involuntarily, putting more and more weight on what these superficial means of approval are worth.

On this day, when a major U.S. court case was settled in a fairly controversial fashion, I watch my newsfeed overflow with arguments, likes, and words of anger and support pass back and forth between people that I'm quite confident, over the past several years, haven't even taken the time to see how the other was doing. Yet here they are insulting, mocking, berating and belittling one another. And others have the ability to "like" these habits. Facebook will continue to remain the great enigma of our generation, for better and for worse, as long as people continue to use it in all of it's various forms.

So today I'm going to challenge you, if you truly like an idea or a photo that you see on Facebook, certainly like it, but give the person a call if you feel like they might appreciate it.* Let them know that you are thinking of them and that you hope they are well. You never know the difference you might make. And that is something I think we can all agree is worth "liking".


*Unless a hug is an option, always choose a hug.

"Simply Making an Observation"

Earlier this summer, I took some time off from work before I started the MAC program to enjoy the things I foresaw not having time to once I started classes. Besides spending a shameful amount of time playing video games, I took the opportunity to read for pleasure, something that I haven't done in quite some time. In about three weeks, I managed to finish four novels all of which were outstanding (Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Endurance, American Sniper, and The Great Gatsby). While going through these books, I realized how rarely I read for pleasure as an undergrad, and I realized how rarely I would get to read for pleasure during this program. We read constantly in my courses: articles, book chapters, bills, biographies and more. Yet I feel as though I'm constantly distracted while reading this information: making notes of what I want to remember later, checking my email to see if there are any updates to assignments, thinking about the other readings that I have to do, and much more. Yesterday during our Teaching with Tech class though, we took 20 minutes to just sit down and read an article (Ironic right? Doing nothing but reading a paper copy of an article in a technology class?). The article was about the advent of the "digital native children" and their arrival and adjustment at school. It recommended practices and suggested things that one might do to engage this child in the work at hand. I'm astounded, as I sit down to write this blog, at how much I remember from that article especially considering I didn't annotate, highlight or make any other effort to keep track of the information. I internalized this particular course reading the way that I do a novel that I have chosen to pick up. I never once felt distracted and I focused on the content in the piece the entire time. I wonder if any of my classmates had a similar experience? In my undergraduate experience and even in my high school years, I can recall very few incidents that we took the time during class, to read and then discussed the content. I wonder if people would take more away from academic readings if they occurred during class time? I wonder if that atmosphere better facilitates focus?

Switching gears dramatically,we devoted much of our class period to discussing John Dewey's philosophy on education and how we felt it meshed with modern day necessities. We spent a fair amount of time discussing a particular belief of Dewey's Creed which says,

"I believe that next to deadness and dullness, formalism and routine, our education is threatened with no greater evil than sentimentalism."

He said that sentiment had its place in the classroom, but it had to be relevant and focused. This idea of sentimentalism as an "evil" is curious to me because so much of educational research right now points to emotional connections with students as a great approach to form the best learning environment possible. An investment in the interests of the student seems to be a key ingredient to academic success for students, and that is going to come with some sort of sentiment. Perhaps there is a limit though. Perhaps a teacher needs to recognize and understand places where they should get involved and places where they should step back and leave the sentiment to a fellow classmate or to a different adult in the child's life. It's an interesting thing to consider through the technological paradigm because mediums of interaction with our students are increasing immensely. In class yesterday, an anecdote was shared about a teacher who started a twitter account for a class and was then followed by one of his students who had some very revealing tweets about his destructive and unhealthy personal life. This raised issues of privacy and issues related to this idea of sentiment and engagement. Does a teacher have a responsibility to try to reach out to the student? Is that important, or is that an example of a domain that shouldn't involve the sentiments of a teacher?



This video recently went viral not too long ago, and I think addresses both of the issues (perhaps somewhat loosely) that I've brought up in this blog. In the video, you can see a young student, who has returned to the classroom after dropping out of school, passionately appeals to a teacher to, instead of just pass out handouts, "touch their freakin' hearts". What exactly does this entail? He discusses that all kids don't learn the same and need to be stimulated. Could it entail reading sessions in class where the only objective is to read? Might this involve technology or might this be something entirely different. Might this involve sentimentalism? If so, how much? I think these are all more than worthy of our consideration and hopefully, through resolving some of these issues, we can begin to "touch some freakin' hearts".

We're All in This Together

"Education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living."

At the risk of being redundant,  I would love to quote an amazing professor to start this blog off. For those  returning subscribers (I require high fives and fist bumps), and for newcomers who I'm thrilled to share this wisdom with, Chris Peterson lived and taught by three simple words, "Other People Matter". As I read through the John Dewey's creed, I couldn't help but think back to some of the things that Professor Peterson stressed so often in his class, the prior quote taking precedence above all others. Without question, the most common theme throughout Dewey's musings is the importance of the social element. A quick ctrl+F of the word "social" reveals roughly 57 times that he uses the word. Now not all of these uses are in direct relation to the point I'm making, but a great number of them are appropriate. For example:

• He suggests that school is primarily a social institution. 
• School should act as a model for social life.
• The true center of subject matter is the student's own social activities.
• Teachers are engaged in training individuals, but also contributing to the forming of a proper social life.
• Schools should advance socially accepted norms and values.
• The primary way that student's learn is through social involvement.
• I think you get the idea.

Now for those of you that don't know, John Dewey was a philosopher, psychologist, and an educational reformer who lived from 1859 to 1952. Remind you of any handsome young bloggers you might know? Exactly, Ryan Gosling (Hey girl, I see you reading this blog, I'm interested in what you have to say too). Back to Dewey, I find it so fascinating that two very different men (Peterson and Dewey) living in two very different times, could arrive at a similar conclusion. Other people matter. They influence us, they encourage us, they educate us, they can do a plethora of things, both good and bad, to us. I think this is what Dewey so passionately conveys in his Pedagogical creed. Other people are so integrated in our lives, that we must recognize all the ways that they influence us. And, from the age of four to anywhere from 18 to ?, where do we spend an immense amount of time? In some school setting. We constantly interact with the spectrum of personalities, interests, values, ideals and opinions. These social influences are absolutely essential to our development and to our education. We see this resurface in other aspects of education as well. The idea of social justice speaks directly to leveling the social and academic playing field for all students. The practice of Developmental Design, which is just one of the many new approaches to teaching, is intimately wedded to developing social interactions between the teacher and students as well as amongst the students. These are just two quick examples drawn from a whole sample.

This makes the idea of technology in the classroom so harrowing, because if you buy into the notion of "other people matter" then the practice of removing social interactions and engagement with people becomes quite frightening. I find this particularly interesting because we read another piece which used the thoughts of Dewey to support further implementing technology in the classroom. Perhaps it is a lesson on how the same piece of text or evidence can be twisted enough to support either side of an argument or perhaps Dewey would have agreed with the authors interpretation. Regardless of what Dewey may have thought, I am confident that he would insist on the students still being socially engaged. 

The recent attacks at the Boston Marathon of 2013 really sum up the extremes of human nature. On the one end, you have senseless, devastating, sadistic destruction. On the other though, and overwhelmingly more popular, you have incredible heroism and altruism; selfless individuals setting outstanding examples for others. This is, in my opinion, the exact sort of social setting that Dewey describes as being so beneficial and critical to education: support, encouragement, and a selfless nature will only benefit us all; and this comes about easiest when we all believe that, "other people matter". This video (which I am getting chills watching again at the moment) sums that up better than I ever could.

It's a Calvin and Hobbes kinda life

To live a life worth living, one must cast asunder their inhibitions and insecurities and boldly walk into the unknown with a clear mind and a hopeful heart. By stepping off the sturdy, well studied ground with only a belief that they will not lose their footing, one can begin to truly find who they are and what they mean to others. Each person will surely stumble and fall, for it is the nature of the unknown path. Yet, whether it is done with their own hand or another, they must rise again and trek onward. For at the end of this trail, after a bounty of trials and tribulations, awaits a peace unbeknownst to most. It is a pure unadulterated peace, one which will envelop and warm us and those that make us who we are, for as long as we can know.

The above paragraph is a note that I've had on my phone and have been messing with for the better part of a year. I'd forget about it for about three weeks, then come back, reread it, edit it and forget about it again for awhile. It really sums up many of the realizations that I've come to over the past few years. And as I start this program, I feel it applies more now than ever. Because despite all of the recent, negative commentary on the teaching profession, I still can't help but feel like Calvin after a fresh snowfall.

Let's go exploring.