Finding Our Way...

After much frustration on the part of my students, I am happy to say we made some adjustments, and things are better. I initially tried to do the tutorials in a straightforward way by having the students work them independently. This generally caused much frustration, lots of question-asking, and led to lots of cries for help. Last week, I only had the students four days due to an ISE Day on Friday, so I started over with the "Imagining Your Game" tutorial on Monday and had students do two things differently. They pulled up Flash (which we had just gotten the Friday before) and put it beside the tutorial. They also worked with a partner. This allowed them to read a step and then try it out. It also meant that if they were unclear about something, they could discuss it. This made a huge difference. We spent the rest of the week completing the tutorial, creating images, and writing ideas for game concepts. We took a very negative atmosphere the week before and turned it around this past week. What a relief!

Frustration

Today my students began to look at the initial Flash tutorials. While a couple of them seemed to take everything in stride, even those things they weren't familiar with, the majority expressed some frustration. They reported feeling uneasy because they didn't really understand what it was trying to show them. I am becoming somewhat concerned about the structure of the class and its appropriateness (in current structure) for middle school. This program is set up for students to be self-paced and self-learners. It is very appropriate for older students such as high school and college-aged students. Middle School students, however, at ages 12-13 years, are not developmentally in the same place. That doesn't mean they aren't capable; it simply means that the average middle school student will need more support and guidance than a student in high school and college. They are not developmentally in the same place, nor are they in the same place in regard to maturity. I feel this is a valid concern, and it warrants some consideration.
Overall today, I had several very frustrated individuals in class. I understand their frustration and will try to continue to think about ways to decrease those negative feelings as we begin to delve into Flash. We will pick up where we left off with this first tutorial on Monday. Maybe by the end of the week, students will feel more knowledgeable and more positive.

Holding Pattern

This week has been such a crazy week with regard to our schedule that we really feel as if we are in a holding pattern. Our students have been involved in field testing the Westest 2 for the State Department of Education. This field test has required schedule adjustments, and the school has focused on squeezing in the required academic classes, and even those have had to be shortened. Tomorrow will be the first day in several days that I have been able to see my students with no interruptions and have a normal class period. We are ready to start looking at some of the Flash tutorials, and I am interested in seeing how my students react. I hope to have them look at the first one, and then I want them to blog about what they think. We will be having Flash installed tomorrow, and we hope to be able to put it on the computers actually in my classroom which would eliminate the necessity of moving into the Computer Lab each day.

Improving Conditions in WV

This week my class has been delving further into social issues. Last week we played and evaluated social games, but this week we are applying that type of mindset to our community and state. We looked in depth at areas such as health, education, environment, and poverty and related each of those to WV. The students were so perceptive. I am constantly amazed at their ability to analyze a situation or in this case, setting.

They responded to our guiding questions by focusing on health concerns such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and health issues related to smoking. They are very concerned about the environment and lack of a focus on simple things such as recycling in our community. They are also very aware of the air pollution in our area which comes from plants and refineries. They are worried about education and how to make it stronger for both themselves and future generations. They are also perceptive enough to realize that all of these problems contribute to higher rates of poverty, which in turn has a negative effect on every aspect of a community. They called it an "ugly cycle." I so agree! We tend to simplify issues for children and young teens when they are really so aware of what is going on around them.

After looking at these issues intensely, students wrote commentaries which they then uploaded to their projects page on the wiki. I found these commentaries to be accurate and insightful, and I was so happy to see that they are passionate about how these issues could be focused on in a game-type format. I think their passion will eventually have a positive impact on the game that they produce!

Teachable Moments...

We have accomplished a great deal since my last entry. Last week we did not have class on Friday due to E.R. (early release). Earlier in the week, students were able to individualize their profiles on the wiki. They really enjoyed researching the etymology of their names, and they were really excited when they added the link to their blog. We also took the game reviews done earlier (on paper) and uploaded them to the "My Projects" page of the school Wiki. I am finding that my reluctant students are becoming very comfortable and are even taking the lead at times.
This week we started out by blogging. I wanted students to capture their thoughts before we moved on since we didn't get to blog last Friday due to E.R. Today while exploring social issue games, a student made an interesting observation while playing Ayiti: The Cost of Life. She didn't send a mother and daughter to the doctor because she said there wasn't enough money, and they died as a result. The whole class had an awesome discussion focusing on the tough choices that many people make on a daily basis, such as the choice between food or medicine. It was a great teachable moment!

Moving Along....

This week has been very busy, yet exhilarating. The kids have been very receptive to everything we have attempted to do. This week we have set up g-mail accounts for each of the students. We have continued to explore the games posted to the wiki, and the students have written reviews for the two games on which they chose to focus. We have also managed to help each student set up a blog and post their first entry. I am finding that I probably underestimated the amount of time needed to complete even the most basic of tasks. That is probably due to many factors including daily interruptions, the young age of my middle school students, and just the necessary transition time required to explain information and move from activity to activity. Next week we will have the kids edit their profiles on both the wiki and their blogs. We also will have them post the game reviews they have written to the wiki. The students' enthusiasm is proving to be really energizing, and I can't wait to see what next week will hold for us.

Ready or not...here we come!

Well, school has officially begun. We have spent the last four days at my school trying to get the year off to a positive start. Schedules seem to be somewhat finalized, and students seem to be settling in. The first day I pulled the ten students we hoped would take the Globaloria class from their extra period (math enrichment), and I tried to "sell" the class to them, so they would, in turn, "sell" it to their parents. I was very excited when they returned to school the next day with signed permission forms and excited faces. All ten have decided to stay in the class, and all were given parental permission. The first day, we had no internet. The second day all students were able to complete their surveys. We have spent yesterday and today exploring the games on the wiki and talking about what features they like and dislike. I am very happy with my group. They are articulate and confident. Even though all aren't extremely comfortable with technology, all are willing to try with enthusiasm. I don't think we could ask for a better start!