Q4 Progress Report and Reflection

As an educator we constantly reflect on what our students learn.  As I write this progress report, I have truly reflected on this past year.  I have seen many of my students grow, but I also see student's who did not work to their potential.  My goal as a Globaloria educator next year is to keep all of my students working to their potential.  All of them are bright and creative individuals.  There are times when some of my students lost interest in the course and had to be pushed along the way.  All of us need to be picked up sometime throughout the year, but it seemed like there were a few who had to be constantly picked up.  So I hope next year I do not run into this problem.  I am very proud of the students I had this year.!

This year in Globaloria!

This year brought new challenges as a returning educator.  Sometimes educators take for granted that our students will do many things on their own.  I thought I had my student's trained about uploading work to their wiki page, but I had to constantly remind them to display their work.  Once again I had several students who excelled in many ways.  Some of them came out of their shell and become more outgoing in the classroom, others continued to promptly post work and blogs to their page.  All in all a good year with some great students.  I am looking forward to next year, as I get a new group of students and my current students will move on to Mr. Addair.

Closing out the Year!

Another year experience has made a tremendous difference in the comfort level for me as an educator in the Globaloria classroom.  Our class was off to a slow start, but my students worked hard down the stretch.  The students have continued to work on their wikis and blogs, and also made some adjustments to their games.  They are still constantly updating and adding pictures, videos, and links.  Some of the students have been working on home on their wikis and blogs, this year more of my students worked outside the classroom than the past.  As an educator, I still struggle in getting my students excited about the blogging assignments in the curriculum.  They do complete a blog, but it is a struggle to keep them working.  All in all another successful year in my opinion.  I am looking forward to seeing most of them again next year.

Final Presentation Reflection

Everyone should be blogging today. Since we have finished our game presentation I thought we should reflect on our progress to this point. We also need to look at all of the feedback we received from the Globaloria team. Each individual needs to watch an 8th grade presentation and send them a positive comment on something about their presentation. Think about these questions when you are writing your blog today. What was the hardest part about your presentation? What was the best part of your presentation? What kind of feedback did you receive from the Globaloria team? What kind of changes will you make to your game? Is your game different in the end, from where you started? Remember to add multimedia to your blog. Sorry I don't have any, but I will add multimedia later today. I need an awesome blog from everyone today. Hope everyone has a great day!

When talking to many students I have found one common comment from most, that math is not their favorite subject. Math is not easy and takes time for students to learn. So we have to find ways that make math more interesting. Students love to play games and dislike math, but they need math to become a productive citizen in today's society. So if we can use games to teach math maybe student motivation will rise. Here is a math website for you to check out. What kind of ideas can you use in your game? In your opinion, will games help math motivation? What was your favorite game you played and why? Did you learn math playing the game? Respond to the questions in your blog for this week. Have a wonderful day.

Only a couple of months to work!

We are getting closer and closer to the end of our year in Globaloria. Our class is becoming more hectic each day. All of you guys are working really hard at getting your games together. While everyone is working hard on your game, all of you all are competing in a STEMS game contest.  Everyone don't forget to check on the deadlines for the competition.  I would like for everyone to blog about your experiences with flash, now that you have worked through more tutorials. Also what kinds of barriers do you see to getting your game finished? What are some special effects your game will have? What do you think will be the best part of your game? Good Luck and keep up the hard work, May is only a couple of months away.

Learn while you Play?

Video games have become more and more popular in the last couple of years. We use the Wii to create exercise while playing. We are now going to try to create videos games for learning. We have all played games to try and help master an educational objective. We have all used studyisland to help use in Math and Language Arts. Now that we are creating games to help future students master learning objectives I am asking for your opinion on educational gaming. I know most students enjoy playing games while learning, but do you all feel the same?

What are some educational games you played?
Do you remember anything you learned while playing a game?
Do you think games can create a learning atmosphere?