It has been a long time since I started my high school class with this opening, “Today I’m going to tell you a story… and only you have the power to save the world…” My gaming team of devoted educators advised me to take a plunge into an all-out game experience with Breakout EDU. While […]
gamification
Summer Reading Challenge, Read More Than Books
Change that paradigm! Reading should not be books alone. Summer reading time is my true professional development, experimenting with genres and digital literacy tools set aside during the busier terms of the year. I organize my reading hours similar to the organization of my running workouts. Workouts are separated into distance, easy, tempo, interval, and races while reading is […]
21st Century Classroom Management is… Fun?
Recently a veteran colleague and a teacher in training posed questions concerning classroom management and power struggles with students. Years ago the approach to dealing with students who test the boundaries of rules was quick and strict reprimand. Students were graded on neatness, orderly and timely manners, for being quiet unless called upon. While there […]
My Favorite Videos
A couple of years ago, I learned how to ‘rip’ videos from the internet and embed them in a powerpoint. That was the beginning of an era. I have wiled away many an hour on youtube, TED talks and other internet sites watching videos . . . one video leads to another and another and […]
Gaming and Education: They are not Enemies [Part 3]
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I discussed the bigger picture of gaming in our students’ and children’s lives and how gaming can connect to education. In this article, I discuss how gaming has affected my own son’s education. I’ve written previously about how my son began unschooling a year ago. As […]
Disruptive Innovation: Gaming and Education [Part 2]
Like most boys his age, my 11 year-old son is a gamer. He plays a myriad of video games, and together, he and I are avid tabletop gamers. His gaming life is full of colorful characters, mysterious landscapes, adventure, challenge, triumphs, and, yes, lots of failure. But no matter how much failure he encounters, […]
Gaming as the Future of Learning: The Truly Epic Win [Part 1]
What if the future of learning is not measuring student achievement in high stakes standardized testing? What if, instead, the future of learning is in the magic of a great game? Ever since the 1983 “A Nation at Risk” report on the American education system, policymakers have consistently insisted that more and more high stakes […]
Gamify your Class without Electricity
Class Dojo, Socrative, Nearpod, Zondle and Play Brighter dominate most conversations about gamification in education. This focus on technology and apps automatically alienates some teachers: “I don’t have any computers in my room, so that leaves me out!” However, it is possible to gamify your class in the absence of any technology . . . […]