Task Two...

3/26/2019

Read Chapters 3, 4, and 5, on design components around Inquiry, Game Design, and Network Design.

Note that the authors specifically addressed these three elements as major components of Contemporary Learning. Please respond to the following and remember to comment on one or more of the other participant's responses.

What is resonating the most with you across these three chapters?
What questions do you have as a result of reading these three chapters?
What roadblocks do you foresee in the implementation of these ideas?
How might you get over those roadblocks?

16 Comments

Lori Hurtgam

3/26/2019 05:53:05 pm

1. Of the three chapters, the one that resonated most with me was the chapter on Playing With Game Design. As a Consultant Teacher, I use a lot of my time in study skills reteaching and reinforcing essential content. The way that I do this is through classroom activities and games. I really connected with the way competition can enhance student learning and engage them in the entire learning process.
2. Questions that I have about the Building Connections with Network Design focus on my basic lack of understanding of how best to utilize different social networks and global networks in order to enhance my teaching. I think it is so important to make communication an essential part of any classroom, and there were so many excellent ways to do so from this chapter, but I know that I am definitely uncomfortable with it due to never really having done it before. The use of public spaces and member spaces are excellent things to try to incorporate.
3. The roadblocks I see is the idea of trial and error. Also, having the opportunity to try out some new ideas. As a CT, I do not lesson plan with the general education teachers, so some of the ideas that I have for implementation would first need to be brain stormed and planned with the gen ed teacher. I think the chapter on Inquiring with Question Design can be a great starting point with the gen ed teachers because inquiry based learning and asking the right questions can certainly be a good starting point.
4. I think the best way to overcome any road block is to start small. I can see how using questioning techniques can then lead to game design. Starting with a lesson in mind and then building from there is important. I want to be able to enhance my students learning and not overwhelm them with too many new things at once.

Katie Toub

3/27/2019 08:30:28 am

I completely agree with what you said about how motivating competition can be. I've used it in the past to get kids to learn their math facts and it is helpful. They will do anything to earn a pizza party! As for your questions and hesitations, I completely agree that social networks and global networks are scary. I do not use them myself as an adult and the idea of putting my third graders on them terrifying. The most I have managed so far is to let my kids do a weekly news post to our class blog. I tried this our last year and found it helped motivate the kids to write because they had an authentic audience. That's why I think your idea of starting small is going to be the best approach for both myself and the kids.

Katie Toub

3/27/2019 08:21:08 am

1. The part that resonated with me the most were the different question types. Questioning is something I've been working on taking up a notch in my classroom for a while now, but it's something I feel I still lose sight of the importance of. I know in my school there has been a big push on asking higher level thinking questions, something frequently missing from early elementary classrooms. We ask a lot of "right there" questions but miss the harder ones. Chapter 3 especially showed just how important these questions are if you're going to use the inquiry approach. I also found it helpful how well it broke down each question type.

2 & 3. My questions mostly revolved around game design, specifically the computer based things. After reading this questions I actually asked a tech friend of mine "Which of these sites can we use with our network filters?" The answer to this question leads me to my answer for #3 Roadblocks....many of the gaming sites (assuming I chose to do computer based gaming for some of the projects) are blocked, so I'll have to be careful which sites I use. The other roadblock I see coming up is the issue of using social networking sites. Being that my kids are 8 years old I am going to need to be VERY careful how this is approached and handled.

4. As far as overcoming road blocks I'm going to be both careful and creative. I'm thinking of doing the collaboration piece within the classroom, having the kids collaborate with one another on projects instead of using a plus space like virtual networking. I also like the idea of the kids working together at first not only for collaboration but also for confidence building purposes. I'm afraid if I let them go on their own from the start I will have too many kids overwhelmed and the process will collapse on itself before it ever has a chance to stand.

Sean McDonnell

3/28/2019 10:25:47 am

You bring up a great point with network filters. I have run into this many times in my classroom. I have found engaging educational sites and find out that they are blocked by the filter. I understand the importance of the filter but it is still very frustrating.

Sean McDonnell

3/28/2019 10:24:06 am

1) The thing resonating the most with me is the use of off the shelf games. I have never thought about that in a classroom before. With the examples in the book, there are a lot of great games that can be educational. Games like Apples to Apples have things about history that I could use in my 15:1 Global class.

2) On the chapter about spaces, I was thinking about how to make Google Classroom a space that students would enjoy. All of our classes are switching to Google Classrooms next year and I would like mine to stand out. I don’t want technology to turn into a mundane thing for the students. I want them to be engaged in the classroom.

3) The biggest roadblock that I see is finding time during the school year. With testing being such an important issue, it makes planning very difficult. I am not a fan of the importance we place on testing but as of now there is nothing we can do about it. We need to find ways to be engaging in the classroom while also getting students ready for tests.

4) One way around the road block is to make some of these games as a review subject. It could be as simple as a 5 minute bell ringer or even used to help students study for a test. I plan on making some history Apple to Apples cards that we be great for studying.

Kim Mitchell

3/28/2019 12:12:02 pm

I would love to use Google Classrooms as another way to engage students in their learning. I couldn't agree more about your comment on time usage. So much of our time is used up throughout the teaching day that it makes it very hard to complete additional tasks during the school day.

Katie Toub

3/29/2019 07:24:30 am

I love that you brought up the off the shelf games as well. When I first looked into this book study I assumed that "games and gaming" would be done mostly in a technology based format. Talking about "old school" board games was a relief. I think that is something that the younger learners can absolutely handle.

Kim Mitchell

3/28/2019 12:08:40 pm

1. A lot of things resonated with me. I never looked at classroom arrangements as they are refereed to in chapter 5. I would like to try out some of the recommendations made. I strongly agree with the comments made regarding to questioning and the use of games in the classroom. I love to use all type of group games with my students during academic center times.
2. I have questions regarding questioning threads. With the students I currently have being in Special Ed, what would they recommend for those children that aren't as willing to understand or answer questions like they recommend?
3. Roadblocks no matter the topic constantly arise in the teaching field. From the material in these three chapters I see roadblocks with kids with the game composition (especially those with special needs) and questioning suggestions made. I know there are a variety of ways to modify materials, but with the examples given in the chapters it seems very concrete.
4. With the material given, I think talking to a colleague about the questions mentioned above could be beneficial. Remembering how each student learns best always helps in these situations.

Kyle Hurtgam

4/2/2019 06:55:35 pm

I value what you mentioned about working with students with disabilities. Many of our students depend on explicit instruction in order to master skills. Our students would need a lot of practice with the problem solving and critical thinking skills needed to incorporate these practices in the classroom.

Kyle Hurtgam

3/30/2019 06:24:27 am

What is resonating the most with you across these three chapters? I really liked seeing the example of a questing thread that showcased the four types of questions that are used for a topic. I enjoyed seeing the explanation of the different types of game types and the explanation of the interactions with others. The author noted how it is important to choose the right type of game for the personality of the student.
What questions do you have as a result of reading these three chapters? One question that I would have is how to incorporate all of the content into game design. I understand that gaming would likely not be the entire course, but at the end of the day, there are exams that need to be taken. Is there a way to incorporate the skills being tested into the games?
What roadblocks do you foresee in the implementation of these ideas? The roadblocks would be high stakes testing, teachers resistant to change, and the time required to plan and/or design gaming that is meaningful in the classroom instructional setting.
How might you get over those roadblocks? To get over these roadblocks we would have to show the educational benefits of incorporating gaming into the educational system. We would need to eliminate or alter state testing to allow for teachers to take the time to incorporate gaming into instruction.

Julie Webber

3/30/2019 04:39:01 pm

I understand what you are saying about the state tests. I think though if students were digging deep into the quests and games, it may help them for state tests. Sometimes I think too much 'test prep' is put in place that is stale and not motivating. Students can still be practicing the skills of the test through questing. Tough for teachers to feel as though they have that permission to do so sometimes.

Katie Toub

3/30/2019 06:43:10 pm

I agree with how you said the students can practice their test skills through questing. However, thinking of my third graders, I think it is important to point this practice out to the kids. I know my students are always very surprised when they realize how many reading and writing skills they use during a math lesson. I'm sure I would receive the same reaction were I to point out the test taking skills they might be using while playing a game.

Katie Toub

3/30/2019 06:37:34 pm

I completely agree with your roadblocks. Being a third grade teacher I'm the first year the kids face not one but two state tests. I feel like we start the year at a jog and by the time February hits we are moving at a dead run to fit everything in before the big test day. However, I agree with what Julie said about how using more gaming could help teach those higher level thinking skills kids are required to do on the test. I do however think that it's important to talk to the kids about the games being played after the fact, to show them just how much skill and higher level thinking skills they are using to play the game. I think this would be very helpful because if you point it out to the kids, they'll approach the test with more confidence and skills they use in the game without even realizing it.

Julie Webber

3/30/2019 04:34:37 pm

1. I was very interested in chapter 3 and question design. Oddly enough, it is nothing new. We have almost all been taught in Blooms, Costas, etc. Yet this chapter really focuses on getting students more involved in the questioning. For the teacher, it a not about planning and asking the questions but rather guiding the students to ask their own.
2. Questions I still have center on specific application for elementary students. It seems that for students to be actively engaged in the thinking, they need a lot of background knowledge to compare to. Some students struggle with this. I almost can see the necessity for a teacher to expose students to background knowledge pruposefully before even starting with an essential question to begin the quest. Then, if students are stuck, the teacher can reference back to what he/she knows the students have been exposed to.
3/4. There are always roadblocks, speed bumps and potholes in any new endeavor like questing. I cannot say that I am well versed in the proposed Ed law 2.D, but I can see where student information privacy concerns can come in to play when using various online resources. Likewise, I wonder what parent reactions would be to some of the networking efforts.

Lisa Shoop

4/2/2019 12:39:03 pm

-The section that shows how students used the essential questions to create their driving questions was insightful. I always had essential questions for my lessons, and it’s interesting to see how it can lead students to begin thinking more deeply about topics. –I like the section that describes the teacher vs. the student roles. Some challenges might be when teachers have to take a different approach than what they are used to, making them more uncomfortable with the process. Teachers have to know their boundaries and how to give students the support they need in order for this to be successful. –To “question with the students, instead of for them” is a quote that stands out to me and is important for us as teachers to remember when giving students this learning opportunity. –One challenge would be the time required to research forums and wikis to use in order to allow the students to use/create affinity spaces.

Lori Hurtgam

5/23/2019 06:38:10 am

I agree that when you provide students with an essential question at the beginning of the class, it gets them thinking about the lesson. That essential question can help form discussion points and topics of interest for the students from the minute they walk in the door and see that essential question posted.

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