12/3/16

“Mascle: Why Gamification?” I really loved the idea of gamification, I believe the write has a great idea behind the theory of gamification. It’s sounds like a very persuaded system. I would use it because the students have a goal though out the entire year that they have to meet, which makes it hard for them to just settle for a grade. “I have found that once a grade is given that all learning stops. Students stop working and move on mentally. Gamification is a much better match for my goals for my students than a traditional classroom grading structure because we can use badges to mark progress or achievements without stopping the forward momentum.” I highly agree with this, students tend to settle and relax once grades are posted, they don’t seem to want to try as much, at least I was one of those students who thought that way! If I had a goal to achieve I wanted to do everything I could to meet those goal requirements. I think a lot of students feel that way. Writing is super important, so if it gives students more of a writing structure that would benefit the teacher as well as the student. If you made a game out of the achieving goals, the students who get the highest achievements earn a prize more students will fight to win and work hard to gain badges. Gamification sounds like a system that could really get students involved, winning prizes might not be the best idea, but even if you don’t win prizes then it still pushes students to work harder in class, making learning fun and enjoyable with something to look forward to in the end.

“Mascle: Students Respect the Badge.” I never noticed the importance to blogging, but turns out it is very important for many reasons. First, its important because it gives students extra practice for writing skills. Second, it’s important because it keeps students on track, and the teacher also knows that the students are understanding what’s going on in class. I believe that writing requires a lot, but even small blogs just getting the mind working and thinking about writing would also be an okay idea! I remember in high school when we worked on blogs we would blog then review a couple blogs in class together, point out a couple important points over what we read and different ideas each student had, which I feel to be a great idea! I would do that for my classroom! I don’t believe that writing a lot every single day is what you need to do to get the point of how important writing is. That’s my own opinion though.  My understanding of this blog is to let the students engage in blog posting, and comment when asked by the students if they have a question comment that entitles you to reply. I also think if you go about it that way to have the students comment to each other and interact with one another through blog posting which is what this article is mainly talking about. When we did the class blog post and people could see who said what when she would put it on the screen for us to see, we tended to work harder because we didn’t want to be judged by other classmates. We would think of ways to make our blog sound smart and sophisticated. The best thing was when the teacher talked about your blog out loud to the class making points from what you said. In this article she talks about how she gives B’s to students who blog post regularly, but to get an A you have to be judged. I don’t know how I feel about this because some students try super hard and just still don’t have outstanding work, so to have other students judging your work could be offensive towards students who feel like they are working hard just can’t make the cut. I don’t see that being fair. If you know your students, you know the ones who work hard and try their hardest, you know the students who are lazy and don’t try at all, and you know the ones who always do outstanding that you don’t have to worry about them. I think it should be based off of how well you feel they did! You can tell when a student bull craps something, you should go off of the person, and how well you know them and their work. The badge is a great idea, and I support the theory behind it 100% but I think the teacher and the students themselves need to figure out a system that works for both of them, I think you will get more out of a student that way.

My Personal Opinion with These Topics: I love the idea of gamification using the badges, along with having student use blogs, I just don’t agree with everything entirely. If I were to use gamification and badges, I would like to make the students set a goal, or I would set the goals for the students to achieve by the end of the semester/year. I would even have my students blogging as a part of my classroom, I find it really important. Being the student, I hated blogging and never seen the point, but learning about it, and actually seeing how important it is to writing! Every student is different, not every student is able to achieve the same goal as others, with that being said you could try different things with students and badges and it would be making teaching and learning more effective for everyone. Reading and Writing is important to a student’s learning ability, so finding different site and make things easier to understand is also a great idea instead of doing the basic grading system. Adding challenges to learning and goals is very important to students because it could help with future life choices. Knowing you always have a goal and you must always achieve that goal could take a student a long way.

11/12/16

Branch “Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”.

Snowfall: I don’t think I could ever imagine being stuck in an avalanche, the lady in the video describing it as hard to breathe. I would never want to feel like I was suffocating in snow, or suffocating at all. She was covering in snow and trying to figure out ways to get out of such a horrifying situation. She went out that day set on being able to ski and have a good time! She was laying on her, her face was looking down the hill. She felt all the snow weighing on her legs, but couldn’t move them. Her head was stuck in the ice so she was not able to move it.  Trying to wipe the snow from her face, only being able to see the clouds. The articles describe her as being mummified which to me would just be an understatement to how she probably actually felt! “Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic. Breathe easy, she told herself. Do not panic. Help will come. She stared at the low, gray clouds. She had not noticed the noise as she hurtled down the mountain. Now, she was suddenly struck by the silence.”

Tunnel Creek: “In late February 1910, ceaseless snowstorms over several days marooned two passenger trains just outside the tunnel’s west portal. Before the tracks could be cleared, the trains were buried by what still stands as the nation’s deadliest avalanche. It killed 96 people.” Bodies were taken and wrapped in blankets, then had to be taken away on sleds. Unfortunately, some people were not found until months later when the snow melted. Could you imagine how those families were feelings. Knowing they were on a train, that train, and not able to be found. Their bodies rotting away from frost bite. I couldn’t not even come close to thinking about how that would make me feel, knowing they couldn’t find my relative and they had to stay there until the snow was gone! “Powder and people are key ingredients for avalanches,” to me this statement means that the more people that go on the avalanche to ski and mess around on, the more the snow loosens and begins to fall causing an avalanche, although tunnel creek is free for everyone to go up on those mountains. In 2011 a student from the University of Washington was drug into trees, although his friends unburied him within a few minutes, he was still found dead. “I’ve always been a naysayer of Tunnel Creek,” the snowboarder Tim Wesley said. “I’ve seen a big avalanche back there before. It has about 2,600 vertical feet. Not typical. The snow changes a lot in that distance. That’s the reason I always have a second thought about Tunnel Creek. In Washington, there’s a saying: If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. And it’s true. You’ll be on the chair and it’ll be freezing, and then all of a sudden there’s a warm breeze that smells like the ocean.” Tunnel creek doesn’t sound very safe; id recommend to stay away from there.

Hutchinson “Exploring The Use of IPad for Literacy and Learning.”

IPad: Using iPad in class could be a really good idea! You could put twitter into play with the iPad by using it as a ticket out the door, or they could type their papers through it. I personally think using a computer would be better than using an iPad only because a computer is more convenient and easier to use then an iPad, its bigger and more compatible with typing and writing papers. Using a device could increase the students learning ability because, students are very involved with phones, iPads, computers, etc. I feel like giving them an iPad and letting them use them to do school work, will bring the students in to focus and actually want to work because they are using a device they find interesting for themselves rather than just paper and a pencil. It is also a possibility to look up educational games for the students, engaging them in activities that are fun and exciting, students are more willing to participate and come to class if learning becomes fun for them! If a student isn’t understanding a word, instead of feeling embarrassed they can look it up and get a general understanding about what is going on in class. Putting a lock on the iPad is also a good idea because students will be getting on Facebook and other social media at inappropriate times, making sure the students stay on task and only getting on what they are supposed to, or educational sites would be advisable. That way, the students are focusing, as well as the teacher isn’t having to worry about them not paying attention to what’s going on in class. I don’t know if this idea is possible but it would be a good idea for the teacher to be able to monitor the devices from her computer, if the students know that their teacher has access as to what they are on they are more opt to stay on what they are supposed to because they will get talked to if they don’t. When I become a teacher I would like to see my students use an iPad, I would like to make using the iPad fun for all students. Making sure my students stay on task! “One way the iPad provides potentially useful opportunities for literacy classrooms is through digital, interactive books. However, it is important to consider that digital texts, as compared with printed texts, offer different affordances that create new modes of reading and writing” the reason I quoted this sentence is because I feel that this describes what I have said through this entire paragraph, using devices could be great for trial and error and great for the opportunity to see growth in students!