To Learn Twice

Last Friday, after the district institute, we had a round table discussion with Chris Dede and David Thornburg. Here are the highlights: Topics Discussed in the Roundtable Discussion: Games and Education: There can be real power in the engagement level of kids playing games. However, the transition from using them as a form of entertainment to that of an instructional tool has not been successful. Referenced several projects: River City: http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/ NASA’s MMO Proposal: http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo/ Lucas Learning: http://www.lucaslearning.com/ Additional Resources: Gaming helps students hone 21st-century skills: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?print&i=53586 Video – Video Games in Education http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6117726917684965691 Marc Prensky Videogame & Education References: http://www.marcprensky.com/dgbl/Prensky%20-%20Selected%20URLs(web).htm Cell...

Ran across this site called brainfood that has logic puzzles and it reminded me of how I used to start my class periods. Many times I would have a logic puzzle on the board or a question of the day. It gave the students something to think about while I took attendance and put their focus on what we were about to do. Especially in my chemistry classes where logical thinking got you further than memorizing the periodic table. This gets me thinking again about the skill based approach. What should I have been more concerned about as a chemistry teacher? I did make it a habit of telling my students that they should take chemistry because it taught you how to logically think through complex problems and find abstract relationships. I don't know how I came up with that, or where it came from, but I remember saying it a lot. I would tell my students that it really wouldn't matter for most of them if they could "do chemistry" later in life - what mattered was if they ...

I spent 10 minutes today correctly identifying 100 words at http://freerice.com/ For my time of brushing up on a few words and making myself a little smarter I donated 1000 grains of rice through the United Nations. It is pretty fun and is basically a creative billboard, but it also serves to show that games work. I wouldn't have stuck around as long as I did if a little game wasn't at work here. Plus I felt good every time I got a word right. Seeing as that it is very similar to many of the vocabulary tests that show up in standardized tests I could also see this used as a tool in the classroom. Maybe an enrichment exercize or as part of a center.