Sun., May 28, 2017 - Lost & Found

Lost & Found - Sun., May 28, 2017

As a principal, teacher, and aunt,  I always believed that “gaming” and virtual reality was wrong.  Board games, i.e. Monopoly, Scrabble were the ONLY real games.  The “other” games were unhealthy and going to make killers of our youth.  (Of that last part,  some of that may sadly be true.)

So I was recently introduced to Jokaydia Grid and Second Life as part of a tech grad class I  am taking, and this post is an assignment, enjoyable though it is.  My first adventure into "virtual games" was exhilarating, petrifying, and addictive.  In Second Life I arrived and started on the "introduction" which helped me feel more confident in myself as an avatar there.  I kept getting passed by other avatars, so I started to remember what it was like in elementary school when I couldn't catch on to a new topic.  I could not jump no matter what I did.  I did what the screen said, but something else happened  overtime.

In Jokaydia Grid, When I first entered the world as an “avatar”  I felt literally lost.  I had no idea how to walk, run, much less fly.  I could feel my heart beating faster as I thought, “I don’t know what to do.” I started wondering around, but very slowly, very cautiously.  Like the real world, new places can be scary.  Luckily after a while, I ran into a teacher who helped me “find my way,” again just like reality.  I was lost, but then found. It was "safe." She had to leave, but I continued to explore. I now understand why students love this realm!  

Here’s a few photos of myself while I waited for friends to join me.  

I recently read a great article:  What is Gamification and in it, is this amazing Ted Talk, which you can view here. This is such a strange new world, but one I'm going to enjoy learning about and having great conversations with my students about! I'll be sharing more of my revelations about this experience as the course progresses! In the meantime, if you haven't gamed, why not?

Hope for the Sunlight - Sat., May 6, 2017

Hope for the Sunlight - Sat., May 6, 2017

Hope for the Sunlight.  Losing a student is such a painful experience.  It makes you even more appreciative of the present and the moments that you have.  You look at every student and listen a lot closer when you realize that the moments that you have with them are finite.  The days that I had as S.'s teacher were some of the sweetest - small classroom and lots of hands-on learning.  Our school had him for seven years of his life, and his presence lives on everywhere on  our school murals.

Here's the  VISION for the school that I'm blessed to be leading.  Your comments are always welcome!