How games teach students best.

How games teach students best.

Posted by Unknown

The Art and Science of Teaching / Using Games to Enhance Student Achievement

"Games are a regular part of students' lives, no matter what their grade level. Students play games throughout the day on their computers, the Internet, and their cell phones. One of the few places they don't regularly play games is in their classrooms. Although some teachers use games as a part of their instructional repertoire, most teachers do not, and those who do include them may not be using them to their potential."

I found this article by the  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development very relevant because it says exactly what we have been trying to. Kids like games; introducing games into the classroom is an effective way of keeping them interested in their learning. 

This article did not discuss specific effective games but it did give ideas for making games more effective which included...not making the stakes too high, targeting specific topics with the game, and asking what students thought of the games. 

Future Plans: Victoria

Future Plans: Victoria

Posted by Unknown

I will be keeping the same character/narrative in my writing. I would like to make my writing more "professional" by introducing more of the techniques of journalism that I have learned of. I think it would be very interesting to introduce the modern techniques I have been working on. I actually just made this one on easel.ly. I could probably make more and produce news in this format.

Goals for Future

Goals for Future

Posted by Unknown

• New post by January
• I might start over
• Continue project

Analysis for the first love and hate

Analysis for the first love and hate

Posted by Unknown

I'm going to be analyzing everyone's story today. 


Victoria- I like what your saying in your post and I found it really interesting, but I don't really see how love and hate play in there. I don't know if I'm slow and don't see it or what but I need someone to explain to me where the love and hate is. Or maybe it's because it's the first chapter... I don't know.

Ryan- I get where the love and hate are I guess but it's really short and there isn't a lot going on. Maybe it's just the style of writing but I don't find myself wanting to read more I think that if you continue with that same story you should add some action.  I missed the setting other than the bell ringing which hinted that it was school. Other than that I think it was pretty well described with what was going on.

Jordan- I really like what your doing with the story and the way you added the definition at the top. I don't really have any complaints except that I would like to know how you got the jar of words. Did he create it himself or did someone give it to him?  Like maybe the character's  father passed and he left them this in his will just something like that to kind of give it  a background.

Victoria analyzes the love...and hate

Victoria analyzes the love...and hate

Posted by Unknown

The beginning of the end

The premise of the story isn’t terrible but I feel it could be improved greatly. Love and hate don’t seem to be introduced here very well. Because of the lack of theme, this story breaks the cohesion created by the other three. Although  I enjoy the premise this story appears to be almost exactly like so many young adult books being written. In order to make this story more original an element should be added that is unique from stories of this nature.

Chapter 1

I like how this story is written. Although it is short, the language used makes me want to continue reading. It will be interesting to see how this translates into video games. In order to more easily translate this story the setting should be elaborated on more.

Chapter One – Beginning

Jordans story has a very interesting premise. I have never really seen any stories that really relate to this one. The way it is written is very good but I would like to learn more about the main character. His story will continue to be interesting as long as his character creates a strong “bond” with the word he is studying.

I'm Jordan, I'm Helping! A Helpful Analysis of Progress

I'm Jordan, I'm Helping! A Helpful Analysis of Progress

Posted by Unknown

Hey all! Today, I'll be analyzing everyone's progress and our overall progress. Note that the posted content changes weekly; we'll post stories one week and analyses another week.

– Jordan: I suppose I have some personal bias in regards to myself, but I believe that I am doing a decent job for what it's worth. I enjoy my story topic and the way I execute it. If I begin to have problems then I'll be sure to post.

– Victoria: Above par chapter length, interesting lead-in chapter. Overall very impressed, not much else to say on that note.

– Ryan: I feel like your content could be longer and more immersive. Currently I have no idea where your story is going to go from where you have started, or how it relates to your individual topic. Though, you might have already planned to make it relate to your topic in the coming chapters. Once those things are fixed, I'm sure your story will be great. Oh, and don't forget to tag your posts. You forgot again on your analysis.

– Lindsey: I enjoy how immersive your content is, even though it is only the first chapter. I would enjoy it if it was a tiny bit longer, and I have noticed several grammatical issues that could be resolved. Good work so far.

– Overall group progress: I'm liking how the group is progressing, and I am interested  to see where our stories go from here. Keep up the excellent work, and I can't wait to hear your group analyses!

1st Analysis of Group Productivity

1st Analysis of Group Productivity

Posted by Unknown

          I feel like we are on the right track with our project, even though we had a late start. We could have worked a little better as a group in terms of communicating; sometimes we were all just doing our own thing. I think that everyone has a good idea of what they're writing about and the theme they're going to present. Currently, there aren't really any bad problems to fix.