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Welcome to my Classroom Blog! I hope my presentation isn't boring you to sleep! :)

Opinion Blog- Gaming & Simulations Project

After completing my gaming & simulations research paper, I can definitely say that knowledge was gained. Up until this point, I had never before considered the statistics surrounding gaming in the classroom. As my paper will attest, there has been much research conducted concerning gaming in the classroom and much of it has given results that prove gaming in the classroom is very beneficial to students.
I played WOW and struggled with it at first. The vocabulary is advanced and the skills involved are technical, requiring fluency with math and economics. After playing the game and figuring out the basic navigation and rules, I finally began to grasp how it could be educational in the classroom. It does require skills and can help a child, who is interested enough, gain these skills! Math is involved, reading and economics. You have to use your brain power or you will never succeed. Plus, it is competitive so you will practice and work at it and gain those skills only to do better than your opponents. That makes it perfect for students because it is a lesson in disguise. They would never suspect that they are actually learning things.
After conducting the research and playing the game, I would undoubtedly choose to use technology like this with my students as long as it is grade level appropriate. Gaming is the future and in order to be an effective teacher, I must examine all resources available in give my students the best advantages in the industry of education. So, I give gaming an "a-ok!" because I see the benefits and I know children will love the idea of playing games for school! :)

IBB

YAY!!! A one week expansion!! I needed that desperately!! I am so happy. :)

KTIP/Smart Board Project

WOW!! I can't believe how difficult my smart board project has been!! First of all, I have NO IDEA what I am doing! I don't know if I am the only one, but I couldn't find any instructions on what to do!!! I have never been in a course that just tells you to do a project and give you no clues about what to do it over. But, I guess this is our instructors way of challenging us??

First of all, I had trouble downloading the smart board software. My computer recognized it as a malicious software and denied it. So, I had to turn off my virus protection just to download it. It took me some time to figure out how to fix that issue.

Overall, I've had a rough start on my project, considering the issues I have been facing. But, my project is nearly finished and I plan to tweak it tonight and get it turned in. I went into this project with nothing but a rubric so I hope my grade does not reflect the utter confusion I faced with this project. I hope all of you had it easier than I did!!

When I complete my assignment tonight, I will post another blog with my progress!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!! :)

Fun vs. Education

I believe that fun should be in every aspect of everyone’s lives, but most importantly, the idea of fun should be available in the classrooms of every school system in the World. I am not suggesting that every school should have an extravagant carnival that is readily available to children whenever they become bored or meaningless video games in every classroom to rot away the brain cells. What I am saying is that learning should not be kept at the traditional level of monotony that most of us are used to. Children need something exciting and pleasurable to help the learning process. I think it is unrealistic to think that every child should be able to survive an entire school day without something amusing thrown in to break up the tedium! I certainly could not do such a thing, even as an adult. A child is more likely to retain information that is presented in a unique and fun way. Playing educational games is a great strategy to promote memorization of certain subjects and to keep children interested in the lesson. It is common sense! But, I think that there should always be an educational component when children are having fun. Besides the traditional recess, which gives children a break from learning all together, I think that all fun should have an educational purpose when it is occurring in the school setting. If every teacher lived by this rule, most children would associate learning with fun, so they would be more prone to be interested in all of their learning endeavors. This is how I feel pertaining to the whole fun vs. education debate. :)

Hello!!

Hello out there, blogger land! My name is Toni and I am 21 years old. I can't wait to become an elementary teacher. I am insanely happy and in love with my wonderful husband. I have one step-daughter, whom I adore and so far, no children of my own. I have two chocolate lab puppies, two cats and a whole bunch of crazy chickens. That is pretty much me, in a tiny nutshell. :)