never enough time

I've decided my lack of interest in games has to do with time. I never seem to have enough time to complete the everyday tasks required of me. When you throw game playing time into the mix, I literally feel like everything begins spinning out of control. All summer long I have thoroughly enjoyed playing Farmtown on Facebook. When my family went to bed, I immediately headed to the computer to check the state of things on "my farm." Now, playing Farmtown has become a chore. I was all set to shut the computer down for the night in utter exhaustion, when I remembered I had crops to harvest. I wouldn't want my crops to go to waste because they cost me a lot of points/coins to plant. I had to wait for what seemed like forever for my crops to be harvested and then for my fields to be planted. My initial thought was,"I'm not re-planting, it takes too long. I'm just going to have to quit Farmtown. I can't keep up anymore." I feel like games just suck the very life out of me as they eat away all of my time. Maybe this is why I sometimes hesitate to introduce new games, even board games and center games, into the classroom - I worry about the time they will take. So much of my instructional time gets 'eaten' in transition that I don't think there's time for one extra thing no matter how big or how small. My biggest obstacle to conquer in bringing more games into my classroom is time . . . . I struggle with the idea that taking time to introduce new games will make significant improvements in instruction and learning. So maybe for a final project, I need to do a mini research project to determine if an increase in game time results in an increase in learning???

the sims

I've spent the last several days playing "The Sims." I am still not a big fan of games and am frustrated with the amount of time it takes to play Sims, but I am determined to be successful at it. As of right now, my characters are out of money, too depressed to find jobs, and living in too small of a space. Somehow, I have to fix their situation. Once I get that far, I'll be able to quit wasting my time with it.

not a gamer

I realized today why I am not a proficient gamer . . . . I don't like to play computer/videos games! I spent all of yesterday evening trying to figure out and play "The Sims." I've spent all morning "working" at Farmtown. I found myself getting bored and frustrated. When it comes to children, I have mountains of patience, when it comes to computers, programs, and equipment, I have no patience. I realized that I find hours of "tedious" computer time exhausting and painful. After a while, the on-screen movement of games makes me nauseous. I don't like sitting still for so long when I have mounds of house work piled aroune me and a child that is demanding my attention. I am not discrediting the educational value of games and simulations. I am certain of their contextual, educational value for those who enjoy them. There are many discussions and debates on instilling a love of reading in children. The bottom line is that no matter what we do, some people will NEVER love books. We must still teach those children to read, but we cannot expect them to embrace a love of reading and books. While I believe children need to be exposed to games and simulations for the experience and educational value, I also recognize that just like with reading, we cannot expect all children to find such activities enjoyable and beneficial. It boils down to what quality educators have known for years . . . .you have to know your students, you must know how they learn and what makes them tick, and then we must use that knowledge to give our students the quality education they deserve.

After taking an entire day to play "catch up" with my classes, I am still behind (although the gap is closing!). To relax this evening, I worked my farm in "farmtown." I had left my fields empty when school started so that I wouldn't lose any crops. All of my fruit trees were ready to harvest. This is probably the closest thing to a video game addiction that I have. Farmtown is seemingly the only place I can keep things neat and accomplished. I realized as I was working my farm tonight, that this particular simulation could be very educational in the right setting. To own a farmtown farm, you must create an avatar and begin building your farm. Through the course of the game, you plant, harvest, and sell your crops. You can also choose to purchase buildings, fence, animals, etc. You select "neighbors" and visit their farms to help them work and earn points. You really have to think about what crops you plant, when you harvest, etc. There is also an option to work at other farms for money. You can be hired to plow and harvest at others' farms. The competetiveness of this game depends on the player. For some people, they have to beat their neighbors level on farmtown. For me, I love pushing myself to the next level so I can have more choices of crops and plant and buildings to purchase. I can see this being used in an economics class to reinforce learning about money managment, spending, and developing economic communities.

resource

Tonight, I discovered a new gaming resource - my sister-in-law! Apparently she is an avid gamer. When I asked her if she coul tell me anything about Sims, she produced several versions of the game that she owned. She was also able to give me quite a bit of background about the game as well as offer suggestions for several other games I could try. I am feeling so incredibly overwhelmed with this class, and it was slightly reassuring knowing I had someone to ask for help. I feel overwhelmed with the idea of gaming. It has been such a mental block for me that I am REALLY, REALLY struggling to find and play games. Even the universal gaming computer has been a challenge for me to navigate and understand. Evidently I'll be learning far more in this class than I bargained for!

class chat

Yesterday the following question was posed toward the end of class:

"Do your classes reflect these ideas? fast paced, interactive, more tech, more digital lessons, use games, engage, less paper and books, more hands-on, make classes look like internet cafes, varied instruction, demonstration of content through tech"

While my classroom does reflect those ideas at time, I do not consistenly demonstrate those elements in teaching. At the first grade level, it is easy to incorporate more hands-on activities, use more technology, and use a variety of instruction. It is difficult to create a fast paced learning environment when there are so many other needs among my population of students. We are busy dealing with major behavior issues, students who cannot write more than the first letter of their name. While my students are "digital natives" with a lot of game experience, I am finding that 30% of my class has little to no computer experience, so we spend a lot of time learning how to turn on a computer, log in to programs, and navigate through the choice of games. After reading Prensky's articles, I am developing the belief that I need to differentiate my computer instruction and adapt technology use in lessons to reach those that are strong digital natives and those are a form of digital immigrant.

play station 2 experience

I finally succumed to the pressure and played my husband's play station 2. We had a very limited selection of games at our house: basketball and football. Biggest problem: my husband. He just couldn't stand it that I didn't invite him to play along with me. He was insistent on showing me how to play the game. While I appreciate his efforts to teach me, he didn't seem to want to give up the controller. Because I was learning the controller (which is another issue entirely) I played rather poorly, and he simply had to keep taking the controller back to try to improve my score at the game. I didn't truly get a chance to practice and learn the game until he left the room. When it comes to games, I think he is more of a digital native than a digital immigrant. I, on the other hand, am an immigrant still on the arriving ship when it comes to games!

I've been thinking about how digital immigrants can come from such different cultures. No matter how immersed we may be in technology there are times when our first culture rears its ugly head. Today we had a "cultural" battle at my house. To understand, one must first have some background on the digital immigrants in our home and the cultures for which we emerged. I grew up in a home where video games were strongly discouraged yet we had one of the first computers in our area. My dad had a career in electronics and was always on the 'cutting edge' of computer literacy and technology. In our home, we were taught to embrace new technology and make it work for us in the best possible way. My husband grew up in a home where gaming was a family event but computers were considered a little frightening. He spent most of his time with his grandmother who to this day cannot work a calculator no matter how many times we try to show her; DVD players and VCRs are incomprehensible to her. In my husband's home, the general idea was to fear all technology until it had been thoroughly read about, and used by a variety of users in a variety of circumstances. Today, our culture of origin reared its ugly head and drew our battle lines. We purchased a new riding lawn mower. I am ecstatic about this and have had to do some fast convincing to even get my husband to the store to THINK about such a purchase. My digital immigrant husband has never been on a riding lawn mower in his life and the jury is still out on whether or not he'll get on our newly purchased lawn mower. THe mower was delivered a week ago. Since delivery, my husband has poured over the instruction manual learning about all the various features and how they work. Today was th BIG Day - we were going to break in our new mower. I jump on the mower having no idea where anything actually is planning to learn as I went. (because in my culture, you always made a good, healthy attempt before reading any instructions) My husband stands over me with all the instruction booklets in hand declaring that he is certain he will cut his foot off with this thing. Needless to say, I initiated our new mower today while my husband is still pondering if this was a safe purchase. Do digital immigrants exist? Yes, come spend a day at my house. Is there a vast range of cultural differences among immigrants? Asolutely, not everyone has embraced the technology movement with open arms. Can two digital immigrants of varying degrees still raise a digital native? That is yet to be seen . . . if my daughter can find a balance between her technology fearful dad and her "know just enough to be dangerous" mother, she just might turn out to be an ok digital native.

games

As I've read blogs posted by classmates, I've had the opportunity to rethink my gaming experience. My original post regarding gaming exprience was that I had none. If "gaming" is an all inclusive term, then I will confess to being a gaming nut. Growing up, we played a lot of board games. My sister is quite a bit older than me, so board games seemed to be the only way for us to play together and not be bored out of our guts. There were a couple of very strict gaming rules in our house - absolutely NO video games of any kind (probably why I am not very experienced and even a little afraid of them) and NO card games of any kind (when I came home from a friend excited about my first game of Old Maid, my dad flipped!) At one time we did have an Atari (sp?), but my mom felt like my sister became too much of a zombie when she played, so the Atari didn't last long in our house. Sorry was our favorite game for my sister and I to play together. During the summer, while my sister baby-sat me we played Sorry for hours. On family nights we would play Monopoly and Taboo. I can remember playing Family Feud and Oregon Trail for hours on the computer. My sister found those games rather boring, so I never had to worry about fussing with her for my turn. We played Scrabble occassionally, but my family tended to bore easily with that. When I went to college, I found a new love for Scrabble. I went to college in the same town where my mom's brother's family lived. Our family was always close, so naturally, I spent every weekend at their home. Their boys (my cousins) were quite a bit older than me. Both were married and would come with their kids to visit on the weekends also. We would have a HUGE family Scrabble tournament. It was fantastic! There were so many of us that we played in teams and we made up our own variations of the games. Hillbilly Scrabble was the best. The rules of Hillbilly Scrabble were that any word was fair game and you had to spell the word exactly the way you said it, and no matter what the word (or non-word) it counted. We were serious players. We played strategically for points, and we played to win. Since then my uncle has passed away, and my cousins and I are now scattered across the country. On the holidays when we do get together, we still try our harderst to set aside time for a Scrabble game though it doesn't always work out. I have tried to spread my excitement for Scrabble to my sister, brother-in-law, and husband. It must not be contagious enough because none of them like it. My husband swears I'm way too competetive. Since my husband prefers games that require slightly less thinking, we've resorted to Battleship, Scene It, and Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader. So I am a gamer, just a more traditional one.

Games?

I am not a gamer - at all. I wouldn't know how to play a video game if you held a gun to my head. My gaming experiences involve board games such as Sorry, Monopoly, Taboo, Battleship, and my all time favorite - Scrabble. I need some suggestions for online games to get me acquainted with the gaming world. Something simple to start with would be great. Can anyone point me in that direction??

introduction

I am a first grade teacher in my 8th year of teaching at Charles Russell Elementary in Ashland, KY. I have been married for 3 years and have a beautiful 2-year-old daughter who can be quite a handful!

I received my undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University in Mt. Vernon, OH. My masters degree in Library Media is from Marshall University. I began work on my Rank I in Educational Technology this summer and hope to complete it by next summer. I probably won't have a shred of sanity left by that time.