Patrice+S

Day 1: Morning:
 * What are your feelings about video games in general? I have never played video games, but I do not have a problem with them. I am from the pinball/arcade game generation. My own kids love electronic games, however. I like board games such as Scrabble or Clue--boring, huh?!
 * What are your feelings about video games as learning tools? I think that they could be quite effective in the classroom.

Day 1: Afternoon
 * What brings you here? Why are you here? I attended a meeting led by Dr. A at my school and was interested in the concept, plus the fact that it is a new offering.
 * What are you excited about? I am excited about concentrating some time on the computer this summer because I'll have the time.
 * What are you concerned about? I don't know exactly how much time it will take to complete my assignments and I hope that I'll be able to navigate through the program easily. These are, for the moment, unknowns and concerns.

Day 1: Shut Down/Power Off
 * Reflection on anything that happened today, or thoughts you have about your teaching, your students, technology, science and math; whatever. I was amazed by the patience that James, the tech guy, had for all the requests and questions. I was interested in thinking about what my students might have in their hands one day in the future to use and learn that I had created it during a summer workshop. Technology is something that requires time away from the daily schedule of tasks to do, so I am looking forward being more in tuned with the applications and opportunities that it presents.

Morning: How do you use technology in your classroom? I use Movie Maker for literature projects as well as computer skills programs such as reading and writing assignments in Study Island. I also use DVDs on the LCD projector to accompany literature lessons. The way I use technology in my classroom, is using overhead projector, power point presentations, twice a month take students to the computer lab to do some practice(if possible). Students are allow to the use of internet in class to do research.

Midday: How does the technology you currently use enhance your students learning and your teaching? They are highly motivated when these technology applications are utilized. The use of technology in the classroom help my students to undestand mathematical topics in a funner way. The use of internet allow my students the practice of topics teaching in class. The power point presentations help students that are in need of visual instruction.

How do you know? Everyone is involved and interested. I can see more student's participation in class and more interest showing when they are using computers. Also it is a fun way for them to complete assignments.

Shut down / Power off: Today was very excited, I had the opportunity of play with some of the commands (the computer was not working propertly sometimes). Hopefully tomorrow I will not have to many problems. There is a lot a work to do ahead!

Day 3 shutdown/power off Today was the sound day. It was hard to progress because the program kept crashing. The suggestion was made to try "Restart" but the problem continued. It was then time to think about what to have as the beginning of a game as per Dr. Park. We decided to have a forest game with questions asked as the player navigates through the forest environment.

Day 4 shutdown/poweroff Reflection on the day: The new computer arrived, but I was never able to save any work. The first time I asked about this, Dr. A said I wasn't connected to the internet. I connected to the internet and still the problem persisted. Maybe I am not a true "gamer" personality. I will try to be persistent and not get discouraged. It is still a very interesting concept and I hope to get these glitches behind me and push forward.