Reflection on Karl Kapp's Gamification Video

Karl Kapp describes gamification as a motivator for students to learn. He starts by describing a physical game board and its elements which all come together to create a fun environment. Then he takes the elements he described and puts them into technological terms such as game pieces become "avatars". The idea is, as long as the game has competition and cooperation, students will be excited to learn. Interestingly, he mentions that the word "gamification" was coined in 2002 by Nick Pelling but did not catch on until 2010. Even as I write this, spell check does not recognize the word "gamification". He also explains that learning games and simulations are not considered gamification. Instead, he describes gamification as a continuum ranging from points being added to an activity, to playing a game of real life HALO.

Before I saw this video, I was still skeptical about the benefits of gamification in the classroom, even if I have been immersed in gamification all semester. However, he made me hopeful that I can incorporate gamification into my literature classes to hopefully get students engaged in read a text. Getting a student to read their texts is going to be the hardest part of being a literature teacher because without reading the texts, there is no point in teaching a lesson for the text. I would use the leader board example that Kapp talks about. I will create short quizzes after each reading and create a leader board in which at the end of each week, the student with the most points would win a prize. His video has really inspired me to create ideas for gamification in my classroom and I can not wait to implement them.

website used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=21&v=BqyvUvxOx0M

Informing Students About Drugs

Nancy Barile's, "Educating Teens About Drugs--The National Institution on Drug Abuse" discusses being a teacher and seeing students abusing drugs all around her. She realizes that the 70s aided in the perception of drugs, glorifying them as something that cool and laid back people do. Parents often try to alert their children of the dangers of drugs when they are young, but this often is not enough. Barile mentioned that the books, "Go Ask Alice" and "Jay's Journal" are novels that describe the lives of drug abusers in vivid terms. These books are sometimes enough to scare a child away from drugs. However, when this is not enough, Barile recommends the website, Scholastic's Heads Up, which provides a lot of information on drug statistics, videos and real life stories.

Barile also recommends Al-anon and Alateen facilities to help teens with drug problems. Often times teachers will not know what to do with students they suspect are on drugs. Taking the time to establish an open and trusting relationship with students is important for teachers. Students who do not have good relationships with their parents need to know they can turn to someone, and I believe that it is a teacher's job to act as a second parent when at school.
 
website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom-solutions/2011/02/nida

Teaching Students with Autism

I am currently taking a class about educating students with special needs. The information I am learning in that class has caused me to take great interest in finding out more about autism. So when I saw Kim Greene's blog post, "Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder," I was very interested in learning more. She explains that in today's schools one in every 68 students are diagnosed on the autism spectrum, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention . In addition, boys at five times as more likely to be autistic than girls. Because autism appears in many forms and difficulties, a spectrum has been created for diagnoses called the DSM-5. Putting a student on the spectrum helps to decide what type of services are needed for the child.
This article interested me because it stated that apps can be used for some children with autism. I found this interesting because I was always under the impression that technology was a difficult thing for those with autism to grasp. However, technology is used diligently because doctors do not want students with autism to use it as a crutch.
Greene then goes on to list strategies to work with and teach a student with autism. The first is using visuals such as "if/then" cards to promote good behavior because often times people with autism do not understand social cues and rules to be courteous in public. A structured day also helps a person with autism not to get distracted or feel uncomfortable moving about their day. To improve social skills, teachers can tell stories that make learning them relatable to the student. Two other strategies are keeping lessons simple and taking breaks as to not overwhelm a student.
Reading about these strategies was very interesting because they seem simple and like common sense for some people but integrating these strategies into teaching takes understanding and patience. The more I learn about autism, the more I would like to teach students in special needs classes.

website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/supporting-students-autism-specturm-disorder

Undocument Students and Their Relationship with Schools

A recent lesson was taught in on of my education courses about undocumented students. In this class we heard a story about a student who found out he was undocumented when he went to go apply for a passport because his school was taking a trip to Japan. He was shocked to find out his documents were not real and turned to his favorite teacher for help. She immediately changed the trip destination from Japan to Hawaii so he could go. Teachers like these inspire me because when she found out she had an undocumented student, instead of turning him into the authorities, she did her job as an educator and did her best to educate him to the highest degree.

"The Silent Problem: The Plight of the Undocumented Student" by Nancy Barile sheds light on a problem that almost all undocumented students face. After graduation, many undocumented students are unable to receive scholarships to afford college, therefore they do not go to college. Barile's research found that an estimated 65,000 students out of the 2.8 million that graduate will not go to college based on being undocumented. Only ten states allow undocumented students to apply for in-state tuition , while the rest make these students pay the international cost.

The Dream Act is a bill that, if passed would help many undocumented students to obtain citizenship and attend college under the in-state tuition category within a six year time period.
As a future teacher I believe all kids deserve the chance to learn. Most undocumented students are brought tot he United States at a young age, they can not help if they do not have proper documentation. Helping them to get it would help hard working students to receive the opportunities they deserve and help the United States utilize all their hard working citizens.

website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom-solutions/2010/09/silent-problem-plight-undocumented-student

Good Behavior

Alison Baker's blog post, "Child Behavior: Tactic for Good Behavior" discuss strategies to get students to behave well. The targeted age for these tactics is Grades Pre K-8th, however, they can still be used for high school students. Her first strategy is the use of rewards in classroom such as stickers, praise and prizes. In the high school setting when stickers do not really cover it anymore, there are still ways to motivate students. I know that I was motivated with simple praise because if a teacher liked my work I would not want to disappoint their expectations on the next assignment. There is also the strategy of offering bonus points for good behavior and well written assignments. If students know that they can get bonus points to add toward future assignments they may not do well on, is an incentive or them to try hard and behave well.

For chatty classroom, she encourages praise for good behavior again, but also notes that teachers should look at the layout of the classroom to see if moving students around would help stop the chatter. I know that when I was in high school, it became apparent after the first week, who the best friends in the class were. Moving the students around without targeting them specifically would provide a nonchalant way of stopping the talking. If students know they are being moved for a specific reason, this may cause resentment and resentment would not encourage goof behavior.

Finally, she explains that asking elementary school children why they are upset during a tantrum may not be the best tactic. Instead, offering opportunities to calm themselves down such as grabbing a drink of water or taking deep breaths with the teacher could help. For high school students, I would recommend having them take a drink of water, that way they can leave class to calm down without feeling like all eyes are on them. This could be risky depending on what they are upset about because if the student is angry at another student in the school, they could leave the class to go find them. Therefore, assessing the situation for high school students is important.

website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/child-behavior-tactics-good-behavior

Technology and At Risk Students

Dr. Frank Smith's article "5 Strategies to Reach At Risk Students with Technology" shows that students do not all learn in the same way. Technology helped students that were in risk of failing by engaging them in ways that they had never been engaged before. Smith explains that availability of devices and a strong internet connection is important because those students who learn better with devices will need them to be available. Another strategy is to use the technology in a way that will use the students creativity and get them engaged instead of spouting out information. This was an important strategy in my opinion because I remember an online class I had that required us to sit and watch hour long lectures then answer questions about it. There was no time in the lecture for me to be involved or do an activity that would help me remember the information, therefore I hated the class. Another important strategy was to make sure the teacher is still involved and helpful while the students use the devices because this promote trust in teachers and makes the student know that the teacher is always there for questions or for synthesizing information that may not make a connection with the student simply through the device. Finally, Smith says that showing students how technology can create things will engage those learners who need hands on experience with materials. He references a study in which students grasped material better when creating a website about it as opposed to students who wrote a research paper about it.

Website Used: from Twitter http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2014/09/5-strategies-reach-risk-students-technology

Gamification and Standardized Testing

Nancy Barile has the right idea in using gamification to review for Standardized Testing Week. Instead of intensely trying to hammer the information into her students last minute and stressing everyone out in the process, she makes reviewing fun. In her blog entitled, "Getting in the (State Testing) Game" she describes using a trivia game that gets all of her students involved to review key concepts that they might have shown weakness in during previous testing. Students are in groups but each student must answer one question in a pile of questions before the next student can answer a question. The first team to get through their pile of questions wins. She uses this game through out the year and I definitely feel her strategy follows the intent of gamification perfectly. Students remain engaged in learning and  reviewing in a fun and memorable way that will definitely help recall ability when taking a test. Instead of sitting through a boring lecture, students will want to know why they got a question wrong in the game, therefore promoting interest in a topic. Her game is called MCAS and there is a link in her blog in which an example of the game is given for any teachers that want to follow her lead.

Website Used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom-solutions/2010/10/state-testing-just-one-big-game