Tying up loose ends...

Last week was a bit hectic as the much-anticipated and feared date of the game presentations neared. We also had visitors from Globalora staff and Texas who came to see how Globaloria works within the middle school setting. Students willingly shared their insights into Globaloria, what they learned, how it helped them work better in groups and become more familiar with Web 2.0 tools.

Wednesday, the day of our presentations, was both nerve-wrecking and rewarding. The students have put in a lot of work during class hours, after their lunch, and after school. Even though their games were not completed, the game presentations were engaging and well prepared for. Every group member, even the shyest one, contributed to the presentation. To share the student success and the results of their hard work, Sara and I invited our county assistant superintendent and technology integration specialist to be on the panel of judges. We also had a teacher from another middle school from the county come and videotape the presentation. Of course, our administration was present, supporting the students.

Even though the presentations are over, we still have a lot of work to do. The students have to assemble their games, and with Jeff's help, they are slowly moving to their goal. Even though student motivation is there, we still promised to bring cookies and milk (their choice!) for the groups who upload their finished games to the game gallery by next Friday! Middle school bribing sometimes works magic :) Blogging, organizing pages, and finalizing games is all that's needed to successfully finish up the year.

The time we spent in our first year of Globaloria was challenging, highly educational, and very rewarding for the students who embraced the 21st century learning skills and tools and have come out being ready for challenges future might bring them!