With only eight weeks left of school, it has become vital for me to reflect upon the strategies leading to successful completion of the games as well as student satisfaction with the work they were able to accomplish and the content they have mastered throughout the game design, as every day brings something new in excitement and frustration thus pushing us all to achieve beyond what was imaginable in the beginning of the year. This is a very stressful time, and even though I often get down in the dumps about the goals to be achieved with minimized student frustration, I use my frustration to come up with new strategies to help students see how much they have learned and what skills they have acquired during this year. I think, bringing people from outside who work with the tools on a daily basis also helps my students develop a better understanding of the importance of the skills they are using in Globaloria class. Last year, I was able to have a Skype session with Billy Harper, an owner of a graphic design company, originally from the area and now living in Florida. This session has truly opened my students' eyes to the wealth of opportunities for the use of their skills acquired as a result of participation in Globaloria. This year, this opportunity presented itself with the visit of Dr. Alex Games who shared his work with the students as well as identified various uses of the acquired skills in real life. When he was talking, I could see the eyes of my students light up and pens start scribbling the URLs he was supplying for them to sign up to create games. Even the girls who are not gamers were excited to talk to Dr. Games, and I am hoping that they might consider participating in Globaloria class next year.
I guess, through the hardships and "dumps", it all becomes worth it when I see that spark in my students' eyes as they realize how connected to the real life their work is and how successful they can be if they just put forth the effort. That's what teaching is all about- seeing that you make a positive difference in a person's life and help him or her establish a base for successful future.
