My dear students! You have worked really hard on imagining your game and creating a paper prototype. I know that you still have a lot of ideas to put on the paper, but while I am away, and you cannot get to your paper prototyping, I would like for you to write a blog post answering the following questions:
1. What is your game topic and how does it relate to civics?
2. How will a player learn more about civics while they play your game?
3. Where does your game topic fit into the Civics Knowledge Framework? Does it teach about an ideal of government, a function of government or about citizenship? Please explain.
Below, I have outlined the Civics Knowledge Framework. Please, take a look at it and try to match your game to one of the components and talk about it when answering question 3.
1. Ideals: key principles and values underlying US government
· Origins/history of key ideas and values
· Government systems (democracy, dictatorship, communism, monarchy)
· Majority rule
· Minority rights
· Separation of Powers
· Individual Rights and Freedoms
2. Function: How does the US government work?
· Local, state and national/federal levels of government systems
· Local, state and national/federal court systems
· The three branches of government (executive, legislative, judiciary)
· Role of citizens and outside groups (unions, lobbyists, media)
3. Citizenship: How to be an active and effective citizen at any age?
· Stay informed (locally, nationally, globally)
· Explore a variety of sources and perspectives
· Develop a position on local, national and global issues
· Volunteer and participate in community service
· Take action!
· Develop a strategy for achieving results on the ground
· Learn to use action tools: protest, petition, letter writing, town meeting
· Lead and/or support at different capacities and levels (student government, community, local, national, etc.)
· Vote
Good Blogging!
Mrs. B.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
My dear students! As always, your blogs are a great read that gives me tons of information about you and your work in Globaloria. You are all ready to start on paper prototypes and get to seriously thinking about your games. Your game ideas are great and overflow with creativity. The Spikers are rocking for the Constitution; Tigers are playing hoops to learn more about the branches of the government; Smarties are exploring the White House; The Dancing Goombas of Zoom!!! are embarking on the historial journey following the footsteps of Lewis and Clark; and Halo Machines are trying the cases in the court house. The Fox Racers are racing to answer educational civics questions, as the Blond Chicks are exploring student rights and responsibilities. Make sure you go to check out each other's team pages and blogs to find out what students are doing in your class.
Now, let's go to our weekly prompt. Last night I played Supreme Decision game and spent a lot of time thinking through the judges' decisions concerning the student freedom of expression at school. Go to play this game and blog about your impressions. What does freedom of speech mean to you? Are there any restrictions to your expression of views, likes, and dislikes? If Mr. Campbell forbid you to wear your favorite shirt to school, would he be right in doing so? If your locker was searched, would you have a right to refuse a search? Why?
Take your time thinking about the answers and base your responses on what you have learned throughout playing the games, reading different blogs, and doing research for your topic.
Good blogging!
Mrs. B.
Now, let's go to our weekly prompt. Last night I played Supreme Decision game and spent a lot of time thinking through the judges' decisions concerning the student freedom of expression at school. Go to play this game and blog about your impressions. What does freedom of speech mean to you? Are there any restrictions to your expression of views, likes, and dislikes? If Mr. Campbell forbid you to wear your favorite shirt to school, would he be right in doing so? If your locker was searched, would you have a right to refuse a search? Why?
Take your time thinking about the answers and base your responses on what you have learned throughout playing the games, reading different blogs, and doing research for your topic.
Good blogging!
Mrs. B.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
So far, so good...
Thinking about my blogging habits, I can surely say that they could be better. I do blog weekly, but it's mostly done for my students as I am trying to introduce the complex topic of civics through this great tool for reflection and getting to know the topic. Today, however, I am taking time to reflect on our progress and experiences in the class this year.
Honestly, starting the new year scared me, as I had an amazing group of kids last year who went above and beyong of what the class offered. However, I did not do my current students and Globaloria itself enough justice. Every child is amazing, and our building on the students' interests and their preferred way of learning will bring their uniqueness and brilliance out thus helping them unleash the creativity so needed to be productive on the global scale, which is so vital in the contemporary world and in the world of future.
As of these first days of October, we are progressing wonderfully. Students are taking giant steps into their learning and are not afraid to tinker and be challenged. I will not bore you with the minute description of their progress but rather post this Wordle of my students blogs on their progress thus far from the last week:
Honestly, starting the new year scared me, as I had an amazing group of kids last year who went above and beyong of what the class offered. However, I did not do my current students and Globaloria itself enough justice. Every child is amazing, and our building on the students' interests and their preferred way of learning will bring their uniqueness and brilliance out thus helping them unleash the creativity so needed to be productive on the global scale, which is so vital in the contemporary world and in the world of future.
As of these first days of October, we are progressing wonderfully. Students are taking giant steps into their learning and are not afraid to tinker and be challenged. I will not bore you with the minute description of their progress but rather post this Wordle of my students blogs on their progress thus far from the last week:
The image has been taken from http://www.wordle.net
Thursday, October 1, 2009
What can you do?
Time flies when you are having fun! The first month of Globaloria has gone by very fast, and I hope you all have been having fun and learned a lot! Working on the wikis and blogs as well as thinking about the possible game topics were hard but truly rewarding. I hope that all of you are as excited as I am about our great start in Globaloria!
Yesterday you have finally formed teams and really got to talking about the topics for your civics games. As you think about your games, keep in mind your possible audience. Who is going to play your games? Think about yourselves last year- what would have helped you learn more about civics? For your blog assignment today, I would like for you to think about your specific topic (whether it be the branches of the government, the history of our country, individual rights and freedoms, Bill og Rights, etc.) and try to find any blogs to add to your blog roll that would help you learn more about your topic throughout building of the game. Post your reasons for choosing the specific blogs and introduce your classmates to your choices.
As you are thinking about your game topics and searching for blogs, check out this activity and reflect on the role government plays in our lives. While researching, I have found this video on three branches of government that makes a connection with sports. So, for some of you, sports fans, and others who are looking for the ways to teach about civics, here it is:
Good Blogging!
Mrs. B
Yesterday you have finally formed teams and really got to talking about the topics for your civics games. As you think about your games, keep in mind your possible audience. Who is going to play your games? Think about yourselves last year- what would have helped you learn more about civics? For your blog assignment today, I would like for you to think about your specific topic (whether it be the branches of the government, the history of our country, individual rights and freedoms, Bill og Rights, etc.) and try to find any blogs to add to your blog roll that would help you learn more about your topic throughout building of the game. Post your reasons for choosing the specific blogs and introduce your classmates to your choices.
As you are thinking about your game topics and searching for blogs, check out this activity and reflect on the role government plays in our lives. While researching, I have found this video on three branches of government that makes a connection with sports. So, for some of you, sports fans, and others who are looking for the ways to teach about civics, here it is:
Good Blogging!
Mrs. B
Friday, September 25, 2009
First Experiences in Globalora
My dear bloggers,
It has been wonderful to see you work through units, blog about the pertinent issues in class, and get to finally play with Flash! You have played tons of games and evaluated them from different perspectives, which was hard but prepared you so well to start thinking about your game. You have also discussed various topics on civics and math to prepare for the challenging task of teaching a certain topic to your peers or younger students. Your blogs really helped me see what was important to you.
Our blogosphere has been working amazingly well. I am impressed with your comments to each other. It's great that you are following the rubric and encouraging each other to work harder and to keep on doing a good job.
So, how has it been so far for you? What about Globaloria do you find fascinating? What have you learned in this class that nobody else in school does? What have you done as a result of Playing to Learn and Choosing a Topic units? What games have you played, and which ones became your favorite? I really liked Learnt the Bones, Super Toaster (of course!), and Katrina, Tempest in Crescent City. They helped me realize how much I can learn while playing these games and actually having fun!
Have you found any cool resources to learn more about the chosen topic? What are your thoughts about Flash? What do you hope to accomplish in Flash this year? Based on your experience with Flash, what role (sound expert, coder, artist, game assembler) would you expect to partake within your group? What makes you think so? Blog about your Globaloria experiences so far, and don't forget to make your posts rich and keep on having fun while learning so much in Globaloria!
It has been wonderful to see you work through units, blog about the pertinent issues in class, and get to finally play with Flash! You have played tons of games and evaluated them from different perspectives, which was hard but prepared you so well to start thinking about your game. You have also discussed various topics on civics and math to prepare for the challenging task of teaching a certain topic to your peers or younger students. Your blogs really helped me see what was important to you.
Our blogosphere has been working amazingly well. I am impressed with your comments to each other. It's great that you are following the rubric and encouraging each other to work harder and to keep on doing a good job.
So, how has it been so far for you? What about Globaloria do you find fascinating? What have you learned in this class that nobody else in school does? What have you done as a result of Playing to Learn and Choosing a Topic units? What games have you played, and which ones became your favorite? I really liked Learnt the Bones, Super Toaster (of course!), and Katrina, Tempest in Crescent City. They helped me realize how much I can learn while playing these games and actually having fun!
Have you found any cool resources to learn more about the chosen topic? What are your thoughts about Flash? What do you hope to accomplish in Flash this year? Based on your experience with Flash, what role (sound expert, coder, artist, game assembler) would you expect to partake within your group? What makes you think so? Blog about your Globaloria experiences so far, and don't forget to make your posts rich and keep on having fun while learning so much in Globaloria!
Good blogging!
Mrs.B
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
What about Internet?
My dear wonderful Globaloria students!
Reading your blogs was a great way to see what you thought about your rights and responsibilities. Your posts were as different as you all are, which provided me with tons of engaging reading. Chuckie shared his knowledge of the amendments, so if you are not sure what each one means, go check out his blog and don't forget to leave a comment! Billy and Roger talked about our rights to freedom of religion, and Amber and Kaitlyn concentrated on the dress code prompt I included in my previous post. These are just some highlights for this week, so be sure to blog on, as you all are doing an excellent job!
Now, let's move on to this week's discussion. Since Globaloria's curriculum is delivered online with many Web 2.0 tools used by you on a daily basis, it is time for us to think seriously about our rights and responsibilities on the Internet. You have a right to education, and Internet can serve as a great tool to learn tons of new stuff.
Reading your blogs was a great way to see what you thought about your rights and responsibilities. Your posts were as different as you all are, which provided me with tons of engaging reading. Chuckie shared his knowledge of the amendments, so if you are not sure what each one means, go check out his blog and don't forget to leave a comment! Billy and Roger talked about our rights to freedom of religion, and Amber and Kaitlyn concentrated on the dress code prompt I included in my previous post. These are just some highlights for this week, so be sure to blog on, as you all are doing an excellent job!
Now, let's move on to this week's discussion. Since Globaloria's curriculum is delivered online with many Web 2.0 tools used by you on a daily basis, it is time for us to think seriously about our rights and responsibilities on the Internet. You have a right to education, and Internet can serve as a great tool to learn tons of new stuff.
- What is important for us to know?
- How safe are we making ourselves online?
- Is the Internet safe or dangerous? Or is it as safe or dangerous as you make it to be? Watch these videos to start thinking about Internet and your rights and responsibilities that come with it:
Think about the code of conduct on the Internet , reflect upon your rights, and responsibilities when it comes to your education, safety, and responsibility when working and communicating online.Good blogging!
Mrs. B.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Do rights come with responsibilities?
As citizens of the United States of America, we have the privilege of enjoying many freedoms people in other countries cannot even imagine having. We have the rights that have a long history and are given to us at a price: they come with responsibilities towards our country, our fellow citizens, and ourselves. We know that the Bill of Rights protects us from unfair treatment by our national, state, and local governments, but as good citizens we have the responsibility of elect great leaders who would make and enforce the laws that protect our rights. But, is it enough? We do enjoy such basic rights as freedom to speak freely, believe in what we desire to believe, and feel free to express our individuality without being afraid for our lives or the well being of our loved ones. What do we do to handle these rights responsibly? Do our rights come with responsibilities?
"Suppose you have formed a committee to decide about the rules of the dress code at school in collaboration with your principal. You have the right to speak and add your suggestions. What responsibilities come with your speech and the speech of other members of the committee? What happens to your right to free speech if these responsibilities are not followed? How would you form the rules about the dress code? How can your freedom of expression be restricted by your rights and responsibilities within the school? What if your right to freedom of expression offensive to others? "
Before you write your blog, check out these cool resources and express your opinion!
Do I Have A Right?
Seattle Times Article on Student Rights to Expression
Student Rights and Responsibilities:
Good Blogging to you all!
Mrs. B.
"Suppose you have formed a committee to decide about the rules of the dress code at school in collaboration with your principal. You have the right to speak and add your suggestions. What responsibilities come with your speech and the speech of other members of the committee? What happens to your right to free speech if these responsibilities are not followed? How would you form the rules about the dress code? How can your freedom of expression be restricted by your rights and responsibilities within the school? What if your right to freedom of expression offensive to others? "
Before you write your blog, check out these cool resources and express your opinion!
Do I Have A Right?
Seattle Times Article on Student Rights to Expression
Student Rights and Responsibilities:
Good Blogging to you all!
Mrs. B.
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