Beyblade Observations

When I started teaching 11 years ago I remember having to learn how to spell Beyblade because it was the subject of most of my grade 1 and 2 male students journal entries.  I remember complaining about how obsessed they were with the toys and taking solace in the belief that 'this too shall pass.'  This new vocabulary along with the Pokemon vocab. I had to learn was quite vexing for me.  I am not a great speller to begin with and these strange new words didn't help.  However, if present me had been able to talk to past me I might have been able to tell myself to take advantage of this obsession and use it to engage my students in Language and Mathematics.  But at the time, as a first year teacher, I was more concerned with trying to cover everything in the curriculum while working on my classroom management, and knew very little about inquiry or about the power of play.  Opportunity missed.

I have just finished my last day of teaching summer school with the inner city program in Toronto. It was a short, but packed program. which.  It was a shame that it was so short since the students from the 6+ schools that make up the summer school program have really started to connect and develop a summer school identity.  One of my students confessed this morning that the only reason she is going to finish off summer school this week instead of taking the last day off as many students do, is because she wants to be with her friends on the bus.  Maybe not the best reason for continuing to go to summer school, but it's a reason.  However was not the bus drive that is the strongest thing that has united the students here.  No, the biggest thing that students have bonded, the boys at least, was over is Beyblade.  It started off with a couple of students in grade 2 bringing their Beyblades to school.  By the beginning of the second week one student started bringing his stadium to school to play with, and the crowds grew.  By the last week of summer school there were 3 different students bringing in stadiums to school and at recess and before school students would huddle together in large groups playing.

A few students playing as they wait for their bus.  The recess groups were usually 10+ players

I never learned how to play with beyblades so, and when was outside I would watch them play.  It was a constant stream of beyblades being released and quickly retrieved or caught as they got knocked over, in or out of the stadium. I was having trouble understanding the rules of the game and asked the students how they know who the winner is. The players stopped for a brief moment to tell me -in slightly annoyed voices:"there are no winners, we are just playing."  They looked at me like I had missed the whole point of the game entirely.  Which I guess I had*.

Every day I made a point of watching one of the groups for a few minutes to try and understand the appeal of the game.  While they played some students maintained a running commentary of the action as well as engaging in a bit 'smack talk' along the likes of: "mine just owned!" and "mine destroys!"  But they did not keep track of any kind of score.  Before and after they played the would compare their toys; size, colour, and when or where they bought them and making plans for the next day.  I asked some of the students huddled together what grade they are in, and in one group the range of grades was from grade one to grade five.  It is a rare thing to see a group with that big of an age difference happily playing together at recess.

 After watching the boys play for a while I realized they were more interested in how their bayblades functioned and less about engaging others in their play beyond commenting on how awesome their own beyblade is.  Their play looked more like parallel play, than cooperative or competitive play.  It was like watching toddlers in a sandbox; they shared the same space and would talk, but not really engage in conversation beyond the narrative they were creating around their own toys.  There was a lot of general shouting, but little actual dialogue between players beyond: "don't touch mine!"

The only exclusions to the groups that I saw, was that no girls joined. I asked about this and the boys said that the girls just didn't want to play.  I then asked if they would allow girls to play and got some mixed responses of yes and no.  They did tell me that one girl (in grade 2 or 3) had brought a beyblade to school, but she didn't play with them, she just let them use it.  One of the boys lead me to the girl and I asked her about it.  She said it (the beyblade) was her brothers' and she wanted to show it to them (the boys) and let them play but she didn't want to play herself.  I couldn't ask her more because recess was over and because I was afraid my questions might be a bit leading.  Perhaps if I knew her better I would be able to find out more.

I had know idea that beyblades could have such a long life, nor did I realize how much knowledge students had around them or the way that it could help establish a connection across grades and schools.  It was really interesting to talk to the boys playing and having them share their enthusiasm for what they were playing.  Beyblades are not popular in my school any more, but is was obvious from my time at summer school that the fad is long from dead.  I am sure if they do not remember anything they were taught this month, they will at least remember the fun they had at recess playing beyblade with other kids from different neighbourhoods.

*I looked up the game, and according to Wikipedia the last top spinning is the winner.  But these students kept picking up their tops and relaunching them, so that there was never a 'last man standing' situation.  So I was right, there should have been a winner, but they had obviously change the game play to suit themselves.

Geekuality For All!

I just saw this video, and thought I would share it.  'Cause, feeling like you have to justify your 'geekness' to other geeks is dumb.  And really, since when has being a geek become an exclusive club you have to fight in order to get in?  

Play is a four letter word

At some point in childhood 'play*' becomes a baby word.  In its' place older children/teens say things like: 'I'm going to hang out with...'  They no longer 'play at the park'; instead they 'hang out at the park.'  Unless of course they are referring to a sport in which case 'playing' is allowed.**  But even then they are often just: 'shooting some hoops' instead of 'playing basketball.'  This year if I asked my grade 4's what they did at lunch they would tell me about who they played with, and what they played.  By the end of the year my grade 6 students would tell me they hung out with their friends at lunch, and would less frequently talk about playing.  Thankfully, even my most jaded grade 6 would still occasionally talk about how she and her friends played tag.  I can't articulate why I feel this way yet, but somehow I think that it is important to hold on to 'play'.

I remember the summer between grade 6 and 7 when I was 12 years old.  A new girl had moved in 2 doors down from me.  My mom had told me her dad was looking for kids her age to meet her so I -bravely- walked up to her front door and knocked. When her father answered the door I asked "Can Anne come out to play?"  He gave me a funny look and I instantly realised that 'play' wasn't the word kids my age used anymore.  I am sure I turned bright red on the spot.  Anne's father looked at me to see if I was just trying to be funny or if I was really being serious.  After what seemed like a lifetime, he went in and got Anne to come to the door.  I really didn't know how else to phrase what I said in a way that sounded more teenagery, and felt like an idiot for not being 'cooler'.  I knew that 'play' wasn't the word I should be using as a preteen, but didn't know why, or what word I should have used instead.  It was like I was learning English as a second language, even though I could speak it fluently.

Last month I discovered that 'play' definitely becomes a questionable word when you are an adult if you are not talking about what children do.

This past Wednesday at my staff dinner I had to give the farewell speech to my friend +Liam O'Donnell, wishing him well at his new school.  Which I admitted during my speech, I felt silly doing since I knew that I would still be seeing him in the future and playing with him.  I quickly realized I said the wrong thing.  This time however, instead of strange looks, I heard giggling coming from many of my colleagues.  I literally meant I would be playing with Liam, online in Minecraft or maybe even in Neverwinter, but the word 'play' was interpreted completely differently by many of the other adults present.  It became an off coloured joke.  I scolded my colleagues calling them 'children,'  and continued speaking.  Looking back, calling them children seems like the wrong label to have given them since I'm pretty sure children too, would have understood what I meant.  The kindergarten teachers were the only ones who did not laugh.  They understood what I meant and were confused by the giggling.  I love kindergarten teachers.

What does the various ways this word is used say about how we value (or don't value) play?  Is it difficult to imagine adults playing without it being something dirty or infantile?  Is play only something reserved for children?


* When I say play I am talking about playing: free play, or playing a game, not playing on an organized sport team
**Just in case you didn't already know: this blog is mostly about my opinions and I can't back up my observations with actual studies on the speech patterns and/or sign/signifiers that are often used by children and youth.  But if you have them, I would gladly read them.

To Game or not to Game?

Lately, when I have been talking to other teachers about how I and other educators in the TDSB, namely Liam and Diana, have been using Minecraft in our classes.  I hear a lot of people say: "I would love to do that, but I'm not a gamer."  What I felt they really meant was: "I am not a stereotypical video gamer who has bad hygiene and few interpersonal relation skills beyond the fantasy world of a video game, be it FPS, MMORPG, or arcade game."  Which, admittedly is a mouthful.  Then after after some sober second thoughts (thank in part to Melanie), I thought that I might be judging others to quickly.  Maybe they just don't know they are gamers yet.  Either way though, I believe that if you play games you are a gamer.

Perhaps the issue here really is how avid a person has to be in order feel comfortable or justified in calling themselves a gamer.

For insitance, when I was a teacher librarian it use to drive me crazy when people would announce to be that they are not readers.  Can you read?  Do you surf the internet?  Like comics/magazines/newspapers/blogs...? Play any video games? I would ask. If the answer was yes to any of these questions, then yes friend, you  indeed, are a reader.  The problem here being that many people believe that if they aren't reading the latest top selling book, or up on the classics then they are not really a reader, and if they are not an avid reader (read: always with their nose in a book) then they have no right to call themselves a reader.

I believe the same is true in gaming: If you built a farm on Facebook, or play Crush Candy, or Words with Friends, then you're a gamer.  If you have ever play Plants vs. Zombies, 4 Pictures 1 Word, you're a gamer.  If you enjoy the occasional game of Monopoly, Scategories, cards or chess... etc then, -you guessed it-, you are a gamer.  Being a 'gamer' shouldn't be an exclusive club for a select group of players.

Playing games in the class should not be a scary, or intimidating thing either.  If you truly do not enjoy games, then fine, I get it.  I won't shame you or think you are 'less than' because you don't want to play.  But, if the fear is that, you cannot introduce games to students unless you yourself are an expert at the game being taught, then I say this: relax.  Half the fun of gaming is discovering something new.  And what better way to allow students to be leaders, develop inquiry skills, class community, and build teacher/student relationships,  than to explore the unknown together?

For example, I may have a long computer gaming history, but I really only know how to accomplish a fraction of what is possible in Minecraft.  I know the basics of the game, and I introduced the bare minimum to students and then we played.  Students share knowledge freely, get excited when they discover something new, or solve a problem, and they especially love it when they can teach others what they have now become experts in.

(Incidentally, this is also how I feel about teaching using web 2.0 tools.  I teach the basics of Prezi or Google docs, or whatever tool would work well with what we are learning in class, and challenge my students to see where, and how far they can take it.  The age of the 'Sage on the stage' is ending (or over), and while I still often play that role in content areas I don't have the energy, or time to be the expert in everything, and I don't have to be.)

And really, when you know everything there is to know about a game, isn't that when you stop playing it?  If there is no challenge or mystery left then 'The Thrill is Gone.'

To sum up:

• to game you don't have to be an expert, you just need to like playing games. 
• expert knowledge is not required to play
• have as much fun as you can

Centres in a Junior Class = an Opportunity to Play

Heads up, this is a bit of a longer post than I normally put up.

This has been one of the most challenging years for me as a teacher.  I have had the privilege of teaching the  first class at the TDSB Girls Leadership Academy.  This is one of the programs of choice created by the TDSB; others include the Boys Leadership, Music, Sports and Wellness, and Africentric academies.  The challenge I speak of is not teaching 25 girls -while there are challenges there too.  No, my challenge is covering 3 grades and include time for play and discovery.  You read correctly, I teach a grade 4/5/6 split grade class, and yes I believe there should be time for play.  I am not the only teacher to teach 3 grades in one class.  It is possible, just challenging.  I have been fortunate to have support from a morning resource teacher for at least one period a day, great student teachers and Instructional Leaders.  But I digress, The point of this post is not to talk about the challenges of teaching 3 grades at once, but how I was able to use centres to get to target some small group instruction, useful class production, and play at the same time.  It only took 7 months.

I have been toying with centres in the junior grades for years (in the library, working with classroom teachers as a teacher librarian), but I have never really got the right balance of activities to ensure that the time is used effectively, but I think I got it, or that I am at least approaching a balance.  My concern was making the centres both engaging and purposeful.  I still think there are things that need to be tweaked, but for a first attempt it went far better than I had expected.

MY CLASS

In our class we have 4 groups of six students with one student sitting alone (her choice).  One group is all grade 5 students, and the other groups are made up of four grade 4 students and two grade 6 students.  We have a 30 computers, and that means that this year we have one computer per students, plus 4 on standby.  Next year, we won't have that luxury, but for this year it is a pretty nice setup.  Computers can be used at all the centres, but only really needed at one.

CENTRES

Here is the centre breakdown: Writers Workshop, Silent-ish reading, Research and Minecraft.  At almost every centre students had the choice to work on or offline.  Each table started where they were and then rotated to the other centres, logging off at each centre before rotating, except at the Minecraft centre where they stayed logged into their Minecraft accounts.  This was done to minimize laptop movement, and to make transition in and out of the Minecraft centre smoother.  Most students choose to use the computers, and in the research centre, students used a mixture of books and computers.  I was actually surprised that many students wanted to use the computers over books at  silent reading centre, but it gave me the opportunity to show students some of the ebook resource the TDSB has to offer, mostly Follett Shelf, but others wanted to read articles too.  In the next couple of weeks I will be spending more time at the reading centre to help facilitate online reading choices -one of the problems was that some students were choosing ebooks that were either far to easy.

MINECRAFT

The Minecraft centre was the centre where I had to give almost no support.  The girls helped each other for the most part, giving advice, and help to each other.  The only time I was called upon, was when someone got stuck in a hole, or if there was a message for me from one of the teachers playing on the server in another school.  I had one student opt out of playing, but by the end of the class she seemed to be open to trying it out if given another opportunity.   I think the main reason behind that change is that one of her peers was very happy to be able to play and was excited to see their mutual friend from another school (Highland Heights) online at the same time, and it gave her the chance to have sanctioned chat time in class.  Little did she know, I was happy with her chatting, as she is a reluctant writer and anything that gets her writing is a step in the right direction.  I look forward to their future chats, and am interested to see if their chatting leads to play.  I have already talked to the teachers at Highland Heights to see if we could plan to be on at the same time again.  I also want to see what students will create, how will they play -one student has already made it clear that she wants to play separately- and how/if I should make them report on their time.

Some of my students have been asking if we could construct villages in Minecraft to represent the societies we have been studying (Midieval, Early and First Nations).  I am inclined to do this, but I really want it to be from them more than from me.  In Math, as a culminating task for area and perimeter we designed our dream home -on poster board not Minecraft, and I think that maybe I will let them know that if want to design a village they need to first show me their plans and then find them time to construct their villages.  I will see how this flies this week.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All of these centre, with the exception on the Minecraft centre have been a part of the regular class program, but instead of having students work a full 50 minutes on their current research/inquiry project, or writing piece they want to workshop, students have 15 minutes to get to work then move on.  There was also a couple of minutes transition time between centres that was not included in the 15 minutes.  I wanted the centres to change every 20 minutes, but we had a later start than I hoped.  Next time we should be able to be able to do it that way.  The feedback at the end of the period was mostly positive, with the only negatives being; that there wasn't enough time at each centre, and it was difficult to work with Follett Shelf.  The second complaint I took with a grain of salt, because I hadn't really planned to introduce Follett Shelf, except that students were choosing to read ebooks off other sites that were not very challenging and I intervened with a brief intro to Follett, and they really didn't have a very long time to practice using it before they had to rotate. So, all in all, it was a positive experience.  Depending on how things go I may even split the centres over two days, but that's a challenge for future me.

How Do You Fit Play in the Junior Classroom?

While you may not actually learn everything you need to know in Kindergarten you do learn a lot.  One of the best things about kindergarten is that much of the learning is play based.  Students go thought the inquiry process and a variety of ways.  Much of the inquiry is not coming from the direct teacher instruction, but from the students themselves.  This inquiry is not about achieving levels or getting stickers, but more about the interests and curiosity of the children in the class.  Student lead play that goes to both places that teacher can see coming, and to surprising places of discovery that no ever expected.  I know my friend who has been teaching kindergarten for 20 years never expected her building blocks to inspire an inquiry on how to create a better Beyblade and Beyblade stadium, and yet there was a lot to learn, many experiments, written plans, and class discussions on the topic.  A rich topic that came from the students and linked with many curriculum expectations.

I know there is value in play based learning, I'm just not sure where to fit it into a junior class.  With 6 curriculum documents (not including French), CASI, assemblies, and other interruptions to learning, it is hard to find a way to fit play into the classroom.  I have had my students play Minecraft in the class, but the only free play they have had is during class party time.  Otherwise the 'play' has been task oriented.  Which isn't a bad thing; I am confident that the bridges my students built in game were at least 10 times better than anything they could have come up with using Popsicle sticks and glue.  But I don't think all that is enough.  I am trying my best to incorporate inquiry into the classroom, but how do I balance play too?

Is play still important in grade 4, 5 and 6?  When does play become unimportant?  Does play ever become unimportant to education?  I believe the answer to the last question is: play never becomes unimportant, but is that really true or just idealistic?  As an educator in a junior classroom how can I justify 'play' to my colleagues, Principal and parents?  So much of the education field is driven by data.  What data do I collect about play?  How do I balance play with everything else that I need to do in any given day?  I know there is a lot that my students can learn from playing: social skills, communication, science, connections to social studies, art, music... but without knowing what exact expectations they will met how much time can I invest in 'free play'?   These are things I wrestle with more and more these days.

I guess I will have to play with these problems myself for a while and see where my inquiries takes me.  If anyone out there has any articles or experiences they have had with play in the junior grades please feel free to share.  I will share too.  (I learned that in kindergarten.)

Bridges over the River Lava

Just under two weeks ago the TDSB opened a port allowing students from Highland Heights, Agnes Macphail, and the Girls Leadership Academy (GLA) to access the multi-school Minecraft server house at Ryerson University's Edge Lab.  Liam, Diana and I went on to the server and set up our class meeting areas, Liam set up a central square with ports to our different school areas so we can go between playing among ourselves or together.  The fun has just started!

My grade 5 students (GLA) had a task to design a model bridge that was suppose to span 30cms and be able to have 2 cars travel across at the same time in opposite directions.  Since the server was up and running I decided to give the task a bit of a tweak.  I told my students that their task would now be to build a bridge that spans approximately 20m (in Minecraft one block equals 1m squared) and go over a river of lava.

What surprised me was how seriously -most- of the students considered the materials they would use, the height they would have to make the bridge (so that people would not be effected by the heat from the lava), and the dangers of travel in Minecraft (zombies, skeletons, creepers and endermen).  Before students entered the space they made detailed sketches of dimensions and materials they would need.  One of my students even went back to her drawings after starting to build to update them with changes she had made to her structure after actually being in the space because her original drawing did not match the terrain of the actual lava river.  Another student, continually went back to add new features and more detailed dimensions to her plans.

The problems solving, communication, and the sense that their construction actually mattered was incredible.  There were problems that were connected to the task: "How do I make an arch?" and problems that were more social: "You're building too close!"  These problems led to conversations, conflict and compromise and both type of problems led to great learning opportunities.  The students are still working on the finishing touches to their structures, but I included a video (below) of what they have done so far.

 I plan on writing up a lesson plan for the task and posting it on www.gamingedus.org