To increase education to children/students, while decreasing video games / PC games / online games and website visits / cell phone activity usage. An earning system approach to learning and a creative community (Social Networks).
You are currently browsing the The Gaming Krib blog archives for September, 2008.
Do not go quietly into your classroom. A reflective look at my transformation from a typical teacher to a networked teacher… This originated as a slide show that I created for a presentation to student teachers from Simon Fraser University: http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/do-not-go-quietly-into-your-classroom/ Music clips by Molby and Great Big Sea
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/a-brave-new-world-wide-web/
30
Sep
2008
TEACHING THE OUTSIDERS
http://snipurl.com/blog_outsiders
Seventh-grade language arts teacher Mark Coward began this blog to document and reflect upon his strategies for teaching the popular middle grades novel “The Outsiders.” Somewhere along the way, Mark
decided to expand his reflections to include “the day to day life” of a middle school classroom. English teachers will of course find much of use here, but so will novice educators and teachers new to the
middle grades. A 20-year veteran, Mark has a funny and engaging writing style. Check out his recent post about the Raffle King, a random decision-making tool that Mark says is super-engaging to
seventh graders when “projected 8 feet high with the LCD projector.”
NEW MIDDLE LEVEL PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
http://snipurl.com/msnpoy_boaz
Ray Landers, principal of Boaz Middle School in Boaz, Alabama has been named the 2009 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Landers, who’s been at high-poverty Boaz Middle for eight years,
says it’s his responsibility “to inspire and lead change” based on solid research, best practices, and teacher collaboration. The school’s journey from “good to great” was helped by the addition of an instructional specialist who supports teachers in more intensive professional development. To read a detailed report on the remarkable improvements at Boaz MS, download the Fall 2008 issue of “Working
Toward Excellence,” the journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center (page 7): http://snipurl.com/wte_fall08
EXPLORATOPIA: HANDS-ON SCIENCE
http://snipurl.com/exploratopia
It’s a standing rule here at MiddleWeb that we don’t promote products that are purely for sale. There has to be some content you can use without spending a nickel. So we were relieved to see the sample
activities offered as part of the Exploratorium’s sales pitch for its new hands-on science book “Exploratopia.” Why? Because we want to promote it! It includes more than 400 “kid-friendly explorations and experiments for curious minds,” drawn from the archives of the 25-year old San Francisco hands-on science museum. Check out the sample activities (we’re eager to try out the March of the Ants) and read the
details about the book’s content. Worth $30? We think so.
FACULTY BOOK STUDIES
http://snipurl.com/book_studies
Teacher book groups are gaining traction as a way for educators to reflect on ideas and create change in schools, says this story in the latest issue of Teacher Magazine’s Professional Development
Sourcebook. “On media-center couches and at conference-room tables, downing Cokes and sipping coffee together, teachers around the country are cracking open books to get better at what they do –and, often,
relishing the experience.” The article includes a list of some current books being studied by middle school faculties, including “Classroom Assessment for Student Learning” by Robert J. Stiggins.
CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER
http://snipurl.com/el_studentconvers
In his social studies and English classes, teacher Stephen Myers uses intentional, structured conversations to create and maintain trusting classroom relationships. ASCD thought enough of his methods to feature
his article “Conversations That Matter” as part of the September package of stories about “The Positive Classroom,” published in Educational Leadership (online). Myers offers three structures teachers can use to model and practice community building conversations with students in grades 6-12. “Relationships are like
breathing,” he says. “They aren’t the whole story, but without them, nothing else matters.”
MAKING MATH CONCEPTS STICK
http://snipurl.com/nassp_ahamath
Laurynn Evans says she’s “lost count of the number of times that I have watched a student have the thrill of an ‘aha!’ moment in a math classroom only to later discover that he or she forgot the skill, lost
track of the process, or couldn’t demonstrate their learning when assessment time rolled around.” In this recent article from Principal Leadership (May 2008), Evans has some ideas that could result in a few
Aha moments for math teachers. “Recent research and practice,” she says, “show that an instructional strategy called ‘reflective assessment’ is helping a growing number of students bridge the gap
between learning and retaining math information.” Evans summarizes the research and includes several strategies.
all
“Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the
television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.”
Obama Speech at DNC 08′
According to a Kaiser Foundation Study, children between 8 and 14 years old, spend an average of over 4 hours per day watching TV and/or videos.
I guess he IS reading my emails 
29
Sep
2008
97% of American teens ages 12-17 play some kind of video game.
99% of boys say they are gamers and 94% of girls report that they play games.
A typical teen plays at least five different types of games
40% of them play eight or more different game types. While some teens play violent video games, those who do generally also play non-violent games.
76% of gaming teens play games with others at least some of the time.
82% play games alone at least occasionally, though 71% of this group also plays games with others.
65% of gaming teens play with others in the same room.76% of youth report helping others while gaming.
“The stereotype that gaming is a solitary, violent, anti-social activity just doesn’t hold up. The average teen plays all different kinds of games and generally plays them with friends and family both
online and offline,” said Amanda Lenhart, author of a report on the survey and a Senior Research Specialist with the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which conducted the survey. “Gaming is a
ubiquitous part of life for both boys and girls. For most teens, gaming runs the spectrum from blow-‘em-up mayhem to building communities; from cute-and-simple to complex; from brief private
sessions to hours’ long interactions with masses of others.” On the subject of ratings, and age-appropriate gaming the report found that:
32% of kids aged 12-16 play games that are listed as appropriate only for people older than they are.
32% of gaming teens report that at least one of their favorite games is rated Mature or Adults Only.
12-14 year olds are equally as likely to play Mature and Adults Only rated games as their 15-17 year old counterparts.
While the responses tackling Mature games are probably to be expected (what kids don’t aspire up to things intended for those older than they are?) the note about Adults Only games gave us pause. There are
currently only 23 games that have ever been given the AO rating by the ESRB, and the current console and retail situation means that it’s very difficult to even find these products. What They Play has a
feature about the Adults Only rating that can be found here. It seems more likely that the “Adults Only” content cited in the report refers to anecdotal comments about games, rather than the specific rating.
When it comes to the parents surveyed in the report:
90% of parents say they always or sometimes know what games their children play.
72% say they always or sometimes check the ratings before their children are allowed to play a game.
62% of parents of gamers say video games have no effect on their child.
19% of parents of gamers say video games have a positive influence on their child.
13% of parents of gamers say video games have a negative influence on their child.
5% of parents of gamers say gaming has some negative influence/some positive influence, but it depends on the game.
29
Sep
2008
CERC Information Session: Evening Certificate in Conservation Biology
Speaker: Catherine Tissot, Program Manager, Evening Certificate Program in Conservation Biology, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC)
Time: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Schermerhorn Extension, Room 1015
Contact: Desmond Beirne, djb2104@columbia.edu or call (212) 854-0149
Web Site: http://www.cerc.columbia.edu/education_certificate.html
LDEO Annual Open House
Speakers: Various
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Contact: LDEO Events, events@ldeo.columbia.edu or call (845) 365-8998
Web Site: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu
MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Open House
Speaker: Steve Cohen, Director, MPA in Environmental Science and Policy, Executive Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, 1512 International Affairs Building
Contact: Office of Academic and Research Programs, ei-students@ei.columbia.edu
Office of Academic and Research Programs: Climate Change Variations in the Last Two Centuries: How Do We Reconstruct the Past?
Speaker: Alexey Kaplan, Doherty Research Scientist, Division of Ocean and Climate Physics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, 801 International Affairs Building
Contact: Ali Frohman, afrohman@ei.columbia.edu
RSVP: Register
IRI Seminar Series on Impact Evaluation for Development Projects
The Earth Institute’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) presents the second seminar in its series on Impact Evaluation for Development Projects. Speaker, Emmanuel Skoufias, of the Research Group at the World Bank, will speak on “Experiments and quasi-experimental methods for ex-post impact evaluation.”
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont Campus, Monell Building Auditorium
Contact: Maria Rise C Fullon, mrf2102@columbia.edu
Web Site: http://iri.columbia.edu/events/seminarseries
IGERT Joint Program Fall Colloquium: Melting at the Core-Mantle Boundary and the Structure of the Ultralow Velocity Zone
Speaker: Sash Majumder, University of Maryland
Time: 2:45 to 3:45 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Seeley W. Mudd Building, Room 214
Contact: Jennifer Cho, jc2305@columbia.edu
Web Site: http://www.appmath.columbia.edu/igert
CERC Information Session: Evening Certificate in Conservation Biology
Speaker: Catherine Tissot, Program Manager, Evening Certificate Program in Conservation Biology, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC)
Time: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Schermerhorn Extension, Room 1015
Contact: Desmond Beirne, djb2104@columbia.edu or call (212) 854-0149
Web Site: http://www.cerc.columbia.edu/education_certificate.html
Division of Ocean and Climate Physics Seminar Series: Ocean Re-analysis - Prospects for Climate Studies
Speaker: James T. Carlton, Director, Williams-Mystic, Maritime Program, Williams College and Mystic Seaport
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building, First Floor Seminar Room
Contact: Xinfeng Lian, xliang@ldeo.columbia.edu
LDEO Earth Science Colloquium: The Role of Science in Natural Disasters: The Case of the Cameroon Killer Lakes.
Speaker: George Kling, Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan
Time: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Monell Building Auditorium
Contact: Natalie Boelman, nboelman@ldeo.columbia.edu
Web Site: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/events/colloquium
LDEO Annual Open House
Speakers: Various
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Contact: LDEO Events, events@ldeo.columbia.edu or call (845) 365-8998
Web Site: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu
MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Open House
IRI Workshop: Technical Issues in Index Insurance
Office of Academic and Research Programs: Malcolm Pirnie Information Session
IGERT Joint Program Fall Colloquium: Modern Weather Forecasting: A Status Report and Scientific Opportunities
LDEO Earth Science Colloquium
“But we must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.”
Obama Speech at DNC 08′
The Gaming Krib’s innovative portal software/hardware includes a whole new learning paradigm which begins this fall/winter 08’ for more than 3 million parents, children and educators. For the first time, an internet-based and electronic (hardware based interaction) way to balance a child’s learning and social needs, via the cell phone, TV and Internet. We all welcome you to the Gaming Krib!
