I love making video game references to help people make connections to things in education. However, this blog is truly a way for me to share how I am leveling up my life and the lives of my students. Don't get me wrong, there will be plenty of video game references to leveling up in one way or another, but this blog post is about another type of leveling up; how I am gaining XP as a teacher. XP, you know experience points. In games when a player reaches a new level, finds a special item, or defeats a brutal enemy they often gain XP. This XP can be used to do many things such as buy abilities or unlock secrets. Essentially XP helps a player to reach another level in their gameplay. As a teacher my next level is one that allows me to inspire and challenge students in a different way. In order to reach that level, I need XP too. One way that I am pushing myself to earn these points is by reading professional literature. So, I want to talk about how the book Explore Like a Pirate by Michael Matera has helped me to gain XP, and bring me closer to my next level as a teacher.
I am starting a new game this year. I am beginning at level 1 of being a gifted teacher. I won't lie, I am intimidated by this new challenge, these unknown levels and hidden rooms, but I am rejuvenated in my love of learning. This new experience has given me a new path. A path that is pushing me out of comfort zone and into a place where I can grow. Reading is one of my great passions in life. However, I have never been motivated to read professional literature, until now! This new challenge of leveling up in the new game of gifted teaching has inspired me to explore new avenues in hopes of gaining the XP necessary to change education for these kiddos. When I picked up Explore Like a Pirate I was excited to hear how gamification had changed the author's classroom in a positive way. What I got, was an immersive, in-depth, and life changing experience. Games are fun! I don't think that many students today would tell you that they don't enjoy good game. What I found out while reading Explore Like a Pirate is that you can't just play games in classrooms and call it gamification. You can certainly just play games, but without thoughtful consideration for student buy in and agency, it will just be another game. They won't learn the material any deeper unless your game requires them to. Students need to feel that the game is necessary to their learning and in order to do this, each aspect of your game needs to have purpose. Items or badges for the sake of having items or badges won't work. Levels or leaderboards that leave students behind with no motivation won't work. Each part of your game, no matter how in-depth or simple, needs to have a purpose. Each badge you hand out or level a student gains needs to affect something else. This is what I found most powerful when reading this book. Student agency is the key factor in making gamification successful. So how can this help me in a gifted classroom? Yes, the vast amount of specific ideas I gained from reading this book will be inspiration for gamified lessons in my classroom. Yes, I want to have a badge system that motivates kids to work for something. However, what I really gained was a better understanding of student empowerment. Kids needs to feel like they are the guides of their own learning. If done properly, gamification can do that! In reading Explore Like a Pirate, I gained my own XP. I earned my own badge, so to speak. What I learned while reading this book will help me level up my classroom in more ways than 1. Student empowerment and agency is something that I can use in all facets of my gifted classroom. I have a new found mission of ensuring that my students feel like they have POWER. I am so excited to continue traversing the levels of this journey towards leveling up and allowing my students to dictate their education. I have gained invaluable XP to carry me towards higher levels. Cheat Codes: SECSL-Student Empowerment Creates Student Learning RELAP-Read Explore Like A Pirate LUYLWXP-Level Up Your Life With XP LSBTB-Let Students Be The Boss Happy Leveling! Taylor
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I want to talk about something kind of scary today. No, I am not referring to ghosts or goblins, though those things are rather terrifying. I want to speak about risk taking. Taking a risk is scary y'all! No matter what area of your life the risk my fall in, there is always a chance of failure. Depending on how great the risk, the consequences of failure could be catastrophic. So, often times people simply choose not to take risks, but to live in their lane safely traveling Sunday drive speed with hands at ten and two. I am not trying to say living safely is a bad thing. It isn't! However, I have found that if you want to level up, if you want to make a positive change in the world, it comes with a heaping pile of risks. So why even take risk anyway if it won't work out? What kind of risk taking is worth it for teachers? How can taking risks help me level up my life? I think that the game Galaga might help to answer some of these questions. rIf you have never played Galaga, first of all who are you?!, and secondly let me give you a quick run down of the game. Galaga is an arcade game that first came out in the early 1980's. You play a spaceship whose has been tasked with shooting down a barrage of enemy aliens (they look like bugs) that arrive in different formations on the screen. Some of these bug-aliens return fire, some kamikaze dive you, while others simply float down the screen and are a rather easy target. As soon as the fighter has cleared the screen of all enemies, you will progress to another stage. These stages get progressively more difficult, and never end until the game basically loses all of its memory and shuts off. (This happens after like 250 levels and I can't make it past like level 30) Every few stages, a challenge stage appears, which is basically a free level to shoot aliens and gain extra points. You begin the game with 3 lives that can be lost if they are shot by enemy fire or collide with an enemy. Extra lives can be gained if a certain amount of points are earned by the player. In my opinion it is quite possibly the best arcade game ever created!
You are probably thinking "This game sounds amazing, but what in the world does Galaga have to do with risk taking?" There is aspect in Galaga that involves taking a rather big risk with the life of one of your fighter jets, but if successful it can prove to be an immense help in the traversing the levels of the game. One of the specific types of aliens in the game will drop down a vortex as it approaches the fighter. This can be seen in the picture above. This vortex will suck up the fighter jet and the alien will then abduct it and carry it around the screen. Though this may seem like you have lost your jet, you haven't. With your next life, you can shoot the alien that has stolen your jet and the newly saved spaceship will come join your current life creating a two for one special! This allows more ammo to shoot at one time making it easier for you progress levels. However, if you accidently shoot your ship instead of the alien hauling it around, you will lose the ship and the life. See great risk, but possible great reward! In teaching there are many opportunities to take risks. Some are bigger risks than others and some have greater consequences. However, just because there may be fallout or you might fail doesn't mean you shouldn't take the risk. What I have learned from Galaga, is that though it may seem scary to let go of control or put yourself out there into a vortex of the unknown, is that if it does work out the reward is worth it. For me my first risk was starting this blog. What if no one reads it? What if no one gets my video game references? BUT what if it changes someone's perspective? What if it levels up my life and my teaching? You see, the reward here is much greater than the risk. I feel like by putting myself out there I am gaining hundreds of extra fighters, and it is much easier to take down the aliens. I encourage everyone, not just teachers, take some risks! They can start out small or they can be big, but you have to put yourself into path of a kamikaze alien sometimes. You might fail or you might not, but I promise you will level up regardless! Cheat Codes: BREBR- Big Risks Equal Big Rewards TABIPINTS-Try A Blog I Promise It's Not Too Scary IYFTTA-If You Fail Try Try Again BAFJ- Be A Fighter Jet Take a Risk! Taylor I want to be honest with everyone when I say that this blog isn't my first attempt at "leveling up" my life. Whether in my career or in my personal life, I have tried multiple times to work towards achieving a certain standard.. I have found that the problem with standards is that there is always another one waiting around the corner and completing one doesn't fulfill that sense of accomplishment. It is easy to feel like you are repeatedly restarting again at the bottom. Then I started to think about Donkey Kong. (Nintendo's 1980's arcade version) Yup, the one in the picture above! Basically, a hulk-like gorilla named Donkey Kong stole your woman and you want her back. In order to do so you, (jumpman, not Mario believe it or not) have to traverse a series of obstacles in order to reach the top of the screen and claim your prize. Let's talk about these obstacles for a minute. So, muscles up there does everything in his power in order to keep your princess: everything from throwing barrel after barrel to unleashing these little flame guys from a trash can that chase you up the course. Now, these barrels may look like an easy obstacle to overcome, just jump over them right! Wrong! Donkey Kong not only throws these barrels at you at different intervals, but he also tosses random barrels that skip the track entirely and fly right at you. They have a knack for being unpredictable. So, what happens when you finally reach the top and are ready to save your beloved? Donkey Kong, that sneaky ape, grabs her and takes her away! Jumpman is left to start level two down at the bottom of the screen again.
So what does this have to do with teaching? How can Donkey Kong help level up my life or your life? For me it all comes down to overcoming obstacles and striving to reach the top no matter what is thrown your way; barrel, fire, or something more realistic. As a teacher I am constantly dealing with new and unpredictable obstacles. That's the nature of education and teaching children. You never quite know what the day will bring and you have to be ready for rogue barrels at all times. Teachers that don't embrace the climb to the top, up ladders and around fire aren't leveling up their lives or their students' lives. Beyond that, we have to be prepared to start at the bottom again. The best lesson in the world might be followed up with pure chaos. It is okay! As long we continue to climb, continue to try and save the princess it doesn't matter how many obstacles we face or how many times we have to start a new level. The true "leveling up" happens we when fail and then sail. So be like jumpman! Climb ladders, dodge fire, and smash barrels in order to reach your goals, but don't be afraid to start over again. Cheat Codes: FAIL-First Attempt in Learning SAIL-Second Attempt in Learning LUIAATC-Leveling Up Is All About The Climb (Not a Miley Cyrus Reference!) BLJ-Be Like Jumpman DLTDKOFWSY-Don't Let The Donkey Kongs Of The World Stop You Keep climbing! Taylor So, this is my garage. No I am not kidding, I have 11 stand up arcade machines right in my home that I can play whenever I wish (I don't even need quarters). You're probably wondering why this is important. What does this have to do with teaching or learning? My whole life I have been playing older video games. They may not be old for everyone, I realize, but for me they have always been "old school". I am talking about original Nintendo games, Super Nintendo Games, and stand up arcade machines. Side note: Galaga is the best arcade machine ever! Again, about this time, you probably are thinking that this has nothing to do with education. I promise I am getting there. When I think about what these "old school" games all have in common, I think about levels. The majority of these games have the goal of progressing through levels in order to reach a final destiny or boss, usually some dinosaur-turtle hybrid creature with a funny name. As the levels progress they become increasingly more difficult, and require new skill sets in order to level up. See I am getting there! I have been wanting to start a blog for a while, but I never thought I had anything to write about. Then I started to think about these games and their levels and how that relates to being a teacher and a learner. A blog was born! This is my journey of leveling up. I don't know what the final level will be, and to be honest I hope there isn't one. I never want to stop reaching higher levels. Besides, Bowser would be terrifying in real life!
For the past four years, I have been a classroom teacher in 3rd and 4th grade. I learned a ton teaching in my first 4 years. However, I always felt that I could be more for my students, that I could push them to be more, to make change in their world. Beginning in August, I will be starting my journey as a k-8 gifted teacher. I am starting at level 1 and ready to take on the obstacles ahead of me. This previous week, I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 ISTE conference in Denver, CO. Holy Moly! I could write 1,000 blog posts about the different things I learned at ISTE, but I am going to write about what I found to be my favorite...player 2 . There I go with the video game references again! What could I possibly mean by player 2? You know how in the Super Mario games you have a multitude of characters like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Yoshi? I like to think of the people I met at ISTE as being kind of like those characters. Sure, you can finish the game with 1 player, but its more beneficial and far more fun to include them all. Progressing through the different levels becomes easier, because these different characters each have their own talents and skills to bring to the table. Certain levels require certain skill sets that different characters possess. In the big game of education there are so many levels, and each level requires the talents of skills of the amazing people around you. I have been working pretty hard to grow my PLN lately, but I have been for the most part limited to educators from around Kansas City. My player choices were limited, until ISTE 2016! The amount of amazing educators, students and innovators I had the pleasure of meeting during this conference experience cannot be summed up in this blog. I couldn't do it justice, but I do want to say that the power of a growing PLN is the ultimate power-up ability. We are talking the flying raccoon suit from Super Mario 3 big! My ability to level up my teaching is owed to this community of people working to transform learning for students all over the world. It truly is amazing how far we can progress together. Let me leave you with a few cheat codes if you will: TIYGT- Twitter is your greatest tool GOOYB-Get out of your bubble DIFAMSAP-Devour information from as many sources as possible CWPFOYC-Connect with people outside your community RTHFLUYL-Remember to have fun leveling up your life Game on! Taylor |
AuthorGreetings Readers! My name is Taylor Arehart and I am a 6th year Educator in Excelsior Springs, MO. I have taught 3rd, 4th and gifted and talented, but now I am beginning a new adventure as an Instructional Coach. I have a huge passion for transforming education and giving students the 21st century skills they need to rock the world. I am writing about my journey of leveling up! Leveling up means to constantly look for ways to improve in teaching, learning and living. This means in the classroom with my students as well as in other areas of my life. I hope you enjoy reading about my journey (and my students' journeys) to reach our highest levels and rattle the stars! Archives
October 2017
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