Ah, a "normal" schedule…

Well, this week was a short one. Last Friday we had another ISE day. (teachers report, students do not)
Monday was Presidents day, Tuesday was a snow day, and Wednesday was activity period, classes are shortened and class order is altered. Thursday and today were normal days.

To attempt to make up some lost ground time-wise, I had the students do an abbreviated blog so they would still blog, but not spend a lot of time blogging.

That's what I am doing today. I'm reworking users gallery to reflect students who have gone inactive, or been switched to another class time from their first semester schedule, so that the gallery accurately reflects the class and team makeup.

This is a good exercise for me because it  enables me to become more competent in wiki management.  So, for now, I'm off to see the wiki.

May I meet no fireball hurling witches on roofs, nor flying monkeys.

Paper, Paper, Everywhere…

Time passes, as you knew it would, and the teams are deep into the paper prototyping process. There are paper files and colored markers everywhere, and a general feeling of excitement is evident. Plans are being revised and refined, characters and scenes devised, buttons and controls, being plotted and sketched.

I am truly excited by some of the concepts that the students have developed. I think several of them are somewhat unique. I hope my young teams of game designers are as thorough in their execution  as they are in their development of the concept.

Interim grades for this nine weeks were put out yesterday and the a number of students are upset with the grades they earned for their lack of work upgrading their team wiki pages. The good news for them is those grades are temporary, of course that truth lies with the student. They will be temporary if they want them to be temporary and subsequently, devote more time to maintaining the reporting and recording infrastructure of the Globaloria platform.

As Shakespeare said so succinctly "ay, there's the rub."

Paper Prototyping and Mandolin Music

Our student teams are divided and are working hard on the process of devising their paper prototyping. I have been going around to each team, watching the process and interacting in a non-instructional way. I've been trying to limit my interaction with them to the position of an interested bystander, who sees what they are doing and just asks questions of the process or "what if" type of interjections. It really is enjoyable to watch the thought processes of the students and to watch the personalities and the leadership emerge from the teams.

Weather has not been cooperating lately, but this is the first week it looks like we will be mostly in school for full days. Yesterday there was a two hour delay, but Monday was a normal day, and so is today. The big storm that has been hammering the rest of the country has missed our little valley here in West Virginia and we only ended getting hit with quite a bit of rain. It's warm, nearly 50, but the temperature is supposed to drop quickly this afternoon to well below freezing, so we shall see what the day brings us.

I'm siting here during my planning period and as I write, I'm listening to this beautiful recorded bit of artistry called Mandolin and Friends. Since 6:30 this morning, I have been looping endlessly a lovely song called Anna One. It is an old friend of mine. I first heard this collection as a home copied cassette given to me by a fellow mandolin player at a bluegrass festival in Columbus, Ohio in the mid 90's. It had no information with it as to players or songs, but I loved it from the first time I put in my tape deck. I literally wore it out playing it a number of years ago. Since then I have searched everywhere for it and could never find it. Last week, a bluegrass friend mentioned to me that he was playing this incredible CD called Mandolin and Friends and I about tackled him with excitement. It turns out it is was originally a Cracker Barrel CD, and is currently out of print. He was kind enough to make  a CD copy of it for me and I am a again getting reacquainted with this beautiful, all instrumental album.

I kissed my wife goodbye this morning in bed and got an early start here today. Looking forward to seeing my gamer kidz in 15 minutes. Life is a wonder.

PS.
Just as I finished proofreading the above, and was getting ready to publish, the bell rang and the game kids came in. I kept the music playing, thinking that I would elevate their ears and expose them to this beautiful melody.  Taylor, who sits right in front of my desk, came in, heard the music, looked around and said, "it sounds like Panera Bread in here."

Ah, the reality of my life among the teencreatures intrudes into my little early morning reverie.

I must go, they await.