Double Entry Journal #13

Chapter 6: Affinity Spaces

1. Give an example of a "community of practice" in which you are currently participating in.

One “community of practice” which I am currently involved in is church. 

2. Why is the term "community" better defined in relation to spaces rather than groups of people?

The author says “the key problem with notions like ‘community of practice’ is that they make it look like we are attempting to label a group of people.”

3. What is a "generator"?

Whatever gives a space content (or something for the space to be about) is a generator.    

4. What is a "content organizer"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Content organization is how its content is designed or organized and “interactional organization” is how people organize their thoughts, beliefs, values, actions, and social interactions in regard to those signs and their relationships. “One portal may be small group discussions, another might be question-and-answer sessions between the teacher and the class, another might be lab work.” 

5. What is a "portal"? What is it's counterpart in school?

A portal is anything that gives access to the content and to ways of interacting with that content, by oneself or with other people. 

6. What do people have an "affinity" for in an "affinity space"? How does this inform your understanding of good teaching?

Because everyone learns differently and comes from different backgrounds and with different experiences, individuals have their own affinities.  A good teacher will be willing to get a glimpse into each student’s affinity space and discover ways to best reach that student by relating school to his/her affinity. 

7. How do "affinity spaces" support inclusive classrooms? Choose two characteristics below to make connections between "affinity spaces" and inclusive classrooms.

In affinity spaces, “newbies and masters and everyone else share common space”.  One of the points of an inclusive classroom says that the classroom should share a common language.  At the beginning of the year, a teacher could teach students some form of common language to be used in the classroom, which would make a common space for the students.  In addition, in an affinity classroom, “both intensive and extensive knowledge are encouraged.”  In an inclusive classroom, community members can be partners.  If a teacher had different community members come into the classroom (sharing extensive knowledge), then affinity classrooms and inclusive classrooms meet.     

8. How are traditional classrooms different from affinity spaces?   

Affinity spaces are different than traditional classrooms in that traditional classrooms didn’t allow for student sharing as much as an affinity classroom would. 

 

Double Entry Journal #13

Chapter 6: Affinity Spaces

1. Give an example of a "community of practice" in which you are currently participating in.

One “community of practice” which I am currently involved in is church. 

2. Why is the term "community" better defined in relation to spaces rather than groups of people?

The author says “the key problem with notions like ‘community of practice’ is that they make it look like we are attempting to label a group of people.”

3. What is a "generator"?

Whatever gives a space content (or something for the space to be about) is a generator.    

4. What is a "content organizer"? What is it's counterpart in school?

Content organization is how its content is designed or organized and “interactional organization” is how people organize their thoughts, beliefs, values, actions, and social interactions in regard to those signs and their relationships. “One portal may be small group discussions, another might be question-and-answer sessions between the teacher and the class, another might be lab work.” 

5. What is a "portal"? What is it's counterpart in school?

A portal is anything that gives access to the content and to ways of interacting with that content, by oneself or with other people. 

6. What do people have an "affinity" for in an "affinity space"? How does this inform your understanding of good teaching?

Because everyone learns differently and comes from different backgrounds and with different experiences, individuals have their own affinities.  A good teacher will be willing to get a glimpse into each student’s affinity space and discover ways to best reach that student by relating school to his/her affinity. 

7. How do "affinity spaces" support inclusive classrooms? Choose two characteristics below to make connections between "affinity spaces" and inclusive classrooms.

In affinity spaces, “newbies and masters and everyone else share common space”.  One of the points of an inclusive classroom says that the classroom should share a common language.  At the beginning of the year, a teacher could teach students some form of common language to be used in the classroom, which would make a common space for the students.  In addition, in an affinity classroom, “both intensive and extensive knowledge are encouraged.”  In an inclusive classroom, community members can be partners.  If a teacher had different community members come into the classroom (sharing extensive knowledge), then affinity classrooms and inclusive classrooms meet.     

8. How are traditional classrooms different from affinity spaces?   

Affinity spaces are different than traditional classrooms in that traditional classrooms didn’t allow for student sharing as much as an affinity classroom would. 

 

Double Entry Journal #12

Chapter 5: Learning and Gaming

1. What is the main argument the author is trying to make in chapter 5?

The main argument that the author is trying to make in chapter 5 is the fact that schools should structure learning like the learning that occurs when a person plays a video game. 

2. What constitutes a theory of learning?

The setting in which learning is taking place is what constitutes a theory of learning.

3. Why did the author struggle to learn to play Warcraft III?  What needs to proceed before good learning principles? 

The author struggled to learn to play Warcraft III because he “failed to engage with it in a way that fully recruited its solid design and learning principles (Gee 59).”

Before good learning principles occur, the player has to have “motivation for an extended engagement with the game (60).” 

4. How would have the author’s struggle with learning to play Warcraft III been interpreted in school?

The author feels that his struggle and failure to learn how to play Warcraft III would’ve been seen simply as a failure and not seen as a precursor to how to learn something further.

5. What kind of learning experience might be better suited for at risk students? 

At risk students might learn better in an environment where they are able to do education simulations and video games!

6. Why does the school-based interpretation of “at risk” lead to bad learning?

 The school-based interpretation of “at risk” leads to bad learning because to reach the “at risk” students’ level academically, many schools just give the students “dumbed-down” curriculum, which doesn’t make them feel successful! 

7. What do schools need to do to function more like a good game?

 To function more like a good game, schools need to allow students to take on identities as learners and get students’ minds fully involved, just like video games do. 

8. What is different about how good games and schools assess learners?

In school, students are disconnected from the curriculum, but in games, they take on the identity of what they are learning. 

9. What are the attributes of a fish-tank tutorial that make it an effective learning tool?  How is it different than school-based learning? 

RoN’s fish-tank tutorial allows the player to assess his/her own learning style and preferences by actually playing the game and learning how he/she learns best.  This is different from the way that learning occurs in schools because in school, the learner is assessed and then adults in the school decide for the learner how they can learn best.

10. What is a sand-box tutorial?  Why is it effective?  How is it different than school-based learning?

In a sand-box tutorial, the player is free to explore the game without risk of getting harmed.  It is like they are really playing, but the tutorial is designed so that players can get a feel for the game in a realish situation.  It is effective because the player knows somewhat of how the game works when he/she gets a feel for it from the tutorial.  This is different from school-based learning in that students often don’t have time to explore what they are learning in a “non-harmful” way just to get the feel of it.   

11. What is a genre?  Why is it important for good learning?

Genre means the “type of thing something is (68).”  It is important for good learning because good learning always requires knowledge of the type of thing that is expected to be learned.   

12. According to the author, what do learning and play have in common?

In some games, the player plays as he/she learns how to play.  This is exactly how real life works in lots of instances.  Very rarely will you find a tutorial on how to do things in life; rather, you play as you go! 

13. How are the skills tests in good games different from skills tests in school?

Skills tests in school are not usually “developmental for the learner and not evaluative (73).”

14. How does RoN support collaborative learning?

RoN supports collaborative learning by giving players the opportunity to work in affinity groups (groups with people who share their interest in RoN). 

15. Match at least one learning principle of good games (on page 74) with each of the following theorists.

Dewey - 1) They create motivation for an extended engagement.

Vygotsky - 12) They offer (guided) fish tank tutorials (simplified versions of the real system).

Gardner - 14) They give information via several different modes. 

Bandura - 9) (To go along with Bandura’s views on motivation) “Experienced” doesn’t mean “expert”; it can mean that one is prepared for future learning.   

Skinner - 15) They give information “just in time” and “on demand.”  

   

High Quality Assessments Blog Posting

What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment is the continued assessment of a student’s development in a specific subject. 

What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?

The central purpose of formative assessments is to see what a student is learning and to help students understand the teacher’s goals… the purpose is not to decide which changes to make in teaching and curriculum. 

Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one research-based strategy.

Formative assessment “provides feedback that engenders motivation and leads to improvement.”  This is similar to the research-based strategy of “Reinforcing Effort” which says that “achievement can increase when teachers show the connection between effort and success.”

Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.

A week-long observation notebook can be assessed formatively (each day the entry is checked to make sure that it contains specific points) and summatively (at the end of the week, a collective grade is given on the notebook as a whole). 

Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.

In my clinical school, I taught a lesson about estimating decimals.  The students were given a problem and then they were to work it out on their individual wipe-off boards.  After I’d given them a few minutes (and after I’d noticed that most students had finished writing), I’d ask them to show me their answers.  This was formative and students were given ample timing to work out each problem. 

What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?

·         Emphasizes the quality rather than the quantity of student work;

·         prizes giving advice and guidance over giving grades;

·         avoids comparing students in favor of enabling individual students to assess their own learning;

·         fosters dialogues that explore understandings rather

       than lectures that present information;

·         encourages multiple iterations of an assessment cycle,

       each focused on a few issues;

·         provides feedback that engenders motivation and

       leads to improvement.

Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.

1. It helps teachers see who is struggling with a particular subject or task.

2. Students’ confidences are increased. 

What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?

One disadvantage or challenge to using high quality formative assessments is that they can be time consuming for the teacher to create.

 

Double Entry Journal #11

Chapter 4:Simulations and Bodies

1. What does the author mean when he says, "Learning doesn't work well when learners are forced to check their bodies at the school room door like guns in the old West."

The author’s next sentence after the one quoted above says “School learning is often about disembodied minds learning outside any context of decisions and actions.”  This is very true.  I take this to mean that learning should be physical!  I know for a fact that many students learn better when they are able to be up and moving around during the learning process.  For that reason, school learning should not revolve around the “disembodied” minds that the author mentions, but should use every part of every student!

2. According to the author, what is the best way to acquire a large vocabulary?

According to the author, the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is by experiencing the “worlds” to which particular words refer.

3. What gives a word a specific meaning?

The context in which a word is used is how the word gets its own specific meaning.  This is why teaching vocabulary isn’t effective unless students are taught the vocabulary words in the appropriate context.

4. What does the term "off the hook" mean in each of these sentences?

a. My sister broke up with her fiance, so I'm off the hook for buying her a wedding present.

No longer obligated or responsible for purchasing the gift. 

b. Them shoes are off the hook dog.

??? I don’t know… there isn’t enough context for me to be able to tell what “off the hook” means in this sentence.

c. Man that cat was fighting 6 people and he beat them all. Yo, it was "off the hook", you should have seen it!!

It appears that this “off the hook” means really cool, or astonishing. 

5. According to the author what is the "work" of childhood? Do you agree?

The author says that the work of childhood is play.  Yes, I agree with him.  I see my 4-year-old sister at play every day and it is certainly not a waste of time.  The little wheels in her mind constantly are turning when she is playing!

6.Why is NOT reading the instruction for how to play a game before playing a game a wise decision?

Because game instruction guides are written with a large amount of concise and technical information, it can be overwhelmingly confusing until the player has actually played the game himself.  Then, after playing, if he comes to a problem, it might be useful to consult the instructions. 

7. Does knowing the general or literal meaning of a word lead to strong reading skills?

The author says that knowing the literal meaning of a word is useless.  Unless the reader knows how to apply the meaning of the word, just understanding the literal meaning has no point. 

8. What does the author mean by the terms "identity" and "game". Give an example of 3 "identities" or "games" you play?

The author says that someone’s “identity” is created by the moves that he/she makes in the “game” of his/her career, life, choices, etc.

a. I am a Christian.  (It is not an act, but a true part of my identity which determines all of the moves that I make as a person!)

b. I am a student.

c. I am a teacher.  

9. According to the author what is good learning?

Good learning, according to the author, is understanding word meanings, etc. in their contextual situation. 

10. How does understanding that being able to build a mental model and simulations of a real-word experience is closely tied to comprehending written and oral language support or change the way you think children should learn in school?

This statement supports the way that I think that children should learn in school because it reinforces the fact that seeing or feeling a physical “something” is a good way to get a solid mental understanding of that “something.”  In addition, when talking about that “something,” written and oral language is enhanced. 

11. Why is peer to peer interaction so important for the language development of young children? How does knowing this support or change the way you think children should learn in school?

Unless students talk to peers, they might not get adequate practice using their language, and thus, developing it.  This also supports the way that I think that children should learn in school, because I don’t think that a silent classroom is the best classroom.