Going to Columbus

Tomorrow Lillianna and I are going to Columbus, Ohio for Adoption Day.  Our plans: see at least 3 movies, spend the evening in the game room, and sleep in the next day.

Game Demo

The kids are ready for presenting their game demos.  We had planned on doing them this week, but I got an e-mail last night from Denise saying that they wanted to be present for them - I think I knew that but forgot :(  Not sure how we are going to do this since we are presenting over a period of 3 days since we have the unique A, B, C day schedules...

Adding Buttons

My kids have been working on adding buttons this week - well, some of them.  I have a couple of students that I just cannot get working.  They think that their partner is going to do all the work and then they will also get credit.  I have told them that it won't work this way.  It is starting to get hard and some just don't want to put forth the effort.  They want me to hold their hand and walk them through every step.....I told them at the beginning of this year that a lot of this class will be self-directed - I am no longer the "sage on the stage"....I am the "guide by the side".
                  

Finally

                       Finally - I think that soon I may feel like my head is above water.

Mind you, I'm not there yet.  I got myself so confused about what account I was logging on to.  My admin account was not correct (I was trying to update my 'Ms. Kail's Wiki' account), nor was my account from this summer.  Thank goodness for Bill.  He is so wonderful.  I e-mail his with the most dumbest question and within the hour he e-mails me back with the solution.  I have been updating my Learning Log under my account from this summer, not my Ms. Kail's Wiki account.  I think I am OK now - just have more work to do.  I am wondering how everyone else (the newbies) are feeling and how everyone is doing.
  Class-wise, it is going great.  The kids are really getting into it.  We are working on our paper prototypes this week and they are finally realizing that they need to have a "game plan".  The main issue this last week has been that the lab that I use for Globaloria is not mine and we walked into the classroom last week to find that ALL the keyboards had skins on them.  So my kids cannot see the keys to type - most are OK, some are floundering.  Am behind in my weekly progress report, but will include this as an issue.  I need my own lab.

Procrastination

Procratination...I seem to procrastinate when the task seems daunting.  I have heard so many seasoned Globaloria educators say "Don't put off doing your Quarterly Report - especially the first one....".  Soooo, August 11, the day we finished our training in August, I drove to school and got a list of my globaloria students.  That night I added all their names, and required information (that I had) into the Progress Report.  I was so proud of myself, I was NOT procrastinating.  But then, did I follow through?  Nope, not until last week, when I realized that my rolls had changed dramatically and I had to redo a large percentage of my quarterly report.  Arg....

I think that the first report will be the hardest.  Now I have all the student information added....but I am sure that, like anything, the report can be improved.....

This quarter my goal is to keep better track of the time I spend working on Globaloria, keeping my Learning Log up-to-date, and blog more often!

Let the games begin...

As the classes begin I am getting more excited.  I was concerned with how the "kids" would react to all the wiki editting and blogging but I have to say that I have been impressed.

 I remember when we were in class last July and we created our wiki and were then told to "personalize" it and I had no idea what to do. I felt stupid and helpless and I was worried about how my kids would react.  I walked the kids through looking at others' wikis and cutting and pasting and making it their own....and they ran with it.  I had to help a couple of them, but the majority went crazy with it.  When I started looking at their wikis I was so impressed.  These kids are doing great and are definitely going to teach me a few things!

Welcome to Globaloria at GW

WELCOME!!!!!

I am excited to be welcoming you all to the first offering of Globaloria at George Washington High School.  It is going to be an awesome year!  Throughout the entire year, we ALL will be learning, including myself, your teacher.  .

Ok guys, I know that you have been waiting all summer for Globaloria to begin, that time is finally here!

This is going to be a different type of class - I won't be up in front of the class telling you what to do and how to do it.

Instead, we are going to be working together, helping each other. Your game won't just happen - it is going to be a lot of work, research, and teaching each other. We are going to be working in flash, how many of you have worked with flash before?