This post will focus on gaming (in all fashions) and its link to learning, living, and a bit on the classroom.
Lessons from the “Halo” King
I met a student three years ago when he was a freshman in my English class. I made it a point to get to know all of my students on that ‘what do you like to do? what makes you tick?’ level, and I learned early on that ‘Billy’ (name changed) was a huge fan of video games—specifically Halo. He was in my first period class, and I noticed that he would enter the room almost every day with a guy friend or two from class talking about their latest conquests or failures playing Halo the night before. He was an easy going student but would light up when talking about game playing. He would then seemingly resign himself to class and limited participation. Needless to say, this bothered me a great deal, so I set out to learn a bit more about Halo. I learned that it is a first-person shooter game that has team work ties to accomplish galactic-style missions after the ‘world’ has been destroyed (obviously that’s an incomplete description—sorry gamers). Armed with this knowledge and other ‘teacher motives,’ I started a ‘what is critical thinking?’ discussion in class one day. We were all over the map with the discussion, but after some agreed upon terminology came out, (thinking, balancing ideas, wondering, looking beyond the obvious, being creative, etc) I brought up the idea of video games. I would love to say that Billy sprang to life and joined in right away, but that wasn’t the case. He was reluctant and doubtful of the connection between something ‘school’ and his beloved video games. We started a new list: what is great about video games? Why are they addicting? What kinds of skills are needed to be successful? And wouldn’t you know it; a lot of the same ideas as listed above came up! By the end of the discussion, Billy was leading the comparisons. After that great discussion, I started to see there may be something to gaming and how it can be tapped for use in the classroom without actually playing the game. “Think Critically” became a mantra in the class, and the students were able to conceptualize what that meant because they had something tangible to hang it on. It didn’t work for everyone, but it was a powerful way to hook the guys, and with Billy being the class expert, I was able to capitalize on a better group dynamic as well.
Generalizations
I share that story not to say I already knew games/gaming were great tools but to make a point about generalizing. We take for granted students’ ability to take concepts from one area of their lives and apply it to another. This is not an innate skill; far from it, in fact. How many times have we tried to connect a concept from our neighboring classroom and recognize that students seem to leave understanding in compartmentalized zones? I may ask, “How is Mr. Truto’s unit about free speech related to what we’re talking about?” And I get the classic blank stare—like the knowledge from his subject is only activated within his classroom walls. This is, in all ways, contrary to our goal as educators to encourage and prepare students to question and grow outside of school.
Gaming fits into this structure, and in that way it is no surprise to me that students find comfort and satisfaction in enjoying games. To play a game with family, a team, or even virtually, you are part of a community. As a member of that community (participant or spectator), you have specific knowledge and a sense of BELONGING as you work together to achieve goals. Even without your community around you at all times, you experience the feeling that your presence makes a positive difference. All games require a certain amount of skill and knowledge. As you participate in those games with your family, with friends, or with your teammates, you are demonstrating and increasing your MASTERY of skill.
Everyone has pride in something, and when you play and succeed (or even when you have just improved on something), there is power in feeling as though you have talent and a sense of mastery. In games, we often talk about sportsmanship—the attitude of recognizing others’ contributions as well as approaching the ‘game’ with the best intentions to play a fair and honest game. Those qualities resemble the quality of GENEROSITY in the Circle of Courage. When we come to an experience where we give of ourselves and recognize the ‘giving’ of others, we value each other and the experience in a new way. Finally, when gaming, we don’t have anyone holding our hand—what we accomplish is singularly satisfying. Even though we may be part of a ‘team’ or community (physical or virtual), we are an individual bringing our unique set of mastered skills to the group; in other cases, we are on our very own doing something that makes us feel good as one person. Our INDEPENDENCE shines when we are able to stand alone with the confidence gained by the other areas and feel as though as an individual, we have something to offer to a community when the time comes.
Some people might think those connections are a bit farfetched, but if you take apart an unsuccessful classroom, a struggling student, or even your own personal life, you will likely see that one area is lacking. So what does this mean in the classroom with gaming? To me it means don’t be afraid to bring games in, but even more so, don’t be afraid to analyze what gaming brings to their lives. Give them some background structure and opportunities to really take a look at why they do things and what motivates them. I think you’ll find that the BIG-M structure of the Circle of Courage is the underlying foundation for why people play games and why they are such a satisfying and addicting part of our culture both as participants and spectators.
Lessons from the “Halo” King
I met a student three years ago when he was a freshman in my English class. I made it a point to get to know all of my students on that ‘what do you like to do? what makes you tick?’ level, and I learned early on that ‘Billy’ (name changed) was a huge fan of video games—specifically Halo. He was in my first period class, and I noticed that he would enter the room almost every day with a guy friend or two from class talking about their latest conquests or failures playing Halo the night before. He was an easy going student but would light up when talking about game playing. He would then seemingly resign himself to class and limited participation. Needless to say, this bothered me a great deal, so I set out to learn a bit more about Halo. I learned that it is a first-person shooter game that has team work ties to accomplish galactic-style missions after the ‘world’ has been destroyed (obviously that’s an incomplete description—sorry gamers). Armed with this knowledge and other ‘teacher motives,’ I started a ‘what is critical thinking?’ discussion in class one day. We were all over the map with the discussion, but after some agreed upon terminology came out, (thinking, balancing ideas, wondering, looking beyond the obvious, being creative, etc) I brought up the idea of video games. I would love to say that Billy sprang to life and joined in right away, but that wasn’t the case. He was reluctant and doubtful of the connection between something ‘school’ and his beloved video games. We started a new list: what is great about video games? Why are they addicting? What kinds of skills are needed to be successful? And wouldn’t you know it; a lot of the same ideas as listed above came up! By the end of the discussion, Billy was leading the comparisons. After that great discussion, I started to see there may be something to gaming and how it can be tapped for use in the classroom without actually playing the game. “Think Critically” became a mantra in the class, and the students were able to conceptualize what that meant because they had something tangible to hang it on. It didn’t work for everyone, but it was a powerful way to hook the guys, and with Billy being the class expert, I was able to capitalize on a better group dynamic as well.
Generalizations
I share that story not to say I already knew games/gaming were great tools but to make a point about generalizing. We take for granted students’ ability to take concepts from one area of their lives and apply it to another. This is not an innate skill; far from it, in fact. How many times have we tried to connect a concept from our neighboring classroom and recognize that students seem to leave understanding in compartmentalized zones? I may ask, “How is Mr. Truto’s unit about free speech related to what we’re talking about?” And I get the classic blank stare—like the knowledge from his subject is only activated within his classroom walls. This is, in all ways, contrary to our goal as educators to encourage and prepare students to question and grow outside of school.
To me, this is where ‘pop culture in the classroom’ usually falls a bit flat. When I brought up video games, the students, especially Billy, looked at me like I was throwing an unrelated theme into the mix of a ‘school’ discussion. It wasn’t until I made the first few links between gaming and critical thinking that they started to see the parallels. It is not enough to bring something ‘hip’ into the classroom and say “Why is this important? How does this connect to___?” We have to be more purposeful than that. Recognizing the things that are popular and an everyday part of their lives is the first step; doing the teacher-thing and identifying how that event/concept/person is a key to bigger picture learning and growth is why we are the teachers and not just discussion leaders. We have to lay the ground work, especially in the beginning, that will allow students to gain traction and develop the skills leading to a point where critical analysis and higher order thinking is par for the course rather than a fleeting moment.
This was evident in Henry Jenkins “Labyrinth” article as well. The game development and concept sound really fantastic, but the connections between the game and the real world and classroom applications are still teacher-led. It is vital to remember this: games are useful for educational purposes, but we must illuminate the tethers between them if students are to benefit from the application of gaming as pop culture in the classroom.
One of my favorite sites Teen Checkup ran an article about gaming and teens not too long ago. It’s a good site that is worth checking out.
The BIG-M of Gaming
Gaming for students is a major part of their youthful identities. Many are involved in video games, sure, but the Americanized image of a ‘classic’ high school student centers around sports. Sadly, it seems that there are many students who are either athletes or video game people—this isn’t a hard dichotomy, of course, but there are genres of gaming that are not ‘suitable’ for the respectable varsity athlete. What a sad way to categorize people. Board game companies are also focusing on a return to family-centered gaming as a way to reconnect. I didn’t have to think very hard to see a strong connection between all three types of gaming that explains their appeal to youth and to families.
As an undergrad, I had the privilege to attend Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. As a SD school, Augie has aspects which remain close to Native roots. In our education program, the foundation of a healthy child and classroom is focused on the Circle of Courage. Early-on in the program, you are forced to memorize the four parts and be able to discuss their basic applications. Someone long before me came up with the BIG-M as an mnemonic device. The four aspects are Belonging, Independence, Generosity, and Mastery. As my studies at Augie explored greater depths, I came to realize there may be no more perfect model of ‘wholeness’ in a person or classroom. In short, the Circle suggests that for a person to be whole and in a state of contentment for learning and growing, they must have balance in these four parts of their life.
This was evident in Henry Jenkins “Labyrinth” article as well. The game development and concept sound really fantastic, but the connections between the game and the real world and classroom applications are still teacher-led. It is vital to remember this: games are useful for educational purposes, but we must illuminate the tethers between them if students are to benefit from the application of gaming as pop culture in the classroom.
One of my favorite sites Teen Checkup ran an article about gaming and teens not too long ago. It’s a good site that is worth checking out.
The BIG-M of Gaming
Gaming for students is a major part of their youthful identities. Many are involved in video games, sure, but the Americanized image of a ‘classic’ high school student centers around sports. Sadly, it seems that there are many students who are either athletes or video game people—this isn’t a hard dichotomy, of course, but there are genres of gaming that are not ‘suitable’ for the respectable varsity athlete. What a sad way to categorize people. Board game companies are also focusing on a return to family-centered gaming as a way to reconnect. I didn’t have to think very hard to see a strong connection between all three types of gaming that explains their appeal to youth and to families.
As an undergrad, I had the privilege to attend Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. As a SD school, Augie has aspects which remain close to Native roots. In our education program, the foundation of a healthy child and classroom is focused on the Circle of Courage. Early-on in the program, you are forced to memorize the four parts and be able to discuss their basic applications. Someone long before me came up with the BIG-M as an mnemonic device. The four aspects are Belonging, Independence, Generosity, and Mastery. As my studies at Augie explored greater depths, I came to realize there may be no more perfect model of ‘wholeness’ in a person or classroom. In short, the Circle suggests that for a person to be whole and in a state of contentment for learning and growing, they must have balance in these four parts of their life.
Gaming fits into this structure, and in that way it is no surprise to me that students find comfort and satisfaction in enjoying games. To play a game with family, a team, or even virtually, you are part of a community. As a member of that community (participant or spectator), you have specific knowledge and a sense of BELONGING as you work together to achieve goals. Even without your community around you at all times, you experience the feeling that your presence makes a positive difference. All games require a certain amount of skill and knowledge. As you participate in those games with your family, with friends, or with your teammates, you are demonstrating and increasing your MASTERY of skill.
Everyone has pride in something, and when you play and succeed (or even when you have just improved on something), there is power in feeling as though you have talent and a sense of mastery. In games, we often talk about sportsmanship—the attitude of recognizing others’ contributions as well as approaching the ‘game’ with the best intentions to play a fair and honest game. Those qualities resemble the quality of GENEROSITY in the Circle of Courage. When we come to an experience where we give of ourselves and recognize the ‘giving’ of others, we value each other and the experience in a new way. Finally, when gaming, we don’t have anyone holding our hand—what we accomplish is singularly satisfying. Even though we may be part of a ‘team’ or community (physical or virtual), we are an individual bringing our unique set of mastered skills to the group; in other cases, we are on our very own doing something that makes us feel good as one person. Our INDEPENDENCE shines when we are able to stand alone with the confidence gained by the other areas and feel as though as an individual, we have something to offer to a community when the time comes.
Some people might think those connections are a bit farfetched, but if you take apart an unsuccessful classroom, a struggling student, or even your own personal life, you will likely see that one area is lacking. So what does this mean in the classroom with gaming? To me it means don’t be afraid to bring games in, but even more so, don’t be afraid to analyze what gaming brings to their lives. Give them some background structure and opportunities to really take a look at why they do things and what motivates them. I think you’ll find that the BIG-M structure of the Circle of Courage is the underlying foundation for why people play games and why they are such a satisfying and addicting part of our culture both as participants and spectators.
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