Gaming Criteria

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jWzmqVlFaYYXEn7hzPSLtGYmaEB4f5S9VWRMeTcvrgQ/edit

Evaluation of Online Brain Teasers/ Lumosity

This game is a great tool for people that need to improve their cognitive attention and creativity. I tried it on my own and it gave me three brain games to play that helped me practice attention, multitasking (though being good at multitasking is opinionated!), and memory. The site chose games for me based on what I wanted to improve.

Evaluation of online strategy game

http://www.learn4good.com/kids-games/board/allout.htm

This website is a terrible website for children. First off, a devil is the host of the game. Second, when you can't figure out the puzzle, the devil will ask you if you would like to sell your soul to the devil for a solution. It is a terrible role model for children! Now, for a college student, as a brain teaser, that's fine because we are experienced enough to not be tricked by this "devil" guy. For a childrens' strategy game, if I were a child, I wouldn't want to ever find a strategy! Terrible website.

Evaluation of Online Game: Do2Learn Synonyms and Antonyms

This game would work with students who are learning about synonyms and antonyms. As an Autism Line Therapist, I would use this game because it works on opposites and similarities, as well as putting puzzle pieces together. However, it seems like it is an only one-time use game.

Khan Academy

I loved (!) exploring Khan Academy's website. It was modern with the black screen and easy colors to visualize what was being taught. I also liked the idea of "community questions." This is where anyone can post a question and get an answer. There are also suggestions on the side. For example, don't repeat what others post, just vote it up or down instead. I actually chose to watch a video on geometric proofs. I struggle with these in my geometry class, but when I watched what the instructor was doing, I could rewind or pause the video to process what was being said. There were several videos for different proofs, as well as over 100 videos for just geometry! After watching the video, I could post a question and receive an answer.

How can data drive instruction?

Reviewing data like NETS quiz can help you as a teacher see where you are going wrong with instruction. If the students are struggling getting the idea from your question, then you may be writing it wrong. For example, our group looked at question 2, and we realized that the students probably don't understand what two of the options mean, and that's why over half of the class clicked on that choice.
I will definitely use data like this in my classroom because it is a check-up on how I am doing as a teacher, and if the students are learning from me. This is important because these students are going to be with me all year, so I need to be sure that I am an effective teacher for all of my students. Data like this can help me see the big picture. If just one student is struggling, then I can work individually, but if over half of my class is struggling, I need to fix my approach and figure out where my students are struggling.

Wallwisher

We recently showed my screencast of Wallwisher to Ed 331, and went over its advantages and disadvantages. Wallwisher is a great tool for going over chapter material but in simple terms. You can post the main ideas and comments, but going into a deep synopsis isn't realistic on Wallwisher. However, you do get the main idea across easily. Also, you can organize the thoughts, so if you read three chapters, you can either make a wall for each chapter or organize one wall into three separate sections for three ideas. One wall is also a convenient way to show the connections between all three chapters. In our case, we read one chapter, and each table wrote up their own ideas. We then conversed about the topics, and Wallwisher made it easy for us to state the main ideas and then have a deeper discussion verbally.
One of the weaknesses, however, was that the control of the wall was in one person's hands. Others could post on the wall, but the organization was up to the creater. Another weakness was that when looking at the wall on someone else's computer, the posts were all in different places. It was confusing to understand the organization so I had to reorganize my posts. They weren't organized on my page, but they looked organized on other computers.
Wallwisher is going to be easy to incorporate into the classroom because you can do so much with it. I can post discussions on material that we covered. I can post a wall for resources. I can create a wall where students can anonymously post questions. I can have each student create a wall for their todo lists. For students that can't write, or have difficulty reading their writing, I can have my students type up their notes.

Using a Podcast for discussion of book material

Using a podcast to discuss the chapters in the book was definitely a different experience for me. I am not sure I liked it, however. I enjoyed discussing the material with people that I haven't talked to before, but as soon as we got the microphone in our hands, we all got camera shy and couldn't think straight. We would lose our points and get distracted easily. However, as soon as the microphone was put down, we'd be able to figure out what we were trying to say. It's a good strategy for those that don't like to talk in class, but personally, I would prefer to discuss in front of the class than with a microphone. Also, it took a lot longer to get the podcast to actually work than it did to discuss the material, so overall, it was time-consuming.

Despite for my dislike of using the podcast for these two chapters, I would like to use podcasting in my classroom. I would possibly try the microphone, especially if it is with a younger group, one that doesn't have so many insecurities (ME!!), but overall, I would probably just use the microphone on the computer because all students have to do is talk, not hold a microphone, but just talk and discuss. This way, there isn't any camera shyness. On the contrary, using a microphone might help get people to open up more and use their shyness to their advantage (or learn how to), so I wouldn't be objected to using it all the time if that's what the students approved of.

Reaction to self-grading tests

I believe that self-grading tests can be beneficial if used the right way and with limited use. If using a self-graded test, students can go back to the questions they got wrong and learn the right answer. However, this can't be done on every test because students will just simply guess the answer knowing that afterward, they can go back and correct it. Now, if the students will receive the first grade as their final grade, and they can't receive points back when self-correcting it, then I believe that's okay each time. Self-grading can also reduce some test anxiety knowing that YOU, yourself, are the one grading it, not the teacher. This is only the case, however, if the student is the only one finding the correct answer. Students shouldn't work every time together on correcting it. Other students can be a resource, but if every student is just using the student's work who got every answer right, students aren't really learning the material and how they got the answer wrong.
In my Special Education classroom, I will use self-grading tests. I believe that it is another learning strategy that could be very beneficial to a student with a learning disability. However, I will make sure that I only use it a few times, if I am the one giving the exam, and I will make sure that the students receive several resources to help them find the answer. I believe this is also a great teachable moment because students can learn ways to take exams, that work best for them, and they can learn to not cheat because they are the ones  grading the exam. They could easily erase their answer, and pencil in the correct answer. Overall, I believe self-grading tests have several benefits but when used in moderation.