So for me in thinking about gaming and how that relates to class and being a teacher I didn’t like the idea of it. I am not a “gamer” in the least. That is not simply thinking in the rhelm of online gaming but just games in general. I suppose that one of my biggest concerns is that in playing a game in the classroom thing will get off topic and I can’t get the kids focused and back on track.
Surprisingly though I enjoyed playing Werewolf in class last week. Usually, as I have said, I don’t find them enjoyable. I want to get straight to the point of class and get things done. But when the game was over last week I found that I had really enjoyed the game and my teacher tried it into the message she was trying to convey to us.
I think that the point that she, my teacher, was trying to get across (and if I’m wrong and as she is going to read this at some point she can correct me) is that we can use games as a way to reach our students who might not other wise be engaged in the material it gives them an alternative way to participate during class.
In Gee’s article there is a what is described at gaming being “pleasantly frustrating” which I completely disagree with as I find nothing to be pleasant about being frustrated during a game. I do understand the point that Gee made about by using the game as a way to bridge between students who are either ahead or behind their peers. I think that can be done in other ways than playing a game in class, because if that were the case then as teachers we would need to have a game planned to go with our lessons for every class and for me as someone who doesn’t enjoy gaming that concept seems so daunting.
Overall I do think that playing games in class can be a useful teaching tool and we are going to be doing something similar in class next week with my kids. As part of the non fiction aspect of our Holocaust unit we are going to take a look at Jewish match makers (it ties into out novel I promise) and the kids are going to be match makers and have to pair fictional people together. I am super excited to see how the kids like the activity!