1. My Teacher Just Told Me Video Games Will Teach Me to Read Literacy Instruction and Video Games

2. ❏ Licensed teacher in the state of Illinois ❏ Experience both in public school and private tutoring. ❏ Avid technology and video game admirer. ❏ Author of the blog Gamifying Teacher Who am I?

3. Today’s Focus: Literacy

4. ❏ Reading ❏ Fluency ❏ Comprehension ❏ Writing ❏ Speaking Literacy

5. ❏ Important Knowledge is gained through direct instruction. ❏ Activities are entertaining but meaningless play does not encourage learning. Common Misconceptions

6. ❏ Direct instruction is one of the weaker methods of providing information. More authentic tasks stay with the learner longer and prepare the learner to adapt to new situations. ❏ We are always learning so long as we are using our brains critically. Truth

7. ❏ Interactive ❏ Allow for testing of hypotheses in safe situations ❏ The proportion of individuals who classify themselves as ‘gamers’ is increasing. ❏ Literacy instruction for the technological domain ❏ Successful video game tutorials demonstrate a blending of ‘telling’ and ‘doing’ Why Video Games?

8. ❏ Common Core is the list of standards that each student is expected to meet per grade level. ❏ The Illinois State Common Core has recently been updated and put in place in all Illinois schools. ❏ Common Core Standards are specialized for each subject area. Common Core

9. ❏ Not all games are created equal. ❏ Video games should not be the only source of information and learning. ❏ Technology cannot replace a mentor/teacher/sensei ❏ Games are NOT BABYSITTERS! Disclaimer

10. ❏ Currently: ❏ Carrot and Stick programs are most common. They are mostly skill and drill with game icing on top. ❏ LEXIA ❏ IXL Video Games in Schools

11. Lexia

12. ❏ The future: Virtual Classrooms ❏ MMORPGS ❏ Potentially beneficial for ESL students and native English speakers learning a second language ❏ Learning is occurring in an authentic environment. ❏ Holodecks anyone? ❏ New co-teaching opportunities ❏ Limited language proficiency students with novice gamer skills encountered problems which limited success in virtual classrooms. Video Games in Schools

13. ❏ Misconceptions about activities versus direct instruction ❏ ‘Gaming Phobia’ ❏ Girl things and boy things ❏ Cost ❏ Technology Availability and Internet stability Roadblocks in Schools

14. ❏ Using video games at home to support learning. ❏ Students who spend time engaged in active, critical thinking activities outside of school in general do better. (Practice makes perfect) ❏ Teach students to find learning opportunities and seize them. ❏ As demands build extending learning time outside of school hours is going to be extremely important for long term success. ❏ Social benefits both long term and within the family. One Possible Solution

15. ❏ Family Read aloud time ❏ Game Manuals, build guides, and other print materials ❏ Discuss meanings and context clues to discover game mechanics and story meaning. Video Games at Home: Reading

16. ❏ Game Reviews ❏ FAQs ❏ In game communication Video Games at Home: Writing

17. ❏ Critical discussion while gaming ❏ LPs ❏ Voice activation in video games (There Came an Echo) Video Games at Home: Speaking

18. ❏ Some students have not meaningfully incorporate literacy into their daily lives. ❏ Often these students are pulled out for skill-and-drill style interventions. ❏ Technology can help place students in meaningful literacy situations with built in tools to aid in language acquisition The Last Word: At Risk Kids

19. Gee, James Paul (2007). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Kongmee, Isara, Strachan, Rebecca, Montgomery, Catherine and Pickard, Alison (2011) Using massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) to support second language learning: Action research in the real and virtual world. In: 2nd Annual IVERG Conference: Immersive technologies for Learning: virtual implementation, real outcomes, 27-28 June 2011, Middlesborough, UK. Peterson, M. (2011). Digital gaming and second language development: Japanese learners interactions in a MMORPG. Digital Culture & Education, 3:1, 56-73. Lexia image from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sRVbNSxLwmo/S- xqd2dJzFI/AAAAAAAAABE/VzB8QwZY3lU/s1600/Lexia+2+Final.pnghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sRVbNSxLwmo/S- xqd2dJzFI/AAAAAAAAABE/VzB8QwZY3lU/s1600/Lexia+2+Final.png References

20. Questions?

21. Contact Me: NocturnalAdagio@gmail.com NocturnalAdagio.weebly.com