#games4ed discussions cover ways in which gaming can be used in education. Games mirror the way the human mind was designed to learn. They motivate players to take risks and actions, persevere through failures, set and achieve increasingly difficult goals, and devote attention, time, and effort to acquiring knowledge and skills. All this while the game is tracking the player’s actions and assessing the player’s achievements and skills. Isn’t this what we want from education?
Welcome to #games4ed!! It's going to be a great night all about CREATIVITY!
Please share your name, location, position, and one of the coolest things you've seen a student make!
Hi #games4ed. N from 🇨🇦, #edtech cofounder, creator, enthusiast. Coolest thing I really liked doing invent an alien back in 6th grade - I think everyone's project ended up pretty cool (and creative).
Hi all! Melissa from Nebraska, 11-12 ELA. Once a student created a life map of her life by creating a gingerbread house layout. I mean, REAL gingerbread house! #games4ed
The only rule, was essentially the planet it had to live on. You then had to learn about the planet and decide what your alien looked like, and how it survived on the planet (food, shelter, family, etc). Research with a reason :) #games4ed
Hi there, Carrie!! Very cool projects, especially the 5 person POV novel! I'm hoping to have Ss create documentaries in my new class I'm developing!! #games4ed
Good morning form Israel! This is just one example of creativity. As the Affiliate Director of @IDODI Israel we see creative products all the time. This is a double sided scenery for a play. #games4ed
A1 Ss should be given the opportunity to be creative daily, for every one set assignment I have there are three that can come in any form (movie, art, song, model) as long as it shows content knowledge clearly it’s excepted #games4ed
A1: one of the things that seem to work for my Ss is having them do an edcamp before a project. They get together and simply talk about ideas, with no pressure. #games4ed
A1 give them diff opps to try things, tools, anything that can be applied in diff ways, or by modeling something new then letting them run with it #games4ed
A1 - Take an assignment and remove constraints. Usually we're so specific (an essay, 5-6 pages, with x topic). Allow them to decide the best way to convey the information and reward those who take risks (even if they don't work). #games4ed
Jason Howse - Middle Years teacher from Saskatchewan, Canada. Coolest thing I’ve ever seen a kid make was an automated zombie proof perimeter defence system in #Minecraft. Mind blowing. #games4ed
A1) by celebrating creativity over uniformity in our spaces. Ditching the rubrics will go a long way to allowing students to feel safe in taking risks, but it takes time to reset. #games4ed
Oh, the page count or word count question. I hate it, I hate it. I usually say between 100 and 10,000 words. They just look at me and roll their eyes! #games4ed
A2 for me they are content knowledge rubrics and clarity of portfolio piece rubrics. They don’t impact the medium chosen for the wk only how well that medium is presented as an end product and how deeply the content knowledge is represented #games4ed
A2 I think they are not too great for promoting it, limiting what Ss can create will limit possibilities for ss to see what their interests are, strengths, etc #games4ed
#games4ed A2: with older children I find they flounder without some parameters. Too much choice. We have to deconstruct what they've learned in school before we can set them free.
I love that the Ss assess themselves. Mine hate it, but I keep reminding them that it's good...plus I learn so much more about their process! #Games4Ed
A2: Although they can be limiting, they definitely have their place to ground out a product. Much like IRL, you are bound by time, space, cost, materials. #games4ed
A2: They’re ultimately important, because constraints help students refine their creations into something more effective, but it’s good to start with broad ideas #games4ed
A2 - Constraints can encourage out of the box thinking. What other uses does a paperclip have? And boundaries can keep scope in check. BUT, too many of either, and there's no space left for creativity. Careful balance... ⚖️ #games4ed
A1: I’m a huge fan of @extraordinaires, @storycubes, and other analog tools that help students dive into creative solutions. Often laughter producing solutions as well! Relieves their amazing minds of screens for a bit to or you can smash these games up with apps. #games4ed
A2: If the box is flexible;e enough it actually increases creativity. Creativity is adapting to obstacles and creating things to overcome them. #games4ed
A2) I’m not sure that boundaries and constraints are always bad things. In a gamified classroom, challenges like “you can only use...” can spark amazing creativity. #games4ed
Q3: In the book Intention comes the quote
"Learning is Creativity. Creativity is Remix."
What does this quote mean to you? How do we model and encourage remixing in our students?
#games4ed
#games4ed A2: with older children I find they flounder without some parameters. Too much choice. We have to deconstruct what they've learned in school before we can set them free.
Agreed. Right now we are building disaster proof houses. The materials are limited to modeling what can be found in the area of the world they chose to address. Creative use of the materials available is what's at stake. #games4ed
A3) Almost all of my videos are remixed from other clips. I may not have animation skills but someone does! Like this: https://t.co/ZGxamcwPfD#games4ed
A3 - Ooh, I can think of lots of fun remix assignments. Take a trailer for a movie and have them remix it so it comes across as a different them (romance becomes action, drama becomes sci fi). #games4ed
Q3: In the book Intention comes the quote
"Learning is Creativity. Creativity is Remix."
What does this quote mean to you? How do we model and encourage remixing in our students?
#games4ed
Constraints like 100g of 3D print filament and 18x24 inches of wood for laser cutting have helped my #designthinking students move their board game designs forward in thoughtful ways. #games4ed
A2: Boundaries restrict the student from fully expressing their potential in an assignment. They also limit creativity because if they is a set list of rules without room for deviation then all the assignment will be the same and it will make classes mundane. #games4ed
A3 It means we just remix what we have learned in a way that is more authentic and meaningful to us, we are all unique and would apply learning differently #games4ed
A3: I think learning provides more knowledge to spark greater creativity and remix is about taking something you see every day and changing it and improving it. The 1st iPhone was about changing what a phone was, but it didn’t start at 0. #Games4Ed
A3 - How to encourage it? Show how it exists everywhere? Find 5 movies (or books) with the same plot. Song parodies. Talk about how you get inspiration for assignments from other Ts. Have them take swap a finished project with another student and re-do it. #games4ed
A3: Much like when we task students to create something based on what's there (modding games for example). My students can see what I do at different grade levels, and know that they will not be doing the same thing, but rather a different version when their time comes. #games4ed
A3 take a look at most programs, a coder usually doesn’t create them from scratch. They grab a part here and a piece there to make something new. #Games4Ed
A3: The current big push in biomimicry is a good example. Studying what nature has done to solve a problem and applying the same principles to new products. #games4ed
A great post! Sometimes having a constraint of keeping it short can cause lots of creativity, like 6-word memoirs. Very important to choose the most powerful words! #Games4Ed
A3: To encourage remixing rather than telling the students that everything needs to be formulaic, that somethings can be solved in unique and different ways rather than just one way. #games4ed
A4 we have class challenges for “currency” the Ss select these, we have had clothes design, makeup, baking, cooking, art, gaming, etc. they also design and test PE games and build content driven rpg and board games, plus choice portfolio proj. #games4ed
A3: Reminds me of Mednick's definition: “the forming of associative elements into new combinations which either meet specific requirements or are in some way useful. The more mutually remote the elements of the new combination, the more creative the process or solution” #games4ed
A4 - A writing app I was involved with use to give Ss crazy sentence starters, then pop up random words as they wrote for them to try to include in their stories. #games4ed
A4: I would have to say most of my #PBL. There are no templates, but rather a relative open ended rubric with descriptors like "demonstrates a good understanding of the concepts" #games4ed
#games4ed A4: I have create documentaries about whatever interests them, create a new board game, and create music videos and games using Scratch. Also let them choose their paths...
Yes! I did "fractured" fairy tales when I was younger - I think we had to change one element in the story. Mine was Rumpelstiltskin and changing what he spun into gold - I can't remember what it was now. #games4ed
Absolutely agree! It's definitely finding that sweet spot of some loose boundaries to get started, but then students knowing they can break out of those boundaries #Games4Ed
Love this! I've thought about offering the option to write a CYOA story about Macbeth or Hamlet...how would destiny be changed if they'd made different decisions! #Games4Ed
A4. Game w/boundaries that I find effective is 3-Headed Professor. A trio of Ss speak extemporaneously about topic & each person can speak only one word. Also a round robin writing. #games4ed
A4. Game w/boundaries that I find effective is 3-Headed Professor. A trio of Ss speak extemporaneously about topic & each person can speak only one word. Also a round robin writing. #games4ed
A4 I make up random things, today gave them big paper, markers and a list of verbs and said practice/make a game, other times have them right vocab on cards, shuffle them and then they create a story, which is what we did for @cospaces_edu#games4ed
A5 google is still an awesome platform, a lot can be created/shared/presented and collaborated on with it, but also drafting art and video apps/programs as well, scratch is still a fav with 3-4 grade #games4ed
A4: When I create adventure based learning missions I always make sure to balance out the creativity with the academic writing. I want to encourage students to apply all types of learning & understanding #games4ed
A5: Google draw, your choice of video creator or programming language, really basically anything. It's really about allowing the Ss find their unique voice #games4ed
A4: I think a good activity to do in the classroom to encourage creativity is to let students interpret ideas on their own rather than have an instructor tell them what to think, i.e. meanings in a book. #games4ed
A5: This week my srs are using Adobe Spark to record Ignite speeches for incoming freshmen. Also, my Ss are really liking the new @storiumedu -- today a couple started creating their own story decks #games4ed
"When a wizard overreaches his/her abilities - or does not maintain concentration - consequences can be catastrophic...Any Power Stones you possess have been fractured. If only there was a way to repair one..." Wizard's Lightning https://t.co/dBuSQc5Ubz#xplap#games4ed
Q6. We as teachers need to make our environment conducive to creativity. What do you do in your classroom? What materials do you provide or use?
#games4ed
A5: I think the tool is not the main thing, it's the instructions you give. A pencil is tech too! But recently, my fave #edtech is @seempli It's like a creativity gym. You get exercises sent to you every day. https://t.co/xJYx2J5DXv#games4ed
Yes! I found it super frustrating as an S when Ts would insist a poem had to be about X, even if you read it/interpreted it as being about Y. Why can't it have multiple meanings? #games4ed
The quest feature was a total win! My Ss would also love to have some type of challenge feature between them...maybe I need to have them CREATE something like that for our own room...hmm... #Games4Ed
In reply to
@TeachingFactor, @MrH_AOH, @classcraftgame, @tinkercad, @breakoutEDU
Awesome!- we teach 5th grade, so it seems the @classcraftgame quest format has the potential to be impactful for a broad range of students. We start out w/ explicit guidance on ind. practice/peer coaching & build up to quests as a format for individualized learning #games4ed
A4: I think a good activity to do in the classroom to encourage creativity is to let students interpret ideas on their own rather than have an instructor tell them what to think, i.e. meanings in a book. #games4ed
A6 I always have a ton of art/craft materials, amps, dice, large scale card stock, PE equip, fine art and craft books, calligraphy books and materials. Students learn how to access these during the day when they have free time, plus free choice of media for many proj #games4ed
A6. This is a goal of mine for next year. An element that seems to trip me up is not having my own room. Wondering what I can provide that is portable. #games4ed
Q6. We as teachers need to make our environment conducive to creativity. What do you do in your classroom? What materials do you provide or use?
#games4ed
A6: I find that I clean out a lot of my kids toys and bring them into my classroom from mini figures, goldibox, legos, toys, duck tape, and other silly finds - always have a basket for stuff to tinker with #games4ed
A6: A wide variety of materials for constructing/building. I have the luxury of three big closets. I call on parents to donate whatever they have from old boardgames to scraps of wood, I will take anything. #games4ed
A6 - Reward risk taking! Tell them if they don't like the assignment boundaries, to come to you with their own proposal. Get credit for progress along the way, even if it doesn't result in a perfect finish. Lots of learning comes from projects that are failures. #games4ed
Q6. We as teachers need to make our environment conducive to creativity. What do you do in your classroom? What materials do you provide or use?
#games4ed
Welcome, friend!! Yes, that is a great excuse! Question right now....what materials do you keep in your room to encourage creativity and making? #games4ed
In reply to
@mr_isaacs, @Playcrafting, @PlaycraftingNYC, @minefaire
A6: I strive to create a learning environment with a variety of resources to inspire exploration and creativity. Let kids decide what sparks their interest and run with it! #games4ed
A6: Music. The book Peak Performance cites research that being in nature--even pictures and sounds of nature--can greatly enhance creativity. So I've been playing a lot of nature/piano blend music lately #Games4Ed
And one of my fave last day of school job for the kids is "check that every marker works, that every glue stick has glue, etc." They love doing this. #games4ed
I remember loving doing that in elem/middle school, too! For some reason, that was so much fun! And same with study hall kids wanting to tear down my room the last day! Yes, be my guest, kiddoes! #games4ed
A5: A good tool to use is computer based art programmes because of how these tools have a wide range of uses and tools for the creatively inclined. #games4ed
A7 my grading system is fluid, I hand things back for students to adj or improve upon, no grade is final until the Ss gives up on it or the grading per ends. I even give extra points for going above and beyond on work as well and I encourage unique projects #Games4Ed
Great Q7 - I have really been trying to instill this among my Ss, I find that the parents are just as bad. You are not your grades. 8th grade doesn't really count. Mistakes are okay. #games4ed
A7 - Take an assignment and tell everyone up front it's not going to be graded. That by participating and doing it, you're guaranteed a 100%. And follow through on that. #games4ed
A7 make the grade part simple to acheive so students can focus on the creation. We have gotten better products that way. Sometimes the rigor idea gets in the way of awesomeness #Games4Ed
Sounds fun, what if you asked Ss how they might use it in your next unit. Can be like a roll the dice and equate certain marbles with tasks or challenges #games4ed
A7: That has to be the toughest question. I get tired of being asked if "something is OK", even when they also know that everything is regradeable, and that many things do not have a greade attached. Don't know the answer :( #games4ed
After a T made me feel terrible about my writing skills in G6, I told my G7 T that I wouldn't hand anything in without a guaranteed 'A'. This T worked with me and helped me get all my confidence back. #games4ed
Interesting, I just want students to hit the learning targets but my grades are based on standards. There is no extra credit. Game points for going above and beyond #games4ed
A7 my grading system is fluid, I hand things back for students to adj or improve upon, no grade is final until the Ss gives up on it or the grading per ends. I even give extra points for going above and beyond on work as well and I encourage unique projects #Games4Ed
Let the marble run be a time line for a book. Small curves for minor events. Large curves for major events. Loop de loops for something crazy #Games4Ed
Q8. What's an untapped area of student talents and interests--ie food, music, movement, physical tools, etc--that you could still encourage students to try?
#games4ed
A7 - Take an assignment and tell everyone up front it's not going to be graded. That by participating and doing it, you're guaranteed a 100%. And follow through on that. #games4ed
Agreed. It's so difficult to undo this mentality in both writing and just general creativity. I've tried to start complimenting mistakes and errors that come from risk-taking. But I fear there will always be a few who just want that grade #Games4Ed
A7 - Take an assignment and tell everyone up front it's not going to be graded. That by participating and doing it, you're guaranteed a 100%. And follow through on that. #games4ed
Let the marble run be a time line for a book. Small curves for minor events. Large curves for major events. Loop de loops for something crazy #Games4Ed
A8 we are going to be doing some tango lessons and hopefully one class will be cooking, and of course my SPanish 2 who are learning about #ARVRinEDU and #coding with @cospaces_edu to create immersive Spanish projects, so creative #games4ed
I do not grade Ss writing the first time and let them revise and make better after my first round of comments. Ss have the choice to revise or not. I grade the drafts until they hit the target or tire out #games4ed
Amen. The more we can make the grade a secondary thought, the better. I've done lots more student conferences this year, and it's such a relief to really leave the grade up to the students...some really struggle with even this. #games4ed
A7 make the grade part simple to acheive so students can focus on the creation. We have gotten better products that way. Sometimes the rigor idea gets in the way of awesomeness #Games4Ed
A8 - I think about all the #TLAP hooks that teachers can tap into. I am all into the food interpretations. Dance and music, yes please! Sensory is great or go outside #games4ed
Heck, I freak out when I have to assess using a heavy rubric. The simpler, the better. One column rubrics have worked great the past few years for teaching writing #games4ed
We have an awesome teacher that has a music and dance class at my school and he teaches my Spanish students , we read about Argentina so it is a great experience #games4ed
LOL, the fact that you're willing is brave! But I so admire the amazing products that our kids make with our industrial tech teacher. Lots of laser engraving & reclaimed wood and it's so beautiful! #games4ed
I found rubrics just made me structure my result based on what was written in the columns. It says you need 10-15 references for top spot in category A? ✔️ #games4ed
Heck, I freak out when I have to assess using a heavy rubric. The simpler, the better. One column rubrics have worked great the past few years for teaching writing #games4ed
