Dave McDivitt

I have been on summer break for two weeks now.  That is one of the nice things about working at Oak Hill….we always end the school year before Memorial Day.  Some teachers don’t like ending so early but I do.  Anyway, next year I will be teaching AP World Hisotry for the first time.  I worked up my syllabus and submitted it to AP College Board and was approved.  I am looking forward to this.  I plan on using Making History, The InQuizitor, and Blogging.  Blogging will be a very frequent tool in my AP course.  I will use it for my essays as well.  I haven’t decided if I will make the student blogs public or not but I will certainly update this site with how things are going.

Another thing that I have kicked around for a year or so.  I have been approached many times about doing some speaking for professional development for teachers.  For those of you who know me you understand that public speaking is certainly right up my alley…..but doing professional development for teachers is a very dangerous area in my opinion.  Too many times in my 14 years of public education we have brought in outside speakers for professional development.  Some have “earned” a hefty speaking fee and their value has been…..well……hard to find even by the most dedicated teacher.  I certainly don’t want to be a speaker that has very little value to the classroom.  Is gaming in the classroom, using 21st century technology in the classroom, and an old, bald, father of three, football coach in demand for professional development?  I don’t really know the answer to this question.  I am considering this and welcome all comments or advice about possibly starting this venture.

Other activities of my last few weeks include a trip to the Indy 500 with my father.  This year was my dad’s 49th Indy 500.  Next year we will have to do something special to celebrate his 50th.  The first pic is of my dad, brother in law, sister and me on pit road prior to the running of the race.  It is an incredible experience to be on pit road on race day.  The second pic is of Scott Dixon’s car.  A few hours later Dixon and his car were in victory circle.  I have grown up being and open wheel racing fan and was certainly glad to see Dixon win the race.  He is a good guy and easy to root for.  Probably the most memorable moment of the race was when Danica Patrick marched down pit road to go and get Ryan Briscoe who had knocked her out of the race.  She was ticked off and wanted a piece of him.  She took some crap for acting like a bi***…..but that was crap!  Tony Stewart acts like that in BORECAR all the time and everyone thinks he is a competitor……so Danica….kept getting after it! 

Well our game play sessions are now complete and I am in the process of debriefing my students and doing some assessments with them.  I certainly think that the excitement level of this years crop of students was possible an all time high.  I don’t know if they are hearing about the game now from other students in the building or not, some heard about the CBS story that aired a  year ago…..but whatever the reason I will take it. 

One of the things that has been going on in my classroom during this year is Professor Bill Watson from Purdue University has spent several days in my classroom observing, video taping, and interviewing kids that have played the game.  He also spent some time with me today asking me some questions.  I always love sessions like this because if makes me reflect a bit deeper than I think I normally would.  He asked me a lot of good questions but maybe the one that struck me the most was something to do with would kids learn from the game without the teacher.  Well the simple answer is yes.  They would certainly pick up some things with or without me in the room.  However, the better answer is they learn more with me in the room….or at least I like to think so.  I think the use of games in the classroom is only a portion of the puzzle that teachers need to assemble in order to attain best practices during the school year.  I like to think that me, the game, the student, and the material all play a vital role in the educational process.  The game does not, should not, or will ever replace the teacher in the room.  The art of teaching is not digital….it is human. 

I will share as much of the results as Professor Watson will allow on this blog.  Stay tuned through the summer for details on that.

It is hard to believe but this is my 4th year of using Making History from Muzzy Lane Software in my classroom.  We started playing the game yesterday and the excitement level of kids is the same as every other year…..very high.  More chatter about history class happens because of this game than anything else I do during the year.  Heck….our computer lab has windows that look out to the rest of the media center….and I had kids watching from the other side of the windows….salivating…..wanting to come in and play. 

Was the day smooth?  No, we had some tech issues early in the day to deal with.  I found a suitable solution so the second half of the day worked much better.  But that is the art of teaching….your plans are only as good as all the factors included in them….when one part breaks, is absent, or gets moved for a school convo…then the teacher has to mod his or her plans.  Is what I am doing this year ideal or best practices….no….but it is working so we are running with it.

I have blogged many times about the use of this game and said many good things about it and other games in the classroom.  However, what is discouraging about computer games in the classroom is how they have only increased slightly in the last four years.  I talk to people every month who have heard about what I do.  They like it.  They are interested.  And some even start using a game or two.  But why are teachers not using games and technology to teach?  Every teacher desk has a computer on it……most schools have a computer lab…some have multiple labs.  Kids homes have multiple computers in them.  We take attendance with the computer, lunch counts with the computer, make bus schedules and master class schedules with computers, we make airline reservations with computers, print off boarding passes with computers, make car rentals with the computer, shop on the internet, turn our lights on and off with a computer, run our HVAC with a computer……but we teach with a white board and a marker……..does that seem right???????????  Sorry about the rant but it just doesn’t seem right.  We live in a tech world….we produce factory model kids……I think we need to change…..quicker.

Friday afternoon at Oak Hill High School was a professional development afternoon.  So our students headed home around 12:30 and the teachers and administration stayed for an afternoon of what we hoped would be a beneficial discussion with a group of students.  The idea was very simple….the administration had asked a group of students to stay for the afternoon (of course they were bribed a bit with pizza) and meet with teachers to tell us what they see as good things that teachers do in the building and what things that maybe they don’t like.  Students met with the principal a few times before Friday afternoon and they were given the ground rules, which included not getting personal, which the kids did great with.  Also, it should be noted that the kids asked to take part in this “town hall meeting” ranged from Freshman to Senior and also ranged from academically gifted to academically challenged.  We wanted a varied group of students to try to represent all points of view.

So how did it go?  Well, my group of teachers met with two groups of students and the discussions were very good.  We actually wanted more time together than was allowed.  There was plenty of give and take between teachers and students and no one got offended, no one got upset, no one got personal and the dialogue was very good.  So what did students say……..They like or want things like the following list of points I wrote down from students:

1. On-line stuff is good
2. Paperwork is boring
3. Mix things up to keep it fresh
4. Tell stories and experiences to make it real
5. Teach us how to study (maybe a bit surprising for me)
6. Hands on stuff is effective
7. Don’t lecture all period

And even stuff like

1. Enforce the dress code….too much skin and too much underwear is seen (that from kids!!)
2. We like Oak Hill…..teachers care about students
3. The Relationship is more important than the subject matter
4. We like coming to Oak Hill…..for the most part

Overall, I think the afternoon was fantastic.  I am one that believes we should do this every year with students.  Are all of their comments good……no….but all of my lessons are not setting the world on fire either….but listening to the people we spend the most time with is something that I don’t think we do enough.  Professional Development afternoons can be some of the worst times for teachers in public education……yesterday however, it was one of the best.

I wanted to share my first experience of using The InQuizitor with my world history class.  First, designing the quiz.  I asked a student I thought would be interested in designing the quiz to help me.  He was very enthusiastic about doing so.  He made a quiz of 30 questions over 1 chapter of world history.  In those 30 questions he made a few questions for just “fun” but for the most part the questions focused on the material.  So, the first use of the game is the amount of effort and I would certainly say learning that my quiz maker experienced.  Second, the rest of the students who played the game.  Between, guys and girls both seemed to enjoy the game.  I heard quotes like, “this game is awesome even though I don’t know the answers.”  But what continued to happen is that student after student kept taking the quiz over and over again.  Which obviously exposes them to material again and again.  There was a lot of chatter in the room, even some trash talking between students and certainly some competition to see who could get the high score.  I heard jubilant shouts of “Yes, I got it right!”  I also heard collaberation in the room….a student would say outloud….who changed the religion of England……and someone would shout the answer.  Overall, the level of enthusiam was very high.  Of course this is the first time I have used it with entire classes but my first impression is outstanding.  I certainly think using The InQuizitor in the right setting and wth the right frequency in class will be very beneficial. 

Oak Hill High School recently acquired The InQuizitor from 3MRT Software.  The concept of the game is very simple.  So simple that at times people have questioned me as to why would I want to use a quiz game in the high school classroom.  Well my answer has multiple levels:

1.  High school kids like the simple stuff.  I will never stop being surprised by how much 16 year old kids like to color or use stickers.  This is very elementary type stuff but you certainly can argue that kids are motivated by this.  I have two students in class right now that compare the comments they get from me on papers.  They have arguements between themselves about which comment is better “nice work” or “well done”……quiz games are simple but kids love them.  Also, The InQuizitor has a built in reward system…..some simple video game type stuff…..from my generation things like Asteroids or Space Invaders.  But kids love this stuff.  Every person that I have been with while using the InQuizitor has loved the simple shooter games built into the quiz.

2.  Another reason I like the InQuizitor is that building a quiz is very simple.  This is an aspect of the game that I am getting ready to use with some students.  I am going to let them build a quiz or quizzes about our next chapter.  I have students that are excited about the opportunity.  It is certainly nice to see a student be excited about a project……and a project that they WANT to do.  That is really the power of gaming. …motivation.

3.  Quiz games are great because almost all teachers use them already.  It may be “quiz bowl” during football season….It may be Jeopardy or whatever.  But kids do like to show off what they know.  They like the competition and it certainly is a break from the normal routine of school. 

These three reasons explain why I like The InQuizitor.  You can read more and find out more about The InQuizitor from 3MRT software or following the link in the sidebar to We Are Teachers.

Just wanted to post and let anyone who is interested know that I have joined an online community called We Are Teachers.  You can link up to my page on the sidebar and check it.  The site is still in Beta stage but will soon be fully operational.  I will be discussing the use of games in education, sharing ideas, how I lesson plan with games etc…

Mark Wagner has been doing some research on MMORPG’s in Education.  He has a couple of posts on his blog about his research.  They are worth your time.

http://edtechlife.com/?p=1961

http://edtechlife.com/?p=1962

After taking some time off from Blogging I feel somewhat refreshed and ready to get back at this a little.  I have a couple of things working right now.  Oak Hill United School Corporation will be getting The InQuizitor.  This game is relatively simple but it’s use has incredible potential.  Unlike games like Making History, the InQuizitor can be used with every unit I teach.  It also can be used in multiple grade levels.  The game is probably best for grades 3 and up.

Also, I am going to do some formal testing with the School of Education from Purdue University on the use of Making History.  If you are a reguar reader of this blog you will probably understand what is going on with this.  I informally did this two years ago and found that game players learned more and with greater depth of understanding than the traditional student.  So now I will have the opportunity to do this formally.  More details will come on this as we get closer to the time of testing.

Finally, below is a list of links that are print articles and video about my use of games in the classroom.  All of these links have appeared in this blog but I have had some requests for them so here they are.  I tried to eliminate the links that had become link rot but I could have missed a couple.  Sorry about that if I did.

http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0710/trythis.html

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070426&content_id=1931524&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2007b/070710VanFossenAckerman.html

http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1165&pf=1

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2618924n

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/02/27/eveningnews/techtalk/entry2521409.shtml

http://www.miamicountylife.com/articles/2007/01/18/local_news/local40.txt

http://www.thejournal.com/articles/19790

http://www.thejournal.com/articles/19776

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-11-29-ed-games_x.htm

http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/101365

http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4345

http://seriousgamessource.com/features/feature_051606.php

 http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=36557&CFID=4534727&CFTOKEN=91865173

Here is another game that I think is worth mentioning.  This game is designed for math and science but in my mind has some great social studies potential as well.  In essence a player travels in time to historical periods and then builds items such as drawbridges, pyramids, and irrigates farm lands.  The focus on math and science here is easy to see but I think the social studies link is worth it.  In my survey of world history course we cover all of this matieral.  We often talk about the technological advances that society makes and what better way to show students than with a game thats focus is the same.  I have had conversation with a representative from this company and I have been told updates are coming that will dovetail much better with history courses.  This one I am excited to see first hand!

http://www.software-kids.com/

  Screen Shot of Time Engineer

I wanted to share this game with the readers of this blog.  This is a quiz game with a built in reward system for students.  The game is very user friendly and is easy to see the positive uses for classrooms ranging from elementary to high school.  When purchased, the game comes with some preloaded quizzes but more importantly the teacher can make their own quiz for their own class.  So how it works is a student will sit down to play and the more questions they answer correctly and the faster they do it…..they earn more time to play a video game built into the software.  The games are simple but fun to play.  When time runs out then the student goes back to answering questions in the quiz.  The process can go on until time is up or questions are exhausted.  What I have seen to this point is that students will go back to take the same quiz again….answer more questions correctly….and faster…….increasing recall…….so they can play the games for a longer period of time.  I am working on getting this game for Oak Hill.  I will post updates as necessary.

http://www.inquizitor.com/

 Screen Shot of The Inquizitor

Over the past few weeks I have left my blogging energies somewhere……Actually the end of football season always let me focus more time and energy here.  Since the beginning of the school year I have not had much opportunity to use technology in my classroom.  My building is still under renovation and just recently did they get our main computer lab up and running.  I have yet to utilize it.  But that will all change in the near future.  I have a couple of new opportunites with new games in the classroom coming up in the near future.  I will keep you all posted as to what new things I am up to.   One interesting thing that has been going on is that since my story with Making History appeared on CBS News is that the community that I work in is much more aware of how I use games in education.  I posted the CBS video on youtube and many of my current students have mentioned to me that they  have watched it.  So the excitement for the game already exists and I haven’t said a word about it.  Another thing that I have been up to is I have started posting a audio chapter review as a podcast for kids to go listen to before a chapter test.  This idea although not really that exciting has started to take root with my kids.  I take them through a blog site(not this one) that I set up so I can track traffic to the podcast easier.  Also, I had parent teacher conferences this past week and I shared with every parent the ability for their kid to get the podcast.  Most parents thought that was a great idea and were going to make sure their kids took advantage of it.  So time will tell on how much kids use it but it certainly is not difficult for me to do and even if only a few kids utilize it I will continue to do it. 

As for my use of The Sims…..I had to suspend that for this semester.  I only own one copy of the game that we used to play as an entrie class.  But during the renovation I lost the ability to project the game on to a screen.  I still have the game in my room and a few kids play it from time to time on a laptop and when ever that is going on, there is a general interest in the game.  Just unfortunate circumstances for this semester.  Next time I teach Sociology we will get back into playing The Sims.

Here is a link to an article that appears in the NEA Today magazine.  Bill MacKenty was kind enough to pass my name along to the reporter.  Bill has a fantastic blog check out the link in my blog roll.

 http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0710/trythis.html

I was surfing today in a little down time. While reading some blogs about games in education and relevant material I came across a major league baseball pitcher named Jason Hirsh who must be into games.  The article that appears on the MLB website actually makes reference to some of the testing I did using Making History.  I was amazed to see it.  Here is the link if you would like to read what he has to say.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070426&content_id=1931524&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

It is two weeks in to the new school year and I am now adjusting to the new activites.  I became department chair this year.  My long time mentor taught his last class in May.  He is now filling his time with important things like travel and football games.  I certainly would not be the teacher I am today without the help of Steve Tuttle.   He is a good friend and a great teacher.  Another point about Steve is, as department chair, he was very supportive of the idea of games in the classroom.  When I first met the people from Muzzy Lane, Steve was with me and encouraged me to work with them.  His support was instramental to my success.

The Sims, Sociology, and blogs.  My building is under construction.  The computer labs are well……bomb shelters at this point.  My access to computers is very limited.  So at this point I am not starting blogs with my Sociology students.  Which is a little frustrating because this group of kids I do think would respond very well to it.  Also, playing The Sims has been put on hold for now.  I have 24 students…..at least 10 more than I did last year and only one copy of The Sims.  But even more important……my classroom will be getting a networked LCD projector at some point this semester but as for now I just have wires hanging from the ceiling.  So 24 kids huddled around a laptop just doesn’t work out to well. 

By the time WWII rolls around in World History all the construction should be done so I will have all the technology needed for that unit.  But a new variable that I will have is that for the last 13 years I have been the only world history teacher in the building.  So playing Making History has been simple…..no one to share the lab with or no students getting left out of the Making History experience.  But this year is different.  There are now 2 classes around 56 students that have another teacher for world history.  Will they miss the experience?  I don’t know if the new teacher will want to use the game or not with his kids.  It could set up some interesting social dynamics.  We will have to wait and see.

And finally for 4AM this morning, why am I up so early??????  Well, could be because it is game day.  We play the Elwood Panthers at 7PM tonight.  We have started the year with 2 wins and we look to continue that success tonight.  Elwood probably has the best running back we will face all year so that brings challenges for us to overcome…..which is what football is all about.  Stay tuned for the results.