Grateful and Encouraged

Since I started this project, I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know some amazing people:  Shane_Danger, Mr. Krispy Kreme, Weirdy Beardy, The Pocket Moon guys (John and Tom), Leklack, the LBP Community team.  You are all amazing and I am blessed to have met you.  Last week something new happened, a website called Little Big Journey, run by PSN screen names ApertureNOBLE and Breezy-The-Pro, did something amazing.  They challenged Little Big Planet creators to take this game we enjoy so much and apply a purpose: learning.

It is an astounding read that truly asks creators, and anyone really, to go beyond themselves and give time doing something that they enjoy to potentially be there to help future generations learn.  I have to admit, I have given consideration to what Little Big Planet would look like if it were applied to education and there certainly is a niche for people who use gaming as the back drop for learning.  If you have never seen it, look at what the people at ExploreLearning are doing by using great games to teach math fluency.  They even apply concepts of leveling, achievements, and use of avatars to encourage students to keep playing. It is brilliant, and my students really enjoy it.

That is the thing.  There is a built-in audience here.  They are hungry to play AND learn.  If we give them something they will do it, and enjoy it.  There hasn't been a day where I plug in one of the PS3's that my students don't say "Little Big Planet, YES!"  They want it and that is what makes this whole thing worth every second.    

Readers, friends, family, I thank you for your encouragement.  Breezy, Aperture, thank you both.  You two are amazing and your web site really cool.

Have a great week, all.

Up Late In the Name of Decimals

Right now, in math, we are working on decimals and I will share with you that place value (knowing the names of each digit and how much that is worth) is hard for 10 year old kids.  So much so that in the fall I made Stop Thief!, my place value game.  On Friday, I told the learners that we would be splitting up in to stations and that we would be practicing decimals in fun ways on Monday.  

Last night, when my wife went to bed, I stayed up to modify the Stop Thief! and I am proud to say that after nearly four hours of work Stop Thief! Decimal Edition is ready to roll.  I even went ahead and published it.  If you have the time give it a whirl.  Any feedback is always appreciated.  I will be back with feedback later next week.

Turning Corners

A few fun stories for everyone on this, Oh So Wonderful Friday!  This week was awesome.  The kids in the club really clicked this week.  It started Tuesday with an EPIC jump that made the other two creators working with karting stop and watch.  We all stood there with huge smiles on our faces as the kart soared across the sky and landed on the other end of the track.  Everyone stayed quiet for a few seconds until the creator of the track broke the silence by proclaiming, “None of y’all steal my idea!”   We all burst out laughing.  Such a great moment.

The girl's favorite kart.

On Thursday, the boys did some really amazing things in LittleBigPlanet 2.  One boy set the stage for his competitive multiplayer bounce fest and next week will be adding moving platforms.  He was originally going to make something completely different, but after seeing the bounce pads has opted to create a cool challenge instead.   Another student was, with some help from a fellow LBP creator named Shade Seeker (thank you, good sir), able to create a vehicle that moves freely in all directions using the analog sticks and launches rockets.  He also taught the other boys that card board blows up rather easily.  This young man was so proud that he ran to get his mom, who also teaches in our building.  She was really enthusiastic to see his work and even more so when we walked her through how he had built it.

Over all, it was a really amazing week where projects really started to take shape.  I look forward to sharing more about the group in the next few weeks.