Literature Review of Mary Fran Daley’s article “Using Video Games to Embrace Inquiry: Learning for Life Through Fun”

Mary Fran Daley - Image retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryfrandaley

Summary:

Mary Fran Daley, a second-year teacher-librarian (at the time of her article in Knowledge Quest), creates an empathetic rapport with fellow educators by laying things out as they are. Right from the get-go she explains that, as a newcomer, she had little-to-no classroom management skills and no real knowledge of video games – despite opting to teach a video game design course to “difficult” students.

Before diving in to the meat of her article, Daley explains why she decided to teach the class, claiming that “Technology may not be a panacea for education, but it certainly is one of the most powerful tools at our fingertips to do so much more with less, as we are increasingly asked to do (Daley, 2011, p. 67).” She clearly states that her mission is to guide the 21^st century learner in education with the help of technology.

Having set the stage, Daley then breaks her article down into four main sections – think, create, share, and grow – reflecting on the ups and downs of her pioneering technology class throughout.

Firstly, in the Think section, she explains how video game creation (via programs such as MITs “Scratch”) can and does get students thinking. Daley describes how the complexity of game creation involves higher-order thinking skills as well as media literacy.

Vision of Technology - Teaching a Tech-Saturated Generation

Photo retrieved from http://www.upsidetrader.com/2014/04/02/buy-old-tech-said-will-make-rich-said/

Though many of us that were born earlier than the 90s have commented on this fact, it still astounds me that in my short life-time of nearly 26 years I have seen floppy-disk-drive-capable, black-and-yellow screen computers evolve into lightning fast tablets with high definition touch screens and endless possibilities. Furthermore, it is simply incredible how quickly children are able to pick up and use this new technology in our 21st century world. For example, just a few weeks ago, I opened a simple game up on my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone and handed it over to my 3 year old nephew to play. After chatting with my parents for a few minutes I looked back over to see how he was doing only to discover that he had somehow successfully exited the game and opened the Netflix app, logging into his family’s account in order to watch his favorite shows – this was the first time he’d used my phone without supervision and he was already more tech savvy with it than my parents.

As a student in the Master of Education program at Southern NH University, the above example resonated with me and kick-started my thinking as I prepare to teach. Though not all students learn the same, it is apparent that many children are now exposed to various forms of technology at an early age and it would therefore seem unproductive to not include some form of that technology in the classroom. The question remains, then, how do we as educators prepare to teach a technology-saturated generation of diverse learners? I believe that the answer comes down to using technology as a helpful tool in the classroom (as opposed to a necessary adaptation) and focusing on two areas: connectivity and accessibility.

Slam Poetry

So I just realized that I've posted a good number of Slam Poems but I've never actually taken the time to explain to all of you what Slam Poetry actually is. Luckily, I had the opportunity to give a brief lesson on Slam during a friend's creative writing college course so I made a handy hand-out. Without further ado, here you go:

A quick Taste of the SLAM revolution

 “What is Slam?” From the Founder Marc Kelly Smith:

"Competitive poetry.

That's what slam is.

I looked it up on Wikipedia."

When the uninitiated hear the term "slam poetry," they say "slam what?" or serve up the quick and easy answer quoted above or the equally facile interpretation that slam is "rap without music—what Eminem did in 8 Mile or what that singer Grande Corde Malade does in France." Chances are they got a taste of slam at the French Nationals or at the Starry Plough in Berkeley, but it was only a taste. A deeper drink would tell them more. And here's that drink, served up by the Slampapi himself:

Slams are captivating poetry events that focus a live audience's attention on the presentation of poetry that's been composed, polished, and rehearsed for the purpose of being performed—very often in a competitive arena, but not always. It's a carnival, a pageant, an interactive classroom, a town hall meeting, a con game, a versified boxing match, and a churchlike revival that electrifies and animates the people listening to and watching it.

Competitive slam poets battle against one another like wrestlers vying for a championship belt. Each poet takes his or her turn onstage to play at proving their superiority as both poet and performer. The audience is prompted to get involved, and it does! Crowds have been known to roar approval or stomp their boots in scorn for the poetics they love or pretend to hate.

Excerpted from: Smith, Marc Kelly, and Joe Kraynak. Take the Mic: The Art of Performance Poetry, Slam, and the Spoken Word. Naperville, Ill.: Source MediaFusion, 2009. Print.

The kicking, screaming birth of slam:

• In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, even the biggest names and most famous poets were facing dwindling audiences due to the stiff, formal, monotonous, and even flat-out-boring nature of poetry readings (usually in libraries or bookstores)
• So what changed? Passion! Power! Performance! Marc Kelly Smith wanted to steer spoken poetry away from the highly specialized (or often non-existent) audience of highbrow poetry aficionados to the general public.
• It worked! Despite the scoffers and naysayers, Smith started hosting ‘Poetry Slams’ in Chicago during the summer of 1986 at the Get Me High Lounge.
• Just three years later, in 1989, Smith had kicked off the National Slam competition in San Francisco. By the competition’s second year (back in Chicago) it had sold out to over 700 audience members – the biggest poetry event The Windy City had witnessed in decades.
• Today, Poetry Slam competitions and Slam open mic nights are held all over the world from Boston to Bosnia.

Information pulled from: Smith, Marc Kelly. The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-hop & the Poetry of a New Generation. Naperville, Ill.: Source MediaFusion, 2003. Print.

The “RULES” of slam:

While the rules can be different depending on where you go, and Slam is more about creative performance than competition, but there are a few generally adhered to “rules.”

1. 3 Minute Cap – Limiting slammers to three minutes per poem (with a ten second grace period) keeps Slams from falling back into the stagnant territory of poetry readings where authors might drone on for upwards of ten or fifteen minutes (usually losing their audience’s attention on the way).
2. Audience Judges – Judging is generally done in two ways (but both are audience based)
1. Audience members are pulled at random by the host and asked to judge.
2. The host judges whose Slam was best by audience feedback (clapping, thumbs up, stomping etc.)
3. Scored 0 – 10 – If judging is done via the 2a method above, judges usually grade on a scale of 0-10 which can occasionally go up to 30 or even infinite if a Slammer knocks it out of the park.
4. What do I win? – Slam prizes can be anything from a free drink to a bunch of money but mostly Slammers participate to get their poems out there and try to win for bragging rights and respect.

Slam resources: killer poets and where to find them:

Marc Kelly Smith: 
The author of Slam himself. Enough said.
www.marckellysmith.com or check out his official foundation: www.poetryslam.com 

Shane Koyczan:
Canadian Spoken Word artist and Slam Poet. Winner of the 2000 National Poetry Slam
http://www.shanekoyczan.com/ (Check out Spotify for his three spoken word albums, they will jolt your mind and crack your heart wide open)

Sierra DeMulder:
Two-time National Poetry Slam champion and one of the most recognizable young women in the world of Slam Sierrademulder.tumblr.com

Jack McCarthy:
Winner of numerous Slam awards and a brilliant, hilarious, Slam poet who sadly passed in 2013 www.standupoet.net (Check out his poem, ‘Careful What You Ask For’)

Button Poetry:
Button Poetry is one of many groups that promote Slam. Check it out to see some great poets like Neil Hilborn. www.buttonpoetry.com

The Disney Poem

I'm going to update this post when I'm not exhausted but I wanted to get this poem up now. I felt like it's been a long time since I wrote a mushy gushy love poem. I also wanted to write a longer slam poem than usual. So here's the combination of those two. Straight up for now. I'll probably make edits and add photos soon. In the mean time, let me know what you think and enjoy!

The Disney Poem [Tentative Title]

When I was a kid and I woke up with a headache and a sore throat I used to smile. Not because I was a masochist or some delirious mess but because it meant that I didn’t have to get dressed and go to school. That fever was a reliever from any and all scholarly grievances. It meant that I’d get to spend the entire day in my dinosaur pajamas eating banana popsicles.

Top 10 Worlds That Need to Be in Kingdom Hearts III

So Kingdom Hearts III is finally happening. I know this was announced months ago but I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the awesomeness. The Kingdom Hearts franchise is easily one of my favorites (even if it has been stumbling along through handheld systems for nearly ten years now) and as a long-time fan, one of the most exciting aspects of the announcement is getting the chance to speculate what new Disney worlds might be featured this time.

So without further ado, here are my personal choices for top 10 worlds that need to be in Kingdom Hearts III. If you disagree or think I missed something, then feel free to let me know in the comments.

February: Haiku Reviews Plus a Line or Two (Including: The Lego Movie, The Outsiders, and Assassin's Creed IV, and more)

Okay, so I've been trying to figure out for a while now how I can cram in reviews for all the neat things I've seen, read, heard, and played. Then it came to me: simplify. And how do we simplify? Haiku! So without further ado, here are some haiku reviews for you to view. (I will also include a one-two sentence mini-review for those of you who just aren't attracted to Japanese poetry.)

NOTE: This list will be updated until the end of February so check back for more!

Film:

The Lego Movie (February 2014) 

Haiku:

Genius voice casting,

Great A.D.D. Visuals,

Everything awesome.

Plus a Line or Two:

The Lego Movie is playfully fun, creatively endearing, and easily my favorite film of the year so far. There are too few genuinely funny and clean inspirational movies (as I mentioned in an earlier post), so I'm glad to see one more added to that list.

Hats and Sunbeams in February

It's one o'clock and time to leave work. I throw on my coat and gloves and pull on the crocheted 'My Neighbour Totoro' hat that my mom made me for my birthday. I push open the back door to Robert Frost building on the Southern New Hampshire University campus. I'm twenty-five, it's February, and I'm single.

The sun has been engulfed by the dense grey clouds above and the sidewalk is glazed with snow and ice. I shuffle along past Belknap building and hold my breath inconspicuously when I come to the exit where the international students crowd to smoke and speak into their cellphones in loud foreign languages. The air is stifled there by the strange brands of cigarettes that reek of some inexplicable smell, like burnt pine needles or sour evergreen. Once I'm clear, I let out my breath and descend the stairs.

I come to the large stone memorial plaque, dedicated to the school by the class of some-year-or-another, and stand at the edge of the crosswalk. I look left, then right, then left once more before I start to cross. That's when I see her. She is bundled up in a warm winter coat with the hood pulled just over her head. Her sandy blonde hair falling around the sides of her face and disappearing beneath a warm-looking plaid scarf.

She tilts her face up and I see her green eyes brighten in recognition from behind her glasses. But it's not me she recognizes.

Genius Idea: Frozen Yogurt + Hot Cereal

So here's a random blog post for you. I was driving home from work and I passed by my local frozen yogurt (or 'FroYo' for those who don't have time to speak or type full words) place and I got to wondering: what do they do in the winter time? I should probably clarify that I live in the northeast of USA where winter = lots of snow. And lots of snow = low demand for frozen yogurt.

So what, do they just close up for the winter and cut their losses? I know there are a number of seasonal businesses but that seems kind of crazy to me. And that got me thinking, what could they sell in the winter time so that they could stay open? Then it hit me: Hot cereal (or porridge or oatmeal or whatever you want to call it).

I stole this picture from Panera.

The Perfect Pair, 

Together at Last

I know it might sound weird at first but stay with me for a minute here. Most frozen yogurt places are set up so that they have a little topping buffet area with fresh fruit, granola, nuts, etc. What would go great on a hot bowl of cereal? Fresh fruit, granola, nuts, and etc!

Beautiful Things Don't Ask For Attention (Including Slam Poem - Designed)

I want to start this post off with two doses of honesty. 1: I love technology: computers, movies, video games, all that great stuff. 2: I spend too much time sitting in front of screens. It's slightly ironic that a film, in part, opened my eyes to this but that's beside the point. The movie I'm talking about is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. If you haven't seen it yet, go now before it's completely out of theaters and turns all 'ghost cat' for a few months during that in-between the silver-screen and home screen period.

Yes, the film has been called heavy-handed on the 'go live your life' mantra, and it is a bit on the formulaic side, but it more than makes up for both of these so-called 'issues' with it's genuine, inspiring heart and soul, as well as its beautiful cinematography and score/soundtrack.

Interestingly enough, before I even went to go see the film I had been ruminating on the idea of the inherent beauty in this world, and how we often miss it because we're so busy texting and computing and worrying about what we have to do next. The awakening, or renaissance (just because I love that word), came about when I started my car a few months ago and looked up to see that my windshield was covered in the most beautiful design of frost and snowflakes. It looked like someone had taken a spirograph and mathematically calculated out a design entirely unique and specific to my ol' Trailblazer's windshield.

This was a few days before I heard the news that Paul Walker had died. Scanning through some of the articles that were posted in the aftermath, I found two beautiful quotes from the much-loved celebrity, humanitarian, and generally all-around nice guy:

Do You Remember?

Do You Remember When I Used to Have a Blog That One Time?

It's funny how the best of intentions mean nothing if you don't follow through. You know how people always say "well it's the thought that counts"? I don't think that's right. I think it's the following through with that thought that counts. Are you picking up on the hypocriticism... hypocriticality... hypocriticalness... the fact that I'm being hypocritical here? If not, take a moment to see the date of my last post. I'll wait.

Okay, are you back? Good. Yeah, I feel like a blogger that posts every two and a half years is probably not going to get very many people to read his or her work. Either that or the uber-elusive nature and low-to-non-existent frequency is so tantalizing that this very post will receive thousands of views because of the incredible anticipation (that's my understanding of supply and demand, anyway) I've kept my fanbase waiting in. What is the minimum number of fans required to call it a 'fanbase' anyway?

Okay, so before I lose you with my ramblings - but really that's why you came, right? - this is all to say that I intend to start blogging again. (Please hold your applause until the end of the post). So expect more writing snippets, rambling thoughts, slam poems, movie/game/book/music talk and reviews, and of course general shenanigans and I'll do my best not to disappoint you.

Before you move on to the newer posts with actual writing content in them, though, I thought perhaps I should give a brief update of what I've been up to in those past two and a half years. And so as not to bore you (further), I'll do it in semi-Seussical rhyme.

When last we left off,

With the fellow named Gentry,

He'd written about games,

For his final blog entry.