Organizing my store, organizing my paper
Welcome back to my store. Today I’ll look at the organization of my store at Street Market and what I learnt there that can be transferred to teaching writing.
When I started adding varied items to my store, I used to place them on any vacant display. After a while I ended with DIY paints next to clothing items and electronic gadgets. Oppps! This doesn’t happen in real stores. Some relocation was due then.
I started moving displays around the store to group my products in homogenous groups: women’s clothes in one place, gadgets in another and DIY stuff in one corner. That resulted in a neat looking store that resembled good, prestigious ones.
During the relocation process, I kept thinking of writing and how we teach our students to group similar ideas together so their papers are more neat, organized and reader friendly. We tell them not to jump from one idea to the other. Organizing products in a Street Market game can be a practical embodiment of organization of ideas. Students can play the game and find for themselves how organization helps accessing products (ideas) easily.
Something else that came to my mind then. Don’t place products behind the door where not many customers wouldn’t notice them, or those who do have to bear up with the door being opened and closed frequently. Not very convenient, right? That’s what I thought too. This takes me back to addressing the audience discussed in my previous post. Don’t hide your ideas or mask them. Bring your ideas upfront to the audience to recognize and understand them. Always pay attention to your readers and their expectations.
One last word of caution with Street Market: adding decorative items to the store doesn’t earn you money or more customers; it just wastes your money and time. What about writing? Some are highly fascinated by the use of decorative language in their writing. They believe that kind of language is their means to persuade the audience. On the contrary, concise, persuasive language is more effective and efficient to reach that goal. Decorative, flowery language can impress some of audience instantly, but this doesn’t last for long.
So, this brings us to the end of my virtual business endeavor with some insight into the writing classroom.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Facebook Week: Day Three Game: Street Market
Running my own virtual business and writing argumentatively
For so long time, I’ve heard about Facebook games in which you run a business. Games like Farmville, Fishville, Restaurant City, Café World and Street Market. My children and friends always told me how addictive those games are and how engaging they could be that you may spend hours playing them. I always laughed at them undermining the games’ addiction level. I WAS WRONG!!
For two hours now, I’ve been playing Street Market. I can hear what some of you are saying now..No, I have other things to do.
Anyways, the interesting conclusion I got from Street Market is that it can be a great tool in teaching college students about two basic elements of writing: audience and organization. I’m not kidding! Let me explain how I reached this strange conclusion. For time and place sake, I’ll talk about audience now and leave organization issues to a later post.
When I started playing the game, I always bought certain goods to sell in my store. I watched and found that some of them sell quite fast while others do not. The other remark I had was that some people (customers) came into the store and left without buying anything. They also had a sad face expressing their disappointment. I had to stop and think how to accelerate the business and satisfy most of my customers. I decided to have more items of the best selling clothes, to expand the range of clothes (e.g. add men’s and accessories), and to add a section for music CDs.
The business boomed as a result. More customers came to the store and actually bought things. Additionally, the customer satisfaction rate increased dramatically.
Another thing that emerged in higher levels. Some customers would question one of the products in display (a question mark bubble). At first, I didn’t know how to deal with that. When I ignored that bubble, it turned into a sad, unsatisfied face. When I clicked on the bubble, it disappeared and a green, happy face appeared instead.
So what?? I learned how to address my audience (customers) by varying the displayed items they like, diversifying the brands and makes, and expanding to new products. Isn’t this how we address audience in writing? Analyze our audience, find out what the audience likes, decides on what satisfies and convinces the audience ?!?
At a higher level, students should expect the audience’s questions and objections and know how to deal with them for more persuasion and satisfaction.
Tip of Street Market: know your audience/readers and make sure you have what convinces them; use enough and relevant support and evidence. Pay attention to audience’s questions and answer them as you write. In short, go play Street Market.
For so long time, I’ve heard about Facebook games in which you run a business. Games like Farmville, Fishville, Restaurant City, Café World and Street Market. My children and friends always told me how addictive those games are and how engaging they could be that you may spend hours playing them. I always laughed at them undermining the games’ addiction level. I WAS WRONG!!
For two hours now, I’ve been playing Street Market. I can hear what some of you are saying now..No, I have other things to do.
Anyways, the interesting conclusion I got from Street Market is that it can be a great tool in teaching college students about two basic elements of writing: audience and organization. I’m not kidding! Let me explain how I reached this strange conclusion. For time and place sake, I’ll talk about audience now and leave organization issues to a later post.
When I started playing the game, I always bought certain goods to sell in my store. I watched and found that some of them sell quite fast while others do not. The other remark I had was that some people (customers) came into the store and left without buying anything. They also had a sad face expressing their disappointment. I had to stop and think how to accelerate the business and satisfy most of my customers. I decided to have more items of the best selling clothes, to expand the range of clothes (e.g. add men’s and accessories), and to add a section for music CDs.
The business boomed as a result. More customers came to the store and actually bought things. Additionally, the customer satisfaction rate increased dramatically.
Another thing that emerged in higher levels. Some customers would question one of the products in display (a question mark bubble). At first, I didn’t know how to deal with that. When I ignored that bubble, it turned into a sad, unsatisfied face. When I clicked on the bubble, it disappeared and a green, happy face appeared instead.
So what?? I learned how to address my audience (customers) by varying the displayed items they like, diversifying the brands and makes, and expanding to new products. Isn’t this how we address audience in writing? Analyze our audience, find out what the audience likes, decides on what satisfies and convinces the audience ?!?
At a higher level, students should expect the audience’s questions and objections and know how to deal with them for more persuasion and satisfaction.
Tip of Street Market: know your audience/readers and make sure you have what convinces them; use enough and relevant support and evidence. Pay attention to audience’s questions and answer them as you write. In short, go play Street Market.
Facebook Week: Day Two Game: Christmas Crunch
Let's Crunch and Munch
Today I decided to play some easy game to just pass time. As I browsed through the games my
friends play, I found Mind Jolt games to repeat with many friends. When I tried them, I found that they are a group of games that many of them depend more on eliminating groups of similar items. At first I couldn’t think of any benefit of the game I started with, Christmas Crunch, but after a couple of levels, I started to see some literacy and teaching related issues.
The first screen of the game before it actually starts is about clear instructions to the game. Before I saw that screen, I didn’t expect to have instructions since it’s a simple game and almost everybody knows how to click on similar color Christmas ornaments to crunch them. I was wrong. There were instructions to explain to novice players how to play the game and score higher. I couldn’t help thinking how many teachers falsely assume that students, particularly at advanced levels, know it all. We sometimes assume that because we give them a simple task to do, we don’t have to provide instructions. Not only do instructions guide students in doing their activities but they also create a common ground among all students. They create a sense of equality.
I find this game to be so simple that it can be used with little children to teach them how to make decisions on a variety of things. For example, as I play the game, I have to decide which ornaments I’d better crunch to create other large clusters of ornaments, which consequently leads to higher scores. This entails sacrificing small clusters of two or three ornaments for the sake of bigger gains in large clusters. Mmmm..rings many bells! Critical thinking?? Maybe!
Yes! It’s critical thinking at a very simple and novice level. Which gain a child would be more interested in: small or large? The answer is of course large. Then a child should think before clicking on a cluster to see where this click is taking him/her. This decision making process can be extended by the teacher to many issues: watch TV or do homework? Read a book or hang out with friends? Proofread a piece of writing or save the time for a video game? Such decisions boost students’ critical literacy at young age, a literacy we always complain its absence in our students, particularly in the writing classes.
So, let’s crunch Christmas ornaments and make decisions on to read articles for the next class, cook yummy dinner, or just play lazy and watch TV. I’ve made mine: cook a yummy dinner :-))
Today I decided to play some easy game to just pass time. As I browsed through the games my
friends play, I found Mind Jolt games to repeat with many friends. When I tried them, I found that they are a group of games that many of them depend more on eliminating groups of similar items. At first I couldn’t think of any benefit of the game I started with, Christmas Crunch, but after a couple of levels, I started to see some literacy and teaching related issues.
The first screen of the game before it actually starts is about clear instructions to the game. Before I saw that screen, I didn’t expect to have instructions since it’s a simple game and almost everybody knows how to click on similar color Christmas ornaments to crunch them. I was wrong. There were instructions to explain to novice players how to play the game and score higher. I couldn’t help thinking how many teachers falsely assume that students, particularly at advanced levels, know it all. We sometimes assume that because we give them a simple task to do, we don’t have to provide instructions. Not only do instructions guide students in doing their activities but they also create a common ground among all students. They create a sense of equality.
I find this game to be so simple that it can be used with little children to teach them how to make decisions on a variety of things. For example, as I play the game, I have to decide which ornaments I’d better crunch to create other large clusters of ornaments, which consequently leads to higher scores. This entails sacrificing small clusters of two or three ornaments for the sake of bigger gains in large clusters. Mmmm..rings many bells! Critical thinking?? Maybe!
Yes! It’s critical thinking at a very simple and novice level. Which gain a child would be more interested in: small or large? The answer is of course large. Then a child should think before clicking on a cluster to see where this click is taking him/her. This decision making process can be extended by the teacher to many issues: watch TV or do homework? Read a book or hang out with friends? Proofread a piece of writing or save the time for a video game? Such decisions boost students’ critical literacy at young age, a literacy we always complain its absence in our students, particularly in the writing classes.
So, let’s crunch Christmas ornaments and make decisions on to read articles for the next class, cook yummy dinner, or just play lazy and watch TV. I’ve made mine: cook a yummy dinner :-))
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Facebook Week: Day One Game: Brain Buddies
Alice in Wonderland Adventure
Let me first admit that I hardly ever play games on Facebook that I can’t remember the last time I did it. I had to ask my children who play tons of games there. I started today with my daughter’s choice: Brain Buddies. The game is much fun and awfully engaging and can develop multi literacies away from the memory tricks: visual, mathematical and logical.
The visual literacy as understood by researchers is how we understand and perceive images we see. Visual literacy is significant for teaching young children how to read. If children can’t recognize the letters or numbers, they won’t be able to read. I believe visual literacy is the grounding base of both the Web and e-learning since the learner relies more on reading online, interacting with the teacher and mates using icons and buttons that s/he needs to recognize to use correctly. Thus, Brain Buddies lends itself to be an e-learning medium for children for many subject matters: reading, geography (maps), science (symbols) and math (numbers and signs).
Speaking of math brings along the second literacy Brain Buddies may develop. Math requires speed as well as accuracy in calculations. This is exactly what Brain Buddies trains players on. It builds on the visual literacy to teach children basic arithmetic. Although the game focuses on basic mathematical literacy, it can be very useful with children. It’s engaging and requires good deal of concentration and speed.
Now we come to logical literacy which I believe is in the core of our work as writing teachers who endeavor to develop students’ analytical and argumentative skills. Brain Buddies has an addictive logic component that teachers can use to train students implicitly on analyzing what they can see before choosing the correct pattern. This simply teaches students how to stop and think before making any decision and how to make sound judgments based on analysis rather than appearance. A pedagogical application of this component is for the teacher to ask students to explain their choices. This entails making a claim (the choice) and using evidence (reasons behind the choice). Can’t think of a better preparation for argumentative writing. Worth trying, right?
One more comment due here: I never saw Facebook games from literacy lens. I’m almost sure the game developers didn’t have any pedagogy or literacy ideas in their minds as they were developing Brain Buddies. Yet, like any other medium around us in the social discourse, we, teachers, can utilize Facebook games to serve our objectives and to boost the new generation’s literacies.
Let me first admit that I hardly ever play games on Facebook that I can’t remember the last time I did it. I had to ask my children who play tons of games there. I started today with my daughter’s choice: Brain Buddies. The game is much fun and awfully engaging and can develop multi literacies away from the memory tricks: visual, mathematical and logical.
The visual literacy as understood by researchers is how we understand and perceive images we see. Visual literacy is significant for teaching young children how to read. If children can’t recognize the letters or numbers, they won’t be able to read. I believe visual literacy is the grounding base of both the Web and e-learning since the learner relies more on reading online, interacting with the teacher and mates using icons and buttons that s/he needs to recognize to use correctly. Thus, Brain Buddies lends itself to be an e-learning medium for children for many subject matters: reading, geography (maps), science (symbols) and math (numbers and signs).
Speaking of math brings along the second literacy Brain Buddies may develop. Math requires speed as well as accuracy in calculations. This is exactly what Brain Buddies trains players on. It builds on the visual literacy to teach children basic arithmetic. Although the game focuses on basic mathematical literacy, it can be very useful with children. It’s engaging and requires good deal of concentration and speed.
Now we come to logical literacy which I believe is in the core of our work as writing teachers who endeavor to develop students’ analytical and argumentative skills. Brain Buddies has an addictive logic component that teachers can use to train students implicitly on analyzing what they can see before choosing the correct pattern. This simply teaches students how to stop and think before making any decision and how to make sound judgments based on analysis rather than appearance. A pedagogical application of this component is for the teacher to ask students to explain their choices. This entails making a claim (the choice) and using evidence (reasons behind the choice). Can’t think of a better preparation for argumentative writing. Worth trying, right?
One more comment due here: I never saw Facebook games from literacy lens. I’m almost sure the game developers didn’t have any pedagogy or literacy ideas in their minds as they were developing Brain Buddies. Yet, like any other medium around us in the social discourse, we, teachers, can utilize Facebook games to serve our objectives and to boost the new generation’s literacies.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Life Technology
Personal technology
As a teenager, Walkman was a hit technology. I always found it cool to be able to listen to my favorite music any time; I didn't have to be at home near the gigantic casette player. with earphones, I can just listen to what I like without having my parents yelling at me for that. I dreamed to have a walkman and kept asking my dad for one for months before he actually bought me one.
I felt I had a private life then just with earphones in my ears and my favorite Michael Jackson's songs streaming there. I also felt special and unique since walkman was not very cheap at that time in Egypt and not everybody could own one. I really enjoyed my walkman on trips when we were on the bus doing nothing; I could do something that I like and enjoyed it.
School technology
At school, my big technology experience came in first year at college when we had to take that conversation class and we went to the Language Lab to listen to native speakers saying conversations. Each one of us had a private station where we listened at our own pace and the instructor could actually access our stations and ask where we were on the tape. That was amazing at that time. I never saw something like that before, and bearing in mind I lived in a small town, I was impressed our small college was that advanced technology that we, English majors, were the only ones to play with.
I liked our sessions there a lot and enjoyed them so much. I tried to make the best of them by imitating how those people spoke on the tape. That was the first step to learn how to speak good, fluent English. I still appreciate our instructor, Mr. Peter, for what he taught us there.
Work technology
A few years ago, I was first introduced to Moodle at my workplace. We didn't have to use it, but I thought it would be nice to use it as it to give students access to my course materials like Power Point Presentations and extra readings and the alike stuff.
The university where I taught didn't offer any training on that, so I had to teach myself how to do it. I spent a couple of months exploring, playing around with things until I thought I mastered many things there. I started simple by uploading class materials on the class page there. But after a while I thought that it's a shame to have all those options without exploiting them in my classes. I started creating quizzes on Moodle and then quizzes and then mid-term exams and projects. It was a huge advance in teaching the courses I taught at that time at college.
My students were skeptical about it at first, but it became part of their academic life in my classes later that they asked other instructors if they can take quizzes and exams on Moodle. I was so proud of myself that I learnt it from ground up, utilizing all the possibilities embedded there in my class and for the comfort and learning of my students.
I think these three stories summarize my experience with teachnology. I'm still eager to learn more and experiment with more technology in my life and my career. Any challenges our there?
As a teenager, Walkman was a hit technology. I always found it cool to be able to listen to my favorite music any time; I didn't have to be at home near the gigantic casette player. with earphones, I can just listen to what I like without having my parents yelling at me for that. I dreamed to have a walkman and kept asking my dad for one for months before he actually bought me one.
I felt I had a private life then just with earphones in my ears and my favorite Michael Jackson's songs streaming there. I also felt special and unique since walkman was not very cheap at that time in Egypt and not everybody could own one. I really enjoyed my walkman on trips when we were on the bus doing nothing; I could do something that I like and enjoyed it.
School technology
At school, my big technology experience came in first year at college when we had to take that conversation class and we went to the Language Lab to listen to native speakers saying conversations. Each one of us had a private station where we listened at our own pace and the instructor could actually access our stations and ask where we were on the tape. That was amazing at that time. I never saw something like that before, and bearing in mind I lived in a small town, I was impressed our small college was that advanced technology that we, English majors, were the only ones to play with.
I liked our sessions there a lot and enjoyed them so much. I tried to make the best of them by imitating how those people spoke on the tape. That was the first step to learn how to speak good, fluent English. I still appreciate our instructor, Mr. Peter, for what he taught us there.
Work technology
A few years ago, I was first introduced to Moodle at my workplace. We didn't have to use it, but I thought it would be nice to use it as it to give students access to my course materials like Power Point Presentations and extra readings and the alike stuff.
The university where I taught didn't offer any training on that, so I had to teach myself how to do it. I spent a couple of months exploring, playing around with things until I thought I mastered many things there. I started simple by uploading class materials on the class page there. But after a while I thought that it's a shame to have all those options without exploiting them in my classes. I started creating quizzes on Moodle and then quizzes and then mid-term exams and projects. It was a huge advance in teaching the courses I taught at that time at college.
My students were skeptical about it at first, but it became part of their academic life in my classes later that they asked other instructors if they can take quizzes and exams on Moodle. I was so proud of myself that I learnt it from ground up, utilizing all the possibilities embedded there in my class and for the comfort and learning of my students.
I think these three stories summarize my experience with teachnology. I'm still eager to learn more and experiment with more technology in my life and my career. Any challenges our there?
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