To commemorate the end of the semester and the beginning of finals, I thought I would revisit a few glimmering moments I have had with my students for anyone who has ever taken a class, taught a class, or even heard of a class. Trust me, I cannot make this stuff up.
1. “Our final is comprehensive. Does that mean that it covers everything we have read?”
2. “Dr. XYZ is letting us do these really creative dialogues and just footnote our sources instead of doing a research paper like you are making us do. Could I do this for this class too? I mean I am a fiction writer and that would be an assignment where I would actually learn something.” Continue reading
I’m just old enough to remember video gaming in its infancy, and just young enough not to be mired in nostalgia for the good old days. I still play the new stuff (and some of it is quite good). There is a special kind of fun discovering a hidden level, beating the final boss, and watching a digital protagonist “level up.” It’s so fun, there is now a cottage industry focused on using the unique rewards and punishments employed in the game world to solve real world problems. Reworking an activity as a game is now called “gamification.”
Reflection and Choice 