Where Have I Been?

I have been super swamped with grading papers during these last couple of weeks of the third quarter. I have also had an influx of new students who have been creating profiles and blogs for Globaloria. Today, I decided to take a quick moment to create a new blog (this is it) just to let the world know I am still alive and well.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This semester has kept me quite busy with an influx of new students. I have added eight students to our Globaloria list for this semester, and we will be getting four new students in the next couple of weeks. Additionally, I currently have four students who have not yet returned Globaloria permission slips.

The eight students I had on my roster last semester have transferred out of my class.

I admit that sometimes I feel like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to figure out who is doing what ...

Disappointment!

I was quite disappointed when I learned that I would not be able to continue working on the game I had created at the last Globaloria workshop.

I was using the trial version of Adobe Flash CS5 to make the game, but our school only has CS4 version, which I downloaded on my MacBook.I was rather excited about finishing what I had started ... now, I will have to start all over again. But that might not be a bad thing. I can begin working on my game at school while the boys are doing Globaloria, and maybe we can all learn together.

Starting All Over Again

With the arrival of new students, I am going back to the start of the course. So far, all is well, but there are definitely some things that I have forgotten how to do. I am going to have to review the directions for each new item.

This is good, though, as hopefully this will become ingrained in my memory for future classes.

Game Research

I have found that the most tedious task in Globaloria, according to my students, is finding research to support game ideas. This task is listed under Choosing Your Topic in the side menu. Once students decide upon their game ideas, they are excited to get started creating games. Many students do not want to research information to enhance their games.

My questions is, how do I emphasize the importance of research? I understand why research is important, although I will admit that the tasks required in Globaloria do seem a bit tedious.

Any suggestions?

Snow Day!

Today we had our first snow day of the year! I got so much accomplished, but not until after I slept in an extra hour and a half ... nice! My first task was to shovel snow. I shoveled all of the walks and the entire driveway, whew!

Next, I cleaned my house (floors and all) and decorated Christmas style. I also visited my mother who has Alzheimer's. Those visits are never fun, but I was encouraged to hear her say the sentence, "I love you," even though she can't remember who I am.


On my way home I picked up some wood for the fireplace and a couple of movies. Tonight's going to be one of those "tuck in and get cozy" kind of nights!

Finally!

I have not been able to log on to create a new blog in the past week. I kept getting a "server is unavailable" type message. Did anyone else experience those problems?

Anywho, I'm back!!!!

My Christmas tree is semi-decorated (lights, but nothing else) a few decorations have been planted here and there, and a bunch of plastic storage boxes which hold Christmas decorations are scattered about the house.

No worries! We still have two weeks until Christmas, right?