48 Hours Off The Grid

I decided to take Dr. Shannon up on her offer to completely give up technology for 48 hours. I did not watch TV, use my cell phone, get on Facebook, etc. I started this adventure Sunday April 15th at 8am and ended Tuesday April 17th at 8am.

Awesome Lemon bars!

Sunday- Normally Sundays I work (in my hometown), so from 8-4 I did not really even notice that I was off the grid because I can't use my phone at work. I'm a waitress and Sundays are one of my busiest days, so I don't have time to be on my phone either way. When I got off work I thought about checking my phone. I think what bothered me the most was I normally have some missed call or text message and I wasn't able to see if I did. I kept my phone turned off the two days I was off the grid so I would not be temped to answer if someone called me. I arrived back in Shippensburg later that day. I wanted to relax and watch TV for a while before starting some more homework, but instead I baked. I made lemon bars and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. Oh my gosh they were delicious! I have not baked in a long time. Am I too consumed with YouTube, TV, and Facebook to do things I enjoy? I was thinking about this while I was baking. Why are we so concerned with checking up on our friends on Facebook or seeing what other people are doing? Why don't we just do them ourselves?  For instance, I mentioned I like to bake, but I haven't done it in a long time. Now ask me how often I watch the food channel...I would say I watch the food channel almost every other day. I don't spend hours watching it, but I could be spending that time actually baking and cooking (which I know my boyfriend would enjoy). Anyway, after my lemon bars were done baking, I disappeared into my room and worked on homework for a solid 5 to 6 hours that night. I was able to go to sleep around 10 and have a lot of homework done. Side note: Even though I am a highly motivated student, I still found myself itching to text someone while I was doing my homework. Many of you already know how sociable I am. Texting and talking may be two aspects that slow me down when I'm doing my homework. I must say after Sunday night, I was extremely proud that I did not talk to anyone unless it was in person. I felt a strong bond develop between my boyfriend and I because we both weren't looking at our phone the whole night.

Consumed with phones

Reading outside :)

Monday- Now, let me tell you about Monday. I have three classes on Mondays - all in the morning. I gave a presentation in my Teaching English and Language Arts class at 9am. I felt well prepared and think I did a pretty could job. After the presentation I headed to the library to do homework between classes. On my way to the library I really noticed something. Walking down the hallway in DHC I noticed I couldn't see anyone's face. The picture on the left sort of demonstrates what I am speaking about. (This picture came from another person's blog. The blogger too participated in social network free environment for an extended period of time. The picture is of her friends).  It was as if people have completely giving up the ability to talk to someone right next to them. I never realized how bad this is because I am always on my phone too walking down the hall way. When I say I couldn't see anyone's face, I mean to every person in the hallway was staring down at their phones. I think it is kind of sad. I normally talk to friends in my class before the class starts, even when I have my phone on me. Why aren't people willing to get to know new people in their classes, but are extremely open to flirting with someone they don't know at a bar? This idea connects to the environment we are in a that moment. I guess it is expected to be outgoing and friendly in a bar, but at "school" we are supposed to remain distant. I don't believe this. I actually am a lot better friends with people in my class than I believe many people are. Well, I finally make my way into the library and head upstairs to the quiet section. Working in the quiet section helps to limit my ability to talk which enables me to get more homework completed. Denny and I were working on homework that day in the library. Normally we have little conversation, but Monday I couldn't stop talking about my weekend, off the grid assignment, and previous events. I did not get as much work done in those 2 hours as I would have liked, but I felt happy. I love being surrounded by people, so I was just happy to talk to a friend again. Personal conversations will always make me happier than text messages and YouTube videos. Classes ended at 2pm and I headed home to work on homework. I grabbed my Post-Colonial book (Moth Smoke) and decided to sit outside and enjoy the 80 degree weather and read. I stayed outside for a couple of hours until I believed I was starting to get burnt. I continued to read after dinner that night and managed to read 100 pages. I headed to bed a little earlier than normal and read for my seminar class before going to sleep.

Overall Experience- So, what have a learned about myself and the American culture? Well, I'd say I can live without my phone. I remember mentioning that students say, "I'd die without my phone." I didn't die guys. In the beginning, I'll admit I did have some anxiety, but on the second day I actually felt less stressed out. Not having to worry about my phone made me feel free. I did miss receiving cute messages from friends during the day, but I realize I don't need them to feel happy. Also, I learned that I am the conversation starter. After I turned my phone back on this morning, I had a couple missed calls and messages, but the people that contacted me when I wasn't around are the people I care the most about. These people included some close friends, my boyfriend, and dad. I did tell these people about the assignment because I did not want them to worry about me, but even so some of them still left me voice mails or played me in words with friends. I guess I was missed. Now, American culture...we are totally wrapped up in technology and that prevent us from getting important things completed. Is this because we enjoy the small escape we get from checking our Facebook or do we check our Facebooks for instant feedback? Like WoW, some gamers play because they receive instant gratification and gain XP for completing quests and finishing an instance. Does Facebook make people happy or serve as an escape from reality? For me, I would say I get on Facebook when I am feeling stressed about school or somewhat lonely. I will state though that social networking tools do connect the world in new amazing ways. I guess my point would be...lets use social networking when we are alone. Pay attention to your friends and family, but most of all get outside and do something. After this experience, I plan to limit my phone and Facebook use. If I want to be social I'll call someone and ask them to hang out. I'd like that more than reading their status online any day :)

Boss Project Reflection

Let me first begin this blog with a little bit of background to refresh everyone. I am a Secondary English Education Major. Because I am education based, I wanted to use the Boss Project as my opportunity to expand. Nicole, Denny, Travis, and I decided to work together on this project. Basically, we plan to utilize McGonial and Gee's principles in a practical unit. This involves coming up with a central unit in which we will have four different English classes stem off of. To begin we decided which English class or "subject" each of us wanted to teach. Travis was very certain that he wanted to investigate Shakespeare and Nicole quickly decided on American literature as well. Denny decided on British literature and I will proceed to tackle Poetry.

Poetry, that's right! I approached this project with a small direction. I knew I wanted to have students "level up" through their discoveries. This could be by identifying vocabulary words in the poetry or demonstrating how certain poetic elements affect the meaning of the poem. The leveling up would be their point system and their "quests" would be their formal tests. I recalled one principle during my Shop Talk meeting with Dr. Shannon that I had decided to include in my lesson. This principle embodies the ability for students to redo assignments. I will give my students second chances to improve their work. This is a great idea because it enables my students to further investigate meaning in the poetry. If a student is willing to improve that means they are also willing to better their understanding and learn. Dr. Shannon encouraged me to choice pieces of literature that I feel are important and that I would like to teach. This will help me in the future because I will have at least one lesson to look back on. I have no decided if I want to look at just one genre of literature or just a few of my favorites. I like Walt Whitman and of course Robert Frost, but I will have to search through many of my textbooks to decided of which I will use for my lesson plan. By the way, my lesson plan will focus on one short class, not the entire marking period. I have decided to make a syllabus with the list of other poetry pieces I would intend to use. Getting back to the quest idea...I planned on having students do an oral presentation, written assignment, or class discussion to explain and expand upon what they had learned.

Well, these are just my starting ideas. Any poetry you recommend? It could really help me narrow it down to the pieces I want to look into. Also, if anyone has ideas I would like them too. Class, you will operate as my fellow "colleagues", so I would appreciate any feedback :)

Sometimes the best ideas surface when many great minds work together

Blog #4- For the Fun of the Game

This picture completely describes how I feel about World of Warcraft currently. I believe Gee describes this feeling very accurately in his novel. "When you have played a video game for a while, something magical happens to the texts associated with it. All of sudden they seem lucid and clear and readable. You can't even recall how confusing they seemed in the first place"(99). This a screen shot taken after Super Explosion flexed their muscles for the camera. Well, let me back up a little bit. "Super Explosion" is a new identity Evan came up with for Travis, him, and I. In this group, we have obtained new names as well. Jackhammer, T-Dog, and H-Cat...very original I know. haha. These names are important because established our "team." We are already part of the class guild, but now also apart of Super Explosion. Mainly, Evan and I talked to Travis and encouraged him through is quests. I was familiar with the land of Eastern Kingdom, so if we needed help navigating I was quick to respond. Evan encouraged Travis to go to the city and buy better weapons and armor. Also, Travis and I found Evan's help as a safety net. If we were unable to fight of the army Evan could help with one swift killing. I did manage to level up a little bit while helping Travis, but I was really enjoying myself. Like I had mentioned in the previous blog, I am a social gamer. I loved playing with friends from class. I think there will be a bond between the three of us. I think our bond was established through our desire to help one another and our successes brightened our ideas about friendship. Two English majors were able to critically connect with a History major. I think WoW is beginning to bridge the gap between different "types" of people and I love that. Travis and I feel like Evan is "one of us" and I love that through gaming I am able to get to know my class mates. I couldn't be happier with my gaming experience. I am looking forward to completing my instance with the class because I have complete faith that our class will continue to work together under Mortimore's Army and achieve the impossible.

Cue "We Are Young" by Fun. haha.

Blog #3--Epic Journey in World of Warcraft

"Meaning is material, situated, and embodied if and when it is useful" (Gee 87). 

Class Meeting- Eversong Woods- Eastern Kingdom

I'd like to begin this blog by stating that I have officially made it to level 11. I had help of course. Nicole worked with Travis and I during our class meeting in WoW. Also, Duncan (my class partner) helped me complete some quests. I was very frustrated with my progress at first. I felt like I was completing many quests and killing muchos monsters, but I was not leveling up. I started taking quests that would give me more XP, which required me to travel further. The problem with this approach though I discovered was that I was wasting much of my time running around trying to complete the quests. This leads me to run into two different WoW players. Both of them were upper level players and were willing to help. The first person was able to bring me to visit Denny on his continent. Elves and trolls live in completely different "countries" so it was a far journey. I would have stayed in Hunter Hill with Denny, but because I was a lower level player in a upper level area I kept getting killed left and right. I used my hearthstone to get back to Sunstrider Isle. This is one way I knew how to get home if and when I was in trouble. Any who, I then ran into the second upper level WoW player. He was level 85. I had asked him for advice as to what spells to "train" and if he knew of any better way to get around. He told me he was willing to help me complete quests and drive me around. I was extremely happy because I realized he plays WoW with the same attitude I do. Even though I am only level 11, I am willing to help someone in need. I am not expert, but I enjoy helping others. "The child, through action and reflection, becomes a 'self-teacher,' 'training' his or her own metal networks of associations (the patterns the mind stores)." (Gee 89). I have become my own teacher because I am willing to admit to myself and to other players what I need to work on. Later, I finally started to embody the importance of fighting through action. The player showed me how to battle efficiently. We dueled each other and he taught me how to stealth before the duel begins and to attack the player instead of the pet. The advice helped. Then we took a tour around Kalimdor. I learned about the Orc as well. I liked learning about a new world and new language through the guidance of an upper level player.

Entering the City-Kalimdor

Inner City- Kalimdor

 "HurtfulCold"----the player---- showed me what a dungeon looks like and explained that it would take about 5 players at my level to defeat a dungeon. He managed to wipe out the entire army of monsters and let me loot ALL of it! I am very thankful there are social gamers like me. He even traded me two bags so that I could carry all of the stuff i looted. I plan on using the money I looted to buy some better weapons and learn higher damage spells. So, after all of this, have I learned something? I would say I have. I have learned a lot more about the synthetic space of WoW. I am able to work alongside a stranger to complete some of my quests and I must admit I do feel accomplished. I am not frustrated anymore with the game. I recommend any new players use this approach to the game if they are feeling stuck. There are some gamers out there that will help you.

Lastly, I wanted to reflect on the helpful Angel. She was used as encouragement for lower level players. I needed that motivation to continue to fight. I liked knowing that I was able to make some mistakes, but learn from them. She was used as a safety net. I feel we should use this approach when testing in schools. I believe Gee mentioned something about this as well. Our school system gives students too many opportunities to fail and not enough to succeed. Students should be able to revise their work and hand in a better copy. Why would a teacher object to that? What do you think?




I know this is a long blog, but I wanted to really get into the game and the reading to be able to connect all of my ideas. Do you think I am learning? How can these skills I am learning be useful in reality? Input?


Hope you enjoy my pictures :)

V for Vendetta and First Gaming Experience (Blog #2)

I read V for Vendetta last week as my graphic novel choice. I must at admit I was a little confused at the end of the story who V for Vendetta actually was. I was having trouble connecting the characters faces with their names. One character I was able to focus on was Evey. She was just an innocent young girl in the beginning and "V" takes her under his wing and helps her figure out who she is. It is hard to view V as the villain in the story when you see how he helps Evey. She is able to see that she is the next V for Vendetta. I do have a couple of questions though about the story line. Why does Edward Finch shoot V? Who exactly is V? I think I may have confused myself a little because I slowly read this graphic novel a couple chapters at a time. I want to reread it and see the movie to be able to give it the meaning Alan Moore intended. I enjoyed reading this and can't wait to see the movie. In class some of the other students said they did not enjoy the color and style of V for Vendetta, but I have to say I think this was Alan Moore's purpose. The story is meant to have a gloomy feeling. The reason the colors are not bright and colorful is because the story is not bright and colorful. The style may be concrete as well because Moore wanted the readers pay attention to the story line and not the transition between panels. As we learned in class, Alan Moore was the "writer" for many famous works----> it is was he is known for. Without the use of heavy text in each panel I do not believe the reader would be able to see the story. The text enhances the meaning.



Now, lets move into a topic that I am sure everyone will enjoy. I played WOW for the first time last night after I got everything installed. I was able to figure out how to screen shoot as well. I did have a little help from Nicole. She explained to me what each "class" does and how to navigate through setting up my character. My character or avatar's name is Strongspirit. I know the name isn't the coolest, but I liked it! I was able to level up to level 2 last night and figured out where the term EXP comes from.

By the way I am a Blood Elf and a rogue. I am not exactly sure what it means to be a rogue thought, could someone explain this to me?  Last night I was able to kill 6 worms and started collecting Lynx collars as well. I found it funny when I was killed and had to run back to my body. I was having a little bit of trouble with the controls, but was able to figure out you use the right click to kill soon enough. I think the most memorable thing about my first night of gaming was when I was "licked" my another player. I was still trying to figure out how to navigate through the bottom icon bar and the player ran up and licked me and then waved goodbye. I don't know who that was. haha. I am excited to learn how to learn more in class next weekend about the game and how to communicate. I can see what gaming literary is so important. I feel a little lost, but I am enjoying myself and learning the lingo.