Winter Classic 2012

“So…. Um… Guess what I just won?”

 I could barely get out the words to Rich, my husband, the first on my list of people to call with the exciting news.  I am not what someone might call lucky, and could barely believe what I had heard. 

I had just won tickets to the 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia, PA. 

I HAD JUST WON TICKECTS TO THE 2012 WINTER CLASSIC!

If I had not been at work, I would have screamed!  As it was, I was softly jumping up and down, too excited to will my body to sit still for even a moment.  Even as I talked to Rich, I never stopped moving.  At the Sharks game that night against TB, I was telling everyone I could see.  The win and the 5 goals in the first period topped off my night, making it one of the best I had ever had. 

Two days later we went down to the Tank to pick up the tickets.  We walked in the main entrance and were let down stairs.  I felt so special being able to not only go behind the scenes, but to go to a place at the Tank I had never been before.  There were huge pictures on the wall of a few of the players, and a Christmas tree across from the reception.  We were told to wait and I could only think that this Shark’s tree would look perfect in our living room.  Sara handed us our tickets and vouchers in a thick white envelope.  The tickets were so shiny and impressive. 

She explained that I should take pictures and write up a bit about my experience, and I thought “If that is the only job to do, COUNT ME IN!” I do not think that I stopped smiling that whole day.

As I was packing for the trip, I decided to also take flat Sharkie with me, so he could visit the other side of the country.  Since we came out early, we are taking him to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (MD) tomorrow and the National Mall in DC on Thursday.  Rich and I are so excited to represent the San Jose Sharks and Fans out here on the East coast!  

CHOMP!

Darcy

Crappy first drafts

In class the other day, we talked about writing and the time that it takes to write correctly.  Many of us, including myself, expressed that a first draft is hardly ever left to rest, and commonly is the last draft that is written.  I felt that the reason that I did not write more than one draft was because I was lazy.  Thinking about it a little more since then, I feel that it is a combination of laziness that has become a pattern because I am afraid of my first draft.  So as a practice today for my homework, I wrote a crappy first draft, and just let my idea flow.  Having the freedom to SUCK in my writing is now giving the the confidence to be able to allow the idea grow in my head as I let that draft sit.  While I do not know how my final draft will improve from just letting the draft sit for a few hours, the level of stress that I normally have concerning homework has diminished considerably.  Three days in and I'm feeling better and less stressed about writing.

Thesis

     I am currently working on my thesis and trying to figure out language that will help me find method and subject based articles that help back up my proposal.
    I play World of Warcraft avidly for over 6 years, and I have found some amazing connections between the game and the field of communication studies.  I have decided to narrow this view of similarities to the smaller field of pedagogy.  Everyday people all over the world pay money to perform tedious tasks to only receive virtual gains.  This is similar to the classroom where we ask students to do, at times, menial and difficult tasks for only the hope of a "good grade." Either because of the difficulty of the tasks or lack of interest, some students have a hard time experiencing success or joy in the classroom like they would find in a game situation. Applying the concept of "gamification" I will be able to find a way to reach these students, and use the language of questing to encourage learning.  Gamificiation is the process of taking a non-game situation, such as a classroom, and applying game strategies, mechanics or theories to "gamify" that situation.
     I plan on taking three races, one from each expansion, within World of Warcraft.  Leveling a character of a race that I have not leveled before (dwarf, Dranei and goblin) to level 20, I will work through the different quests offered in the different locations within the game.  By taking screen shots, which are digital pictures of a screen a viewer is seeing, I will be able to examine the language used to encourage a player to complete one quest over another.  From my experience, I know that certain quests offer ease of completion, while others offer larger rewards for harder work.  Having the screen shots to analyze, I will be able to decipher what makes one quest more desirable over the other. 
     Using the information that I gather, I will be able to find patterns that encourage quest completion.  Once finding the patterns, I will be able to link these patterns with pedagogy theory to create concrete ideas for a better classroom learning experience at the college level.

EEP!  lets hope this works!

Write everyday

Today in class, the wise Andy told us that we need to practice writing everyday in order to improve.  In order to attempt this, as my thesis is looming in front of me and I need all the practice I can get, I'm restarting this blog.


Every day I am going to try writing a little bit about something that is cool, or interesting or perhaps unbelievably infuriating. (Andy would argue that I should take out that adverb... but we'll leave taking out adverbs until a bit later).  Today I'd like to give props to my fellow classmates from the Tuesday class for continuing to carry on the conversation outside the classroom.  Even with the griping, I am proud of the strength in the conversation that is pushing all of us to be good critical thinkers.  Keep up the good work guys!