Do you work at a school and plan on going to PAX East 2015?

demontignyc

Hi guys.
I currently work at an elementary school in northern NH and have been given the opportunity to write a case report about PAX this year. My principal has asked me to write a case report about PAX in hopes of the school district approving PAX as professional development hours. My case report would include notes on panels that have relevance to education and psychology of games and how it could help a teacher. If you are in the education/psychology field and are going to PAX East please let me know if I could use your name in my case report and let me know what school and what grade you teach or work with. Thanks in advanced guys Hoping that if all goes well my school distract will approve PAX East as professional development hours and then pay for the conference next year. Fingers crossed.

gigabrain

My girlfriend is attending and is an elementary ed teacher as well. She was hoping to do the same thing with gaming/educational panels.

She asked me to pass along the following:

"With there being only one directly education related panel, that being "Introducing Game Programming to High School Students", what would you be using to qualify as PD?"

demontignyc

There a a few others panels that would relate to what I am attempting to do. Even though only 1 panel specially focuses on education I believe that others could provide a benefit to someone who works in a school setting. Pretty much what I will be doing is going to panels that I believe could give me more knowledge about education and gaming. This at first sounds odd but in NH it is beginning to be a huge thing. Larry Graykin is spearheading this project in NH. This idea of gamification in the classroom really began to take off in 2012 I believe. I know in NH there have been a few conferences about gaming in the classroom and how to take a game and make it not only informative on a subject matter but help students learn and remember the information. I know a big issues with students is learning the information and "brain dumping" when they take tests and quizzes. I've found that if you teach students threw games that are fun and rewarding they tend to remember the information long after they are tested on said information.

I know when I first spoke to my new principal about my absence on school for Friday he seemed really interested. We spoke for about 30 minutes about what PAX is. I had told him that PAX primary focus is about gaming and new games that are soon to come out. Then after we had that short conservation about the games I began to talk to him about the education side of PAX. He thought it was interesting about how there are panels about education and learning. We spoke about the learning aspect for a while. I had showed him Guidebook and all of the panels that I have attended in the past and he thought that PAX was very interesting. I did mention to him the down side of PAX about how you purchase your ticket not knowing how many panel there will be that relate to gaming or anything relating to the classroom. I know there was a few years where there was really 1 or 2 panels that had anything to do with education at PAX East. After we spoke he mentioned that if I am willing to write a case report about what I learn from the panels that have to do with education then he is will to talk to the superintendent and school board to potentially get PAX approved for next year.

I have been going to PAX since I was a freshman in college, my first PAX East was in 2010 and have been going every year since. I originally started going to PAX for the games but while I was there I went to some really interesting panels that made me think different about how I was going to teach in the future. Since I have graduated I have used a lot of the things that I have learned at those panels to not only make learning more fun but to have all students learn something from all sides of the spectrum both low and high functioning students.

My goal is to attend all of the panels below and try and relate them to how they could be used in a school setting. While at each of the panels below I will be taking notes, pictures, and potentially getting some names of individuals who are either in the education field and/or psychology field who are also there. I know a few of my colleagues and former professors from Franklin Pierce University will be attending PAX for both fun and educational purposes as well.

"The Inner-Demons: Anxiety and Depression in Gamers"
-I thought this one might provide a background to what some people who game go threw. I know students sometimes get addicted and go though the highs and lows that go along with gaming. While others try and play games to escape reality.

"Playing Games with Grandma"
-This panel deals with table top games and exposing them to new people. Students learn in many different ways and I have tried teaching with gaming in the past and it has worked with some students.

"Why Gaming with a Disability Should Matter to You"
-This panel discusses how people with disabilities can still game and have fun.

"Birthing Board Games: From Conception to Maturity"
-I know I have tried to make board games for my students to learn and they have been so/so. I figured this panel might give me some better ideas as to how to make them better.

"Games Are Good For You! How Gaming Improves Our Lives"
-This panel unlike the others mentioned above has people who work in the psychology field and will talk about the benefits of gaming.

"Introducing Game Programming to High School Students"
-Though currently I work in an elementary school setting my goal is to eventually work in a high school. I believe that this panel will help me down the road.

I do know regardless of if my school district approves PAX East as professional development or not I will still continue to attend. I know this year I am using my personal leave to attend PAX. I feel that I have learned a lot to help me be a better educator and make learning more fun for students. Not only that but the information that I have brought back from PAX I have been able to share it with some of my co-workers to help them as well.

Hopefully your girlfriend is able to get PAX approved as PD.