The first half of my hour of observation felt like a very standard observation period for me. I noticed it was windier, slightly colder, how the tree’s had lost even more of their leaves (not only could I now see the Nature Trail but I could see all the way through the trains along the Haverford Road to the golf course on the other side of the R-100 line),the diminishing animal life (excluding dogs being walked), and how the nature trail was starting to resemble a trail in a forest (with all the leaves covering it) rather than one on a college campus. Sitting on the bench , and making what I saw as my rather standard observations, I began to get bored and started to wonder if I could actually observe something new. Sure unlike in the previous weeks the weather was less turbulent, and the cold and wind weren’t bothering me that much (showing that I was at least becoming more adapted to the seasonal transition) so there was that. Still wanting something more exciting to observed as well as a change of pace, I finally figured out how I was going to mix things up. I decided…. to stand up from the bench and walk around a little bit.

Complexity -- not evident to neophyte

Skilled players add complexity!

Content v process, skills

self-directed -- or what kind of display board is their interest?

How diff people use the same tool

value of hearing what people are passionate about

confident in speaking

They learn tangible things

tools but do things for themselves

games link to scholarship -- an asset

creativity -- what you can create is limitless

pedagogical community around it

large variety of skill sets -- how provide access to all

incorrect information -- worry about type of information - guiding you towards failure

Notes on small groups:

learning the tech vs. using the tech.  Where do students get the computer skills they need?

Role of computer classes in education field

changing job of teachers (both computer sci and other subjects)?

What is educational?  "Since you are on Justin Bieber.com" -- get points on math site

personal choice of students

personalizing their computers (not just school logo) -- ownership

Idea of not being up to date with technology . . . 

if it's not broken, don't fix it -- time to learn about it and its full functionality  . . . 

quantity vs. quality

portfolio of computer skills -- basic competencies

Honestly revising my previous paper took me longer time than writing it for the first time. The first time I didn't write a very argumentative essay, and I was just persuading people to "wake up and think about nature". But then, after I revise the paper, I had a clear thesis, arguing nature has the ultimate power that surpass that of human beings.

I tried to aim to perfect, and I want to explain every point clearly--at least seem clearly to myself--and I did...and then, it becomes tedious. I am still happy, because I felt like doing something right, and when I read the paper again, I feel like it is really becoming clearer.

Shengjia's advice inspired me--I could be MORE specific. If I concentrate on the first aspect I was talking about, the essay would not need to be divided in three parts, and therefore would become more concentrated, concrete, focused. I could just try to undermine anthropocentric views with more reasoning and fewer examples. I should learn to give up something--although I really didn't want to.

Reading each others' essays really helped me a lot, and I hope my suggestions could also be helpful to my dear classmates! :)

I decided to post the things I wrote in class today.