The Lure of the Labyrinth is a role playing game that allows players to take on a new identity when they play. The games are simple, but the player must learn by playing the game, or “by doing.” When students learn by doing, Gee says that humans understand it “ by running a simulation through their head” which is so powerful in learning. After playing the game for about a week, I have learned all about the adventure style of the Lure of the Labyrinth video game, I realized that there are so many different adventures that I must accomplish. Each time I accomplish one, I have another “mission” to work on. This is similar to the concept in Gee’s article that children need to have work where there are well designed problems, which means that one problem comes after another intentionally. Most of the adventures do not contain directions, which means that the student or gamer would have to use trial and error until they could figure out a pattern to the game. You also cannot move on from one mission until you complete the previous one. There is a variety of doors throughout the game that you have to enter. Once you enter, you complete a mission, check the map to see where the next mission is, and repeat the cycle. The goal of the game – as far as I am concerned at this point – is to find Brutus, the main characters pet. I am currently struggling to complete a mission where you have to create a recipe using variables, shown below. The game does not provide any directions, cues or insight as to how to complete each mission, but it does allow you to restart with new numbers.

When I search the game, this is the main screen that appears, and I already have questions. This game seems a bit dark, so I wonder if it is a mystery game? Should I make an account? How I would connect this to class content? There is no music on the home page, but maybe there will be in the video or in the game itself. 

As soon as I create an account, there is a sharp noise as a new screen pops up. This reminds me of Minecraft, along with many other online games I have played,  in the sense that the main screen has the “play the game” that leads you to the main game that is a story mode, and the “play a puzzle” that leads you to a (I would assume) shorter game. After playing the game for a while, I have discovered that this is a long-term game that has many different options and missions to solve. There is a lot to work through and figure out, as well as many options to what you can do in the game. It is all about choice, strategy, and discovering patterns. Time to continue exploring, stay tuned for more updates!

My name is Rachael and my preferred pronouns are she/her/hers. I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I have lived there my whole life up until attending John Carroll. I love to play and watch sports; my favorites are volleyball, basketball, and football. I spend a lot of my time hanging out with my friends, working out / playing sports, and working.

This semester I currently have three jobs. I am working in the library Directors office, tutoring for Carroll Reads, and I have an internship where I am teaching philosophy to fifth graders at Greenview Elementary in Euclid. I am also completing a volunteer service with Youth For Justice through CSSA. I am very excited to get the semester started and get to know everyone in the class as well as my various coworkers better.

In order to feel comfortable enough to take risks in a classroom, I feel like I need to know that my thoughts and opinions are valued. The classroom should be a place where everyone feels welcomed. I like to know that others care about my opinion, but that I am not forced to share something that I am not comfortable discussing yet, or that I am still working out in my head. I like to have positive relationships with the teacher(s) and students so that I can support others in their educational journey and so that I can be supported in return.

The most important part of education to me is that everyone has access to it and that it is a quality education. Every child deserves to learn, grow and develop in a welcoming, loving, yet stimulating setting where they have strong relationships with those around them. I have been reading a few books about philosophy, principles of teaching, and urban education. My favorite book that I just finished is called For White Folks Who Want to Teach in the Hood, and the Rest of Y’all Too by Christopher Emdin. Emdin has a pedagogy called “reality pedagogy” that was one of my favorite chapters of the book. To summarize, “Reality pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that has a primary goal of meeting each student on his or her own emotional turf… it allows for youth to reveal how and where teaching a learning practices have wounded them… instead of seeing the students as equal to their cultural identity, a reality pedagogue sees students as individuals who are influenced by their cultural identity” (Emdin 27-28). Emdin hits the nail on the head, especially in his focus on urban schools. It is so important to meet your students where they are and to build strong relationships with them so that they feel welcomed and safe in their learning environment.

From your teaching experience, what qualities do successful students in your class possess? What is your favorite class to teach?

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.