Why homework? A research question

I hated homework as a kid.
Most people did.  But it's just one of those things you have to do.
Or is it?

The difference between a researcher and a normal person is that the researcher delves deeper into the question.
Why are kids given homework? 

It may have been because my teachers wanted to make our lives hard, but that doesn't really lead us anywhere.  So let's assume they had better reasons.  That could be a good question: survey teachers and interview them to find out why they gave us homework.

Maybe they thought that practice would help us and more practice would help more.  Well, you could do an experiment to find out simply by comparing two groups where one gets homework and the other doesn't and see how they do on tests.

But maybe the question goes deeper.  Maybe the question should be about what kind of homework helps kids learn.  This could be an interesting action research project.

Or maybe we could ask what kind of home environment helps kids learn.  This might be answered by a series of case studies where we visit kids homes to see exactly where, when, with whom and how they study at home.

Research isn't just about quoting sources correctly; it's about seeing a gap in our understanding, or a problem that needs solving and then finding the best way to being the search for answers. 

The Spoon River Anthology

Lesson plan:
1. Post several of the poems (more than the number of students; ideally related poems)  up on the walls around the room.  Have students read all of them and put an X on one they like (so no two students take the same one).  They need to answer on paper the following questions:

• What is my character's story?
• How does he/she feel about what happened?
• What do other characters say about my character?

2.  Each student chooses a picture of a person they think looks like their character as well as pictures of 4-5 items that character might own that they think are special or important in some way.

3.  They take turns to tell the rest of the group about their character, showing and explaining the pictures they chose.  The listeners need to write on small slips of paper what they think the speaker's character's greatest pain is.  they give these papers to the speaker.

4.  Each person takes the papers they received, choose the ones they like best and insert them into a red balloon.  They blow up the balloon with the slips inside.  They go outside and contemplate the pain their character feels.  When they are ready, they pop the balloon and release the pain.

5.  Journal:

• In character: How did you feel after popping the balloon?
• As yourself: Most unhappiness comes from the clash between how you expect life to be and how it actually turns out.  Why exactly is your character unhappy?  

Narrative vs story

I've been reading up on the concept of stories in games because I think they're incompatible and many seem to agree. Narrative, however is something different: if a story is a sequence of events, then a narrative is a concept. So for example, the story of Star Wars revolves around the rebel alliance battling Darth Vader and trying to destroy the Death Star, but the narrative is basically David and Goliath (which translates well to a video game but the story itself doesn't because it's linear, hence no player agency).

This seems important to me because you can go with an expected narrative or against it. For instance, when Disney makes a movie or game about pirates, they expect the viewer or the gamer to already understand the pirate narrative. In English classes (all language classes) the narrative is usally about living using the language, like going to the bank or reading a newspaper, except that few of my students will ever really need to live in English except online. That's why many of them dislike English and think it a waste of time.

In my lessons, the affective impact is created by going against the expected narrative (I hope!). So for example, last term we talked about McDonalds and the narrative they sell is "happy time for kids". The narrative we looked at had to do with obesity, environmental destruction and cruelty to animals. This term we're looking at invasion of privacy by the media which is the opposite of the expected narrative of the news telling you what you need to know. So we watched a Seinfeld episode where a journalist "outed" him, and we're playing a series of games I've designed involving trying to find out information about each other while trying to withhold information about oneself.

My argument is that it's this tension between what the students thought they knew with what they're finding out that makes for affective impact, and thus a more intrinsically motivating course. This ties in nicely with my "Globosapiens" motif.

The authors I'm citing are Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern, Henry Jenkins, and Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (The Game Design reader: a Rules of Play Anthology, 2005) as well as Jesper Juul and a few others. They don't write as teachers, only as game designers, but I still think these ideas are valid since I'm claiming to create a "game-like" learning environment.

Collective Intelligence

Have you ever heard of Microsoft Encarta?

Neither had I.  Here's why.

Daniel Pink, in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth about Motivation, tells the story of two ideas for encyclopedias: Microsoft Encarta was going to pay a group of professionals to write the most up-to-date encyclopedia; Wikipedia was just a bunch of un-organised volunteers contributing whatever they could. 

It turns out that Wikipedia was just more fun to do: you contribute what you know and gain respect.

What if we could teach GRAMMAR in this way?

It's long been known that a group of people can be more than the sum of its parts.  A thousand people will solve a puzzle better than one person working alone.  Jane McGonigal proved this in her landmark case study of ilovebees.com, a search-and-anaylse puzzle involving thousands of Halo fans from all over the world.  At one point, this massive bunch of virtual strangers had co-ordinated their findings so well that when a mystery phone rang somewhere in Seattle, one of them was there to answer it. 

What if we designed grammar as a mystery search-and-analyse puzzle that the whole class has to answer?

I tried this.  Here was my lesson for the past unreal conditional:
Students each recieved one of the following articles in their mail box or FB message.  They had to answer the reading question because it provided a clue to the "mystery grammar point".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/angelina-jolie-jon-stewart-stolie_n_6275440.html What does “Stolie” mean in this article?

https://www.yahoo.com/music/bp/steven-tyler-why-joined-quit-american-idol-233049983.html “pink slipped” means “fired” (despedido).  Was Steven Tyler fired?
http://bigread.mojo4music.com/2014/01/slash/ (look for the section called “The first time you got arrested was at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard?” which is way down) What did his mother save him from?
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/03/eric-clapton-was-to-meet-up-with-jimi-hendrix-on-the-night-hendrix-died-he-was-also-with-stevie-ray-vaughan-when-he-died/ How did Jimi Hendrix die?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyfriend_(Justin_Bieber_song) in the section called “background and artwork”, does it say the song was reviewed before it was released or released before it was reviewed?
http://m.dailykos.com/stories/575256 The “nice old man running for president” made what possible?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/12/11/what-if-obama-had-been-honest/ does the writer think Obama told the truth?

Then as a class, they had to work out the name, structure and use of the "mystery grammar point".
It took them 90 minutes.  The hardest part was understanding that the past unreal conditional is used to describe relief or regret over a past event.

I tried it again with a bigger group, but this time with the passive voice.  Because of the size of the group, I divided them into four and made it a race.  Here are the articles with the questions:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2962543/Hilary-Duff-files-divorce-estranged-husband-Mike-Comrie-seen-hitting-women.html Why did Hilary Duff want to divorce her husband?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2991335/David-Luiz-seen-Chelsea-optimistic-defender-laugh-Stamford-Bridge.html  Who did Chelsea see as being a bad defender?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2997983/Prisoner-asked-warders-Bible-given-porn-magazines-instead-help-sleep.html What did the prisoner want?  What did he get?

http://ca.complex.com/music/2015/03/wiz-khalifa-jimmy-fallon-appearance-taylor-swift what was the question?

http://www.biography.com/#!/people/prince-william-9542068#synopsis what is the Prince’s full name?  How did he feel about his parents’ divorce?http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/15/entertainment/nicholas-brendon-new-arrest-feat/ Why did the police arrest Brendon?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Lennon How did John Lennon die?
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/malcolm-x-assassinated Why did Malcolm X go to prison?

This time the fastest group got it in under an hour.  The hardest part was to understand that the passive voice is not the same as the active because the focus of the sentence changes.

Results: Normally students seem to undertand how the structure is used, but not why.  I saw a major improvement in this with most students able to use the structure appropriately more quickly.
 

Game types: how would they look in an EFL classroom?

What would

• collective intelligence games (a brilliant example was ilovebees) 
• Role playing games that are string on fiction and levelling
• sandbox
• virtual worlds

look like if they were applied to a low-tech EFL class?

20 social justice games

To start 2015 off right, I thought I'd recap the social justice games I developped in 2014.  I made these into a scavenger hunt: given the name of the game and the nature of the problem, try to find the description of the game.  I've kept the original Spanish and added an English translation.

Scavenger hunt:

Game description as scavenger hunt (with English translation).  The players must match the name of the game and the description of the problem with the description of the game.

Game 1: Mercadería de esclavos: hay muchos productos hoy en día que son producidos por niños o adultos en condiciones de peligro o injusticia como el chocolate, el banano, el azúcar, la carne, la ropa, los teléfonos celulares, los diamantes etc. Slavery market: Many products are still made by children or adults in conditions of slavery or danger such as chocolate, bananas, sugar, meat, clothing, cellular phones, diamonds etc.

Juego de Mercado: los jugadores compran y venden artículos hechos bajo condiciones de injusticia. Marketplace game: Players convince each other to buy and sell articles made under conditions of slavery.

Game 2: La fábrica: en muchas fábricas del tercer mundo, conocidos como “maquilladoras” o “sweat shops”, los trabajadores tienen que trabajar sin descanso a una velocidad alta y a veces peligrosa, pero a veces intentan reclamar su dignidad humana conversando con sus compañeros aunque sea prohibido. Factory Line: in many sweatshops workers must work without rest at high speed in often dangerous conditions.  Yet they still try to reclaim their humanity by conversing with co-workers even though it may be prohibited.

Juego de comunicación: Los jugadores tienen que completar una tarea mientras que intentan conocer a sus compañeros trabajadores de forma secreta. Communications game: Players complete an assignment while trying surreptitiously to communicate with one another under the nose of the overseers.

Game 3: Addictión: muchos drogadictos consumen drogas en secreto, así viven una vida doble. Addicted: Many drug addicts do their drugs in secret, thus forcing them to live a secret life.

Juego de realidad alterna: el jugador y el facilitador comuniquen solo por escrito.  El facilitador hace preguntas al jugador, como “¿dónde estuviste anoche?” para descubrir su vida secreta de drogadicto. Alternate reality game: Players communicate with the facilitator in the form of a dialogue journal.  The facilitator leads with questions such as “Where were you last night?” and the player slowly reveals his or her “secret” life as an addict.

Game 4: El efecto de las chicas: una chica que vive en pobreza en el mundo es más propensa a dejar sus estudios, estar embarazada como víctima de matrimonio infantil, violo o prostitución, y a perpetuar el ciclo de la pobreza con sus propios hijas. The Girl Effect: A girl living in poverty is more likely to quit school, become pregnant at a young age as a child bride or as a victim of rape or prostitution and perpetuate the cycle of poverty with her own children.

Juego de mesa: el jugador mueve su ficha para la chica por el lado positivo o negativo del juego con dado y una moneda (cara: positivo, pila: negativo).  El juego termina cuando su hija se gradúa o cuando ella esta muerte. Board game: The board has two paths, one leading up and the other down.  Players take turns rolling the dice and flipping a coin to determine how far they must go and in which direction.  The game ends when the girl is either a successful graduate or dead.

Game 5: Rayuela para todos: hay muchos prejuicios en contra de las personas con enfermedad o discapacidad, pero muchas de estas enfermedades o discapacidades ni se notan.  Otros se notan pero con unos pocos ajustes, estas personas pueden participar en toda actividad. Hopscotch For All:  There is often a lot of prejudice against ill or disabled people, yet many of these disabilities are hardly visible.  Others may be visible, but can be adjusted for, and these people can participate normally in different types of activities. 

Juego físico: cada jugador escoge una tarjeta que indica que enfermedad o discapacidad tiene y juega a rayuela.  Los demás tienen que adivinar que tiene. Physical game: Players take turns to receive a card with a disability written on it, and miming this disability, they play hopscotch.  The other players attempt to determine what the disability is.

Game 6: La pena capital: En muchos países el castigo por un crimen depende menos del tipo de crimen que de la identidad del acusado, por ejemplo, su género, su raza, o el país o el tiempo en lo cual se ha cometido el crimen Capital Punishment: Often, punishment for a crime depends less on the crime than on the gender or race of the accused, or the time and place in history when the crime was committed.

Juego de mesa: el jugador  tira el dado y mueve su ficha hasta el cuadro indicado y lee el crimen.  Escoge una tarjeta al hasard para determinar su identidad.  El facilitador determina el castigo.  El ultimo jugador sobreviviente gana.  Board game: Players take turns rolling the dice and read the crime written on the square where they land.  They then select a card at random which will determine their identity and therefore their punishment.  The last player left alive is the winner. 

Game 7: No más lágrimas: muchos productos cosméticos como el maquillaje, el champú y las cremas corporales son hechos con productos peligrosos y hasta carcinógenos. No More Tears: Many personal care products such as shampoo, make-up and skin creams are made with dangerous chemicals that may cause cancer.

Búsqueda del tesoro: cada tarjeta tiene una descripción de un efecto de un ingrediente del producto sobre la salud humana o sobre el ambiente y los jugadores tienen que buscar el nombre del ingrediente.  Al final descubrirán un champú para bebes.  Scavenger hunt: Each card will have the description and the effect of a particular chemical on human health or on the environment and players will have to search for the name of the chemical.  At the end they will discover a baby shampoo.

Game 8: El carnicero: uno de los peores trabajos es de las personas que tienen que limpiar la sala donde matan a los animales para la carne.  Trabajan de noche, son muy mal pagados, y como la mayoría son indocumentados, no tienen derechos de seguros contra los accidentes.  Hay muchos accidentes, incluyendo la muerte.  Tienen que limpiar con agua caliente mesclado con cloro que sale de una manguera a alta presión; hay poco visibilidad, y los trabajadores caen en las sierras.  Además sufren de problemas de salud debido a la inhalación de cloro. Killing Room Floor: One of the worst Jobs is that of killing room floor cleaner in a slaughterhouse.  They work late at night, they are often poorly paid, and since many are often undocumented, they have no access to health insurance in case of accidents, of which there are many including death.  They clean the machines with hot water mixed with chlorine which comes out of a high-pressure hose; thus there is little visibility and workers may fall into the machines.  Additionally they suffer respiratory difficulties from breathing in the chlorine.

Juego físico: Pondrán un tipo de tobogán mojado (hecho de fundas de plástico por ejemplo) y le pondrán jabón liquido con colorante rojo.  Lo jugadores tiendan mangueras para “limpiar” el tobogán.  Si se caen están “muertos”.  Si mojan a otro jugador son “despedidos”.  El ganador es el último que queda. Physical game: There is a wet slide covered in liquid soap colored red.  Players will have hoses to “clean” the wet slide.  If they fall they “die” and are out of the game.  The last one standing is the winner.

Game 9: Coyoteros: Hay miles de personas en el mundo que buscan escapar de su país a todo costo, que sean los Latinos que quieren ingresar a los EEUU o los Africanos que intentan entrar en Europa o los Asiáticos que buscan venir a Australia.  Muchos de ellos pagan miles de dólares a “coyoteros” para que les ayuden.  Pero el viaje es bien peligroso. Traffickers: There are thousands of people trying to flee their homeland at all costs, whether they are Latin Americans who want to go to the United States, Africans who try to enter Europe or Asians who try to come to Australia.  Many pay thousands of dollars to traffickers for help.  However the trip is often very dangerous.

Juego físico: los jugadores son los pasajeros que contractan a un “coyotero” (un facilitador) para ayudarles a cruzar el terreno.  Los pasajeros tienen que negociar el costo con el coyotero: si muere un pasajero, no le pague al coyotero, y si muere el coyotero, todos los pasajeros mueren también, entonces tienen que protegerse entre ellos de la “policía” (los demás facilitadores). Physical game: Players role-play refugees who hire a trafficker to help them cross the field of play.  The refugees must negotiate a price with the trafficker: if a refugee dies, he or she cannot pay the trafficker, but if the trafficker dies, the refugees will be caught.  Therefore they all must protect each other from the “police” (facilitators).

Game 10:

Eviten los hombres: aunque escuchemos muchos sobre las leyes contra las mujeres en países como Afganistán y Irán, sigue siendo verdad en casi todo el mundo que culpamos a las mujeres por su propio maltrato, violo y abuso sexual por ejemplo por su forma de vestir o por los lugares en los cuales se encuentra, y que es muy difícil para una mujer defenderse de estos acusaciones. Avoid The Boys:  Although most laws against women that we hear about are in places like Iran or Afghanistan, it is nonetheless true that in most countries, women are still blamed for their own attacks, sexual abuse, and rape, for example by the way they dress o for the places they go; and it is very difficult for women to refute these accusations.

Juego físico: las mujeres jugadores caminaran solitas alrededor del espacio.  Los hombres intentaran caminar con ellas.  Si un hombre acusa a una mujer de caminar con otro hombre, ella esta fura del juego.  No puede protestar. Physical game: The female players will walk alone around the perimeter of an area about 10 square meters.  They must not speak to anyone, especially to a man.  The male players will attempt to walk beside the women and engage them in conversation.  If a man accuses a woman of talking to another man, she is out of the game.  She may not protest.

Game 11: Mendigos: hay muchos mendigos en el mundo.  Algunos piden dinero en las calles, algunos trabajan tocando música o hacen trucos.  Otros roban.  Algunos mendigan solos, otros en grupos. Beggars: there are many beggars in the world.  Some beg for money on the streets, others busk or perform in the streets.  Still others steal.  Some work alone, others in groups.

Juego de rol: la mitad de los jugadores son los “ricos” (tendrán “dinero” para jugar) y los otros son los mendigos.  Los mendigos tienen 4 minutos para obtener lo más dinero que pueden. Role-playing game: Half the players are “rich” (and have play money) while the others are beggars.  The beggars have 4 minutes to get as much money as possible from the rich.

Game 12: No es mi problema: el cárcel de Guantánamo es un ejemplo de un gran problema: que nadie quiere que los cárceles, manicomios, o sitios para desechos tóxicos existen cerca de su casa. NIMBY: The prison at Guantanamo bay is an example of a problema where people do not want to live near a prison, mental hospital or toxic watse dump.

Juego de solución de problema: los jugadores están en una aula con una funda de basura.  Los jugadores están asignados a sus asientos y no pueden moverse.  ¿En donde van a poner la funda dentro del aula? Puzzle game: Players are assigned seats in a classroom with a garbage bag.  Players cannot move, so where should they put the bag?

Game 13: Indocumentado: cuando uno está indocumentado, no puede ir a la escuela, al hospital, conseguir empleo, comprar una casa o un caro.  Undocumented: undocumented immigrants cannot attend school, go to hospital, get a job or purchase a car or a house.

Juego de mesa: Cada jugador tira el dado e intenta mover su ficha en el juego, pero si se encuentra en un cuadro en lo cual una persona indocumentada no puede estar, estará  “deportada”.  Board game: Players roll dice to move their token along the spaces on the board, but if they land on a square marked with something they cannot do, they are “deported” out of the game.

Game 14: Selección: Muchos niños sueñan con ser un gran futbolista, pero hay muchos impedimentos que pueden interferir. Home Team: Many children dream of becoming football players but there are many obstacles to success.

Juego físico: un jugador patean una pelota para hacer un gol (un facilitador será portero).  Si lo logra, escoge una tarjeta que le dan bueno o malo noticia (ej: has ganado un contrato de Nike o has roto la pierna y nunca más podrá jugar) Physical game: players take turns to try to score a goal with a facilitator as goalie. If the player scores, he or she is randomly given a card with good or bad news (ex: you have won a contract with Nike, or you broke your leg and can never play again). 

Game 15: Monopolio injusto: la desigualdad significa que algunos tienen mucho y otros poco. Monopoly Unfair: inequality means that some have a great deal while others have little.

Juego de mesa: como monopolio, pero en ves de comprar lugares, compran objetos como ropa o computadores.  Al inicio, en vez de tener automáticamente $200, todos reciben montajes diferentes. Board game: similar to Monopoly, but instead of purchasing property, players purchase goods such as computers or clothing.  At the beginning, players all receive different amounts of money with which to play.

Game 16: Cuidar al bebe: hay muchas mujeres que tienen que trabajar con su bebe en la espalda. Carry The Baby: many women must work while caring for their babies.

Juego físico: los jugadores tienen una tarea, como mover unas cajas de un lado al otro, pero tienen que cuidar un huevo crudo.  Physical game: Players must perform a physical task such as moving a stack of boxes while caring for a raw egg.

Game 17: Valores de la calle: las personas quien viven en la calle tienen valores que pueden ser diferentes que los nuestros Street Values: People who live on the streets often have different values tan the ones we have

Juego de discusión: los jugadores trabajan en parejas y tendrán tarjetas con eventos en el día de un niño callejero, y tendrán que calificar el evento como bueno o malo (-3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2,+3).  Después podrán compara con los demás jugadores Discussion game: in pairs, players will receive cards will events in the life of a street child which they will rate as a positive or negative event using the following scale: -3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2,+3.  Then  they compare their ideas with other players.

Game 18: Gallinas en jaula: Los animales que comemos raramente pueden moverse en libertad de acuerdo con su naturaleza. Chickens in a Cage: factory farmed animals cannot move about freely.

Juego físico: Cuantas personas pueden para en un cuadro de 1m cuadrado durante 30 segundos? Physical game: How many people can stand on one square meter for 30 seconds?

Game 19: Blackjack de la pobreza: más de mil millones de personas viven con menos de $2 diarios. Poverty Blackjack: Nearly one billion people live on less than $2 a day.

Juego de cartas: igual a blackjack, pero en vez de cartas normales, cada carta tiene un producto (ej: tomates) con su precio.  Los jugadores no pueden superar a $2. Card game: similar to Blackjack, however instead of regular cards, the game is played with special cards with pictures of everyday items (ex: tomatoes) with their price.  Players may not go over $2.

Game 20: ¿Que dice la gente?: muchas personas están en relaciones abusivos porque no se dan cuenta que no es normal, sobre todo los adolescentes. Toxic Love: Many people are in abusive relationships because they do not realise that abuse is not normal.  This often happens with teenagers.

Juego de encuesta: los facilitadores van a preparar una encuesta sobre cosas que pasan o se dicen en una relación (ej: el le dice que se ve gorda) y van a hacer la encuesta a los alumnos de la UDLH.  Los jugadores van a jugar a “¿Qué dice la gente?” Survey game: Facilitators prepare a survey for students at the university about things that may happen or be said in a relationship (ex: Man tells woman she looks fat).  Then the players will play a game similar to Family Feud by trying to guess what the majority of respondents answered.

News: 70% of kids abnormal!

A lot of the teachers at some of the "best" schools have told me that out of 20 kids in their class, up to 14 have been diagnosed with some kind of learning or behavioral problem. That sounds like a lot!

I'm wondering if maybe the definition of normal isn't too narrow. The problem is, these kids who have been followed by therapists for all of their schooling often end up in my class at university convinced they need help but the help isn't there anymore.  

What I want to know is how can we widen the goalposts, so to speak, and expand the definition of "normal" to include more kids, and how can we help kids who think they aren't normal (but I think they are).