Alice Learning Experience

Learning how to create a game using Alice programing surely was not easy and it definitely took a lot of time to complete. Yet, it gave me the opportunity to understand gaming from the creators point of view. See, I'm not exactly a gamer and not very tech-savvy, but I certainly learned a lot from creating a game. A game creator must be quite detail-oriented and patient to work out each and every design, movement, character, and dialogue. They must also be willing to start over from scratch multiple times because ideas don't always work out as you think they will. Flexibility and creativity would be another good characteristic of a game creator in being able to fix glitches and loop holes as well.
As each person presented their game in class this week, it was neat to see all the different details and how the creators of each game implemented learning opportunities for the game to be used within the classroom for students to learn various content. I believe that games can be beneficial for the classroom to teach content since it keeps students actively engaged in learning.
Even though creating a game through Alice was difficult at first, it was well worth the time since it allowed me to think critically about how to create diverse ways to meet the needs of students' learning.

Education Society

I chose to research about the National Association for the Education of Young Children since elementary education is the certification I am seeking. This organization serves as an advocacy for early childhood education. They offer many opportunities for professional development along with resources for parents, educators and administrators. NAEYC would help me professionally by:

1) continuing my education through interactive online learning programs, training sessions, and workshops that they offer which equip educators concerning developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), communication skills, assessment for preschool and accreditation,

2) informing me about issues within early childhood education,

and   3) providing a library of resources to use in the classroom.

To learn more about this association, visit:
http://www.naeyc.org/content/about-naeyc