In Defense of Gaming

Suomeksi: http://erilaistaenglantia.blogspot.fi/2015/05/pelaamisen-puolustuspuhe.html
Many teachers and parents today are worried as young people can spend hours on end playing video games. I think some of their concerns are justified, some not so much. I suggest the loudest critics should get to know this dreaded hobby. Some might even be converted, who knows!

The classic Zelda game series is famous for its immersive gameplay,
many puzzles and beautiful music amongst other things. The game requires
versatile problem-solving skills.

Video games are often seen as a total waste of time. Here, I will comment on some of the accusations against gaming I've heard recently. The craziest thing is that most of the critics are not gamers themselves. So basically, they don't even really know what they are talking about!

Skyrim has enchanted millions of players around the world
into spending countless hours in its magical realm. Playing this game, you will learn
about making plans and carrying them out.

1) Gaming is not pointless waste of time

Whether you play a simple puzzle, a straightforward FPS (first person shooter), a complex strategy game or an immersive RPG (role-playing game), you play it because there is a point. Your point can be immersion - feeling that you as a player are a part of the story in the exciting other world. It can be hanging out with your mates irl (in real life), ingame or both, it can be the sense of achievement when you make progress in the game. It can be enjoying the amazing artwork (Graphics, music, text, interactions...) that is the game. It can be winning yourself, it can be relaxing and having fun. It can be all of these. Many games are pretty complex and demanding, too. Even a seemingly straightforward team shooter game becomes extremely challenging as the players develop their skills and strategies in cooperation with each other.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive is a popular team shooter game amongst my students.
Team-working skills are a must if you want to survive in this game.

As you play any game, you often have to use your problem-solving skills and complete tasks that may require knowledge in mathematics, languages, map-reading etc. Sometimes you need to be quick-thinking and fast, sometimes skillful resource management or, for example, good team-working skills are a must if you want to proceed in the game. Often, you actually talk with other people or communicate with NPCs (non-player characters) when you play. Gaming is often communication, not a solitary activity happening in isolation. You learn by playing and many skills you learn or improve in a game come in handy in your life outside the game, too. For example, gaming has improved my English a lot and strategy games have really taught me how to manage my meagre resources (time and money) at home ;).

In this strategy game, you need to skillfully manage your
resources. Logical thinking and maths skills are a must.

You can of course play many kinds of games and your approach to playing the game can vary from game to game or from week to week.  But do all tv-shows cater to your most sophisticated needs? Even if you enjoy slow food or classic books, sometimes you choose to eat in a hamburger joint or read a book just for its entertainment value. This doesn't mean all food is junk or all books silly. And this, of course, goes for gaming, too.

Small, independent Indie games such as Journey bring yet another dimension to gaming.
For many gamers, some games are pure art and gaming is seen as a form or art, art you can participate in.

2) Most gamers are not couch potatoes any more than you or me

 Lack of exercise is not only gamers' problem, it's everybody's problem. Both work and hobbies are often such that far too little time is spent either outdoors or exercising. It's the exact same with people working in offices, watching the telly, surfing the net... We should all get up and start exercising more. At the other end of the gaming spectrum, there might be a serious gamer who also plays football and/or has a job where he or she gets a lot of exercise. At the other end, a nerd who never leaves the house. The latter has a problem, the former doesn't.


If this is you, you should have got a life outside games a looong time ago!

By the way, there are some gaming applications that encourage you to move your lazy butt. In the not-so-distant future, these applications will be developed to new, amazing dimensions! When the technology is there to allow the sufficient level of immersion, I will definitely get some of my exercise from gaming rather than going to the boring old gym! I can picture physically slaying a holographic dragon after an exhausting one hour battle. But I would never skip wandering in a real forest, no matter what.


Up-and-coming gaming system Virtuix Omni gets you immersed in the game world. You also get a workout!

3) Gaming is a great hobby although it can be addictive

 I can say from personal experience that this is very true. Nowadays, I try and restrict my gaming to school holidays. This is a big sacrifice for me, but I want to do my job properly, have a life, be there for my big family and get enough sleep. So as a gamer, I have to regulate my gaming myself. I know grown-ups who are not able or willing to do this. This can, of course, result into serious life management or relationship problems.


Mass Effect -series lets the player change the storyline significantly in many ways.  In the game, the player
has several dialogue options with different outcomes. With this game, you're sure to improve your English!

Having said that, why would gaming in moderation be any worse than other "normal", yet potentially addictive activities such as watching your diet, surfing the net or drinking? Let's take drinking. It can be extremely addictive and has serious consequences for both the addict, the people around him and the society. This is the case yet I don't see anyone suggesting we forbid drinking because some people will inevitably develop an addiction. Instead, we try and inform our kids of dangers of drinking too much. We guide them and show them example so that when they grow up, they will hopefully be able to enjoy their drink in a responsible way or choose not to drink at all.

How to deal with your gamer student/kid/ teenager?

I don't think the solution to your worries about your teenager's/students' gaming habits is zero tolerance or slagging off someone's hobby, On the contrary, it's having an open mind and being grown up about gaming. We should be talking about the quality and quantity of diverse characters in games, fair play, the moral choices you face ingame, the importance of sleep and exercise, developing your social skills not just online but also face-to-face and so on. And we should talk about the joy of gaming, too. Even better - we could play games with our kids as long as they let us. I know I do. Until the day I'll get kicked out that is. And teacher, you could really spice up your lessons if you sometimes took gaming and made a lesson of it. I've done it and it has been both fun and educational.



Gaming world can sometimes be very conservative. Fortunately, there are many exceptions to the rule.
 Games such as Dragon Age allow you to choose your character's sex and sexual orientation. Baby steps.

 Younger gamers don't need adults who don't have a clue and who demonize their hobby. Similarly, they don't need "chill" grown ups who have no clue, either. The younger gamers need to be given responsibility, but they really need grown ups who are still able to be adults about gaming.

Consider a game where the player faces themes such as torture or rape. At least how old do you think one should be to play this kind of a game? Would you let your 8-year-old watch similar content in a tv show or a film? Games vary just like films. You should know what your kid is playing and for how long. You should also say no if need be. Students often know a lot more about games than teachers or parents do but they still need and deserve both boundaries, advice and support from us in the world of gaming. However, I don't see this as a gaming-specific issue. This is totally normal to any parent who is bringing up children - of course you need to find the age and personality appropriate balance between giving the kid some slack and setting him or her some boundaries.

Finally, I don't see anyone questioning the point of gardening, cooking, shopping, reading or playing golf. People do these things because they love to do them. I may not love these hobbies but that doesn't make them bad. The exact same goes with gaming. When comics came along, people were sure they would ruin their children. It was the same story with radio and with tv. I'm sure games won't ruin the kids, either.

I don't have a life. I have many lives. I am a gamer.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Venla

ps Would it surprise you if I told you that a vast majority of my most talented English students are gamers who say they've learnt most of their English from games? Their level of English is excellent and they have the ability to improvise and have the courage to communicate even when they are not 100% sure of the grammar. That's exactly the kind of language competence you need in this world. Awesome, huh?

I loved English at school and learnt a lot during my English lessons.
 Still,  gaming, books, music and films have
taught me even more. How about you?

Why try intergrated English teaching, role-playing and simulations?

In Finland, we use the words integrated teaching to refer to vocational teaching of so called general subjects (maths, English...) that have been integrated into a field of study.

Integration can and mostly is done in the regular classroom: the book the class uses is often integrated in their field of study, containing vocabulary, listening exercises, home work etc designed for the specific field of study.  Themes such as work safety or tools you need for the job can be studied in the classroom. Job interviews in pairs are a fun way to integrate teaching.

A general book for all kinds of
vocational school English studies

Teacher can make her own materials using real-life materials such as instruction manuals, catalogues etc. The class can be taken to an IT class where we can do projects searching professional vocabulary online and creating our own texts… The possibilities are endless, but the time teacher can spend on preparing each lesson is obviously limited.
I teach around 15 different fields of study. Preparing the lessons is a lot of work, as around half of these fields don't have their own English book. This means that if I want to integrate studying English into my students' fields of study, I need to make all the materials on my own.  There's always something about materials or methods any teacher could improve even within the classroom. So why on Earth have I decided to invest much of my time and energy on integrated teaching projects outside the classroom? What's the point, what's the benefit?



It is great for students and teachers that also field-specific
English books are available for many study programmes 

I'll tell you. Here are the main reasons for my enthusiasm:

1) Learning languages should be more about immersion and fun.
 I have a background in role-playing games. This has taught me the ways in which 'drama with no audience' can be fun and an excellent learning opportunity for all kinds of language learners. With integrated teaching, you can have the drama without the pressure. Even the student whose level of English is not very high still knows a lot (more than her English teacher) about his or her field of study. The students - and their vocational teacher if applicable - are the experts in their field of study, the yto-teacher is the expert in English. I have noticed this rather equal starting point and the absence of an audience makes the atmosphere relaxed, even fun. It is also easier to concentrate on English - even get immersed - when you are at the workshop doing a simulation - the classroom environment seems to somehow lure the students into being distracted more easily.

Lathe parts - these kind of pictures are the challenging
part of planning integrated study sessions

 2) Language learning should involve much more real-life type of communication: listening, speaking, interaction, improvising. Although I loved languages as a kid, I was often frustrated with studying them at school. The teaching methods were pretty boring even for an enthusiastic student such as myself. They did work in their own way, but so much was missing. Language was used mainly in its written form and the focus was on grammar. Only the best students had the courage to participate in speaking exercises while others would listen, or at best mumble something inaudible. I wanted to try and change some of this and make some of the lessons more about real-life communications.

3) Many (vocational school students) learn better if they get to learn by doing. I think all of us learn by doing, but this goes especially for many teenagers who have chosen a practical field of study. Many of them are sick and tired of sitting in the classroom and studying the traditional way. Some of them have difficulties concentrating or find it very hard to study by mainly writing and listening. Thus, their talent may not get the chance to come out in the traditional teaching environment. They may perform demanding operations at the workshop or nursing class, but when presented with papers and books, they loose their interest pretty quickly. Because of this, learning by doing general subjects may be a good idea, too. I would even suggest that some of those who would otherwise fail the course or become underachievers (including special needs students) may well be able to reach more of their fuller potential, if they get to study the very same things in a more practical environment. It is a paradox - it's in a way much more difficult (and perfect for the most talented students, too) to study via simulations (aka integrated learning at the workshop), yet students seem to find it more rewarding, meaningful and relaxed than studying languages in the classroom alone.

Lathe in practice - one of our trial simulations in progress

Almost all of the students I've got feedback from say they want to study in the classroom a lot, too. But they stress (regardless of their level of English) that they would love to study at the workshop/nursing class etc for some lessons during every single English course they take. It would be the icing on the cake, the finishing touch, the practical application of their professional English.
To make the 'learning by doing' idea work, you would (according to my experience and student feedback I've got) need to actually first learn by studying. The classroom would be your starting point. There, you could prepare for the simulation and study the words and grammar that are most useful for it. This is of course a clever way to study regular grammar, too. So my idea is not to stop doing what we are doing in the classroom, but rather to add a new dimension to it to make it more functional, meaningful and diverse.


4) The new curriculum more or less demands integration. In August 2015, a new curriculum emphasizing the role of integration in vocational school teaching of general subjects (yto-aineet) will be implemented nationally. Integration is something that is expected of us and I think it does make sense. Nobody knows what exactly this will mean in practice, but integration is a hot topic in teachers' lounges around Finland at the moment. We'll see what happens, and when and how.


How does this thing work? English
 teacher + welding machine = ?'

Welding and safety - one of our trial simulation themes

Behind this link, you'll find a report of the integration projects outside the classroom I have done so far. In that post, you'll also find some answers to questions such as 'What is integration?' and 'How can I try it?'.
http://englishteachingwithatwist.blogspot.fi/2015/03/englanninopetuksen-integrointikokeiluja.html
What do you think? I think you should give integration a go if you're at all interested. There's no harm in trying!

:D

Venla

ps The text will be available in Finnish sometime this week.

Humour in the classroom, speech synthesizer and funny grammar

Suomeksi:
http://erilaistaenglantia.blogspot.fi/2015/03/naurua-luokassa-puhesimulaattori-ja.html

Dear reader,

I'm now going to go through some sheet metal worker-welders' safety Q&A. I asked the questions, the students answered spontaneously:

You have told me that welding sparks get inside your overalls sometimes. What should you do in case that happens?

- Well, mostly I just scream.

How would you advice a person who is about to weld without safety goggles or welding mask?
- Here's a list of kennels that sell guide dogs.
You are at the workshop and your workmate's  hair has caught fire. What should you do?

- First, I would take a selfie with him.

There's humour for you. Often stupid, sometimes black, always silly. But it does brighten the day (as long as no-one's offended by it) and makes the atmosphere that much lighter and more fun. Would I accept those answers in the exam? Of course not. Are they appropriate? Certainly not. Did they help the students remember the questions and study harder when we got to serious business? I think so. Did cracking a few jokes make the lesson less boring and more memorable? Of course it did.

Funny exam answers brighten the day. Once, an IT-student scribbled a message to me on the side of his

exam paper: "Remember: Gamers don't die, they respawn."

This is something I've never read about in any of the pedagogical books I've studied. Yet it goes without saying that the way the student feels about studying makes all the difference in the learning process. For most of us, feeling happy, relaxed and alert is probably the ideal state for learning (as long as you can still concentrate on the thing you're supposed to learn of course.)

All went well until someone decided to play Harry Potter...
Participants' identities have been concealed in case they want to keep a serious image.

Most students love joking. I enjoy it, too. I like the informal atmosphere joking creates and I think there should be more laughter in the classroom anyway. Even the most boring grammar exercise is made a little bit more tolerable if the teacher invents funny example sentences using names of the students or has funny pictures that explain the subject. A challenging listening exercise can be fun if it is so silly it makes you laugh. A funny meme might make you remember a grammar thing you always tend to forget. The list goes on.



There's a huge amount of excellent memes about punctuation online

I lost my voice for one whole week last autumn but decided to go and teach as I was otherwise well. So, I wrote the instructions on the blackboard. The students started doing their assigments in groups and one was wondering how to pronounce the word "mousse". This gave me an idea. The crazy person I am, I decided to use a speech synthesiser. You know, Stephen Hawking style. So I typed the word "mousse" there and pressed enter. The whole class jumped when they heard a computer voice butting in on their conversation. That's when I typed: "This is my new voice. It's cool, isn't it?" I used the synthesiser for many lessons that week and it was a lot of fun for me. I think the students liked it, too. If not, at least it kept them awake ;).

What I'm trying to say is that we should let ourselves have more fun in the classroom. Students and teachers are on the same side, we all have a sense of humour and we all enjoy laughing. When you are in a good mood, you work much more efficiently and remember things better. At least I do.

So give yourself the permission to be silly in the classroom. I'm talking to you, teacher ;)!

LOL
Venla

ps I'm so glad you've found my blog. 300 reads in four days, that's great! I thought no one would read this ;). I'd like to hear from you, so don't hesitate to leave a comment. Tell me what you're teaching/studying, what part of it is great, what could be improved... What ideas do you have, how could language teaching be better? What about English teaching at the workshops etc?

Two Integrated English teaching projects: Practical nursing class & Welder's workshop

Overalls are quite comfy!

Workshop calling!

Suomeksi: http://erilaistaenglantia.blogspot.fi/2015/03/kaksi-ammatillisen-englannin.html
My blog entry about simulations & integrated teaching in general:
http://englishteachingwithatwist.blogspot.fi/2015/03/intergrated-teaching-role-playing-and.html

As a vocational school English teacher, I try to integrate many kinds of professional English into every English course I teach.  Usually, this type of integration takes place in the classroom or the IT class. Here you'll find an account of my two integrated English teaching projects that took place outside the classroom.

:D

Venla

PROJECT 1: ENGLISH FOR PRACTICAL NURSES IN THE NURSING CLASS

I wanted to try out integration with two separate groups of practical nurses last spring. Their English book is made specifically for their field of study, so we studied professional English every lesson anyway. At the end of the 28-hour-course, we went to the nursing class, where we simulated different nursing situations with the group. I had made cards that helped them with the exercise.
 

In the nursing class, each student went throught several ”work scenarios” with a pair. Each got to be the practical nurse and the patient/customer in their own turn. Students got into their characters by talking. They could also if they so wished use the equipment in the class – get the rubber gloves needed for certain situations, lie in the beds provided etc. This way, they went throught several different potential work scenarios. The teacher walked around the class, helping each person in whatever way they wanted.

This approach can be called edu-larping, simulations or role-playing. The important thing is the absence of an audience. The student doesn’t perform to anybody. On the contrary, they develop the situations and roles given to them on their own, with a pair or in a small group.  This way even the shyer students and those whose skill level of English is not very high have the courage to function and to speak despite the rather demanding level of the exercise.
 

The project went very well, much better than I had expected. I thought many students would freeze, the scenarios would fall apart and that the level of English used would be too low for any learning apart from “well, they learned to open their mouth no matter what comes out” (which is not a bad goal in itself). I was happy to be wrong in all these three accounts.

Students regardless of their level spoke English a lot and at a level that was rather challenging to them. They seemed to be having an excellent time, and they wanted to use the equipment in the classroom. The atmosphere was good for learning and the feedback I got from the students was overwhelmingly positive. Moreover, they all spoke English much, much more than during a regular lesson in class. This is also easy to arrange as the simulation can be done with the whole class at the same time, you don't need to divide the class. Many small groups fit easily in the nursing class.

Next, I am going to make proper character cards to replace the trial versions we used during the project. I will also do this kind of simulations during all my future lessons for practical nurses. I warmly recommend you to try out something similar. This project was relatively easy to do, very functional and a lot of fun!

PROJECT 2: PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH AT THE METAL WORKSHOP

Next, I wanted to do a different kind of a project. Something more challenging and difficult for me and the students. I chose the field of welding and metalwork, as lots of machines that are difficult to operate are used in everything they do. I got an old class and their vocational teacher to participate.

Joni, Arttu, Roope and Petri study lathe parts in class
 before going to the workshop

 I wanted to try out different approaches this time, so we did three slightly different trial sessions. Each contained a briefing in the classroom, simulations at the workshop with both me (in the leading role) and the vocational teacher (as a consultant) and a debriefing in class. The language at the workshop was English. Finnish was used very rarely. In the classroom, I spoke English and the students spoke both English and Finnish.

I planned two simulations – one easier, one more challenging:

1) Work safety package with handouts. The teacher is a security inspector and comes to the workshop to have an inspection.

'What is this safety shield for?'
Safety inspector is being very thorough.

She leads the simulation by asking a number of questions about the safety issues and how they are handled at the workshop. (Safety gear worn/used when different machines are being operated, close call –situations, what to do in case of an accident and so on). The simulation is done entirely in English. Everyone learns both by listening and by answering questions and communicating. Everybody speaks and students can help each other out. A wide range of work-related safety issues is handled this way.

 

2) A study package about operating a machine. The theme is machine operating guidance for a foreign worker who doesn’t speak any Finnish. A student plays the foreign worker who has, for example, “operated a different lathe in their home country”. He is instructed to ask many and as “stupid” questions as possible. All the others tell him how the machine is operated, each according to his level of English. During this exercise, the machines are actually operated. 

'What do I do now?' Operating the lathe - instructions. Max asks stupid
questions on purpose. Vikke can't help laughing.

This is a more challenging package that can be done only when all the students are able to operate the machines at the workshop. In practice, this means English course 2 or later. For reasons of both safety and expertise it's essential that in addition to the English teacher, the vocational teacher is also present at the workshop.

Antti operates the welding machine with
appropriate safety equipment

This project was a success, too. The atmosphere was positive and all the students regardless of their level of English said that they’d much rather study a part of their English course this way.There were three things that came up in the students' feedback the most:

1)  Studying English at the workshop was described as challenging and laid-back. Much more “chill” and fun than in the classroom. This despite it having been very difficult.

2)  Everyone said you can’t just go and do the exercises at the workshop (we tried this, too), no matter how good vocabulary cards you have with you. It was seen as essential that all the things will be studied thoroughly in the classroom prior to the simulation. The students did not hope for an easier exercise, they wanted the level to be ”real English language communication”.

3) The question of study group’s size came up. All the students thought it would be best if the number of students in each simulation would be quite low, around 3-6 students. The whole class could study in the classroom, but at the workshop, smaller group would be better so that everyone would get to speak a lot and to hear what is being said. (It is often quite noisy at the workshop.) 

This could be achieved relatively easily. First, the whole class would study English in the classroom during the regular English lessons. Then, as the students study general subjects during certain days of the week and professional subjects during others, I would go and visit them during their professional study days at the workshop. There, I could go from machine to machine, teaching English for each group for a brief time. The vocational teacher and the students said this would be perfect for the way they work at the workshop – there are always some activities that can be interrupted for a while.

Applied English books, safety instructions such as this one
and conversations with the welder students and teacher helped
me design the safety simulation.

Luckily you don't need to know all (milling) machine
parts to succesfully go through the operating guidance simulation.
One idea is to use 'this', 'that' etc instead of the name of the part.

So what do you need if you want to complete such an integration project?

1) More than anything, you need enthusiasm. You need to be enthusiastic about integration, but you need to enjoy working with the students and the vocational teacher even more. Otherwise this kind of a project can become too overwhelming as you have to try and learn something you are not good at. 

2) You need to be able to prioritize and be efficient. You need to be determined in order to be able to draft a plan and make it work. Otherwise far too much time will be spent on moving from one place to another, on general hassle, on planning, on sitting at meetings with the vocational teacher and on drafting materials. I tried to keep myself in check and succeeded pretty well, except for the time I accidentally prepared materials for using the wood lathe ;)…

3) It is a bonus if you are sociable and not afraid of new situations. You need to be able to jump in the deep end of the pool: improvise, guide and handle situations in a rather close contact with the students. On the other hand, these same abilities come in handy in the classroom, too.

I was very lucky – I had an excellent team of students to work with and the cooperation with the vocational teacher went very smoothly, too. This was a big help for me as I was learning new things. The project was rather big, I was nervous at times and the lathe... well, I am still a bit scared of it. But I had a blast, thanks to the great people who were involved in the project!

Me, the vocational teacher Arto Tiainen and most of the students who tried out my simulations

About me, teaching and Mr Spock

Tästä suomenkieliseen versioon: http://erilaistaenglantia.blogspot.fi/2015/03/minusta-englanninopetuksesta-ja-mr_8.html

I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was little. The main reason was my primary school teacher Mrs Niemimaa. She was kind, strict and knew everything. On April Fool's day, she tricked us that we would have to study the whole psalm book for the next day. We believed her, such was her authority. When she retired, she handed each of her students a postcard. In mine, she called us her disciples and wished me luck in whatever I would embark on. I was heartbroken and cried my eyes out.

I am here in Sweden with my favourite author, the amazing Astrid Lindgren

What has been between then and now?  Growing love for the English language and literature. Losing my heart already as a kid to things like Commodore64, Angus MacGyver, Zelda, super hero comics and Star Trek TNG. A year of au pairing for some great people in Fleet, England.  Falling in love with the country and staying in or around London for five wonderful years. Two gorgeous daughters. Being a stay-at-home mum. English, Russian, pedagogical and random literary studies at the University of Helsinki. Translation work, private teaching in English and Russian with some brilliant students.

With these students, I learnt to integrate interests into studying - with one we studied mining, with another, the Moomins, the third needed to get to know London politics for her job, fourth needed psychology to pass a degree and so on.

Nowadays, my blended family includes five children and two dogs. I am still a trekkie, a gamer and a bookworm. I still enjoy science fiction and fantasy. I love playing table-top role-playing games. And now I work as a vocational school English teacher.

This weekend, Leonard Nimoy (aka Mr Spock) passed away. In the seventies, he wanted to distance himself from his Star Trek character, even writing an autobiography called "I am not Spock" in 1975. Two decades later, volume two came out. It was called "I am Spock." He lived long (and prospered!) but even the longest life is pretty short in the end. I think there should still be time to take the path less travelled. So remember, dear reader (as the formidable J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote): Not all those who wander are lost.

Welcome to my blog!

:)

Venla

Live long and prosper!



ps I'd love to have a chat with Mrs Niemimaa now, ask for advice and swap stories. She passed away a long time ago, but the memories remain. I'm sure she wouldn't approve of my black nail polish but she would still be proud of me the way only our most beloved teachers can.

My salute to Mr Spock