TEAM PAGES

Your challenge is to visit three team pages from other schools. Look over the team page and watch the paper prototype and the vlog. Then make a comment on their pages.

Once you've completed this, return to my page and make some comments about it either on my talk tab or on my board. You could also blog about it and then leave me a comment so I know that's what you did. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

There are some interesting team pages out there. I hope you find some of them in your search. Don't just comment on the first three that you find. Look around. Good luck. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Visiting Other Schools and Students' Pages

Please take time to visit other schools and look at their progress. Read their game ideas and look at what they are doing. You can learn from other students. In this learning community, ideas are shared. This is not stealing. On the contrary, we encourage the sharing of ideas and information.

And, you may have ideas that could help other students. So, by all means get out there and make comments and share your ideas and suggestions with other students. You can talk on their "talk pages" and leave your "signature." You can leave a message on their board as well. Make wiki friends. These are students just like you across the state and across the country. It would be nice to broaden your horizons.

At the conclusion of each of your lessons you are assigned a comment, but I encourage you to do more than this, and make more comments. Visit more pages. Get to know the wider Globaloria audience. You will be happy you did!

Let the Competitions Begin

The competitions are beginning for the year. We just completed the first step of the process this week. You made the decision a few weeks ago as to what kind of game you wanted to create and you've been working on the game idea and planning it out with your team members.

In the initial stages, you've created your team roles, assigned tasks, created a paper prototype and made a video of that, and now you are working on drawing a scene. Things are coming together as you work with your team members to work out the details of the scenes in your game.

You are off to a good start and have made it through the first leg of your journey. Keep up the good work. There's a lot of challenges to face, but also many rewarding opportunities. Don't miss any of them!

Drawing a Scene

So I am discovering that most of my class doesn't have a great artistic ability, but you don't have to be a gifted artist to be a game designer. The pen tool is a wonderful asset. It does take some practice, but tracing is a good way to make your objects in the game.

You have some options. None of your symbols or anything in the game can be copied from the internet because of copyright issues. So, you have to create them. You can draw them and scan them and put them into your game. You can use the pen tool and draw them right in the Flash program. You can scan something into Flash and then trace it with the pen tool also. It will take some practice to learn to manipulate it, but you will get good at it after awhile. Some of you will get very good at this.

Just give yourself a little time and space and see what you can create.

Paper Prototypes

Paper prototypes were a challenge to complete this year. Some of the teams had to start over more than once. There were some dead end game ideas. There was a quiz or two. So, we had to revise and remake and make them work. Hopefully, they will be better. Still, the final game will not be the same as the paper prototype, or I haven't seen any of my other teams staying with exactly the same idea.

They will evolve and some may change completely. That's ok. As you work with the game and explore different possibilities, you may uncover more research and ideas that you hadn't even thought of yet. And, that's great. Be creative. I hope that the games will change and improve. Only time will tell. You may surprise yourself!

Progress Report Time

It is hard to believe, but we are half way through the first nine weeks of school! Can you believe it! It just seems like we started a couple of weeks ago. I've barely gotten into the routine yet. But, here we are, ready to post grades for the first half of the grading period.

So, where are you at the one quarter mark of the semester in your class? If you are in the block class, you are, or should be twenty-five percent finished with the curriculum. I am finding this hard to believe. Maybe you feel that you've been in school for a long time, but I don't, not yet anyway.

We are choosing our topics, and it's getting interesting as we're seeing the variety of ideas coming from this small class: science, social issues, math, environmental issues. What else will develop? This is a wide variety of ideas and should make for some interesting games. We shall see. I am excited! Let the games begin.

Exploring a Game Topic

Today we looked at topics for games and students started thinking about what kinds of things they would like to make a game about. One of the sources that we talked about and visited was the website http://www.icivics.org/.

This is a wonderful source for ideas for games and a wealth of information for students who are interested in civics or want to learn more about civics and what it is. The graphics and game play is really good. The students enjoyed visiting the site and may use some of the ideas for games.

I feel sure we will visit this site again.

Game Design Progress

This year is off to a very good start. It has been very busy, but it is a good beginning to what's going to be a good year I think. The students are catching on so quickly that I think they will really enjoy their game-making in the game design class.

We are a little behind schedule already, but getting the content and making sure things are completed is much more important than just covering the material. I learned that from last year's experience. It's hard not to feel so rushed to get everything finished in time. There's just so much to do, and when things don't go as planned or there are interruptions then it just makes us get further behind. I feel a little defeated about it.

But, that is the nature of the school day, and we will work around it. We have some very good, creative students with great possibilities in our class and I'm looking forward to some great things happening this year. I'm also excited about our middle school classes. They are doing very well too, and they are so excited about the class. This is great to see. I can't wait to see what they are able to do.

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the first grading period already--or will be by the end of the week. I am woefully behind in my weekly blogging posts. I will strive to improve as the year goes on. The beginning is always a struggle for me as new classes begin.

Lazy Hazy Summer

The lazy hazy days of summer--whoever has those kinds of summer days isn't a teacher! It's amazing how quickly summer has gone by. I can't even remember July. It was the Fourth of July one minute and now today it's August. A couple of weeks and we'll be into the new school year, ready or not.

Time flies when you're having fun they always say. Well, that's true to an extent. But, it's almost like I have to compress the free time that I have into a couple of weeks and then it's over. There are always too many conferences and classes and trainings to attend. They are great opportunities that I don't want to miss, and before I know it, summer's gone. The learning has been great, but where is the relaxation. I've got to find some time to do that before I get back to work. That's what I'm missing.

I made the mistake of going back to school, and I found some new textbooks to bring home to read. Some more work to do to prep for class. But, there is no time once you really go back a couple of days before the students arrive. So, it's now or never. I guess I'll have to carve out some time and call it relaxation. The nice thing about it is, I'll be ready one way or another because I've never really been out of the classroom. A new year, a new beginning--I always look forward to that. Ready or not, it's almost here.

This is an interesting news story about a flash mob. This is something new that I just learned about an will be watching the news and the internet to learn more about it.

Goals for the Coming Year

Last year was a real challenge for me, and it was a real learning experience. I struggled along with the students. Sometimes we learned in leaps and bounds. Sometimes we learned in baby steps, and it seemed like it took forever to learn something. Either I was on top of the mountain or in the valley. There was no middle ground. But, I learned and lived to teach another day, and i will do better this year.

This year I hope not to make the same mistakes that I made last year. I hope to be more effective as a teacher and more effective in facilitating my classes. I had trouble keeping up with my blogs. I also had trouble keeping up with making comments on the students' blogs at times as well. I came up with a system to help me and hope to use it this year.

I'll continue to have challenges with Flash because it is a complex program that is not easily mastered. But, that is not everything to the program. It does help make the game-making process easier however if you know a lot about it. I do come into this year with more knowledge than last. And, that will help.

I am looking forward to this year. I am excited to begin and hope that we will have a wonderful and productive year!

Playing to Learn Reflections

After completing the playing to learn section today, I think I like the adventure game genre the most, and that will most likely be the genre that I choose. I enjoy that type of game more than the others because it intriques me. All of the game genre are interesting to me except racing games.

I enjoy well-drawn backgrounds and characters and colorful games. The game doesn't have to be high action to be interesting to me. I enjoy thinking about something. Like one of the games we've played in here with the homeless man, Larry. This game isn't high action, but it makes me think about the homeless situation and makes me more aware of this social issue and what I can do to make a difference. I would like my game to be something of this nature that makes someone think of an issue and take action to do something about it.

In this genre there can be a variety of ways to construct the game, so that leaves many opportunities for diversity. I don't know what I might do. After having seen all of these students' games, I feel a little intimidated. My game will have a lot to live up to. I hope I'm up to the challenge.

Mini Game

The mini game seemed soooo much easier this year. I really appreciated the way we received our Flash training this year and then did our mini game. It made things so much better. Last year was such a blur, and we didn't have an introduction to Flash to help with the coding. This simplified the process.

I'm sure that this made things easier for the beginning educators too. The stress level of the academy is high anyway, so this was a good thing. Not to say that I didn't have a few minor problems (or made a few errors in writing the code) because I wrote all of the code this year. Last year I copied a lot of the code and didn't realize what the code was saying. Now I have a better understanding of what it actually means. That makes a world of difference for me.

I commend whoever decided to conduct the training in this way. Way to go!

Mentor Training and Summer Academy

Welcome back to the summer work of Globaloria. I never thought I would be coming back this year as a mentor to new educators. I didn't think I would survive the first year as a beginning educator. But, I did and it was a good year.

Globaloria is a challenging class for the students and the teachers alike. It is a different way to think about education and it takes some getting used to. I have learned to be very flexible and deal with issues as they arise. Things don't always go as planned, and I don't have all the answers to all the problems that the students encounter. That still bothers me, but it cannot be avoided. I just guide the students in the right direction.

I have had a couple of students who have been arrogant about the learning process and thought that they knew everything. This is frustrating. They felt superior to the other students and to me as the instructor as well. Other than this, the teamwork in the class has gone well and the learning has happened by chance or by design.

This year I am hoping that things will go more smoothly. I will have a year of experience with the program, and it will be easier for me to do a better job with my students. We shall see.

New Year--Fresh Start

Year one is in the books, and we're ready to start a new year. There are many changes with the coming of the second year of Game Design at Tygarts Valley. It's been a challenging, but exciting, journey. I have been through the entire spectrum of emotions in teaching this class from utter frustration to extreme joy, but I have survived to live and teach another year. And, from what the "old timers' have told me, next year will be easier, much easier. I am looking forward to this.

I hope I can remember what I learned from the past year. I am going to be a mentor and so the pressure is on. I have to help the new teachers so they will not be so overwhelmed and frustrated. Maybe it's just the nature of the beast. But, what you have learned, you can share with others, and it can be helpful. I still feel unprepared, so I will try again to do my best to teach the class. There will may never be a time when I feel confident with the content. And, I might as well get used to that. I will learn and facilitate and be content with that.

To all Globaloria educators new and experienced, I wish you great success in your classrooms!

Congratulations to the Carrot Wizards

First of all I wanted to say good job to all the game design teams at Tygarts Valley. You did a very good job. You took on a challenging task that you knew nothing about in the beginning and you finished with flying colors.

All of the teams completed their games presented them. You finished the job you set out to do, and you had many obstacles to overcome this year. Snow days, assemblies, the WESTEST, and fieldtrips are just a few of the things that took class time away from your class schedule. However, you found time to finish you games, and one team, the Carrot Wizards, even won first place in the Civics and News Literacy division in the state with their game, the Adventures of Henry the Hedgehog. So, Jacob, Tyler, and Jarred give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well-done.

For those of you who didn't know Jeff Shrock WBOY TV came to Tygarts Valley and spoke with us about the class and looked at the game. The story aired on Monday, June 13 and can be found on their website. Mr. Shrock indicated that he may return to do a follow-up story on the game at a later date. The Carrot Wizards will receive their awards at the Randolph County BOE meeting on July 18. Again, congratulations to Jacob, Tyler, and Jarred for their game!

They set the bar high for next year's game design students at Tygarts Valley. Are you up to the challenge? We shall see.

Game Competitons

So, the end of the game design year is here. The classes have finished. Final exams are over or nearly so, and the competition deadlines have come and gone. Now we are awaiting the announcement of the winners of the competitions for the civics and the S.T.E.M. games for this year.

Some interesting and educational games have been created all around the state. It will be a difficult decision for the judges to make. Students have put many hours into their games and they will soon find out the results of the competitions. Good luck to everyone who entered the contests.

Games in the Game Gallery

All the games have been published and are ready to be played. Go to the game gallery and check them out. There are some interesting ones. I wish that some of them were longer, but the graphics and animations in the games is amazing in some of the games you created.

Check out some of the other game design classes' games by going to the other schools and playing their games too.

Year One at Tygarts Valley Game Design

Let's say good-bye to year one at Tygarts Valley High School game design classes. It was at times exciting, frustrating, challenging, but worth it all. It's nice to have this one in the books. Hopefully some of the students will be back for the second level of game design next year for game design II.

Have a nice summer and enjoy a well-deserved vacation.

Games? Games Everywhere!

You need to look at the games that have been created and presented by other schools. If you log in to our site and then go to the Game Gallery, you will see all of our games and game demos in the gallery. And, below this is the state map with all of the schools listed that have globaloria. You just need to click on the link to the school and visit the school and check out their games.

Be critical and really look at the games that other students have created. Compare and contrast them to what has been created by students at our school. How are they different? How are they similar? What could you have done to make your game better? Did you get any ideas from the other schools? What games stand out from the rest and why? What are the best and the worst?

It's fun to see what has been created by others, and it might give you ideas for other games for next year. Go play!

Presentations Complete!

Wow! What a relief it is! The games are complete. The presentations are over. The team pages are complete, and the assignments are almost over. Can you believe that you made it?

The last couple of weeks have been frantic as we tried to finish up the games and prepare for the final presentations. Many of you worked up to the last few minutes before your final presentation. But, it all worked out. The games are finished, and they are complete.

All of them should have been longer. Some of them have beautiful graphics, and they show the great amount of time you've invested in making them. Some of them have intricate coding that show the great strides you have made in your level of achievement mastering Flash as you created your games. All of them are good, and I am proud of your accomplishments as you should be as well. This is our first year of Game Design at Tygarts Valley, and you have set a high bar for students to follow in coming years. Thank you for all of your hard work and your dedication to your class and to your team mates.

I'm sure at times you were discouraged and frustrated because I felt the same way. Yet you stuck with it and overcame the adversity, and you became a team player, a better problem-solver, and a game designer. Look at the skills you have attained in a year's time. I hope that you will consider the next level of Game Design next year and continue in your growth. I would consider it a privilege to work with you in Game Design II in the coming year.

I Wonder...........

I wonder how many of you are going to finish your games? How many of you are preparing for the presentation on May 11? Now is the time to debug your games. The game play should be finished or nearly finished. This is the time for the detail work.

We will practice presentations next week. On the wiki is a lesson about how to give a great presentation. You need to complete this before giving your classroom practice presentation. You'll have the opportunity to practice a few times before the real thing on Wed., May 11.

Make the most of your class time. There's no time to procrastinate now. It's showtime!

Final Presentations

It's that time in the semester when we look forward to the final game presentations. For third period game design class, it's been a long year in ways and in other ways it's not been long enough to accomplish everything that needed to be completed. There were far too many interruptions and too many snow days this year. Now it's crunch time. The final game presentations are set for May 11. This week we are on break, and then we have a week to tie up loose ends, and it will be time for the presentations. We have to finish up before the WesTest and before the seniors leave. So, we don't have too much choice. As far as the progress, it seems that most of the teams are well on their way to completing their games. There is one game that I worry about, but maybe that team will surprise me. I have tried to give you freedom in creating. And, I think that you have some good game concepts. I'll stress, as always, keep the game interactive and make it fun for the player. Enjoy your break!

Time for a Break

It's that time of year when it's hard to keep your mind on your work, and it's hard to stay focused on the task at hand. The sun is shining and it's warm outside. The flowers are starting to bloom, and the birds are singing. The grass is getting green. Spring is in the air. I love it. This is when I don't like being confined to the classroom, and I'll bet you don't either. If we can make it through this week, we have a whole week off to enjoy the nice spring weather. Although as I'm writing this, we are having a flood. I had to cut my evening activities short because the road to my house was becoming water-covered and I had to get home before I was unable to make it home. However, tomorrow will look much better I'm sure. The games are in their final stages. The bugs are being worked out. Platform coding has finally been mastered. Thanks to the master himself, Jacob. He was able to integrate it into his game and others followed his lead. Now we have walls and who knows what will come next. There has been much frustration, but in the end it will have been worth it all. When you see what you have been able to create, it will astound you! You have come so far from the beginning of the year. I am proud of all of your accomplishments, large and small. And, you should be proud of yourself as well. Take a break. You deserve one.

Congratulations to Game Design Students

This week in Charleston the FBLA State Leadership Conference was held. Students competed in various business-related competitions with other members across the state. The first and second place winners in most competitions will have the opportunity to advance to national competitions this summer in Orlando, Florida at the National FBLA Conference. One of the competitions was computer game and simulation programming. Randolph County students placed first and second in this event. Tygarts Valley High School took second place honors, and Randolph Technical Center students took the first place award. Both teams of students were game design students. It is exciting that the skills that these students acquired in game design allowed them to excell in the competition and receive the awards at the state-level competition. We are very proud of these students! Congratulations! In addition to these honors, two other game design students from Tygarts Valley received first place honors at the conference. One student received first place in the client services competition and another student received first place honors in the digital video production competition. Could it be that skills these students acquired in game design help them to achieve this level of success? I think so. Many skills are polished and developed in game design class. Skills such as problem solving, leadership, teamwork skills, communication skills, social networking, and many others are honed through practical and necessary use in the classroom. Other skills like learning Adobe Flash and learning to videotape each other are introduced and then developed as the course progresses. Sometimes we learn because it's convenient. Sometimes we learn because it's necessary. Sometimes we learn because it's fun. But, the important thing is we learn, and we grow, and we are never the same. Game design will take you places you never thought you would go. Enjoy the trip! Orlando is the just the beginning. Where will it take you?

Posting to the Game Gallery

You need to post your game demo and final game presentations to the game gallery. If you go to the game gallery, you will find a section to add your game demo or final game presention. There is also a place for you to add a graphic for your game demo or game.

Make sure that you link your demo or your game to your team page and fill out the other information that is completed. If you are adding your game demo at this time. You will also add your final game as soon as it is completed as well.

This is my fault as I didn't realize that you needed to add your game demo to the gallery. I knew that your final game needed to be added, but I didn't know that the demo needed to be placed there.

So, let's get those files uploaded to the game gallery so that they can be shared with others who visit our school site. If you have any questions, let me know.

Game Competition Links for Paper Prototypes

Here is a link for submitting your paper prototype for the civics competition. https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/worldwideworkshop.org/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEtiWmktT2RJVVpPdWQzTGU2c1FuQ3c6MA

Here is a link for submitting your paper prototype for the STEM competition.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDVtVDZuTFRzQS00cV9SVFlJN3lEQXc6MA

You just need to copy the link to your team page to the appropriate site, civics or STEM, by the end of day on Monday, March 7.

The game demo will need to linked to the site by April 11. If your demo is complete, and you want to link it before that date you can do so, just go to this site for STEM teams and look for the box with the dates and find game demo.

http://www.worldwideworkshop.org/programs/globaloria/stemgames

For game demos that need to be linked by April 11 for the civics competition, go to this site and find the list of dates and then look for game demo.

http://www.worldwideworkshop.org/programs/globaloria/civicsgames

Forget Your Troubles

Forget your troubles for awhile. Everyone has problems. Don't think you are alone. Everyone gets depressed once in awhile. Lack of sunshine is a big problem in our area. But, better, longer, warmer days are coming. It's March!

And, with that thought, Monday, March 7 is the deadline for submitting your paperprotype for the game competitions. Whether you are in the civics competition or the STEM competition, you need to make sure you submit your link to the teampage to the competition site. The next deadline is in April.

Games should be developing and writing code should be getting a little easier for you at this point. At least the basic coding. I know that some of you are looking at some of the more advanced coding techniques and that will take some time and effort, but it will be worth it in the end. Keep up the good work!

Making Progress

The teams are making progress. It may seem slow at times, but it is happening. I am really pleased with it, and I hope that you are too. Look how far you've come from the beginning of the year.

Don't get bogged down and depressed because you can't figure out a piece of coding. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to get it to work. Look at your accomplishments. Review your game ideas. Make sure you are not making a quiz for your players. Make the game interactive; make it something that would be fun for you to play while also learning the material.

I know at times it gets frustrating when sites are blocked and you can't seem to find what you need. But, there are other sources for what you need, and we can work around it.

Keep up the good work. Look toward the goal of finishing your game. After all, you are creative and intelligent and have all the tools you need. You CAN do it!

Action Script

So, you have your game idea and your symbols are in the library and you're ready to put the game together. Where do you start? Good question.

If you've completed the lessons on the wiki, you have some idea about the kinds of things you can do in the game with your coding--at least the basic kinds of code. You don't have to start from scratch and write it all. You can copy the code and then substitute your symbol names in some of the code if it does exactly what you want to do. That's a start.

It's a good idea to have a description of what the code is doing included as well. You might think that you will remember, but chances are you won't. It just helps later on when you come back to the code and you can just read it in plain English.

Break your task into small sections and work on one section at a time. If you plan a major feat, chances are you are going to make a small mistake and that will cause you a lot of grief and you'll wished you'd worked a little section at a time. It just makes better sense. You know that a bracket or a comma or a semi colon left out can cause your coding to fail to work. Why risk it?

Do a little bit. Watch it work. Pat yourself on the back. Then go on to the next challenge with your self confidence a little bit higher than it was when you started. If you do this every day, before long, you will have accomplished a great deal of work on your game.

Quiz Games

I've heard it until I don't want to hear it again. Over and over and over again, it's on the wiki in your lessons and you've heard it from me. BUT, some teams still have quizzes in their games. Why? Other than to make me crazy, I'm not sure why. It's an easy way out I guess or you could say I didn't know I wasn't supposed to make my game that way. However, that isn't true.

There needs to be some level of accountability and professionalism. Let's do this right. You have the tools and the intellligence. You have the creativity and the resources to get the job done. What else do you need?

I expect to see some complete games that you can be proud of that are not quiz games. I expect to see some presentations that are well prepared and professional by the end of the semester by the teams in this class. I expect that you will be proud of your accomplishments by the end of this year. I have high expectations for an exceptional group of students to do astounding things. Yes, that means each of you students.

3rd Period Continues

Students continue making your games. The drama and excitement of the demos is over, and we continue on with the second term. Now we need to develop the rest of the game. There are suggestions and challenges for each of you to strive for as you advance in your game development. First and foremost, remember no quizzes in your games.

The content needs to be taught to your player in a fun way that is interactive, but you cannot make it a quiz. I know that is a hard thing to do. We tend to think in those ways, but be creative. It can be and has been done. You can learn from those who have gone before you. Use your game-playing experience to give you ideas.

Let's see what you can do with your time, creativity, and energy as this semester continues. The snow days continue to pile up. Eventually they will come to an end and warmer weather will break through. By then you should have a game well under way.

This Time Tomorrow.......

This time tomorrow you will wonder why you were so worried. Your presentations will be over, and you will be relieved and proud of your accomplishments. It's unfortunate that we've had so many snow days, and it has hurt your time in class to work with your teams on your games but some of you have worked at home.

I do hope that you continue to make your games better and see this through. The competitions end in May, and everyone has an equal chance of winning. Don't let the snow get the best of you. My room is always open and there's always an open computer for you.

The End is Near

Well, did the title startle you? It shouldn't have. I didn't mean the end of life, just the end of the course for 4th block students. Next Friday we see what you have been able to create since August. Some of the games are really creative. I wish that you could stay in the class until May and see what could be created by then. There is nothing stopping you from working on the games until the deadline for the competition though. Get together with your partner(s) and continue your work. I don't see anywhere that says the game has to be submitted at the conclusion of the actual class ending date for the semester. It does need to be submitted according to the guidelines of the contest that you entered, and you can review those. Go to the Globaloria Central site.

The snow days have really hurt us this semester, and today is another one of those. Make good use of your time. Third period students need to finish up the first level of play and finalize the game demos and be prepared for the presentations next Friday. Yes, Friday is a big day. Let's make sure everything is ready, and the final game presentations and the game demos are awesome.

Game Demos 3rd Period

Your game demos are on the schedule on the wiki. We have discussed them, and you should be preparing for them. On the wiki there is a lesson on how to prepare for the game demos.

You should also have some insight from watching the demos that the fourth block class presented. Mrs. Stalnaker spoke to them and gave them suggestions for improvement. It was also easy to see what needed to be done to improve on the presentations. You can go to other schools and watch their presentations to get ideas and see what is expected. There are a variety of resources that you can use. Please don't allow yourself to be unprepared and not know what to expect.

We will probably have some guests in the classroom as well as online guests in addition to the individuals who will be scheduled to view your presentations. You will have some practice time in class, but this may be limited depending on snow days. I cannot emphasize your preparation enough. This will also help to get you prepared for the final presentation of your game near the end of the semester.

Happy New Year!

A happy new year to you all. We are ready to begin a fresh new year. Depending on which game design class you are in, you may be in the middle of the class or you may be finishing up your class. At any rate, you've come a long way. Just reflect for a moment where you were in August when you started the class, fresh and naive.

Now you've gained knowledge and experience in use of Flash, experience in social networking on the wiki and with Blogger, and you've honed your internet researching skills. These are just a few of the skills that you have gained.

I am sad to see my fourth block class end, and I will really miss it. Game design has been an exciting and challenging experience for me, and I know that it has for the students. I always tell my students that if a class doesn't stretch you, then you don't benefit from it. We have learned together, and it has been rewarding for everyone involved.

I look forward to what second semester will bring for the year-long game design class and bid a sad farewell to the fourth block game design class in a couple of short weeks. Leave knowing that you are changed forever, armed with skills that you never had before, ready to meet the next level of challenge in your lives.