What is up with The Power Team?

This post is about Sharon Mazer's article about The Power Team and how ridiculous it is.  The Power Team is an evangelical group that uses physical feats of strength to show how strong their spiritual strength is.  This is, indeed, ridiculous.  There are no connections between the two.  Especially in the way that these guys exploit.  Now, if they did something like Samson did, that would be something different, but any tough guy could do what these guys do.  Not to mention the insane emphasis they put on masculinity and patriarchy.  Everything about these guys' stage screams MAN.  It is constructed out of chunks of wood, cinder blocks, and scaffolding.  They all wear red, white, and blue to show how patriotic they are.  And they ask you to give to their organization so that they can feed their families.  Gotta tug on the heart-strings somewhere.  It's just ridiculous what these guys do.  It is nothing what religion should be.

On "A Plague of Ticks"

This is about the essay by David Sardis that describes what he went through as a kid from early years of schooling through college.  Basically, he talks about what went on in his head on a regular basis.  It was really eye-opening to see what he, and others with obsessive compulsive disorder, go through.  I had no idea it was like that.  I'm not sure what the intent on writing it was.  Did he want to show the hardships people with OCD go through?  Or, was he just telling a story?  Some people called it funny but I see it more as pittiful.  No one should be a prisoner of their own mind like that and I think it was rough to read.  Interesting?  Yes.  But it was still nothing to be taken lightly.

this is a blog about the paper i'm writing.  first of all, i'm going to attempt to answer the question of whether or not video games can be a good part of the educational system.  a more specific thesis statement would be as follows: video games, whether they are made specifically for education or for fun, can have a positive effect on children and their education.  already, i know that bad behavior in kids is not caused by violent video games.  as one of my sources elaborates, if this were true, we would all be running around, munching pills, and listening to repetitive music.  also, some games were made specifically for education.  however, these games tend to suck.  the tricky part is to make a game that is both entertaining and educational.  the term used for that is edutainment. i still need to show examples for most of my information.  actually, all of it.  information without proof is dead.  also, i still need to find out whether or not video games help in all areas of learning.  what i mean is does it help in, for instance, math as much as english?  the main opposing thought is that video games make people violent.  this is as dumb as thinking the world is flat.  this is still a relatively new area of study so not many people can be for or against it.  most people are sill agnostic.  lastly, here are my sources:
Aguilera, M. and A. Mendiz (2003). "Video games and education.” Computers in Entertainment 1(1): 10-10.
Gee, J. (2003). "What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy." Computers in Entertainment (CIE) 1(1): 20.
Gee, J. (2005). "Learning by Design: Good Video Games as Learning Machines.” E-Learning and Digital Media 2(1): 5-16.
Gee, James P. Good Video Games + Good Learning. Vol. 27. Ed. Colin Lankshear, Michele Knoble, Chris Bigum, and Michael Peters. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2007. Print.
Kafai, Y. (2006). "Playing and making games for learning.” Games and Culture 1(1): 36.
LeapFrog School (2010). In LeapFrog School. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from http://www.leapfrog.com/school/index.html
Prensky, M. (2003). "Digital game-based learning.” Computers in Entertainment (CIE) 1(1): 21.
Rosas, R., M. Nussbaum, et al. (2003). "Beyond Nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games for first and second grade students.” Computers & Education 40(1): 71-94.
Squire, K. (2005). "Changing the game: What happens when video games enter the classroom.” Innovate: journal of online education 1(6): 25–49.
Squire, K. D. (2003). "Video games in education.” Int. J. Intell. Games & Simulation 2(1): 49-62.
Video Games and Learning (2008, September 8). In YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from YouTube.
Walkerdine, V. (2007). Children, Gender, Video Games: Towards a Relational Approach to Multimedia. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.

Laugh Tracks and Plagiarism! Together as One!

Chuck Klosterman wrote an article about laugh tracks that was very interesting.  His viewpoints on the topic are some I have never taken before.  He says that people laugh because they are conditioned to.  After a visit to Germany, he noticed that Germans do not fake laugh.  If they do laugh, it is because they legitimately think something is funny.  For instance, he said was paying for something and the clerk asked for exact change, and, in short, he laughed and said no.  The clerk just looked at him strangely, wondering why he was laughing.  This is very true.  Americans laugh so much that we are unaware that we are laughing at things that are not funny.  However, I do not view this as a bad thing.  Just because Americans laugh more, does not mean we are stupid; it simply shows that we are happier more.  Germans seem to be angry all the time because they rarely laugh.  This is also not a bad thing.  Seriousness is a good trait too.

As for plagiarism (the dark side of laugh tracks… I guess.  These two topics were put together to be able to talk about plagiarism as a conjoined topic with something fun), I do not see what is so hard about not taking someone else’s work for your own.  Just paraphrase it in your own words and all will be okay.  Do not copy and paste without putting it in quotes and putting a citation.  It takes the whole of five more minutes to do this, and you will not fail your paper!  What a great idea!  Paraphrasing, as a clarifier, is not using even phrases of someone else.  Everything you write must be your own.  Their idea translated into your own words.

However, on the topic of laugh tracks....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7mq9w1d1wQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GrV3OZdjP8&feature=related

The Effects of Video Games on Educaiton

I have been, for a long time, interested in video games; some would even say to a fault.  I have also, during my college experience, developed a passion for high school math.  Furthermore, in the more recent past, I have started majoring in mathematics education.  So, I thought to myself, “Why can the two not be combined?”  Maybe not math specifically, but why can video games not be a part of schooling.  Doing some preliminary research, I have found that this has been an ongoing research topic ever since video games came to the United States.  For my research to come to a more fruitful end, I must be able to answer some questions.  Primarily, what makes for a good learning situation?  What research has been done in the area of video game education?  Were there any studies conducted?  How have video games evolved since they were first brought to the United States?  Will it be feasible to get video games to the classroom with the limited technology available to most schools?  Will teachers be for or against it?  Is it feasible to think kids work better with video games?  Do gamers have any special skills, developed from video games, that non-gamers don’t have?  I will be writing a paper on this topic answering all these questions.

On "Attached to Technology and Paying the Price" by Matt Ritchel

Hey,

First of all, this post is not by Matt Ritchel, the article titled "Attached to Technology and Paying the Price" is by Matt Ritchel.  It was in the June 6, 2010 edition of the New York Times.  Basically, this article basically goes over how this one guy, Kord Campbell, a web programmer, and his family are so dependent on technology.  It also looks at several studies about technologies effect on the brain and how good multitaskers and poor multitaskers can work in different situations.  For instance, poor multitaskers can pay attention to one thing out of a mess of things.  But pretty much, it all makes sense.  Not that I am a person to criticize university studies, but the way all of it is explained is easy to comprehend.  I do like the part that says how avid internet users can get better brain activity.  That makes me feel better for spending way too much time on here!

That's all for now folks,
-sal

Introduction

Hey,

This is a blog for my English 202, Research Writing, class.  My name is Sal.  I am, as of now, a junior at IUP studying to be a math teacher.  Math is my forte.  I really like the high school stuff though.  Algebra and geometry rock.  That is about all YOU need to know about me!

Ta-ta,
-sal