Steps

Steps

Friday, January 30, 2015

Steps can be small but they are still steps

I am trying something new; for those of you on Face Book you can now visit my Community Page:  Small Steps Go Places.  I am testing whether it is valuable to promote what I do in this way.

I welcomed Eva's help today.  She and I talked about what will go on the playing cards for One Scene At A Time, if scoring is a good idea and she introduced a whole new take on the game (more on that later).  Then she plowed into the wording for scenarios.  I can envision my new website's area to test some of this wording.  Relevancy comes from players giving feedback, right?

In March I will be traveling to the Berkshire School to participate in Pro Vita.  I just read through the course book (and found my own course, and all of the other opportunities)) and am looking forward especially to meeting Wes Moore.  I must read more about the other speakers!

The wind is screaming here and the sky is filled with clouds.  I think we are headed toward more frigid weather -- good for staying inside reading and typing.

I am curious about challenges that students from places outside of the United States find when coming to the U.S. for college.

Numbers are just the tip of the iceberg


How about some vocabulary for starters?


Monday, January 26, 2015

I have made something worth talking about

I am sitting here at my somewhat disorganized table feeling happy and anticipating what the next leg of my journey is going to look like.  I am laying out the steps to the journey but I have no idea the ins and outs.  I know I will be amazed, startled, overwhelmed, proud and frustrated.  And, that is all okay.

On my assignment list is learning about marketing.  That is kind of open-ended.  But, with my usual "figure it out as I go" method I am reading All Marketers Are Liars (The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World) (Seth Godin).  This is a great book.

The amazing Alisa suggested reading some Seth Godin already and I found I really liked this title, especially "authentic stories" and "low-trust world".  It makes so much sense to connect what my games mean to real concerns and people,  and what better way than to spin some yarns.

I am astounded at where I am right now.  My team at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College is working on translating scenarios and the current structure of ENTER THE CAVE into an animatic to use and collect students' observations and suggestions, when I go to the Berkshire School in March.  With the priceless assistance of Ray, and observations of Kendall and Eva ONE SCENE AT A TIME is blossoming.  I can actually see how it is going to become a product.  And, with the faith and generosity of Pauline, I have developed LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING.  Nick took a player's suggestion and made it 3D which has changed the way I will use the game.

The story is simple.  Students who have attended high school or who are home schooled and want to go beyond to a deeper study must look at options.  The first question:  IS GOING TO COLLEGE A GOOD FIT?

If that is the path to take then doesn't it make sense to hone a sense of focus?  It is not just about grades and test scores.  I invite players to climb the pyramid and LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING.


Then there is an area of finding that place, that college.  I think a game may grow here, but I have lots of resources for the meantime.

Once a students makes a choice it is time to get ready for the leap into college.  Some would call this transition, or getting oriented.  I would say you are going to ENTER THE CAVE.  The CAVE is both familiar and unfamiliar, scary and exciting.  And, to enter successfully you need to practice using skills you probably already have but haven't brought fully out yet.

Beginning college will present new territory.  When you are trying out for a play, isn't it better if you have read through the acts first to consider how you will interpret the characters and deal with the scenes?  As a player you will benefit greatly by playing ONE SCENE AT A TIME.

I need to offer the opportunity for maybe 100 players to play these games so I prove they are relevant and valuable.  Everyone is SO BUSY.  I will figure out how to do this.


I can see that I  need a website where I can offer more of an interactive experience to all of you wonderful people, and have the blog be a part.  Wouldn't you like to be able to play, comment, find connections to others or to information, or just share listening to some nice music with me?
I am putting the structure of my blog SMALL STEPS GO PLACES on a storyboard, and seeing where my creativity takes me.