Getting some more ideas down

Firstly, happy holidays!

Secondly, in the spirit of trying to keep promises to myself, I thought I'd use this opportunity to use this to at least jot down ideas for more posts so at least I don't forget...

The one that came to mind today...

How my introduction to Fromsoft games - from absolutely hating to not being able to get enough - has transformed the way I approach learning and its influence on how I look at lesson planning and examining the merits of an "easy mode". 

By easy mode, I don't mean making it difficult for difficulty sake, but rather having "easy modes" available via playing rather than it being an option from the get-go. (Lots of kids who already know how to play the game of school have figured this easy mode out...)

It's a contentious issue in gaming and I'm sure it'd be the same in the context of education; where things are even more sensitive..

As usual, my approach is based on opinion posts by other gamers, as this particular topic doesn't have much in the way of scientific research. And even if it did, it wouldn't be out for a few years and as with any research, there's always the risk of underlying bias and/or purpose.

Anyway, as usual, I know this is more of a journal I keep for myself than for others to read, so it's just another monologue :)

Enjoy the break! 

Game on :)

And just like that, it's been 4 years...

It's not that I forgot about this blog. Far from it. It's actually always been on the back of my mind. 

I would make notes of all the different ideas, every time I came up with one, but I never ended up getting around to it due to - energy levels, time, or just life being life.

But I thought today, I'm just going to post something. 

Think of it as my first step in my second (third? fourth? fifth?) attempt at re-updating this thing. "The journey of a thousand miles, starts with a single step." or something, right?

I've learnt so much over the last four years. About teaching, learning, leading, being a dad, hell, being a person. 

I've also met and built relationships with so many amazing people. Some of them, they probably don't reciprocate the feeling as we had our clashes and debates (re: arguments), but in hindsight, it only expanded on my experiences, my knowledge and ultimately, who I am now. I thought I understood what Steve Jobs meant when he said to trust the process and "the dots will connect later on", but now I really understand what that means.

Anyway, enough with the airy fairy fluff stuff.

Some things that have been on my mind (the past 1000+ days) include:

- Role players (think, 'support') making ideal leaders (in some cases)

- Feel vs Pattern

- Some problems with using games in education

- Why aren't educational games as engaging as 'normal' games?

- My history/journey of learning from games (and my hobbies)

- What I've been up to (more for personal reflection later for future-me - just like the rest of this blog :))

I think one of the first reasons I stopped updating this as often was because I started it thinking I could find other like-minded people out there. But I didn't really want to promote it, because I didn't think it really has anything of value - afterall, just one person's opinion. So it kind of just became like my collection of random thoughts.

After reading through these though, made me realise how I've progressed as a thinker, learner and as a person. So, moving forward, I'd like to continue doing this for myself. Like a logbook of sorts.

I'm in my last year of being in my 30s. I can't wait to see how my outlook changes and shifts as I get old (and probably grumpy)!