The Game of Life

I am NOT a gamer.

A "gamer" is supposed to be a teenage boy that spends countless hours playing video games - often involving guns, violence, war, etc. - at the expense of doing homework (or even attending school perhaps), spending time with friends except those that are also playing the same game online, and participating in any sort of athletic or outdoor activity.  Isn't that a perfect description of a gamer?

Evidently my stereotypical view of a "gamer" is off.  Gamers are jusr as often female as they are male, and adults do their fair share of gaming.  Participating in these games does not mean that one is sacrificing everything meaningful in their lives to play.

Anyway...I am still not a gamer.

Then I watched this video.  And this video.  Maybe I am a gamer...  I am a sucker for the rewards I get when I go shopping (Fuel Saver perks at Hy-Vee, Kohl's Cash, School Cents at the mall - the list goes on and on).  I just got a FitBit, and I regularly check how many steps I have taken for the day to see how close I am to reaching my goal.  I get excited when my wrist buzzes to tell me about a new badge I have earned for the number of stairs I climbed today or the total miles I have walked.  I check Facebook far too often in the hopes of seeing lots of "likes" or "comments" on a post that I made.

It seems that I thrive on many of the principles that have made games so successful in the real world, but I don't play the online games.  I am not a gamer, am I??  I am beginning to doubt the certainty with which I started this blog post.  Maybe everyone is actually a gamer, deep down inside...

If the ideas of gaming awaken this kind of motivation in me for things as trivial as shopping, imaginary badges, and social media recognition, why am I not embracing this idea with students in my classes?  Probably because I am not sure how I should go about using this.

As I start my adventure of playing a new-to-me game of Kingdom Rush, stay tuned.  I am curious to see how I react to this world of games.  I am curious to see how I react to setbacks and uncertainty about how to make it past a level.  Will I look for cheats online like my kids sometimes do?  Will I give up in frustration?  Will I ask others for help?  I am curious to see how quickly I get "sucked in" to the game.  I am curious to see how this process can be applicable to my classroom.

Let the games begin.