Constant Change

As I started my 13th year, I was naive and hopeful.  Yet again I was starting with a mostly new group of students, and adding another course to my repertoire, AP Computer Science A.  I also finished up my second master's, a MsEd in Instructional Technology Specialist, which added to my PA State Certification.  I have always wanted to teach students about computers, it was originally my reason to go into teaching, now I am living that dream.

2nd Master's Degree

IT Specialist Certification

Having added the AP CSP course in the 2018-2019 school year, helped our school achieve the 10th Annual AP District Honor Roll, which also shocked our surrounding community.  (See the Article here: Surprising Results for York County AP Honor Roll)  But I did not want to just stop with computer science.  I grew up playing video games, and as an avid gamer, a lot of my graduate work incorporated gaming to learn, gamification and video games in the classroom.  Through this research and willingness to learn, I found help from some amazing places.

AP CSP Added last year to increase
our student AP experiences

My co-worker, Nicholas, and I decided it was time to do more, and we became Class Advisers for the incoming freshmen, the Bearcat Class of 2023.  We also are still co-advising the Video Game Club.  Over the summer we attended the CS For All PA Summitt, which helped us discover the great program, NASEF, which started the process to become a part of a sanctioned High School eSports League.   Though we have some hiccups in setting up our online games, there has been a lot of interest in the club and eSports team.  Check out the William Penn Cybercat's Facebook Page for more info on what the students are doing.

The new Cybercat Student Leaders.

My PIC, Nicholas Naugle and I
on Twin Day.

Some other projects I am excited about working on include partnerships in my community and abroad have brought on new opportunities. The biggest one involves helping build a former student's student-driven eSports and Video Game community, the BEAST Initiative Push.  Through this partnership, students will have more opportunities to build and be a voice in the eSports community in York. 

Cybercats playing on the Occulus!

I also have a good idea of what to do next with students who are not going to compete in the eSports competitions, and just want to game with friends at school.  Finding the organization VGC USA and it's founders right in South Central PA have opened up the possibility for more gaming learning, volunteer experiences, and career exploration for the Cybercats. 

Cybercats Gaming Together.

Finally, I would like to share where I have been finding more inspiration in gamification, and gaming to learn in everyday life from the Podcast, Professor Game.  I have ideas galore and studies to back-up my desire to game and play games in the classroom.  I am thinking to start by creating a new card game for my students to play when we learn about congruent triangles.

My Gaming Information Folder.

All of these great resources have just fallen into my lap and I wanted to make sure I shared them with others who are looking for similar information.  This blog started as a way for me to share mathematical experiences, but now is morphing into my entire educational experience including my push of educational boundaries to include video games.