Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum

Today I took an unexpected trip to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, located in the shadow of the Space Needle.  The weather was rainy and terrible, but the bright colors and beautiful pieces definitely made up for it.  Although the tickets were a little pricey at $21, I was willing to pay to be inside on this rainy day.  

The exhibit began with a QR code to scan with any mobile device, which pointed to an audio tour to accompany each individual gallery.  I initially scanned it, but opted not to listen during the visit since I didn't bring my headphones.  

My boyfriend and I went through the museum with my close friend, who had visited before.  She was able to point out her favorite pieces and guide us through the experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Dale Chihuly, the artist, as there were biographical stories of his experiences as an artist throughout the museum.  Another positive contribution to our experience was the free photos taken by the photographers stationed in the different galleries.  I was initially skeptical of this, as the similar service at tourist attractions in Hawaii costs money.  However, we were handed a card with a code to scan and were able to e-mail the picture to ourselves and our families for free!  

If you ever visit Seattle, I'd suggest purchasing the package that allows visitors admission into both the Space Needle and the Chihuly Glass Museum for a price of $34, as they are located right next to each other.  

Enjoy some pictures below from my experience!     

See the Space Needle?  It's that close!

   

The Small-Town Museum Experience

I'm currently visiting my parents in Seattle with my boyfriend for Spring Break.  Although we've been avoiding the rain as much as possible, we decided to take the ferry to Poulsbo today, which is a quaint Scandinavian town across the Puget Sound.  I apparently fell asleep on the way back and when I woke up, we were in Port Gamble, another small town.  There are only about ten buildings that make up Port Gamble, which was built to imitate a similar town on the East Coast.  To my surprise, the General Store had a small museum on the second floor.  I normally would have moved straight past it to the coffee stand, but decided to take another look- thanks to this class!  

The history of Port Gamble

Things I noticed:

• I wasn't fully sure of what the museum was showcasing, but it soon became obvious when most of the display looked like the one below:

• There were lots of signs instructing patrons to not touch the displays...clearly been a problem in the past.

• I originally thought that all the artifacts were unique to Port Gamble, but then I saw some bugs from the Philippines...hmm...
• A small donation box sat near the entrance of the museum section.
• While the displays were largely underwhelming, the view from the second floor was fantastic!  

Overall, my experience in the Port Gamble Museum was short, lasting little more than 10 minutes.  It was, though, very interesting to see the attempt of a small community to showcase artifacts.  If you're ever in Washington state, I'd highly recommend taking the ferry out of Downtown Seattle.  (Sidenote- I forgot to take a picture, but I noticed QR codes that highlighted attractions at each ferry stop!)  I'm really enjoying my time relaxing with family, but am looking forward to some warm weather soon.  

Just for fun- a map of Port Gamble!

Happy Spring Break!

My Views on Gaming

Confession- I’m not a gamer.  I never have been, and probably never will be.   

While I’m a digital native who grew up with a computer and video game consoles at my access, I never had an interest in gaming as a hobby.  I had an old-school GameBoy (think thick, black, and pixelated screen) that my cousin gave me as a hand-me-down, but I only used it to play Tetris on occasion.  Call it sibling rivalry, but my brother always commandeered our Nintendo 64 and Game Cube, never really giving me a chance to play. Taking this class, however, has given me a new appreciation for gaming and its place in education. 

Because I teach K-6 computer classes and am a technology resource teacher, I’m always reading articles about gaming in education.  When I began my position two years ago, I wanted to change the norm of the classes from kids playing archaic CD-ROM games to a more skills-based focus that integrated learning technology into the general classroom.  Early on, though, I realized that educational games still have a purpose in my class.  My job, then, is to develop a curriculum that balances games with skills. 

The guest speakers and tools we’ve experienced this semester have really cemented the importance of gaming in my position.  Design thinking, augmented reality, QR codes, coding, and mobile learning are all applicable topics for me to consider as I work to improve my curriculum for next year.  I’m looking forward to our game design project, as our topic is very applicable for my students. 

Below are some links to (surprise) some TED-Talks that have helped shape my current views on gaming and its place in our society.  

Jane McGonigal- "The game that can give you 10 extra years of life"

Daphne Bavelier- "Your brain on a video game"

David Perry- "Are games better than life?"

Brenda Brathwaite- "Gaming for understanding"

Motivation from Jane McGonigal, Part III

Continuing on my trek through Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, I spent some time reading the chapter entitled, "Fun Failure and Better Odds of Success."  McGonigal begins by putting it out there that "no one likes to fail"--myself included.  Call me crazy, but I've started equating feeling out of control in my life to a form of failure (more on how I'm recovering from that in my previous post).  Gamers, however, spend nearly 80 percent of their time "failing" within the context of their playing, yet still come back for more of the same.  And according to McGonigal, they actually enjoy their failure.

Now, I'm not a gamer, so I have a REALLY difficult time understanding why anyone would enjoy failure.  But McGonigal suggests that this concept of "fun failure" is fundamental in the history of video game research.  In fact, it supports the idea that well-designed video games help gamers develop a unique mental toughness.  According to McGonigal, it's as simple as showing gamers their personal power in a game and giving them something that exhibits a little emotion.  When failure is interesting, she says, gamers keep trying and remain hopeful for success.

McGonigal champions this "hope for success" as a fix for our broken reality.  By preserving the opportunity for success, the fun will last forever!  If this is really the case, maybe I need to start playing games...hmmm...

Here are some insightful TED Talks on the subject of failure.  Sidenote- I've noticed I have a new obsession with TED Talks...

Kathryn Schultz, "On Being Wrong"

Eddie Obeng "Smart Failure for a Fast-Changing World"

  

Motivation from Jane McGonigal, Part II

In addition to my course work and regular responsibilities, I'm trying to keep up with reading Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.  During a recent quiet moment, I opened my Kindle app to read some more motivation from McGonigal.  In this particular section, she discussed intrinsic motivation, or what keeps gamers gaming.

While McGonigal made many interesting connections between gaming and happiness, I found myself drawn to the part where she answers the question of which intrinsic rewards are most essential to human satisfaction.  She concludes that humans need to experience satisfying work, the experience of success, social connection, and meaning in a larger context in order to be happy.  Gaming, then, meets all of these, resulting in overall happiness for those who choose to experience it.

At one point, McGonigal quotes writer Elizabeth Gilbert, who says, "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort...You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings."  This quote struck me, as lately I've forgotten about the blessings in my life that make me happy.  So this week, I'm committing to make a conscious effort to invest in what is truly valuable to me-- friends, faith, family, relationships, education, and relaxation.  While this personal reflection may not have been McGonigal's intention, it was refreshing to me at this point in the semester.

In case you'd like to hear more about happiness, here are some of my favorite TED Talks on the topic:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (thanks to this class...)-

"Flow, the Secret to Happiness"

Malcolm Gladwell (my personal favorite author)- 

"Choice, Happiness, and Spaghetti Sauce"

Graham Hill- "Less Stuff, More Happiness"

And just for fun, another Jane McGonigal talk: