Class Week Nine: The Campaign's Onslaught

It has been such a while since I made my last post, as apparently I somehow contracted a queer sickness over the past week and since then I had been unable to conduct my classes properly, often ending up in fits of coughing much to my own displeasure and annoyance. Then it swelled up into a fully-fledged fever over the weekend and I was forced to stay at home, chained to my laptop and DS because of my body's yearly dues: health-wise dues, that is.

Thankfully it's all behind me now, and as I face the ninth week of my students' education (I cannot believe we already are in the ninth week! It all just seemed so yesterday that I first entered a classroom as an Instructor!), heavier tasks and challenges are at hand for them to discover.

As of the moment, my mind is still indecisive as to whether I should or should not present the new setup of the wargames to my ABMA class. It is not that I am judging classes, but I feel that these guys of art are more to putting their attention to other matters that are - shall we say - a little less trifling. Therefore it will still remain on hold until I find a suitable moment for them to reintroduce such an activity.

My AC class, however, remains as rowdy as always. With the introduction of the new setup of the wargames, they are now quite keen on banding together and destroying the one new enemy that has stood between them and a Finals Exam exemption - me. Oh yes, the wargames has made a completely different turn and everything now focuses on the class beating their Instructor in a battle of wits, strategies, and teamwork. Oh how I love this activity!

The new motif of the wargames shall follow a campaign-wise structure, with the entire campaign split into several maps, each requiring a certain degree of teamwork and strategy aside from the expectedly required fact that everyone has to be prepared for the questions to occupy territories in the map. With new twists and turns, I'm sure tomorrow's campaign will be yet another interesting challenge, with probably a resounding cheer.

I wish I could say the same for my SSE class, but I'm afraid programming comes with a really hefty price, and the challenge of building programs by themselves has already set upon their eyes now. I've laid their Finals Case Studies before them today and as much as I do not wish to group them, I feel it best that they learned from one another more than they learn from their Instructor. It is the fate, I guess, of every CSIT student to be more self-reliant than dependent on what their Instructors can teach them. It's not enough learning from one's teachers; sometimes your classmates, friends, and even parents and seniors can assist in cooperative and constructive learning exercises.

Whew, that's quite a mouthful! Well, I will be seeing everyone tomorrow in class. Enjoy the IT Week!

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer

Class Week Eight: The Point Halfway Through

Hello once again to the small number of devout individuals who maintain a steady relationship with me and my little blog here! It has been a grueling and most trying week for me, and up until now I am already up to my neck in things that I need to get done.

To start things off, my duration of employment in Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) has formally ended as of last Thursday, July 17, 2008. With that I bid farewell to the company that has contributed quite a numerous amount of experience to my career in web design and development and I hope that future endeavors might cross my path with it again. It might not work out as things are now but I hope the future holds better opportunities. Of course, I pray I don't get tangled up in a mess if that is to happen again, though. Hahaha!

Regarding my classes, I have just finished administering and computing most of my classes' midterm grades, and they should be getting the results by the coming week. I must say that most of the class generally made it through with flying colors, albeit there are some who were just within the acceptable ranges and quite a few who - shall we say - made it at any rate! XD

The Midterms finally closes its curtain with that event, and as I move on to the Finals I hope that my students would continue their good work and maintain the grades that they will acquire for the latter part of the term. The Finals is always the most difficult half of any trimester and it is also the time when the Instructors go all out - all out in giving grades and also all out in taking them away >:)

Well, it will just be a short post for today as I haven't any interesting thoughts to add yet. Keep yourselves posted everyone! :D

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer

Class Week Seven: The Midterm Week

It's quite interesting to note in the post title for today that we are actually halfway through the entire trimester. How fast time flies, and how fast indeed when the classes are having fun with their studies! :D

As it is, let me share my lamentations over the end of last week and of the entire weekend. I actually failed to watch a movie today (supposedly Journey to the Center of the Earth) thanks to the overwhelming fatigue that settled me in - I was on a table-top role-playing session last Saturday and thus I ended up oversleeping for six extra hours today. I barely get any time to rest with my work and all *sighs*.

But that is beside the point. Instead of checking my students' papers tonight (which I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUSYING MYSELF WITH INSTEAD OF THIS), I figured to devise better means to reach out to their comfort zones and make the class more interesting for the later part of the term. The Finals is supposed to be the difficult hurdle since it will determine if you can push through to the next term subjects or not.

Allow me then to smooth out here my plans for my classes - to my avid students who might be reading in from time to time, here is a sneak peek:

ABMA83 - Due to popular demand, the wargames will be retained. However, there is a n additional activity that you guys can busy yourselves with (and hopefully enjoy doing it too), and it will involve a little of your exquisite... er... talents.

AC81 - Ah, the hyperactive class. Never have I seen a more rowdy bunch of students to deal with since my student days itself! But I do not take favorites guys, note :P. As it is, being devout supporters of the war, I am retaining the wargames as a continuing class activity, but this time around there shall be a twist. More details will follow once the Midterm exam lapses.

SSE81 - Of course no one misses out an equally rowdy and amusing class! For the Finals, I had mentioned that I will be setting group activities for everyone to work on, and that path will remain so for my programming students. I pray to promote cooperation and teamwork among you guys as it is necessary to survive in the School of Computer Science and Information Technology.

Mmm.. interesting. Let me share a small anecdote: Our Instructor in Software Development actually favored collaboration of ideas and concepts - the concept of Knowledge Sharing. Eventually we (the ever-hopelessly-enthusiastic SSE41) opted to put a new definition to Knowledge Sharing... whenever we copy one another's assignments. LOL!

And, yes, back to the discussion, I am going to issue a Midterm exam. It may take place either Wednesday next week or Friday next week, whichever is most convenient for everyone. Not to worry, I pray it will not be as hard as hell, hahaha.

With that, I bid my students goodnight as I head off to bed to sleep - or play with my DS a little before I do so. XD

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer

Class Week Six: Moments with Laughter; Moments with Strife

Hmm... another post within a day of my previous one. I must be either getting really bored at this pestilential blessing of a torture that I have at work or it's just the blogger spirit returning to me. I honestly do not know; maybe it's the latter or its a mix of both. XD

As it turns out, I had somewhat 'fun' with my wargames activity in class today, although I had to iron out a lot of wrinkles that sprung out from nowhere when one of my classes really dug down to take the war to serious depths. I must admit I was surprised at the intent and determination they're showing to win it out and it kind of amuses me to see the competition heat up.

Although to an extent, I never envisioned that the competition were to heat up too much.

Just a reminder I'd like to drop to both my classes (I do this here rather than in Moodle since that site just seems to hate access outside the school network and thus is inherently slow anywhere outside APC), the wargames activity was meant for fun, and if you find it not amusing anymore, or if I find it promoting the competitiveness to the point of destroying the class's harmonious relationship, then I will not hesitate to pull it back and think of another type of activity. I like holding entertaining types of activities that encourage team development and cooperation but I am not holding them to spread discord and enmity in the class. I pray the succeeding games will proceed with still the same aura of fun and enjoyment that we have had in the early ones.

Still, though, most of the negative vibes I feel stem from the fact that there seems to be no clear enforcement of rules when it comes to a really tight competition - teams answering at almost equal times, the proper use of some rights, and whatnot. Hey, the rules are complicated, but to get a full grasp of it is always ideal and thus becomes a source of a little dispute. Perhaps I should try to devise a better way to uphold the 'First Come, First Served rule'. I have several means of doing it but I hope they are effective. If the classes can assist me in this little dilemma, I'd be ever grateful.

Overall, the Cold War proceeded with flying colors as always, and as it turns out, it appears that most of the underdogs had moved up considerably in ranks, meeting the dominating ones (or crushing them altogether) and balancing the scales... at least a little.

I also hope they are learning from all of this - I didn't spend nights and resources devising this activity to just bear no fruit at all!

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer

Class Week Six: The Dawn of War

I sit on my office cubicle, contemplating about various random matters - from the new design that I had opted to place for my blog - thereby incorporating an intricate overlapping image that gave it the feel of a wallpaper I had discovered in Square-Enix's North American Site for Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - to the crushing moments I had experienced not too long ago, until the voyage through memory lane led me to the recent ones I've experienced with my classes.

Not that I am comparing, but to be honest, there are some classes where I tend to be more open than usual. I know it is not for me to tell or to publicly voice out, given my status quo as an Instructor and stuff and all, but sometimes there are tendencies in my classes that I seem to see the very same visage of our own freshman class four years ago vividly engraved in their actions. Surprising, yes, but sometimes I feel like as if I am just a more senior 'classmate' conducting a tutorial class. But then again I need to keep the professional image! LOL

I've just completed the preparations for the upcoming Cold War (as my Accounting students had named it), and I'm sure this will be even more challenging and action-packed than the previous ones. I may have overextended myself in complicating the rules and whatnot, but that is what I believe is absolutely necessary in order to get the most out of the enjoyment in this activity - the fun of competition yet with promising rewards for everyone.

50 Standard Questions, 25 Special Questions - with only so few territories left for both classes to secure, I now wonder how the battles will progress in the future: Will the dominant superpowers maintain their hold in their vast region, or will the underdogs regroup their forces and take back what is rightfully theirs?

Such challenges and surprises I cannot await to see tomorrow XD

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer

Class Week Six: Age of Sorrows

Am I overestimating myself? Or am I just really that harsh?

I ask these questions after administering my second set of quizzes to both my IT Concepts classes. after sifting through the results, I find that they weren't exactly the results that I had expected. Perhaps it's just what Sir Chris Haravata had warned me of during my early days as an Instructor - never set your expectations too high.

I know some of my students are keeping themselves up to date with my entries in the Web, and I will apologize for setting such as torturous exam upon your feet. Perhaps it's time I adjusted my standards to something a little lower and give a little more leeway for the freshmen that you are. However, keeping reality in mind, College is a very different environment than what many might have come to accustom themselves in High School. Things here are more rigid, more complex, more difficult. It might appear as easy now in your early days but rest assured the challenges will mount and continue to increase in difficulty the longer you delve yourselves in your respective arts and sciences.

We, for one, went through heaven, hell, and maybe even limbo, before we managed to get to our positions now. As much as we try not to replicate such a grim scenario on you guys, it's still best for you to experience those things to teach you what to expect here as a College student.

Given that, I might be administering a new exam to some of my classes who did not make it through the old exam, and I pray and hope for everyone's sake that they review their lessons well this time. I don't mind making quizzes in the slightest (although this one will be considerably and hopefully easier than the previous one) but I also hope that the class is doing their best to understand their lessons. These quizzes may just be a measure of one's objective aptitude on a subject, but may not potentially measure the amount of knowledge they have gained. As much as I want the knowledge to continue flowing, every once in a while your understanding of the subject matter must also be tested.

With that I bid my classes good night for today, and I will be seeing you all in class this week. Oh, and don't think that this will not go unnoticed in the next leg of our 'World Wars' :P

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer

Class Weeks Four and Five: Era of Triumph

Two weeks pass in uneventful silence as I struggle through maintaining my classes in perfect order and harmony while at the same time gradually detaching myself from the hellish pit I've unknowingly sunk into at work. It's actually an enlightening feeling to have lesser things to worry about now (aside from the fact that I have not started correcting my students' assignments, seatworks, and quizzes yet). As it is, allow me to happily recall the events that had transpired in the past two weeks of my classes.

Weeks four and five of class were definitely a blast - I had managed to devise a crafty group / team activity that mixes a blend of Perfect World's Territorial Warfare, the cheesy graphics and standards of Advance Wars, and at the same time the dogmatic boring Quiz Bee model. The result? The IT Concepts Wargames!

It covers a broad warfare that will span the entire trimester and will pit four groups of students in a battle of wits as they struggle to maintain a healthy amount of territories which carry with it bonus points for their quizzes - nothing can still be more motivating than acquiring bonus points for increasing quiz results. But of course it doesn't come any easier, for you have three other groups to contend with.

The activity was a blast on both classes and very much looking forward to the next sessions, which already pits a world war, as some of my students call it. Reading their remarks and comments on that activity through their blog projects actually makes me interestingly happy and motivated to continue with that activity.

As part of my blog post for today, allow me to post the current standings of the war:

ABMA83 - The Metallic Fruits

Red Team: The Uranium Cherries (3 Bonus Points)
Blue Team: The Iron Strawberries (10 Bonus Points)
Green Team: The Silver Papayas (2 Bonus Points)
Yellow Team: The Titanium Nectarines (12 Bonus Points)
Black Team: The Instructor's Territories (The Iron Mangoes)

AC81 - The Colorful Heavens


Red Team: The Silver Stars (20.5 Bonus Points)
Blue Team: The Blue Moon (9 Bonus Points)
Green Team: The Red Sun (6.5 Bonus Points)
Yellow Team: The Instructor's Territories (The Golden Meteors)
Black Team: The Black Hole (4.5 Bonus Points)

Posting it as an update and as a motivation for my classes to persevere harder! Sad to say, I am still finding ways for my Programming Concepts class to involve similar fun activities yet at the same time invoking their lessons and exercises along the way.

That's all for today, keep it up guys, great work!

~Sir Dave~
Once a gamer, always will be a gamer