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Musing From The Middle School

Surviving the End of the School Year with The Video Game Project

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Survive the end of the school year with the Video Game Project

Hello Friends!! Happy Memorial Day weekend, the official start to the summer season here at the Jersey shore!!

As excited as I am, we still have about three and half weeks left in this school year (thank you SNOW DAYS!!), and Friends, I won’t lie: I am NOT looking forward to them.

Let me begin by saying how much I love my job. And my district. And my building. And my kids. Like, LOVE love. Super-big-puffy-heart LOVE.

But…

This has been a YEAR. Seriously. As I wrap up the 13th year of my career, I can honestly say that I’ve never had a year that has challenged me so much as a teacher, as a mother, as a person. Teaching is no joke, and to do so in a Title I school is, legit, not a gig for just anyone. Compassion fatigue is the real deal and I’m holding on to a ton of it right now. So looking forward to a summer of relaxation and revitalization!

Anyway, I’ve got lots of reflecting to do on this school year, and I intend to do much of it here on this blog, so stay tuned over the summer for some posts on handling work stress, managing kids with LOTS on their plates, and controlling compassion fatigue.

Okay, moving on to the point of this post: SURVIVING the end of the school year!

I’ve talked before about my favorite ways to end the school year, but I noticed that I’ve never done a post that gets to the nitty-gritty of what is easily my FAVORITE end-of-year project: The Video Game Project.

The Video Game Project
I created this years ago, and honestly, it never fails to keep my kids hanging on through the last few hours of the year.
The gist is this: the kids are invited to create a video game proposal.
Students are invited to submit a proposal for a video game idea
And they get an application packet to complete that outlines their proposal. They need to explain everything from the premise, to the setting, to the backstory, to the characters… everything!! From the start, engagement is high. Basically, every single one of my kids wants to design video games for a living, so they are stoked for this opportunity.
But, the catch is, in describing all the parts of their game, they are actually showing me that understand most of the literary elements we covered all year. So, not only is it fun and engaging, it’s the perfect performance assessment for our ELA class!
Students need to create a setting for their video game.
Students need to create major and minor characters for their video game.
Gah! So great, right?! Anyway, like I said, I’ve been using this project for years and it never disappoints. The kids get a kick out of it and stay focused, and I get to see what they’ve learned this year. Win-win! We will be starting this in about a week and I am dreading expecting to see quite the Fortnite theme.
Here are two favorites from previous years:
Student example
Student example
Okay, Friends, what is your favorite project for surviving the end of the school year? I’m eager to hear about them!!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend and thank you to all those who’ve served our country!!

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  1. ayon saha says

    DIPA will ensure that students graduate as good citizens that are prepared for the transition to higher education, or the next viable step of their career choice. We will work in partnership with the parents and students and our online education partner AHS, to strengthen and improve the quality of the experience for all that attend DIPA.

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    Reply

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