Pay it forward with Games Based Learning

This week has been my "pay it forward" week - usually Monday Molly Musings is just a weekly blog post, but sometimes (like with my tribute to Osric) the theme carries over.

Today I want to thank Julie Johnson, a teacher in the Simcoe County District School Board, for allowing me to join her Mario Kart project.

At my school, we own two Nintendo Wii game systems. We won them by coming in second place in a Best Buy / Best in Class Fund project. We've used the Wiis for Games Day (for fun) and for instructional purposes as well, but it was always just within our school.

I "met" Julie via Twitter. She had received a grant to explore the use of Mario Kart in her school in various ways (language, math, social skills & character education, etc.). We exchanged a few ideas and now we are working together in a cross-school project. The end result will be that her school plays my school in a Mario Kart tournament. The experience is so much richer when it's shared. I really like hearing how she is using her Wii Club and it inspires how we run our school's Wii Club. Julie has been willing to share so much, including her Games Based Learning wiki (which, of course, I forgot the link - I'll add it later). It's been a delight to talk, think, and explore with her. To be all cliched about it - I think it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.