Blogging Pedagogy

I had a conversation with my brother yesterday, who is 22. He was telling me about World of Warcraft, a video game that he spend many hours playing every day.

He told me that he hasn't come across any other situations in which his unique abilities and interests are so obviously helpful to other people. In the game, he works as part of a team. He gets constant validation and praise for his actions. He depends on other people, but he also needs to excel at his roles.

Though my brother has been playing this game for years, it had never occurred to me to think about what he gets out of it. It seems like the game fosters self-esteem in the best way: by understanding how he is different from other people, he also understands how he can best help his team. He sees his skills as important and useful.

I'm wondering how to set up a situation in a classroom where students have specific actions to take for a group activity--actions that are suited to their abilities, interests, and personalities.

I don't have any ideas for specific activities, but it strikes me that it would be very valuable to offer students an opportunity to discover their own strengths.