Jun 13, 2006 10:49 am US/Central
Teacher Uses Video Games In English Class
by Jason DeRusha
Minneapolis (WCCO) ―
An eighth-grade English teacher in Minneapolis used video games as a creative way to get his students to pay attention.
In Brock Dubbels' classroom at Northeast Middle School, students intently studied their PlayStations, even pausing the game to take detailed notes.
"It's almost like reading a book," student Hilario Trejo explained. "You've got to take out the setting, the plot and like everything else, you've got to write it down. You've got to write it down from like the moment you start playing."
Students do still read books in class and link the books to the games in surprising ways.
"He was talking about Sonic the Hedgehog and he said, 'It's much like "The Odyssey" Mr. Dubbels. Sonic has to get home just like Odysseus.' I was like, 'Tony, this is great!'" Dubbels said.
Televisions and video games are not in the budget for an eighth-grade English teacher, but Dubbels got some of the equipment on craigslist. Other equipment seemed to show up from other classrooms in the building.
There was some resistance to the idea at first, but Dubbels teaches a class at the University of Minnesota over the summer, on video games as tools for educators. He said it is a popular class.
Younger teachers have grown up with the games and want to find ways to use them to achieve state standards.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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