Fantasy Games in the Real World

I think Joel's adventure game obsession has possibly gone too far. He sent me the following humorous email which shows where his mind is most of the time:

"The other day I was playing Simon the sorcerer when I realized I needed to go feed our chickens. So I went out there and after finishing the job I realized the pole which I use to hold the door shut after I left had fallen over onto the door and I couldn't get out. I yelled for help and tried breaking down the door but this didn't work. So I did what any adventure gamer would do and used my brain. Finding a hook attached to the wall, I used pushed it through the crack in the door and knocked the pole out of the way. I thought this was very amusing because I never thought that could help me in real life."

I can just picture Joel picking up the hook and making a "BRINGGG" sound as he pulled it off the wall. He probably even narrated his movements saying, "Joel lifts the long pole off the wall and places it in his knapsack."

the Fine Art of Manipulation

Today I found out more of how to get kids to do what you want them to. At the end of the day a teacher had me sit at the table of a kindergartener who always works hard not to do what he is supposed to do. Instead of copying the phrase the teacher wrote on the board, he just sat there as I said all sorts of things that didn't get him writing.
So then I thought I would try something different, "Just write the first letter" I said.
He wrote the first letter.
I tried to look as shocked as I could, "Jalen!" I said, "You have beautiful handwriting! Let me see you write another letter!"
He did and I tried to look ecstatic, "Wow! I really must say that you do have very nice writing."
That sentence was on his paper in less than 30 seconds and he was grinning sheepishly for minutes afterward.
Most of the time, kids just want attention. Today I found out the best time to give it to them is when they are doing something good.