We’ve talked a ton about the ongoing development and now testing of Fish Lake — an endeavor that has largely overtaken everyone on our staff’s lives. However, in the last week, we have also rolled out our Teacher’s Resources Sites – including one for 7 Generation Games, Spirit Lake: The Game and Fish Lake.
These password-protected sub-sites provide teachers whose classrooms are using our games with resources (both complementary and complimentary) they can use to supplement the concepts covered in gameplay.
From PowerPoint lesson plans and suggested classroom activities to curated links and images, teachers have access to additional learning materials on both middle school math and Native American culture.
Each individual game page includes materials that reinforce the concepts and cultures covered in those games. For example, the “Spirit Lake: The Game” page provides additional materials that focus on numbers and operations and Dakota culture, history and language. The “Fish Lake” site provides additional resources on both fractions and Ojibwe history, culture and language.
Teachers are in no way required to use the materials, but can use as many or as few of them as they see fit for their classroom needs.
Our teacher’s sites are ongoing works-in-progress that we plan on continually updating as we both come across and create outstanding resources. We’ll build it out both as we find new materials and to better fit the needs of the teachers using it as we get their feedback.
We’re also especially proud of our teacher’s pages for another reason, and that is because they are a direct result of our aim to provide teachers with learning materials that meet their needs and wants.
The idea for a teacher’s site came from our discussions with the teachers who were using our very early beta version of “Spirit Lake: The Game” in their classrooms. We asked what we could do to make the product better and to best meet their demands in the classroom. The topic of a teacher’s page came up, and we delivered.
In our meetings and discussions with teachers, this element of our games has been one that has really been of interest to the teachers and something teachers — in our direct conversations with them — have said would be an asset to them.
That’s what we have done, and continue to do, at 7 Generation Games. To solicit feedback and input for the people who are actually using our games and to iterate and implement based on that feedback. It sounds incredibly simple and obvious, but the reality is a shockingly low number of companies, especially in the educational technology space, seem to do so.
At 7 Generation Games, teacher’s insights are paramount. We’re creating the technology, but they are the ones in the classrooms daily where the students are using it. If it’s not up to their standards, then it’s not up to ours.
Note: The Teacher Resource Site is only accessible to teachers who have access to 7 Generation Games as part of a classroom or site license. It is not included as part of the individual purchase license or Kickstarter rewards. If you have an individual license and would like to purchase access to the Teacher Resource Site, you can contact Maria at maria@7generationgames.com.