Caine's Arcade

References:
Mullick, N. (2012, April 9). Caine's Arcade [Video]. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U


Imagination Foundation (2012, September 13). Caine's Arcade 2 [Video]. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul9c-4dX4Hk

What a joyful video to watch at 4:30 in the morning! Started my day off beautifully  :)
<-----This is Caine.  He is an inspired, passionate, determined, and creative little boy.  He is a problem solver and an engineer.  He is interested.  
He is ALL IN.

He loves arcade games, so he built himself a cardboard arcade in the front of his dad's auto parts shop. It's the best, most thoughtfully-engineered cardboard arcade I've ever seen- that's for sure.  I wish I lived closer to where he lives in LA, because he offers a Fun Pass for $2.00 that gives you 500 plays.  What a deal! And my three boys would LOVE it.

Watching Caine explain his thought process about the various games and functions built into his arcade, it is clear that he is passionate about what he is doing.  He spent an entire summer figuring out how to add more detail and functionality to his games.  The level of detail he added shows the many layers of his ideas and learning.  As a mother and an educator, of course I am excited about what this arcade experience means in terms of learning for Caine.  It is a reminder that passion and learning are inseparable, and the best way to engage a student in learning is by helping him to discover passion for the topic or task at hand.  Tap into that for any student, and the curiosity and learning comes naturally.

The other interesting part of this video involved a curious adult who was able to connect a large group of strangers in the L.A. area and bring them together to experience Caine's arcade.  It was moving to watch, and a reminder of just how connected we are.  We have so many tools available to us- anything is possible if we can just imagine it.  

These ideas of using passion, curiosity and connected opportunities to engage learning, as fundamental and simple as they sound, have really opened me up as an educator. I am in the process of unlearning and relearning.  It's as if I were in a zombie-like teacher trance, and someone snapped their fingers in front of my face, snapping me out of it.  I'm looking around, and while my environment looks the same, the landscape looks entirely different.  I am seeing possibilities everywhere, and my world as an educator feels so much bigger.  I'm excited about what this means for the students assigned to me, for their learning and for mine.