I find it rare when two of my passions in life merge together in seemingly unprecedented ways. I love to cook, I love anime — put these two things together and all of a sudden you have Fighting Foodons. But as my career in college progresses ever so slowly towards graduation, I’ve started to see new avenues and paths through which I can combine two other passions of mine — education and video games. These two things have never quite fit together. I mean, sure, there were games like Math Blaster that tried to make learning “fun” — but it never quite succeded did it? We’ve never heard about the complete overhaul of the education system as we know it due to Math Blaster, now have we? This is because games such as Math Blaster failed to realize that through games we can learn multiple things, rather than a single subject matter. Math Blaster, in essence, was nothing more than math homework with some nice visuals. It was a band-aid clumsily placed over a severed limb.

However, I recently stumbled upon a school in New York named Quest to Learn. The idea of the school is pretty simple: teach through games. Games are the conduit in which learning is cultivated and grown. It’s important to know that this is not a school for games, the kids are not learning how to develop games. The curriculum integrates subjects like math, science, history, language, and art all through playing and experiencing games. I was a little hesitant at first; I didn’t know how exactly this model of schooling could work. But, apparently it’s been working well enough from its inception in 2009 as it has recently expanded from its original sixth grade pilot class, to now having its own building and enough support for grades 6-12.

I guess what I find exciting about this model of education is the fact that video games and games in general are being looked at in a different light. Behind us are the days of which games are played only for leisure. Games are becoming legitimized on a larger scale, and they’re being integrated into things such as education. I’m even thinking about how I can use games more in my future classroom. I would like to begin something of an experiment and blogging is the road I will take in exploring this uncharted territory. My goal is simple, explain what I will be doing while student teaching in my classroom and hopefully give some insight in how well this approach works in my French classroom.

Each week I’ll go over one aspect of my class design. I want to prove that video games can impact the educational classroom in a positive light, and I hope this journey will help that cause.

If you’re interested in this topic, I suggest watching Extra Credits: Games in Education playlist.

Mike Morrissette is one of MONG’s Associate Writers. He also has an unhealthy obsession with The Green Lantern and anything involving Nutella. You can follow him on Twitter, or friend him on PSN at HaughtyPride