Mindful Gaming Plan
Remind students each of the remaining days to fill out their Game and Screen Diary and to think about how to apply the strategies from the Mindful Gaming chapter.
When students have completed the Game and Screen Diary, have them share their experiences with the class. Did they notice any patterns in their game play? Did it feel different to play games, or to stop playing games, at different times? Were there times when they played a game (or did another screen activity) on “autopilot,” without thinking about it? Were there times that they used games or other screen activities to create, to learn, or to connect with friends? What mindful gaming strategies did they apply and what effects did they have?
Ask students to name good things about video games and write their suggestions on the board. The list will likely include:
- Video games can improve your reflexes and hand-eye coordination
- Video games can help you learn how to solve problems
- Video games can give you a chance to be creative
- Video games can let you be part of telling a story
- Video games can teach you things about history, science, etc.
- Video games can teach you how to work with other people to get things done
- And most importantly, video games are fun!
Now explain to students that what’s important is not necessarily to spend less time gaming, but to make sure we get the good parts of gaming but always feel like we’re in control.
When students have completed the Game and Screen Diary, have them access the Mindful Gaming Plan chapter and complete the Documentation Tool.
When students have finished, have each of them explain their Mindful Gaming Plan to a partner. The partner should then try to summarize the plan and then ask one probing question to help improve it, such as “What will you do if your friends ask you to play a game during your tech break?” They should then switch roles and repeat.