Reflections on my experiences with games and gaming, beginning with my earliest recollections as a child at my grandmother's in-home daycare and ending with my experiences of games as a bonding activity with my family,

Observation of an elementary school student playing a new game.

Games can help students practice persistence and risk-taking becaue they encourage failure as part of the learning process. They encourage resilience and persistence and can be used to support self-directed, informal learning. Games can provide students with an intrinsic motivation for learning and foster problem solving. 

The reading discussion that I facilitated focused on the benefits of gaming and gamification and provided useful recommendations for implementation.