TASK 6. "GAMES" - Translator

TRANSLATOR: Noelia Marín Méndez

This week the project we have developed has been very interesting. 5 important concepts that are needed to understand correctly and completely our game are:

1. Sonder: Sonder is defined as “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own." It is an universal emotion that dindn’t have an official name, a neologism. Is a word coined by John Koenig. The skills behind this process involve empathy, compassion, perspective-taking, mentalising, among many others.
2. Emotions: Emotions are neurophysiological reactions, i.e. responses to external stimuli with respect to our physical state. They precede the feeling and can be easily perceived by our environment. They are spontaneous, appear suddenly at the moment and are usually very intense. They are non-permanent affective states, i.e. they do not last for long periods of time. There are basic emotions: joy, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust, confidence, interest; and secondary emotions with more elaborate cognitive processes that end up appearing in the primary stage: shame, guilt, embarrassment, satisfaction, contempt, enthusiasm, complacency, pride, pleasure.
3. Feelings: Feelings are mental associations, reactions to emotions. Therefore, feelings are subsequent to emotions. Unlike emotions, they are not easily detectable by the people around us in our environment. They occur with moderate intensity and not abruptly, but more or less instantaneously. They are affective states of a lasting nature, i.e. they last longer. They are also defined as "self-perceptions of emotions, the subjective expression of emotions". There are positive feelings: "Happiness: happiness is a primary emotion that is understood as a feeling of absolute satisfaction, which is born from another emotion and makes us value the environment around us in a positive way. Love: love is a feeling towards someone or something and it is born from the desire for that person or thing to have all the good things it can have, it brings out the best in us. Euphoria: Euphoria is the ultimate expression of joy, which leads to an increase in our energy and makes us look at life in a much more positive way. Hope: to have faith in achieving what one longs for. Motivation: a reaction of enthusiasm and energy to a duty or action. Passion: a feeling that is closely related to love and tends to appear in the sexual sphere. Satisfaction: the feeling that comes from doing something well, which stimulates self-confidence and self-assurance. Fun: focusing our attention on an action that makes us spend our time in a pleasant way and brings us well-being. Well-being: state of balance between the somatic and psychic levels of a person. Enthusiasm: feeling that arises from motivation in the face of an event; as well as negative feelings: Anger: feeling of displeasure towards someone or something, which causes a bad disposition towards the object that generates anger. Anger: a primary emotion that is due to a high intensity of anger. Fear: anguish caused by the perception of a danger that may be real or imagined. Worry: state of unease that appears in the face of a problem or circumstance. Sadness: feeling that is accompanied by emotional pain and causes great discomfort, which can trigger pessimistic thoughts and a tendency to cry. Guilt: responsibility that a person assumes for an event or action, which carries a negative connotation. Stress: a state of being overwhelmed by the perception of being overcome by a certain circumstance. Frustration: feeling that arises from the impossibility of completing what was needed or desired. Indignation: a feeling of anger at an event or action that is considered unjust. Embarrassment: discomfort in the face of an event about which the person has felt humiliated or in anticipation of the fear of making a fool of him/herself. Vulnerability: a feeling that encompasses feelings of fragility, powerlessness, sensitivity and insecurity, which trigger an overall feeling of perceived vulnerability.” All of these eventually develop in primary school.
4. Mime game: It consists of guessing a series of words and using them to complete a sheet of paper with texts where those words are missing. It is considered a very good way for children to put themselves in the role of others through role-playing and interpretation. It involves a mental process of reflection and is increasingly used in primary classrooms, as well as mirror games, description and introspection. If well developed, it can have numerous benefits for the holistic development of students at all stages.
5. Dynamics: A dynamic is defined as "a set of facts or forces acting for a specific purpose". In primary classrooms they are always used in order to be able to give the children what the curriculum establishes and to fulfil the objectives of the course. There are many types of dynamics depending on the design, the time, materials and infrastructure available, the number of pupils, the content and last but not least, the teacher's own style. Nowadays many dynamics are used in the form of a game, such as this one we have developed.

Specific question: 

Weaknesses and things to improve Reflecting on our proposed activity, "sonder game" I consider that it is closely linked to its main objective of our country's curriculum, namely: 4.1 To promote attitudes that foster emotional and social well-being, managing one's own emotions and respecting those of others, fostering healthy affective relationships and reflecting on the uses of technology and the management of free time. We have focused a lot on the expression of emotions in primary school children, and the game faithfully captures and achieves this. The game runs smoothly and the materials are ideal. However, the format of the game could be improved, or at least a more elaborate and improved version could be considered for the future. Some things to improve from my point of view and taking into account the feedback we have been given in class would be first of all to change the domino system. Make it easier, more dynamic or directly make it shorter by reducing the number of dominoes with definitions. The next step would be to make the instructions more visual for the children. Some rules, such as the rules for advancing in some squares or in others, should not be visualised in the instructions in a simpler way. Less text and more drawings, to summarise. For a better staging and for the development of the activity to be ideal with children, we should control the time of each round more. The continuity and spontaneity of the game would be controlled. In addition, there could be some kind of prize for the winners. In this way the children would be more motivated to win and therefore play correctly in order to advance and win. It could be cut-outs, sweets (taking into account the allergies of all the children previously studied) or any other incentive.