EDET679 Gamification
and Open Education Week 9 Blog
Essential Question:
How do you currently infuse play into your class? How might you change this as
a result of some of the ideas you have encountered?
There are a
handful of ways that I incorporate play into my classrooms. In my math
classroom I use a variety of review type games. Sometimes we do review jeopardy
and sometimes we do review basketball. Students enjoy a change in the class
with these games but the frustrating part for me as a teacher is that the games
are just that, a game. Not very often do I feel like students are fully
learning and participating in the activity that I provide for them in a game
format. That is why I am very excited for not games in the classroom but
gamification in the classroom. Instead of doing games in class everyone once in
a while, let’s make the course itself a game.
Matera
provides a few review games that I can add into the theme of my gamified class.
I think I would enjoy adding in the idea of house vs students review game. This
will give an extra twist and quite honestly gives me the chance to interact
with my students in a playful and competitive light. Also, I enjoy having the
Mystery Box aspect of reviewing with my students. Having each team trying to
review terms and concepts and then rewarding them with points that may or may
not be lots of points. This really appeals to my students in a class who
usually never wins because they aren’t quick enough or can’t answer questions
with the larger points. Actually with all of the review games that Matera
provides ideas for, I can see me and my students playing them in math class.
The bigger question is, “how can I tie these games to my story line of the
gamified course and the badges?”
In every
classroom we need some fillers of time, brain breaks, and team building but in
an eighth grade class, we REALLY need these. I enjoy Matera’s idea of the countdown
where students try picking lower numbers than their classmates but not the same
number. This is a great mind game that gets students thinking about probability
and numbers in general. Lastly to create a sense of enjoyment and desire of
being in the classroom, I would consider having the penny drop in my classroom.
This is where students get one chance to drop a penny into a large container of
water and try to hit a target. If a students is ever able to get it, I will have
prizes ready and their name will be on the game until the next person gets it.
Matera, M. (2015).
Explore like a pirate. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
Mariah, there are many ways we play games in our classrooms and I agree with your statement about worrying students see it as just playing, and not actually reviewing the content. Which is why we are excited for gamification in our classrooms. My K-1 class needs brain breaks, recess, and game based learning. I try to incorporate games in a meaningful way that correlates to the curriculum. It is going to be much easier integrating games once my class is gamified.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I am a pretty "dry" and "boring" math teacher! I like that others have included games in their class. I just saw one of my colleagues review a chapter with his students and they did it Jeopardy style like you described. They seemed to have fun, and I think it was a good use of time to review. And yes, it was a game. But the real "test" is if they did well on their exam they were taking the day after! Sometimes I think there are students that don't perform well, even though they may understand content and solve required problems (like in the Jeopardy style review). What do you do? You can't gamify everything...
ReplyDeleteI also think that students aren't reviewing as effectively as possible if review is through a game mainly because the review is not in the same format as the test. Do I think we can make a test a game? I don't know but I won't know unless I try it. This to me is the scary part.
DeleteHeather- I like that idea of house vs. students. I would also have to try that out and will give me a playful way as well to interact with my students. Yes! That is my question as well, “how can I tie these games to my story line of the gamified course and the badges?” I like the penny drop as well but how do I create a game out of this or is this suppose to be just fun for the students. I like the idea but was not sure how to incorporate it into my classroom.
ReplyDelete