I always find playing games in a class to be extremely helpful. I think when students are having fun and competing they are more likely to retain alot of the information. I often make games based on popular game shows, especially jeopardy. I've also done games that mimic $10.000 Pyramid, Wheel of Fortune, etc. The students usually have alot of fun with these games and are more likely to participate than when I'm just asking questions during lecture. I've also come up with smaller activities that students can do in groups of three or four. I find this helpful for my first term students because they are learning but also getting to know the other students in their class.
Mariann, post conference is a great place to use this activity. Enjoy!
Sounds like fun. I never used this game. I will try soon in post-conference.
Mariann U
I love Jeopardy as well. I myself put people in teams and the person who buzzes in can not snwer the question, his/her group must answer. It keeps everyone on their toes.
When I create activities with large groups I like to utilize games (i.e., jeopardy) with a score and team captains. I found this to be most effective with large groups.
Post conference is s good place to apply this idea, Mariann. I wish you the best!
I agree with this strategy and will incorporate it into my nursing post conference in the near future.Marian U
Switching often keeps the communication open and creates anticipation in the learners, Joann. Good job!
i group the students together by various numbers and switch the groups often
My largest class this quarter is 21. It is not so much the number of students but the set up of the room that hinders involvement. So even though it takes time I rearrange the tables each class into smaller groups. Students seem to habitually sit in the same place so I have asked them to find a new seat each week so far (I have 2 sessions per week with the group). This makes it a challenge for me to learn names, but...
In changing around the room I also have room to move between the groups to monitor the group activities.
I like your mix of focused work, creativity and fun, Frederic. I'm sure you see the involvement of your learners as essential to your classes. Being learner focused brings positive results on Tests and skill checks.
My most effective approach is to randomly place students in groups of 3 with a mission to create a poster and presentation. The work is focused on one main concept of Environmental Science.
I have other groups evaluate each group's work using a number card approach similiar to Olympic scoring.
There is a mixture of focused work, creativity and fun.
The game changes with the type of people in the class.
Christina, as you have found, wholesome competition is a motivator for students. Jeopardy as you are using it is a great teaching and review tool. You are doing a great job, please continue.
What I do with a large group is, I break them into either two or three teams, we play a game called Jeopardy. They are to pick a spoke person, and another person that will come up to the board to write the answer. Among them I will watch to make sure everyone is cooperating and feeding in their thoughts. During this I keep track of the points and the winning team wins some type of prize, such as five extra points on the test or homework. Believe the class does get involved.
When tackling a large project, I generally will split the class into teams in which they are responsible in researching that topic and discussing that topic to the class. Each team has a different topic in which it builds upon one another so listening to one another and discussing the topic is very important.
It is funny how competition is a great motivator of adult learners! But it works, so keep using it.
What I do is hand out tickets during class if questions are answered, someone helps another students, someone helps me with set up of a game, etc... at the end of the term I pick two names out of a hat and those students will receive extra points on their final grade. Everyone wants those tickets! Funny how they react!
Yes, Lia. I'm sure the students love the tickets and the spirit of cooperation and competition!
Karen,
That works really well as it keeps them motivated for some additional points or tickets(I use tickets in my class). It also helps the studetns that are not proficient with the English language by having a team leader to speak out the answer. Everyone LEARNS and EVERYONE HAS FUN!
Karen, It's always a positive to have an end product, I agree.
