Amy , thank you for sharing your experience. You can't please all the of the sudents all the time, but it's nice to try. Keep up your good work!
Michele Deck
Liz, it was my pleasure to share these ideas. I wish you much success using them.
Michele Deck
I have learned that as long as there is fun involved in teaching the students are happy to learn. I am looking forward to try some of the games in my upcoming medical terminology class. My students love to play bingo to learn medical terms and medical abbreviations. Thank you for your wonderful ideas.
Just today I tried that brain organization activity, because oddly enough, I was able to remember the pictures, the connections, and the words of the example one in this course after looking at it for a little while two days ago, and only one time at that. All but two of the students were very interactive and smiling and using the pictures as a way to remember. I still had two students who weren't paying attention, but it was a good start! I will repeat the same exercise with different words (and even the same words more than one time, for repetition) to see if the students pick the words up better.
Students enjoy the way I teach. They say they actually learn the material rather than memorize it!
Tricia, I agree that hands on is best!
Michele Deck
The more involved I get them in my class the better they seem to retain information. hands on is the way to go.
I agree with that point. Variety is what students need to keep awake and focused.
I love the National Enquirer Headline idea.. I have a group of overly energetic students at the moment..
Generally the response of the learners when I've used activities there typically is one of excitement most student enjoy doing hands on activities then just having a lot materials thrown at them, it tends to be boring to them, they seem to prefer that they are more involved in the career that they have chosen.
Care to share your game ideas that you've made up on your own?
Suzanne, I agree an assessment of each class is an essential first step in choosing how you will involve them in class.
Michele Deck
For the most part the students enjoy the activities. However, I have discovered that these activities do not work for every group of students. You have to feel out the class dynamics before starting any of these types activities.
Nelia, I agree, association with class activities builds memory.
Michele Deck
Different strategies and activities make the students engaged in the learning process. Students remember the terms when they associate them with activities performed in the class.
Tauisha, I believe in fast activities, also. My perfect activities last 3 to 7 minutes.
Michele Deck
I agree with you, variety is definetly key in keeping the students engaged. I also like the less than 30 minute rule. What I find in my class is that if a student continue to do a fun activity for a long period of time they begin to forget the meaning of the challenge and get bored. This alone is unhealthy for student retention.
i am always looking for new ways to review material. i use jeopardy games a lot also but these will definitely be added to my game folder.
Martin, you are using successful strategies in your classes by ing your students projects with what interests them.
Michele Deck
It has been a long time since I taught a medical class. In the USAF I taught a Radiology Technician class. I would hand out the bone of a skeleton and had one student position another student for the appropriate views needed for the X-Ray. I do see several of the medical, dental and pharmacy instructors using similar techniques comparable to your examples.
In the computer class I teach, all I can do is give them fun projects for their individual exams instead of using online finals where are boring and do not properly give them a proper visual demonstration of what they have just learned.
