Post 3 Games

To game or not to game! That is the question. From my perspective games in the classroom are a vital tool for learning. Without them students would be faced with rote memorization and possible boredom in school. The introduction of games, even ones that were not designed for a specific lesson, can teach students information that crosses curriculum, as well as allows them to learn life skills. Social behavior and critical thinking are a few of the life skills that would benefit the students while playing games. One of my most memorable years in school was the seventh grade. This year stood out because of the 6 week long game that played in history class. The westward expansion unit was not a topic high on my excitement meter until my teacher introduced the game. I went to class eager to play and in turn I learned about history, math, critical thinking skills, social behavior, accountability, and economics, all while playing a game.

In my science classroom I hope to integrate games to bring forth my students excitement and untapped skills. The games should be for learning new material and for practicing recall skills prior to quizzes and tests. A game that I plan to use is an atom building game. Students would be placed in to teams and asked to go up to the board, one from each team. They will given the number of protons for an element and the students will recreate that atom on the board as a diagram with the correct number of electrons surrounding that for the given element. There are many games that can be played and incorporated in to a curricula and I feel that this aspect of learning is far too often overlooked, because the stereotypes that has proliferated over the years. "If the students are having too much fun, than they couldn't possibly be learning!" We all know this isn't true, but for the want of orderly and "QUIET" classroom, games tend to a wild card not worth using in the game of learning.