I actually felt a bit more connected to this topic this week because I have incorporated numerous non-electronic simulations over the years while teaching. It seems as though the simulations (electronic or not) motivate the children and inspire open communication and collaborative learning. Rules and procedures are a necessary component to this type of classroom activity as is making learner outcomes clear with the assistance of rubrics. Children should realize that although they may be having fun when being actively engaged, there are also expectations and accountability involved. What do you think?
**Beatrice**
3 comments:
I agree with you wholeheartedly! When I taught first grade there was no better way for me to gain my student's attention than to take on a role and invite them to join me. Whether we were animals getting ready for winter, or pretending that we were going on a picnic at the beach, the kids loved "playing" within the rules of the game. I think that as long as we call it a game, they are game (pardon the pun!). It's when we take ourselves so seriously, then they lose interest.
While this wasn't a simultion, it was actually a game, I remember a lesson I learned while student teaching 5th grade. We had just finished "The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" and decided to celebrate by playing baseball as a class. As soon as we got started I began to see very different sides of my students. The quiet, disorganized, sort of goofy in class boy was suddenly a coach, showing the smart kid in class how to choke-up on the bat. In the classroom this kid was a problem, on the baseball field he was a leader. What a lesson in differentiated instruction! I decided then and there to always try to mix it up a bit.
What a great success story, Julie! Sometimes you just never know what lies inside of the children we teach.
**Beatrice**
Julie,
You brought up an excellent point about taking ourselves too seriously. I think I've been doing this since I began teaching. It is not who I really am though. I am silly and I love to play and be a goof ball! One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was to simulate living in different situations...make believe...using my imagination. I feel however, that if I were to do this with the kids they would get out of hand. They currently are out of hand most of the time anyway. I don't blame them. They get excited and things turn to chaos. If you have any ideas for how to deal with this I'm all ears. I really want to bring more creativity into the program. Passion and creativity is really what drives us to want to learn. The students need these experiences.
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