This is no Game.

Actually, what if it was?

I recently had a discussion with a colleague regarding the use of games in the classroom and whether or not it adds any value to the learning environment. My opinion is yes, they do.

I’ll tell you why my colleague thinks differently. She believes that playing games in the classroom makes light of the subject matter and also creates a competition between students (which makes her uncomfortable and could potentially cause some anxiety for a student).

First let me say that I don’t disagree with her entirely.I do however, think that incorporating  games into the classroom helps improve student engagement.  It’s not all rainbows and butterflies though.. There are students who may be less likely to partake in a classroom game.There are so many reasons a student may decline to be involved. For instance perhaps they are shy, or have a fear of “public speaking”, or maybe they have really low self esteem and think they won’t do well. I don’t think that any of those reasons are good enough to remove the use of games from the classroom altogether. I think the added value of student engagement is worth the risk.

My personal experience has been that students are usually quite happy to be involved in something different and fun in the classroom. I have rarely had any issues with people not wanting to participate or becoming too competitive. It creates an opportunity for everyone to relax a little, have some fun together and creates a more dynamic relationship in the classroom if your students can see a different side to you.  The only problem I have had with using games in the classroom is that once they’ve experienced it they want to play them more often, and it does take some time to get them organized.

Let me share with you an occasion in which I dealt with a situation like this. In one of my classes I had a student (who displayed high introvert preferences) who approached me and asked if she could be excluded from the game because she wasn’t comfortable getting up in front of the class and competing with her peers for the right answer. I told her I understood and respected and asked if she would instead be part of the team that organized the game, rather than participating. That wasn’t originally part of my plan, but if you are a teacher you know we sometimes have to wing it. So I then had this student provide some of the QA for the family feud game I had planned for the class. By having her help me, I was able to ascertain that she did indeed know the material, she was able to process the information to come up with valid game questions, she had a great time doing it and I respected the fact that she wasn’t comfortable participating in the game.

The great part of this experience is that I learned how to roll with the punches, I learned that there is as much value in being part of the organizing team (so now I open up roles to my students), and I learned that sometimes doing small things can make big changes. This same student is now more engaged than ever- she participates in the competition but also enjoys being part of the team that organizes. She has told me that she never thought she would be up there in front of the class, and how easing her into it really has helped her.

As far as taking serious material and making “light of it” by turning it into a game- I disagree. I work in a serious environment (emergency response) and we absolutely rely on having a sense of humor to help manage the stress of the environment, so for me that’ just one more reason to do this. I also found this article that I thought was quite interesting. McGill Reporter- Not all fun and games

 

Positive Learning Environments

I recently attended a class that I had been looking forward to, and midway through the day became completely disengaged. Why? Because I was not having a positive experience. The class was spread out all over the place, the facilitator did not ask questions (and when questions were asked did not answer them), I feel like the facilitator was tired (she mentioned her early flight and the fact that she had to leave the minute the class ended to catch another flight several times) and worst of all there were several people in the class who heckled other students when they tried to contribute ideas to the learning.

You might wonder what exactly I’m getting at when I say that we need to create a positive learning environment for our students. I’m not talking about the paint or having motivational posters in the classroom (although those things do impact the learning environment). I’m talking about creating an environment in which students feel safe, motivated, engaged and encouraged to learn. Building a positive learning community in our classrooms is important, and not that “hard” to do (for any of you who have read some of my previous posts, you are probably starting to notice some themes).

After doing some research, these are the top tips I found on creating a positive learning environment:

1. Build Relationships/Rapport in your Classrooms. This is something that needs to happen right off the get go. How is this going to help you? Its going to help to build trust, which is invaluable in creating a safe learning environment. It can also help you to try to connect with your students and make the learning more relevant (which in turn will increase their engagement). How can you do this? Learn their names. Learn things about them like where they are from, the things they like to do, what’s important to them. Use ice breakers in your class so that you ALL get to know each other. This helps to open the door for so many people.
2. Communication. There really isn’t much in life that isn’t improved by effective communication, and the learning environment is no exception. How can this help? Open the channels of communication up to your students and see them flourish with ideas, become more engaged and become an active part of each lesson. How can you do this? Listen. Share. Ask them questions which encourage them to reflect and contribute. Speak their language.
3. Be a role model. Be positive, display positive actions, reinforce positive behaviour. These are all things that can’t do anything but improve the environment you are in. How can you do this? Teach respect, fairness and kindness. Dont allow bullying or heckling in your classroom.Bring positive energy into your classrooms. Its contagious.

If we take a step back to my introduction, when I discussed my recent misadventure, and we try to apply these 3 steps to that environment could things have been different?

I whole heartedly think so.I think had these things been implemented into that class:

• Relationships/Rapport building There was absolutely no connection between students/facilitator. She didnt even actually know what we do for a living so it made the learning quite difficult when the references she made were completely out of scope for us.  I think had the students felt more connection, there would have been more engagement and less heckling.
• The facilitator made no effort to communicate the end goal (I’m still not sure what it was). If you don’t know where you are going, it can be hard to get there and then how do you even know if you ARE there? If people felt like they were being heard, I think it would have also improved the engagement and motivation in the room.
• Role model- Had the facilitator seemed interested or energetic i think it would have improved the level of engagement as well. I think it’s important to remember (as facilitators) we may be “dealing” with things (early flights etc..) but we don’t need to share that with our students. Share the positive things with them how excited you are to be there with them, how much you love the topic of the lesson etc.. Dont bring them down with your work schedule.

I can say that personally, if the environment had been controlled and had a strong, energetic, positive facilitator I would have (likely) had a far better experience. If it seems like this post has been a bit of a downer or a rant I should say that I only take all of this as an opportunity to learn for myself. I don’t want my students to walk away from any of my sessions feeling like I did that day. That experience has just reinforceed the importance of creating a positive learning environment for my students.

Reference: Creating a Positive Learning Environment

 

Intrinsic Motivation

What the heck is that, you might be asking…The short answer is that it is probably the learning style we all hope and wish for in our classrooms. I found a great article on the Vanderbuilt University-Center for Teaching-website,  describing:

• Intrinsic Motivation (internal motivation)
• Extrinsic Motivation (motivated externally- rewards, grades etc..)

On that page, it says “Intrinsic motivators include fascination with the subject, a sense of its relevance to life and the world, a sense of accomplishment in mastering it, and a sense of calling to it.” It goes on to describe some of the advantages and disadvantages of those particular motivators.

Advantages include learning that stays with the student long term, and is self-sustaining. It focuses on the education, lessons and learning rather than a reward system..Learning for the sake of learning!

Disadvantages include the time it takes to foster this type of motivator. As you may have read in some of my past posts, it can be very challenging to light a spark in a student. It requires time spent getting to know them, what motivates them and may be different for each student.

As i read through the article, I thought “Wouldn’t it be great to have a class full of intrinsic learners?”. It seems to me that intrinsic learners are self-motivated, would require less “attention” in class and might even be helpful in getting other students motivated. It’s not to say that intrinsic learners would progress ahead of extrinsic learners. I have been in classes that I would look back and describe myself as having had extrinsic motivators (I always want to have high grades). But I can also tell you that I have not retained a great deal from those classes. The classes in which I would describe as having been motivated intrinsically are “still with me” to this day. And not because the teacher spent a great deal of time getting to know me or my motivators. It was because I wanted to be there. I had a purpose and knew the value of the lesson I was receiving.

When I think to myself “how can we try to spark some intrinsic motivators in our school systems?”, I wonder if we can start to offer them more choices? The classes in which I was truly engaged and motivated to do well, were classes I chose for myself. Not classes that were mandatory or were assigned. This one change could make such a difference in our classrooms. Just imagine- a classroom full of students who want to be there!

 

 

Photo credit: thematicteacherblog.com

References: Center for Teaching-Vanderbuilt University

What’s stopping you?

Motivation/Success- what’s stopping you?

I watched this video and I thought “It really is that easy.” Commitment. To myself. So if it’s that easy, why is this so hard, for so many people (myself included)? I mean, there’s nobody better to invest in than myself, is there? Nobody is going to try harder for me than me, right? So why do we find it so hard to do? Is it like the video says- we are caught up in negativity? Or sleep our time away? Why is that? Because it’s easy? Because we stopped believing in ourselves?

Bruce Cockburn sang “nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight” (Lovers in a Dangerous Time, 1983). I think having a happy life that Im proud of is worth fighting for. We need to take the time on ourselves, for ourselves. Figure out what we want. What motivates us. We need to commit to it and we need to work for it. Who knows- maybe the things that motivate you will inspire change in others and what could be greater than inspiring change? As a facilitator, that’s what I strive for.

Let go of negativity. Let go of what other people have told you are capable of (or not capable of). It’s your future. Set your own goals. Figure out what you want, and what has stopped you from getting there and then let that go.Overcome those obstacles for yourself.

Be passionate about what you do because you are investing in yourself. Dream new dreams. Don’t let your passion, your commitment or your motivation falter. It’s going to be hard. But the right thing to do is, is usually not easy. If we cant do these things for ourselves, how can we expect our students to do it?

Keeping the excitement alive

During my readings in the “Student Engagement Techniques, a Handbook for College Faculty” , I came across a section that talks about keeping yourself engaged, as the teacher/facilitator (pages 74-76).

Im sure we can all recall a time in our lives when we have been in a meeting, or a class which was being lead by someone who was less than enthusiastic about the topic at hand? How did that impact you? Did it affect your motivation? Your engagement? Did you leave the class feeling fulfilled? Did you walk away thinking “wow, I cant wait to find out more!” or did you walk away thinking “OMG, that was painful, I’m so glad it’s over”. So let me ask you…What do you want your students to walk away thinking?

I think this is something that we, as teachers, need to be reminded of from time to time. It’s so easy to get caught up in a routine or focus on what isn’t going well and forget what brought you to this particular place in your life. You’ve got to love teaching! You’ve got to feel something about your subjects/lessons! If (and when) you do- that excitement, that passion is shared with your students.

So how do we do that? I found this article that has some great suggestions: 12 Tips for Keeping Teacher Engaged. I think the one that spoke to me the most was “Provision of leadership opportunities inspires intention”. After all, isn’t that how I found myself taking the PIDP course to begin with? Isn’t that why we are all reading this entry right now? We are looking to increase our knowledge, learn something new to bring back to the classroom. We are actively trying to keep those neurons fired up and trying to find ways to bring it all back to our students?

I am fortunate enough to work in an environment where leadership and education opportunities are brought forward to those who are interested. I think this creates an environment which fosters growth and excitement. It allows me to grow as an individual while helping the organization grow within my area of expertise- and Im happy and excited to do it! I want to show off my new skills/knowledge!

So people- if you are feeling less than enthused about your lessons, figure out why. And then identify some new ways to improve those lessons- things that you may need to learn before you can implement. You will feel so much more enthusiastic about your lessons if you do some learning along the way!

 

References:

Photo credit: www.linkedin.com

https://www.peopleadmin.com

Community

I realize that this video promotes itself as a “self-motivation” but I quite enjoyed the lesson on community. We need to build a sense of community within our classrooms. We need to be there for our students and we need to remember that they are beginners. Slow down. Get back to the basics. And don’t be afraid to learn from your students. There is opportunity all around you, if you are open to it.

The Psychology of self-motivation- Ted Talk

Getting to know your Audience?

I want to take a moment to talk about our “audience” as teachers (or facilitators). I feel like we often jump right into discussions about the curriculum or getting people motivated and engaged, but rarely do we stop and ask “who” we are asking these questions of.

The easy answer is the students. Yeah, yeah, we know that- but what do we need to know about the students to help us with our lessons? How can we build lessons around people we don’t know? How can I get people motivated if I don’t know what they find motivating? How can I possibly do this for each and every class I teach?

First things first- the lesson plan. This is likely put together ahead of time, and incorporates the desired outcomes provided to us by the board of education, the government or our employers. Sure, we can jiggle it around and add our own flair to it, but the point is, it likely doesn’t change a whole lot from class to class. My question to you is: Do you know going in to the class that the students are all at “the same level”? What if you are not sure? My advice to you- have a plan! Have a support system worked out (in your head) ahead of time. This might include pairing a struggling student up with a student who is doing well. Or maybe it includes extra reading on the side. Are there other classes that could be taken instead of this course that might be more suited to the student’s knowledge level?  The important thing to gauge here is how your students are receiving the lessons. Are they keeping up? When you complete a post assessment, are you satisfied with the results?  Knowing the knowledge level of our students ahead of time can be very helpful, but is not always available, so be ready for anything.

Next- how can I motivate people? In the Student Engagement Techniques Textbook, it states “students motivations are influenced by what they think is important and by what they believe they can accomplish”. (Barkley, 2010)  When I read this I think- I need to spend a little time getting to know people! In my environment, that is not difficult. I teach in a work environment and there are usually only 3-4 students in a “classroom setting” at a time. I spend time asking students about themselves, how they found themselves in my class and what they are hoping to gain from being there. I spend time talking about the mission and values of our company and asking questions about how students could possibly relate to them. I can tell you- this helps. Yes, it takes time and we don’t always have a whole lot of it on our hands, but when you can help the students to see right off the bat why this course/lesson is important to them they want to be there. And that makes a huge difference for the rest of the time you will spend together. They want to learn. If they fall off the track a little and struggle, bring it back to basics- Why are we all here?

And finally- how can I possibly do this for each and every class? As far as lesson planning goes, I go into each class with a plan. Once I get a chance to assess my students, get to know them a little and gauge the level of knowledge they came in with- I am ready to evaluate whether or not my lessons plans are “set up” the way I need them to be for that particular group of students. Every class is different, and as teachers we need to be ready to modify our plans to meet our students’ needs. We need to take the time to get to know our students and help them become successful- because ultimately, it’s all up to them.

Photo credit: https://www.teaching.philosophyquotes.com

Why the blog?

With any new adventure, there is new territory to explore. For me, this round includes capturing my thoughts in an online forum- the BLOG!

Most of us likely read blogs on a daily basis, but (for me, at least) have never really considered what goes into creating one. PIDP  has challenged in me in many ways, and this time around I am looking forward to creating a space which encourages people to write about their own thoughts, or ideas regarding an ongoing and (of course) happy learning journey!

You dont have to agree with my thoughts, or with the thoughts of others but please be open and be respectful to the possibility of new things coming your way.

Let’s get started…Again

It’s funny you know….I started a blog last week (first time ever) and I posted about how I am continually learning and progressing through life. Pushing 40 and basically starting over, and how it doesn’t really bother me, because along the way I am always learning.

When I went back to that blog today I realized that I messed up on a few things, and I wasn’t happy with it overall- so here I go again! Ha! BUT as long as the learning doesn’t stop, whats the big deal?

I think that is a question that many people could stop and ask themselves. How many of us have heard people say “I’m too old to go back to school” or “I’m too old to try that now”? I grew up hearing those things,and lucky for me I never believed any of it! We only have one life, after all. Why should we ever feel like we are too old to stop learning and growing and discovering? Isn’t that what life is all about? Maybe it’s because we didn’t all enjoy school the first time around…Let me tell you, once you are beyond the awkward teenage years and you figure out who you are and what makes you tick- you really make the learning experience yours! You take the courses you  to take, you enroll for classes you always thought would be interesting and you love life a little bit more with each one of them! Happy learning, is the best learning. At least that’s how I feel 🙂