Question

since games are supposed to be fun and voluntary, how can educators require a game for students to play and still expect it to be engaging and fun?

Answer 1

Keeping students engaged and motivated can be a challenge, even for the best educators. It’s easy to teach the same lessons year after year simply because they have worked in the past, without giving much thought to students’ current interest level. But even the strongest curriculum still needs some variety once in a while to make learning fun. Likewise it’s important for students to be aware of learning strategies that are both effective and fun for them. If educators and students can stay conscious of improving the learning process ona regular basis, it’s much easier to work together to keep lessons engaging and motivating. Here are five strategies that can assist educators and students with this process to make learning fun.

Offer choices.

Kids go through much of their daily routine without a lot of choices, both at home and at school. To offer kids the control they desire, it’s important to incorporate choices into lessons as often as possible. Keep in mind that offering choices is not a method for kids to get out of doing work, though! For example, giving a choice of doing homework or playing a game is not a productive choice. However, letting students pick the order of homework assignments they will work on may help.

Make it a game.

It may seem silly, but turning any lesson into a game will almost always make learning fun! And turning review activities or rote memorization drills into games doesn’t require a lot of prep time or expense. There is nothing wrong with purchasing pre-made games once in a while, but many of the most popular, effective games are the simplest. For example, turn learning musical symbols and terminology (e.g. quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes) into a memory game. Or, you can try the Speedy Scale game!

Tailor your lessons to your students.

It’s easy to expect all students to have the same attention span and to structure your lessons accordingly. However, this simply isn’t the case. While it may not seem unreasonable to expect a six-year-old to sit through a half-hour lesson, this is a very long period of structured time for most six year olds. Consider how you can break down lessons to keep kids engaged and make learning fun. Even a thirty-second break every six minutes to do a round of jumping jacks or get a drink of water can make a big difference.

Make learning practical.

Most people agree that it’s difficult to stay engaged in a lesson when you don’t understand the purpose of the knowledge. Instead of simply telling students that there is a practical purpose for the lesson at hand, give them some concrete examples. As a student, don’t ever be afraid to question a educator about the practicality of a particular lesson. A good educator will make the effort to give you a concrete answer, even if it takes a couple days to do some research.

Pay attention to students’ interests.

Take the time to ask your students about their hobbies and interests. While some interests are easier to incorporate than others, it’s important to take note of them and maximize their potential. If you can’t find a game or assignment to fit a passion, think about other ways to use it in a lesson, such as train stickers as rewards.

Incorporate Some Mystery Into Your Lessons
Learning is the most fun when you don't know what to expect. When was the last time you were at a surprise party? How did it make you feel when you were being surprised or when you saw your friend's expression as they entered the door to a surprise? Learning can be interesting too when you make it a mystery. The next time you plan your lesson try giving students a new clue each day up until the very last day of the lesson. This is a fun way to make your lesson mysterious, and you may just find that your students are actually looking forward to finding out what they will be learning about.

Do Not Repeat Classroom Material
It's okay to review classroom material but you should not repeat it because this can become quite boring for students. The next time you need to review material try and play a review game and make sure to present the material in a new way, not the same way that you did it the first time that you taught students.

The 3-2-1 strategy is a fun way to review material and not repeat material. For this activity students draw a pyramid in their notebooks and write down three things they learned, two things they thought was interesting, and one question they still have. It's a fun new way to go over old material without repeating it.

Create Classroom Games
Whether your five or twenty-five playing a game is fun. Games are a great way to keep lessons interesting while having a little bit of fun.

Give Students Choices
One strategy that educators are now offering students is the ability to make their own choices when it comes to learning. Choice can be a powerful motivator because it helps to foster student interest. Research suggests that when educators craft effective choices for students it gives them a sense of control, purpose, and competence.

In short, by giving students the opportunity to choose what or how they are going to learn you are cultivating students interest which is a great motivator.

Utilize Technology
Technology is a great way to keep your lessons interesting. Students love electronics and any chance that they get to use it is a good thing. Instead of standing in front of the room and lecturing try using a Smartboard. Instead of having students do a cooperative learning activity with just the students in the classroom, try connecting to another classroom via video-conference to do the group work with. Utilize technology in any way that you can and you will see the interest level go up tremendously in your classroom.

Don't Take Teaching so Seriously
Being an effective educator is an important job but it doesn't mean that you have to take it so seriously.

Try and loosen up a bit and and acknowledge that your students may have different interests or learning styles than you. It's okay to laugh at yourself at times and it is also okay to have some fun. You may even find that your students will be even more interested when you are a little bit more relaxed.

Make Lessons Interactive
In a traditional classroom the educator stands in front of the room and lectures to the students as the students listen and take notes. We all know that this way of teaching is boring and has been for decades. Make lessons interactive by involving students in every aspect of the lesson, this means creating hands-on lessons. Try using the Jigsaw cooperative learning activity where each student is responsible for their own part of a whole group activity or try a hands-on science experiment. By involving students and making your lesson interactive you are keeping your class more interesting.

Relate Material to Students' Lives
Try and create a real-world connection to what students are learning, so that it will give them a better understanding of why they need to learn what you are teaching them. If your students are constantly asking you why they need to learn something, and you always are answering with “because” you will soon lose your credibility with your students. Instead, try giving them a real answer like "You are learning about money because in the real world you need to know how to use it if you want to survive. You need to know how to buy food and pay your bills." By giving them a real answer you are helping them connect that they must learn what they are learning for their future.

Flip Your Lessons
The Flipped classroom have been gaining some credibility since the term "flipped" entered the education world in 2012. The idea that students can learn new information at home and come to school and use class time for critical thinking activities and to reinforce concepts was unheard of. However, today many educators are using this strategy and finding that the results are amazing. Students are now able to work at their own pace (which is great for differentiated learning) and engaging with their peers in a more interactive, meaningful way when they are in the classroom. Try using the Flipped teaching strategy for your next lesson and see how well your students are engaged. You never know, this may be just the tool that you were looking for to help keep your students more engaged.

Think Outside of the Box
Lesson plans don't have to be the same old boring worksheets or lectures where students sit and take notes time and time again. Try thinking outside of the box and do something that is completely out of the ordinary. Invite in a guest speaker, go on a field trip or take learning outdoors. When you try something new and different, there is a good chance that your students will respond with delight not defeat. The next time you are planning your lesson try collaborating with another educator or take your students on a virtual field trip. Learning doesn't have to be boring in order to be effective. Your students will find it more interesting to learn when it is presented to them in a variety of different ways.