Board with Education? Games and Learning in the classroom

"I'm tired of this book...It's so boring..." 

"Why do we have to do this worksheet?  I already know this stuff..."  

"But Ms. Nordwall--break starts in 10 minutes! "

If your students are anything like mine, you may have heard these classic lines a few times this year.  As the weeks spread onward towards winter break, my classes seem to be getting a bit stir crazy.  And now a central question every teacher faces on any day of the week become exceedingly pertinent: how do I keep my classes content-heavy and focused, while engaging students?

As I began to contemplate this question with greater urgency, I encountered several interesting options for bringing engagement and interest into the classroom.  While many students might think of board games as outdated initially, the games I researched are filled with interesting graphics that greatly resemble popular video games.  The length of both games is determined by the players, and the structure of the game is collectively focused and dynamically interactive.  Below I have included several reviews of board games that I would love to incorporate into my classroom instruction through thematic or historically focused literature units.  For the looming pre-break days, this would be a fantastic opportunity to reel in the youthful craziness and direct their enthusiasm towards something constructive.

Beowulf The Legend

Everyone loves a monster.  For a class unit on early to medieval literature, a board game known as "Beowulf The Legend" allows students to play the role of a hero, fight Grendel and Grendel's mother, and eventually face the great dragon, while learning the plot and central characters of one of the oldest works of literature.  According to Boardgamegeek.com

"The game consists of a series of auctions depicting different events in the legend of Beowulf. Players "bid" in the auctions by offering up cards representing the skills they will offer to help Beowulf succeed (fighting, cunning, etc.) in an attempt to earn rewards of points or powerful cards, or to avoid injuries or other penalties. Players can also take a `Risk' and draw two cards from the deck to bid with. But if the cards don't match the current auction, the player is forced to drop out. Players need to carefully manage their hands and the timing of when they choose to take risks to increase their chances of winning".

I would use this game to either supplement a unit on Beowulf or as an end of the semester/quarter activity.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17449/beowulf-the-legend

Shakespeare the Bard Game
Despite its auspiciously cheesy title, "Shakespeare the Bard Game" is a creative introduction or extension of the classic high school Shakespeare unit.  In this game players become managers of their own playhouse.  In a similar form to many monopoly style games, players must collect "acclaim" points though buying scripts from Shakespeare, hiring actors and collecting the right number of props, patrons and costumes for the play.  Players use shillings to purchase necessities and and are awarded through these activities:

"1. You may recite a speech where your audience decides how much you gain (1-10 shillings) based on your performance.
2. You may show your knowledge by answering an easy, medium, and difficult question about Shakespeare and gain 10, 15, or 20 shillings. These questions can be multiple choice or true/false.
3. You can Busk. Busking is an impromptu performance where you gain five shillings and a fate card." (Courtesy Boardgamegeek.com, "Board Games for English Teachers")

I would love to use this game during a Shakespeare unit with my students.  Not only would it be a fun supplement to content learning in my classroom, it would also give students a deeper understanding of early theater culture and the economics of art through examining the process of play production.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12372/shakespeare-the-bard-game

May your final weeks of the fall semester/quarter be ever enlivened with the spirit of fun and may your students never be bored.

Aeries, Awkward First Dates, and Student Teaching: Exploring The Data Bases

"Just be sure to take role on Aeries. It's important."

I remember the first day I took over my Cooperating teacher's classroom.  It was my second week as a student teacher, and my cooperating teacher was out for the day attending a district training.  We had a substitute, who gave me full freedom to follow my CT's lesson plans for the day.  I was scheduled to teach all six periods, and with the nervousness of a new student teacher, I planned frantically and arrived early to set everything up.  I greeted the young substitute, set up the classroom, opened my CT's iPad, and logged into Aeries.  Everything was working beautifully.

Until, of course, the moment I tried to submit attendance for first period.  Slowly the spinning pinwheel of death waltzed across the clean lines of the Aeries interface.  And then it was no more.  "Aeries has encountered a problem..."  Why yes, apparently it has.

We submitted attendance manually the entire day.  I survived my first takeover day as a student teacher, and eventually got over my nerves and throughly enjoyed each period (and collapsed from exhaustion at the end of the day).  But I never got over that first experience with the district-wide data base.  Like a terrible first date that never goes away, Aeries and I still have a somewhat strained relationship.  Maybe it's more of an awkwardly arranged marriage.

Aeries is the Santa Barbara School district's Student Data Base.  Through the Aeries browser, teachers and school administration can access students' class schedules, medical information, testing information, grades, and parent contact information.  The student's previous education (elementary, junior high) is visible, as are the parent's levels of education and the student's intervention and discipline histories.  Teachers generally use Aeries to take attendance and check student grades and histories.

Partnered with the Aeries browser interface is EDU 2.0, the district wide "online learning management system".  EDU 2.0 is designed for teachers to be able to create and give assignments, grade with imbedded rubrics, create online forums and chat groups, message parents or guardians, and record student progress, assignment specific grades, and missing or late work.  While Aeries stores student information, EDU is the tool with which teachers are most likely spend the majority of their working time.  EDU 2.0 is a powerful program, but is (as are all technologies in the public school system) heavily prone to constant slowness, random crashing, and irrational failures.

Rumor has it that several states are now creating massive and incredibly inclusive databases of student learning records.  This information is slated to be used to further student learning through informing teachers and (wouldn't you know it) curriculum providers of student needs and ideal strategies to reach students who might otherwise be falling behind.  And while the beauty of clearly organized and complete data on each of my students could very well be an excellent resource in my teaching practice, I feel reluctant to allow the siren song of this new possibility drawn me in.  Though the software companies project their interests towards the good of the "working class" (teachers), I know that we are fairly low on the economic food chain.  Rarely are programs created merely for the good of teachers.  We know who creates these programs, and that we are not the only ones with access to this goldmine of information.  And even lower on the food chain?  Our students.  I feel that this baring of student information could very well violate students and families' right to privacy.

  While I see the appeal of these high tech programs, I still don't know enough about the safety of centralized data to make a decided statement at this point.  And that causes me to shy away from any centrally available collection of personal data on students.   For this added insight, I call on my colleagues.  What do you think of central data collection interfaces?

Apples are for Teachers: Tech Tools and the App Store

IN the search for better education, we must first find better tools.  Apple, a technology provider whose name is becoming quite the catch phrase in education over the past few years, offers an app store with delectable variety of educational offerings for both teachers and students.  Some of these tools are free, and could be easily utilized on student devices or instructional iPads and computers.  But of course, the best things in life are never free: some of the following tools require a certain financial foundation, and therefore may be best as a resource on a teacher's iPad.

In light of my own natural prejudices towards creativity, my favorite app of the week is Paper by FiftyThree.  This fantastic app earned the App of the Year Award in 2012, and the five star customer ratings available on the app page give this award concrete credit.  The Paper app allows students and teachers to create elaborate "sketches, diagrams, illustrations, notes or drawings" on a iPhone or iPad and easily "share them across the web".  This app could be used by students on assignments conducive to creativity, and would allow students to respond in class or at home, and then share their artistic interpretations with their class and instructor.  

The second app on my list this week is a word game called Psychobabble.  This app appears to be the love child of Scrabble and a crossword puzzle.  Psychobabble invites readers to engage in a variety of word puzzles, based on random associations between words and their meanings.  The app was created through the joined efforts of language experts at Ultralingua and New York Times crossword contributor David Liben-Nowell.  The app is free, and has earned 4.5 out of 5 stars from customers.  I would love to use this game to aid my students in their development of linguistic awareness and fluency.  This game would give students the basic cognitive skills that I believe will become increasingly more necessary in the future, with the integration of Common Core standards and instruction aimed at deeper literacy skills.  I wish I had used this app when I was studying for the MAT--It certainly would have speeded to my word association skills.  

The last app on my review is a favorite amongst ELA teachers.  SentenceBuilderTeen is an app that "is designed to help teenage children learn how to build grammatically correct sentences".  The app is apparently related to another award winning app that was designed as a complete program.  The teen version is a stand alone app aimed towards special needs teens.  It is recommended for ages 11-16, and is apparently often used by families in a home learning environment.  I would love to recommend this app to parents and guardians ($5.99 well spent) as a supplement to their child's general ELA education.  Because secondary level education often assumes mastery of the functions of the English language, high school and junior high teachers often neglect the teaching of linguistic conventions in the classroom.  For students with special needs, this could mean confusion and difficulties with written and verbal communication.  Parents and guardians could use this app together after school to help students grow in their knowledge of sentence structure and difficult English language conventions.  

As a student teacher, I am both intrigued and intimidated by the benefits apps for education have to offer.  I am intrigued by their complexity and power, and the potential they could have to engage students in the classroom.  And I am intimidated by my own tech ignorance and the insurmountable mountain of technological flakiness teachers have to deal with on a daily basis. I look forward to confronting my fears this year as I begin to experiment with technology in the classroom, and I believe that the accessibility of Apple apps for the iPad and iPhone make them a great place to begin this lifelong love-hate relationship.