I was excited to try my game out in the classroom today! I do not have my own classroom so my Aunt arranged for me to come in today and try the game out on her 9th grade Science class. The day before, she met with me and had given me a book and list of chapters/subjects they had been discussing in class. I felt very nervous coming into the classroom, especially not knowing the kids and the materials. I came to class with the materials I had listed in my game, the set of questions on notebook cards and a squeaky toy (that my dog will inherit after today). I was only given one class period to play my game, which is the time I had specified. What I didn’t think about, is the first time the student’s play it takes a bit longer, because I had to explain the game to them and separate them into two groups. I had also not previously thought of how to divide the class up, until now! I had to think quickly, so I just created an imaginary line down the middle of the room to create the two teams. I also hadn’t thought of how to place the students, since they were going to need to discuss the questions before they answer. I couldn’t put them in a straight line in their desks, like I had originally planned. So I decided to have them stand in their groups, so they could easily come together and whisper. After getting the students divided I began to explain the rules and how to play the game. Everyone seemed to understand and seemed to be excited. The only question I received was, “What if neither team gets the answer correct?”. I hadn’t thought of this question either! So after thinking for a second I decided that I will give the answer, neither team will receive a point, and it’s the other teams turn. They seemed satisfied with that answer. I was ready to begin the game when I realized yet another problem. Each team must first send a team member forward to answer a question, this determines who goes first. I hadn’t thought of how to pick which team member would come forward. Having the team decide began to create a problem, because everyone wanted to come forward. Also, only one member of the team gets to say the answer each time it’s their turn. I hadn’t thought of how to pick who that was going to be either. I thought for minute, and one of the points of my game is to not only teach the content, but to also teach working together as a team. I decided that I would give each team thirty seconds to get together and pick who is coming forward. If they couldn’t decide within those thirty seconds they would be fined five team points and the other team automatically gets to go. If both teams can’t decide then they both get fined five points and I will assign them two people to come forward, which will probably be two people that don’t want to come forward. After deciding this I decided to let them each take turns answering the questions within the group according to how they were sitting in their rows. The class seemed satisfied with this and they were ready to get started. The game finally began and the students seemed to have fun. The only problem was, after explaining and coming across the few problems, we only had about twenty minutes to play. I think I learned a few things on how to change it up and make it better, but it takes at least one time of actually playing to think of these things. The students also thought of some things that I hadn’t thought of! I think next time I play with my own class things will go a lot smoother and we will have more time. I also decided to add that everyone gets five points for participation and they each get the amount of points that they won. In my own classroom I might change from points to small prizes, but that will take some evaluation too. Overall, I enjoyed my game and feel the students had fun while they learned/reviewed their content and practiced good team building skills.
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