A reaction to game playing in the classroom essay

A Reaction to Game Playing in the ClassroomWhen you grow older, you can sometimes forget what it was like to be a child.  For some individuals, this is not cause for alarm. For someone such as me, it is important to understand how children may feel or react to certain educational games and toys. This is because I will need the proper insight into their feelings in order to properly work with them. Recently, I took part in a workshop that involved playing children’s educational games.  This workshop truly opened my eyes to how these games can effectively convey the information the classroom is intended to convey.

Also, the game showed me just how much fun a classroom setting can be. Even though I have personally used games in my own classroom, since I was not a participant, some beneficial aspects of game playing had escaped me. One thing I did here was that if the learning environment is not fun, children will not learn. Thankfully, there are a number of fun games that can appeal to the whimsy and joy children are know to possess.

My own personal experiences with these games are as follows: I took part in a game session that involved teaching children about the digestive system. On a surface, this would seem like a difficult subject to teach. However, when we all took on the role of the various parts of the digestive system, a rather dry subject came alive.  For example, each member of our class was a part of the digestive system, like the esophagus, stomach digestive enzymes, etc.

One member of the class was assigned the joyful task of playing the role of the colon. Needless to say, a lot of humor was derived from the situation. It also put a number of personal faces to a rather dry subject. Reading about the digestive system from a textbook can quickly becomes dull.  This does very little for building enthusiasm in the children about the subject.  For those children who may have learning disabilities, such dry teaching methods would be further limited.

From playing this game, I discovered that there are many different approaches to teaching children.  The fun of educational games is one such method.  Yes, I personally did have a lot of fun playing this game and I even managed to learn more about the subject than I initially thought possible.

This method of teaching also promotes interaction among the children. This allows the children to develop awareness of social skills and cooperation. Clearly, these are traits that can help them in many facets of their lives. As a teacher, I have employed several methods of game play.

Often, the games are designed to teach the children math and spelling skills. One very simply strategy I use is calling out a word or math problem and then tossing a ball around the classroom. Whoever catches the ball is then required to provide the answer. Sometimes it can be difficult for a child to answer a question when “ put on the spot”. However, the addition of the ball tossing takes a great deal of stress out of the situation.

Other types of games that can be employed would be crossword puzzles or picture match games which can be used to further expand their knowledge on the subject. In some other course such as language arts, history, or social studies, I will employ role-playing games into the classroom. This allows them the ability to pretend to be a famous character in history. In some scenarios, they can even act out famous battles or historical events. And, yes, this brings out their enthusiastic best! For those that are excelling in these subjects, a number of more complex strategy board games can be brought into the classroom.

While these games may be difficult, they will sharpen a student’s skills significantly. That is why they are so valuable. Actually, all methods of educational game play are valuable.

They make school a lot more rewarding and fun. That is a combination that spells much success for a student as he or she progresses in their education.;