Post 7: Gamification, Yay or Nay?

What is gamification? According to Badgeville.com, gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. This is starting to become more and more prevalent in schools. Teachers are using games to help students learn new material. While this may be a very effective way for students to learn, there are a few things that teachers need to consider when they bring gamification into the classroom. First is if the students are actually benefiting from the game. The students may appear to be having fun, which is one of the main benefits of gamification. But if the students aren't actually learning anything with the game then it is almost a waste of class time. Something else that teachers have to look out for is if the game is developmentally appropriate or not. If the game is to hard the student may get frustrated and give up on playing it. If the game is too easy than the student may lose interest. There are several things that teachers have to look out for. 

I think that the best gamification tool that we used in class was Osmo. I think that it was a great way to play and learn at the same time. Students can learn geometry or practice writing their letters. This was a very fun and interactive way to learn. One drawback to this was that it required an iPad, and the Osmo set. If you have iPads available to use, and are willing to pay for the sets than this is a great investment for the classroom. 

Overall I believe that gamification is a good thing. I think that it can help the students learn and have fun at the same time. I do not think that gamification can or should replace traditional instruction. I hope to include gamification in my classroom someday, but it will not completely take over my classroom. I will use it more of a reward in my classroom.

Post 6: How Students Learn

Something that teachers have to be aware of is how students learn. There are many different ways that students learn best. Some learn best when doing a hands on activity with manipulates. Other students learn best when given a visual picture to look at. This is something that needs to be taken into consideration when lesson planning. If a teacher can work in a teaching strategy that can appeal to all or most of the different learning style in the classroom the lesson will run more efficiently and more students will retain the information.  

When I was going through my years in primary and high school my studying style evolved. When I was a younger student I learned best when I was given manipulates. I had to done something in a hands on way for me to learn it, otherwise I struggled. As I grew older I turned into a student that really benefited from visual examples. I would take notes and fill in graphic organizers. Then when it came time to study for the test I would rewrite all of my notes. While this method of studying and learning is what is most effective for me now does not mean that I don't still learn well from hands on activities. I still love it when in my classes we do a hangs on example. For instance, in my Elementary Statistics class I was struggling with how to do confidence intervals. We did an in class activity that involved M&Ms and now I understand how to do those kinds of problems. (And it wasn't just because I got to eat the M&Ms after I was done with the guided practice. :-) ) 

When I was in high school I took psychology. In this class I learned that there were two types of motivation. Internal motivation and external motivation. Internal motivation came from the person's personality. External motivation comes from the outside world, like a positive role model or some type of reward. I do believe that all students need some kind of motivation to be successful in school. Some students will be self motivated to do the best they can do. Good for these students. As for the others that lack this self motivation to do well, I do believe that they need some kind of external reward to do well. If they have no motivation to do well then they won't try and the teachers efforts that go into teaching the student will be wasted. Hopefully this motivation can come from the students parents or guardians. However this is not always the case. As I was out in the field during my senior year of high school I learned this the hard way. My host teacher told me that for these students that don't have the motivation to do well coming from home it was the teacher's responsibility to ensure that the student did well. I completely stand behind what she is saying. 

Teachers need to guide and encourage their students to success. This is something that I have always thought about teachers. The best ones that I have had are the teachers that reach out to try and make a personal connection with me. My family was going through a rough patch during the winter of my senior year, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and my world felt like it was falling apart. Against my own personal wishes my mom contacted my school and told the guidance councilors and my teachers. I thought that they would think of me different, like I was weak and needed to be coddled. But this was not the case. They were very supportive of me and my family. They were there for me when I needed to talk about anything and encouraged me to continue coming to school every day even when I just wanted to be alone. They were able to continue to support me and give me the motivation to keep my grades up to the standard that they knew that I was capable of. I knew that without the extra support of my teachers during this part of my life my grades would not have been as high as they were. I can still say to this day I am still close with some of these teachers that were there for me when I needed most. 

These are the best teachers. The ones that can make a positive impact in a students life. I strive to be just like these teachers one day.