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Classroom Management When Using Games

February 25, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

https://pixabay.com/photos/classroom-guiyang-tables-textbooks-2787754/

Things to consider:

When considering implementing games into your classroom there are many aspects you have to consider such as what equipment will the students need? Where will students get the equipment from? Are you playing the game as a whole class or in small groups? What is the role of the teacher when students are playing games? How do you differentiate instruction when playing games? What happens when students don’t know what to do or when they act out? There are many considerations for introducing games and many people stay away from them because they feel a lack of control or they believe it makes the class too chaotic. I am here to show you successful implementation and how to manage students when they are playing. When done correctly, games can provide an amazing classroom management tool, let’s learn how.

Classroom Management In General:

Classroom management comes down to some very basic aspects. The first being that there are clear and consistent rules for all students. This means that there a short list of the rules displayed and discussed with students. All classroom rules should be displayed for students so that if they forget or are not following the rules then it is placed somewhere they can find it. Students should be included in creating these rules so that there is the buy in factor. This is very important because if students don’t feel like they are apart of the process then they are more likely to forget or negate these rules. They should also not be long and complex. They should be a short list, simple, matter of fact and to the point so that both, you as the teacher and the students can actually remember them. It’s very difficult to have classroom management when you, yourself can’t remember the rules. This is the first very basic step. These rules should be gone over and over again until the students have shown that they are able to follow them. Even though it seems redundant to constantly be going over the rules, it is an extremely important step. Think of rules as your curriculum, you don’t just teach it once and move on, you go over it and incorporate situations into them so that students are being given multiple examples of how to succeed.

So what does classroom management look like for games?

When games are brought into the classroom, like anything, rules and expectations need to be established. The students need to know what is expected of them, what the purpose is and how to solve their problem when they run into them. This seems very basic and simple but these games rules are not the same as our basic classroom rules. Games are very different than the day to day activities so they must have their own set of rules. I personally like to break the rules into two categories: what does it look like? what does it sound like? The reason I do this is because I am highlighting the purpose and proper play when using games, but I am also addressing the noise level (which is often where people get stuck). I make an anchor chart which is displayed and again is continuously reviewed. I often review these rules for an entire week or two at least. By breaking this concept into two separate parts it is also showing the kids what the expected behaviour is.

These are some examples of charts that we made this year that was more simplistic than I normally do. We go through these rules and I bring up scenarios in which they will determine what the appropriate or expected behaviour is. There’s many types of charts out there so find what works best for you because ultimately it is your classroom and your rules.

How to manage fair play?

When we introduce games we talk about what fair play is. Playing fairly doesn’t always mean that you win but more that students need to learn how to compromise, how to problem solve and to focus on the purpose of the activity versus the outcome. When students want to know about fair play I read the following story: Pig the Winner by Aaron Blabey. This story is a hilarious tale about this dog who is named Pig and how he cheats in every way possible when playing games against his friend Trevor. The students really enjoy is because although it is humorous it also outlines quickly how others feel when someone is a poor loser or does everything they can to win in an unfair way. We then go on to talk about what fair play looks like and what strategies one might use when they find themselves figuring out a fair way of taking turns. We often like to use rock, paper, scissors although there are lots of other strategies that can be used as well.

How to manage positive mindsets when playing games?

We use the concept of Growth Mindset without our class. This is a very common program that seeks to illustrate how the brain is a muscle and that, alike our other muscles in our body, we must grow it. This is the book we use at first to understand the difference between a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset: Your Fantastic Elastic Brain Stretch. This book is a quite long but it does a great job at illustrating the anatomical view of our brain and what parts of it contribute to our actions. My students love learning about the parts of their brain and which parts connect to which emotions. We talk about how math isn’t everyone’s strength yet. I also using the power of yet in our classroom, in that you may not be strong at math yet. This is a continual conversation about growing our positive mindset skills. We use these skills to maintain a positive attitude towards playing math games with other kids who may not be as good at math yet. We discuss how students who are better at math right now should use this opportunity to be mentors to others. Subsequently, those who are not as good yet should use this opportunity to learn from our peers. Part of your management strategy should be empowering your students to learn and collaborate with each other during this time. Some students may be sensitive towards not be being as good as other, but it is important to continuously remind students that it is about practicing concepts versus comparing ourselves to others.

Why choose games?

February 25, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

“PICT0018” by BAMCorp is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

One of the most prominent questions teachers often have, is how to better engage their students? We ask this question because without engagement we are simply forcing information into students brains versus allowing them to interact with it. We also know that when students engage with the content they learn more in-depth and they are better able to transfer information.

So, how do games provide engagement?

The first key factor is that is allows for students to be involved in purposeful play. When students are playing they often forget that they are learning as well. This is where engagement comes from when using games. This lack of stress environment. Now this isn’t to say that some kids don’t feel stress in when playing a game because as we know all students are different and some will be embarrassed about not knowing answers right away. I will talk about that in a moment. When we use games students know the purpose, they are collaborating and interacting with their peers and they are learning. One of the most motivating factors for students when playing games is to win. Many students want to win a game against a peer whether they are competitive or not. When you play games as a class and their is a reward system in place students are often more engaged because they see immediate feedback. Also, there are times when students are able to collaborate with their peers during a game towards a common goal . This is a time when students are able to learn how to better communicate, problem solve and further their understanding of content. Games will be able to tell you lots about your students if you take the time to simply play with them.

Sight Words

February 19, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

Phonics, Sight Words and Games

I have continued to look for ways to teach my students sight words. These are words that you cannot sound out because they do not follow the same pattern sounds. Most of the time teachers head in the direction of memorization. However, if you are like me, memorization is not your best skill. Similarly, many of the students have a hard time memorizing these words and yet these words continue to pop up in reading constantly. This year a friend of mine suggested a sight word book called Sounding Out the Sight Words An Alternative to Rote Memorization by Denis Eide and Cindy Kringelis. I found my copy on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Sounding-Out-Sight-Words-Teaching/dp/1942154917

This book is amazing at being able to explain why sight words say the sounds that they do. It matches words into spelling patterns specifically for sight words. It is so easy to use because it breaks down what to say to students, how to review other words to increase word recognition and comes with a games book. Each of the lessons on a sound directly refers you three different games from their game book. Each game tells you the focus and purpose such as phonogram, word fluency and spelling. Here is the link to the game book.

Game Book

https://store.logicofenglish.com/products/game-book?variant=30960856596620

The games book is one of my favorite parts about this program. The book breaks down the games for each lesson through whole group instruction, small group or individual instruction. It makes the games easy to understand. I combine the games given by the book with other games that I have learned over the years. This makes teaching phonics and reviewing words fun and exciting. During our games I am able to also target social emotional skills if students struggle with losing or taking turns.

How I implement in my classroom:

In my classroom I have chosen to implement phonics during our literacy center stations. The idea is that students rotate in stations through various different word work centers. We use things such as pom-pom spelling, play-doh spelling, magnet spelling and lots of others. During the week the students will rotate through stations several times. We generally rotate through the stations twice a day and I give the students 15 minutes at each station. One of the stations consists of students coming to the rainbow table to work with me. When the students are with me, we go through the lesson of the day from our Sounding Out the Sight Words book. The kids love getting to the play the games and practice the words that they know while also learning new words that fit into that spelling pattern. I have taught phonics for several years as a teacher and this has been the best program I have used. It is simple, effective and I have noticed a huge increase in my students phonemic awareness and word recognition.

If you’re looking for the Logic of English website here it is: https://www.logicofenglish.com/

Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks

February 12, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

https://www.boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com/product-category/math/

Okay, let me tell you about an AMAZING resource called Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks created by Jane Felling and John Felling. Last year, before COVID-19 my colleague and I went to a workshop called Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks. This workshop was the most high energy and exciting workshop I have been to. I have never been more engaged with math and learning how to teach it. The whole concept revolves around games and how to reinforce concepts through playing games with dice, cards and dice shakers.

Dice Trays:

Here is how I store my dice trays.

The first thing we were introduced to was these 36 dice trays. These dice trays allow for two different coloured dice to be used within the same game. Using these trays alone allowed for 40 different games between grades K-3. First of all, I loved how there were two different coloured dice options which allows for students to compromise between who got the blue and white dice. Second of all, I loved that these trays kept the dice easily contained and organized. As an elementary teacher, keeping things organized is one of the most important things in terms of being able to have a effective classroom. Third of all, because their are two sides to the trays (top and bottom part), this allows for students to have their own tray part if they have trouble sharing. I use this wicker basket I had to store the dice trays in. I also use rubbers bands to keep the dice trays together, although it was suggested to use to use hair ties which I may be investing in soon.

Here is the link to purchase the dice trays and rolling into math game book.

https://www.boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com/product/rolling-into-math-with-dice-tray/

Storage:

In my classroom I have designated a specific part of a shelf where math tools are placed. Here you see the trays, my math manipulative kits and extra tools. Tools include playing cards, base ten blocks, dice trays and extra dice. At the beginning of the year my students and I review how to use this space appropriately, when we use this space and what it should look like when they have finished with their tools. In order to create the sign, all I did was cut out black card stock and glued white cut out letters on top. I like having this section labelled as is allows for students to have a visual reminder of where things are and continues to expose them to words. You could also use pictures for younger students. In my class we always explicitly talk about where everything is at the beginning of the year and then practice using these spaces. In doing this, we create independence so that students are able to get what they need without needing to ask.

Rolling into Math Games Book:

The dice trays correlate to a book called Rolling into Math and this book is hands down fantastic. The first thing you will notice about the book is that is breaks down every game into level, skills, players, equipment, goal, getting started, math journal and extensions. These categories make it so easy to pick out a game that will work for any of your students. Often times in classrooms there is a large variety of students with a large variety of skill sets. Within a classroom you can have students who are still working on basic building blocks of or math, students who are working at the expected level of math for their grade and even student who are working well beyond their expected level. These games progress in levels so that you can use the same game and provide different variations to match the game level to the goal of the student. So if you have a student who is still building basic math skills then you can give them the same game as those who’ve progressed farther but it is more appropriate for the skills they are working on. This variation of levels makes it easy to prep these games for your entire class. Also, these books are so easy to understand that even if you have never played the game before the instructions make it easy to explain and provides pictures for further understanding. When you purchase the book there are printable in there which make it so easy to pick a game based on a skill, photocopy the master, explain and distribute to your students. When I print copies for my students to play with, I use coloured card stock. This isn’t necessary but I find that when I print it in colour it helps me to differentiate between the games in my master bin so I am reusing the same games year after year instead of reprinting them each year. I also like using card stock because it makes the games more durable which make them last longer. I use whiteboard inserts for my students to place the game boards into, again making them reusable. You can find the rolling into math book here: https://www.boxcarsandoneeyedjacks.com/product/rolling-into-math-with-dice-tray/

Rolling into Math – with dice tray

Parent / At Home

February 12, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

https://pixabay.com/photos/support-letters-scrabble-help-2355701/

In this section of my website I will be uploading various resources that can be adapted and used at home. I will explain how to use them and why they are a stress free option for at home learning or reinforcing concepts learned in the classroom. This area will focus specifically on gamification and game-based learning.

Math Resources

February 12, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

https://pixabay.com/photos/color-school-numbers-cubes-math-4503279/

In this section of my website I will be uploading various math resources that I use within my classroom. I will explain how I set them up, implement them and adapt them to my students needs. This area will focus specifically on gamification and game-based learning.

Literacy Resources

February 12, 2021 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

https://pixabay.com/photos/blocks-letters-alphabet-education-3629359/

In this section of my website I will be uploading various literacy resources that I use within my classroom. I will explain how I set them up, implement them and adapt them to my students needs. This area will focus specifically on gamification and game-based learning.

Curriculum…a Forest Worth Exploring

July 28, 2020 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

Photo from Pixabay

Initial Thoughts:

When I first considered a metaphor of how I view curriculum I thought about how convoluted, over packed and dense it is. I considered how much there was to teach and how many various concepts there were to cover in the allotted time given. It seemed overwhelming and quite frankly, impossible. Although I think that time and practice is what makes navigating curriculum easier, I have found a new understanding of where curriculum comes from and what it is for. We first discussed where curriculum is derived at the beginning of the course. I had actually never asked myself or even considered how curriculums could be different. I didn’t realize that curriculum is created by each individual province. Furthermore, each province focuses on concepts that are specific to knowledge that space. When exploring this I looked at the difference between Quebec’s curriculum in relation to B.C.’s, where I live. I noticed that they were vastly different in how they were written, what they focused on and even how they looked. Quebec’s curriculum was very confusing to me, as it was difficult to understand the plethora of diagrams, paragraphs and even how Quebec’s school system functions. I suppose, that Quebec’s curriculum would actually be considered a forest in comparison to B.C’s simply because I’ve worked with the B.C. curriculum for several years.

Comparison of Curricula:

Picture from Pixabay

I found it so interesting that Quebec has a large focus on religious learning and didn’t, until recently, have any focus on Indigenous studies. Whereas B.C.’s curriculum had a larger emphasis on Indigenous studies within all subject areas. B.C. has certainly done a good job of highlighting Indigenization and technology within it’s curriculum. However, it is still difficult to navigate all the resources available to aid educators within these areas. These key concepts are purposely integrated into each subject in the B.C. curriculum to make the connections simplistic. Yet, it is the responsibility of the educator to determine where the best connections exist between indigenization and the curriculum. Furthermore, technology doesn’t have to be a separate entity in itself but instead it should enhance the learning the students are already doing. When using technology they can learn how to type, how to use various apps for reading or math and develop skills such as coding. This being said, it is important that technology is available to all students within your classroom. My eyes have been opened to the realization that when teaching online, technology isn’t readily available to all. The Covid-19 pandemic has truly demonstrated the inequality of students and families when it comes to access to technology. Thus, when considering technology in curriculum one must also take into consideration those apparent inequalities.

Final Thoughts:

Photo from Pixabay

In conclusion, curriculum itself hasn’t changed for me. Instead, I have a new understanding and better connection to curriculum as a whole. I still believe curriculum is a forest and although there are many paths through, they are all beautiful in their own way. I have always known there is a connection between all subjects within curriculum but now I see where those connections derive from. I think there is something unique and liberating to engage with curriculum in your own way. It is an amazing thing to watch multiple people interpret one document in such different ways. I believe that how one follows and interacts with the curriculum demonstrates their own personal pedagogy and passion within teaching.

Created Resources

July 27, 2020 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

Co-Authored by experienced educators in online learning who teach at a distance learning school. These resources were created through experience and supported by academic research. The created resources are current (created July 2020), relevant (addresses assessment learning outcomes), authoritative (co-created by educators who are students in a Master of Education program), accurate and purposeful (instructional demonstration).

myBlueprint Assessment Strategies:

The myBlueprint video below, is a resource that demonstrates how to utilize myBlueprint as an assessment tool. Students can reflect, explain, justify and demonstrate personal connections through written, video and audio submissions. It is important that teachers choose accessible digital tools for student assessment. Teachers can give valuable and timely feedback on all submissions. This platform allows for continual student-teacher communication, which directly improves student learning.

Formative and Summative Assessment in an Online Environment:

The infographic below outlines various assessment strategies for both formative and summative assessment. It details which digital tools are well suited to assess students in both online learning and classroom environments. It is important that both formative and summative assessment are embedded in all learning environments where teachers use a variety of assessment strategies to inform their teaching practices and evaluate students’ learning.

Formative & Summative Assessment Graphic PDF

Moodle Formatting for Timely Feedback:

The instructional videos below demonstrate how to structure a class on the Moodle learning platform in order to achieve timely assessment. Moodle was selected to demonstrate what the framework can look like under one central learning management system. Other systems such as Blackboard and Canvas, or combination like Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams can use the same formatting framework.

1) Weekly Schedule

2) Tools

3) Student Activity

Rational For Created and Curated Resources

July 27, 2020 / fnicholas / 0 Comments

Introduction:

Photo from Pixabay

Assessment is a crucial component of learning used in both K-12 and post-secondary education. In order to support other educators, we wanted to examine assessment through the lens of an online learning environment. Assessment is meant to focus on “student involvement and authentic, meaningful assessment, leading to the development of a variety of assessment forms” (Weurlander et al., 2012). Quality assessment requires knowledge of provincial curriculum frameworks, district vision and goals, as well as teachers’ expertise with traditional and online tools to support it. Furthermore, there is an emphasis on competence-based curriculum focusing on “capability rather than factual knowledge” (Weurlander et al., 2012). The resources we curated as well as the resources we created are supported by research and support our learning outcomes.

Formative Assessment:

Formative and summative assessment are vital aspects of all learning environments. Formative assessment informs teachers of students ongoing learning and understanding, whereas summative is a final capturing of students overall learning. According to Weurlander et al. (2012) formative assessment can influence “students’ learning in a number of ways. It sends messages about what counts as important knowledge; it has an impact on students’ approach to learning and gives feedback to students about their learning” (p. 749). Additionally, they included research that found formative assessment “positive[ly] impact[s] student learning” (p. 749). When considering or creating assessment, it is important to include a variety of “assessment tasks [as they] have the potential to support student learning in different ways” (p.758). Moreover, a multitude of assessment strategies, including collaborative and blended learning approaches, increases student engagement (Vaughan, 2014).

Summative Assessment:

Summative assessment is meant to be a final snapshot of students learning. However, it can exclude learners or create anxiety when the stakes are high for a singular assessment for both in-person and online learning environments. Harlen, 2005 states that,

“[h]igh– stakes tests are inevitably designed to be as ‘objective’ as possible, since there is a premium on reliable marking in the interests of fairness. This has the effect of reducing what is assessed to what can be readily and reliably marked. Generally, this excludes many worthwhile outcomes of education such as problem-solving and critical thinking” (p. 209).

Another concern about high-stakes summative assessments is that they may encourage cheating, a pressing concern for teachers, particularly in an online environment (Mellar et at.,2018). Creating a variety of authentic summative assessments and giving students choice can help to ensure their validity (Mellar et al., 2018). Therefore, it is imperative that students are provided with a variety of summative assessments with low stakes when teaching online.

Formative and Summative:

Picture from Pixabay

When integrating formative and summative assessment strategies, teachers should consider the quantity, as creating too many assessments to track student progress can have a negative impact (Vaughan, 2014). This also restricts teachers from providing timely feedback to their students, a key component of successful online learning (Gaytan and Mcewen, 2007). “Feedback is therefore a key component in formative assessment, and students need to understand and be able to act on the feedback they receive in order to improve their learning” (Black and Wiliam 1998; Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick 2006; Sadler 1989, 1998; as cited in Weurlander et al.,2012., p. 748). Furthermore, Shea and Bidjerano (2010) discovered that teaching presence along with teaching students the technological skills they need to complete and navigate given tasks leads to “successful online learning” (p. 1727). Thus, well planned online learning experiences along with feedback, help and encouragement also improves learning success for at risk learners (Hughes, 2007).

Picture from Pixabay

Conclusion:

In conclusion, when considering online or in-person teaching environments, summative and formative assessments are vital. Formative assessment should be used to continually check in with students about their understanding of content, leading into a summative review of their learning. When assessing students, a variety of tools and strategies should be used in order to reach all learners for both types of assessments. Overall, the focus of this project was to provide teachers with a realistic and comprehensive overview of what assessment in classroom and online environments could entail.

Reference List:

Gaytan, J., & Mcewen, B. C. (2007). Effective Online Instructional and Assessment Strategies. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 117–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923640701341653

Hughes, G. (2007). Using blended learning to increase learner support and improve retention. Teaching in Higher Education, 12(3), 349- 363. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562510701278690

Harlen, W. (2005). Teachers’ summative practices and assessment for learning – tensions and synergies. The Curriculum Journal, 16(2), 207–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585170500136093

Mellar, H., Peytcheva-Forsyth, R., Kocdar, S., Karadeniz, A., & Yovkova, B. (2018). Addressing cheating in e-assessment using student authentication and authorship checking systems: teachers’ perspectives. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-018-0025-x

Shea, P., & Bidjerano, T. (2010). Learning presence: Towards a theory of self-efficacy, self-regulation, and the development of a communities of inquiry in online and blended learning environments. Computers & Education, 55(4), 1721- 1731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.07.017

Vaughan, N. (2014). Student Engagement and Blended Learning: Making the Assessment Connection. Education Sciences, 4(4), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci4040247

Weurlander, W., & Soderberg, M., & Scheja, M., & Hakan, H., & Wernerson, A., (2012). Exploring formative assessment as a tool for learning: students’ experiences of different methods of formative assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 37.(6). 747-760, DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2011.572153