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| Modified smart file/ jeopardy game |
This year I chose to start off the year in a different way- with a game! It was a wonderful opportunity to develop a smart notebook file I downloaded from the
exchange a few years ago but never added questions to. Since I make all my materials from scratch this was an excellent opportunity to reflect on how this process could be made better.
Class Size Matters
I found that the larger the class the more difficult this game was to play. While not impossible, the larger class required more teacher involvement to keep students focused after they had answered the question. In the future, I think that assigning roles to various team members might help with this, like a spokesperson to decide which category and point amount the team would like to pick. I also found that the room layout that I chose did not lend itself to playing this game very well. Two distinct groupings of tables would be better thus separating the teams from each other rather than one big table like I normally have that was split down the middle for this activity.
What Was The Feeling Like?
The informal observations gathered were that students entered class a bit apprehensive but after a few questions they loosened up visibly. Allowing them to discuss the answers and informing them that there were no "winners" or "losers" helped reduce the pressure. The first day of school can be overwhelming for middle school students and I liked to think that this activity was a good way to let them ease into the school year in a non threatening way. Many of the students said that they enjoyed their first science class of the year and that they were excited about the year ahead. There were no students who were not engaged in the game and no students were withdrawn or removed. This was the most important indicator for me. I strive to make a classroom environment that is welcoming and all encompassing.
What Needs Improvement?
Besides the room layout, which I will change in the future when using this style of activity, the game needs to be less teacher driven.
- Delegating roles out may help, but improving the back end of the activity will certainly make transitioning around in it easier for a student volunteer to accomplish.
- Student created questions. This may be a terrific opportunity to harness the power of Google forms to create questions that could then be copied and pasted into a template.
- Sounds needed to be included (thanks to student suggestions for this!) which would certainly increase the engagement.
Would I Use This Again?
I definitely think that I've hit upon something powerful here for the first day of school. I spent so much time thinking about how I wanted students to feel when they visited our classroom for the first time. I wanted them to feel welcomed, not pressured or overwhelmed, and confident that they know science content already. I feel strongly that traditional school (rows of desks, worksheets, textbooks, direct instruction) is not a friendly way to start the year and is really counterproductive to building the relationships which are vitally important to call upon later in the year when the going gets tough.
