Fun and Games

When I did my visits to intermediate classes earlier this term, I saw Kahoot in action at Lincoln High School. The maths teacher was using it as a hook into a  new unit, and it really engaged the students there. 

Kahoot is a quiz/game-based student response system. It can be used purely for fun (search for 'logo' quizzes), for exposure to a topic, or for assessment (pre-, post- or anywhere in between). 

I couldn't help but introduce the concept to my students. We started with a logo quiz to try and get used to the way it works. I'm lucky enough to have just about one device per student in my classroom, but we get creative with groups if we need to. The students all managed to log into the game easily enough, and they've been begging for more Kahoots ever since. 

It hasn't all been fun and games though. Sometimes our network slows down so much that we can't access the Kahoot site easily. Sometimes students lose their connection mid-game. Each time, we've practiced resilience and patience, then tried to come up with a workable solution.

I've created some custom Kahoots now, and the best one was the one I did to finish off our current unit of study in Chinese. It was a great way to find out who had picked up the language we'd been learning about, and who hadn't!

Te Wiki o te Reo Maori

When I first heard that this year's 'theme' for Maori Language week was "Word of the Week" I was a little disappointed. It seemed a bit harder to get into than in previous years.

However, I have since had a change of heart! I have been using the word of the week in my classroom by introducing the word, using the online resources (http://kupu.maori.nz/kupu-o-te-wiki) to ensure correct pronunciation, and then challenging my students to use the word throughout the week.

This week's word was engari (but) and the kids had a bit of a giggle when it was first introduced (homophones can cause difficulties in a year 7/8 class!) however, since then we have had such wonderful sentences as: My picture looks cool, engari Jane's* looks even cooler!

It's been a great way to use a little bit of te reo in everyday life.







*Not her real name

Distraction or Inspiration?

I had a discussion with one of my friends recently about whether or not students using their devices in class caused more distraction than helped with their learning. She sent me this article in support of her argument: Students can't resist distraction for two minutes ... and neither can you

Although the research is interesting, from a personal standpoint I can certainly resist distraction for more than two minutes! It just depends on how engaged I am in the task at hand.

Some days, I have gone all day without checking my phone. Seriously, all day! Okay, I might check it in the morning (around 7:30am) but then I've been too involved in my work, life, whatever to give it another thought. It helps that I've got a habit of putting it on silent, because then it doesn't even bing to remind me it's there.

There is a certain expectation that I'll be available and connected though, and my habits have gotten me into trouble with my family when they've been trying to get in touch!

So, why can I resist temptation when it would seem that so many others can't? Engagement. I'm fully engaged in whatever it is I'm doing. So much so, that I don't give a thought to texts or emails, let alone Facebook. It is only when I am not fully engaged that those things become an option to me.

Devices are just the latest way that students have to disengage from their learning. In the past, they may have passed notes or day-dreamed about life outside of the classroom. The challenge to educators is to ensure that students are so enthralled in what they are learning, that they don't even consider doing something else.