Teach English in Xincheng Zhen - Linfen Shi

Games are organized activities where you set out to complete a task, often with the goal of winning against an opponent (game, 2019). Although games can be in the form of professional sports, they are usually meant for fun and entertainment. They are incorporated into many kinds of events and settings, including school. Currently, the prevalent pedagogical approach in classrooms is where teachers feed students the knowledge they deem is necessary. This is a systematic and sometimes very rigid way of teaching. It often fails to include the different ways of learning, such as through listening, observation, discovery, or practice. As a result, media often depicts classrooms as dull. Just watch how eager students are to leave class in High School Musical 2’s song What Time Is It (see https://youtu.be/x42aPmtnVDg). That being said, such a rigid approach may be ineffective in eliciting a student’s abilities and honing their unique skills. This is where games come in handy. Games can be used to support teaching and learning. In fact, some schools, like the Institute of Play (see www.instituteofplay.org), have been established to push forward game-based learning, believing in its untapped potential. Games come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. Old-school board games like scrabble and boggle can help increase one’s vocabulary. Artistic activities like drawing or painting can bring out creativity. Critical-thinking, creativity, and working under pressure can be practiced in something as simple as charades. In this age, even video games are now being made specifically for teaching. The variety of activities that can be done provide multiple avenues for expression; multiple abilities can be refined or even discovered as long as a variety is employed. To be brief, games can cater to the plurality within a class. Games are a pleasant way to learn. Children, especially those fairly young, generally have little motivation in school. This may partly be from their incomprehension of the meaning of going to one. Young students are easily distracted when they are bored. They may become inattentive and rowdy. Also, it would not be shocking to find a child uncomfortable in a new environment. When children are at home or in their happy place, we would probably find them focused on playing and doing multiple activities throughout the day. If we put into consideration the common activities children do when they are in their ‘safe place’ and integrate that kind of feeling in the classroom, it is possible to grab their attention. Using games students are familiar with can make school fun and more comfortable for them; maybe even to the point where they might not know that while playing they are actually learning. Games are often connotated to be childish or for children only. However, they can also be used for adult and higher level classes. During the engage stage of an ESA type class, the use of fun activities can help break the ice and increase student participation. These games do not need to be complicated as long as they contribute to learning. Playing games gives a sense of excitement and can elicit competitiveness, teamwork, leadership, creativity, and critical thinking, among others. However, whichever activity is chosen it must be appropriate and goal-oriented. It should be able to, if not teach the lesson in simple terms, provide an avenue to increase student participation. References disneymusic. (2009, June 18). High School Musical 2 - What Time Is It [Video File]. Retrieved on June 30, 2019 from https://youtu.be/x42aPmtnVDg game. (2019). In collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved June 30, 2019, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/game