Games at school = Happy Kids (and teacher)

As a teacher, I rarely ever sit down “on the job.” When there are kids in my room, (which is a computer lab), I am constantly circling my classroom watching over my students to make sure they are on task and on topic—I prefer to watch my students every move, lest they start looking up insanely inappropriate topics.

Today, I told my students after their warm up, they would have their choice of a few activities--including Google Sketchup or Gamestar Mechanic. (If you don’t know what either of these programs are, you should check them out.)

 Of course, I did not have a behavior problem and everyone did what they were supposed to—seriously. I warned them and set my expectations beforehand, but I truly think they were excited to take a break from their normal rigor and have some fun.

I monitored and monitored and then I decided to take a seat. I observed the following:

1.       Two kids who had been in a shoving match only the week before were actually asking each other for help…and complimenting each other.

2.       Kids who tend to have a little trouble socially/academically excelled at designing games in Gamestar Mechanic and adding images to their Google Sketchup creations. (I loved it when one of my more awkward boys was the expert and helped his classmates.)

3.       Kids like to share their creations with each other and seek each other’s approval. I must have heard 100 times today, “So and so, come play my game.”

4.       Kids need/sometimes like teacher instruction but they also need to have fun every once in a while.

I know, I can’t believe I got paid to watch them play games. But, watching my middle schoolers really made my heart smile. 

Now, if I could just get them to be so nice to each other—every day.