Gaming It

From Tic-Tac-Toe to Jeopardy, students love games.  They are a great way to break up the monotony (and let's face it, sometimes drilling phonics can be monotonous), build teamwork skills and demonstrate what they have learned in a fun way that provides an instant reward.

In my summer school classroom, with First through Fourth Grade students, games are posing more of a challenge than I expected.  During the school year, my Second Graders beg to play Jeopardy and love working together for the win.  Their teammates become their cliques.  They burst into "We Will Rock You" as soon as they see the categories on the board, and they huddle up each time they hear a question.

Here, it's a bit different.  Summer school students struggle with confidence.  They fear failure because many have failed, time and again, during the year.  They are afraid to lose, to compete, to take a chance. 

Older students who answer questions correctly when younger students don't start to feel guilty.  One Fourth Grader offered to give his points to a First Grader who missed a 100 point Spelling Word.  A Second Grader refused to play when he realized he was losing ground to First Grader.

As a summer school teacher I want everyone to succeed.  I tell students that learning is winning and when they return to their classrooms with their peers in September they will be the leaders of the pack because they are well prepared.  One tough year does not mean they will have another.

Today we learned that winning feels great but losing is just as important.  When we lose we learn that we need to study a little harder, be confident enough to take a chance.  We also learn that our friends don't abandon us when we don't win and that we will always have the opportunity to try again. 

When we lose we become better winners- respectful, gracious, kind.

By the first day of school, no one will remember the score of today's game.  They will remember that they had fun and their teacher let them play.  hopefully they will remember to shoot their hands up when they know an answer and speak in clear, strong voices. 

If we all do our jobs this summer, my students will also remember to give all of their classmates a round of applause on game day and a pat on the back on report card day.