How do we get children to be as excited about learning as they are their video games? Can Edgar Allan Poe ever be as thrilling as the X-box game Halo?
In order to answer this, we must first ask the question,"What makes this video game so popular?" What makes any video game popular for that matter? The answer is ACTION! Children prefer to be active. They like to do things and see immediate results. The world of video games provides this.
Now let's take a look at traditional school work:
--Fill-in-the-blank worksheets with vocabulary words that are meaningless and lifeless to our children.
--Students sitting in rows to listen to someone talk "at" them.
--Students being asked to read with "getting done" as their only objective.
What would happen if children of today could rediscover the wonderment of asking a question and the thrill of discovering the answer? What if learning became as addictive as a video game?
How can we make this happen? Here are my suggestions:
1. Turn all knowledge into a project with a purpose. For example, teach children area and perimeter by building a house with craft sticks.
2. Have students ask questions and then become very active in finding the answer. Questions at a preschool level could be, "Where does macaroni and cheese come from?" Questions at the middle school level could be "What is happening to the cells in my body when I get sick?"
3. Give students a purpose before they read anything. For example, "I want you to read this section in your text book to find out what happened during the depression."
The theme here is to keep student's minds actively engaged. Keep them thinking, questioning, and wondering. This is what will take a student from good to GREAT!
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