Play
“School’s out for summer!”
Alice Cooper gives us this life lesson in one word, “Play!” After teaching for 20 years I have noticed some differences in students. The first big difference is the fidgeting. Students today have a hard time to sit still. There is a lot more rocking in the chairs, shaking of hands and body appendages or just sudden outbursts of combustion. The second big difference is the response to the question, “How are you guy?” Twenty years ago the response was, “Great” or “fine” or “hungry.” Today the answer is, “I’m tired.” There is a big reason and it’s not TV or laziness.
I teach ESL to Korean students
and asked students to make a mini book of daily activities. They wrote down things like, “I get up at 6am. I eat breakfast,” but when they got to “come home” I was amazed. They come home somewhere between 9 and 11 pm. And these are elementary school students. I asked why and they answered a Korean word, 학원 “Hagwon” which means after school academy. These 12 year olds spend all day sitting a chair from 8 am until sometimes after 10 pm. When I was twelve I was on my bicycle all day long doing wheelies and endos, freestyling and getting lost somewhere. Every day after school was an adventure. Sometimes we got in fights but we learned how to deal with problems. None of us got a worse education for playing half the day.
Every chance I get to be with the kids
I turn it into play time. They don’t even realize they are learning. At first they don’t want to get up but when they sweat a little bit they are excited and want more. This is probably because of the endorphins flowing through them. Not all learners are kinesthetic learners but all my students are humans and when they sweat their brains get moving. When they stand up their spinal chords are in line with their brain instead of being twisted and compressed in odd conformations. Learning soon proceeds.
Triggering students to learn kinesthetically
can be as easy as a game of four corners. In this game each corner represents one answer. Students physically move to one corner to vote with their body. The teacher then shows the correct answer. A game like this is necessary just to get students to stand up and increase blood circulation. My favorite games to motivate students physically are Simon Says, Human Bingo, King of the Classroom and the snow ball game. The snow ball game is very simple but invigorates the lethargic class. Each student gets one piece of white paper and writes down two true sentences and one false sentence about themselves. Then make a snow ball with the paper. For two minutes there is a “snowball fight”. After two minutes each student has to find a snowball and guess who wrote it and which sentence is the “false” sentence.
Although these brief activities get the heart beating
this is really not enough activity for the average twelve year old. They need to get wild and crazy for at least 30 minutes. My favorite total physical activity for students is the most simple. This activity works best on a hot day. Ask students to bring a towel, a change of clothes and a two liter plastic bottle to school. Make two teams. Fill the bottles with water. Give each team one water balloon to protect. The first team to smash the other team’s water balloon wins.
After one round of this students usually just go nuts
and get drenched in water. As long as they know how to respect each other there is nothing that can go wrong and they have a great time. Oh they always get me wet so beware. I tend to get involved if kids are active then I get active. The only problem is by the time I get home I am too tired to play with my own kids. They just tease each other and run around the house like animals. I’m kind of happy this is the way they spend their time at home. When they go to school the next day they will be able to endure another six hours of sitting in a chair.
Original Poem @mineopoly
All in child’s play
Rolling on a grassy hill on a summer afternoon
Spinning into an illusion of endless childhood
Time wasted fixated on the opiate of electrons
Is interrupted with a splash in the face
But to the child it to no disgrace
Tommy falls off his bike and skins his knee
He gets up again and holds his head in pride
A jump well done for Tommy and his friends
Freestyle is a game they like the best.
A bunny hop suspended in air.
Down on the ground and Tommy will do it again.
Adrenaline is pouring through his veins
Sweat is pouring down his face
Exhilaration pulls him to the art of play
The sun has set and Tommy shows up at the front door.
Mom says you’re a mess, “You’re a mess.”
Tommy doesn’t mind. He will do it again.
That's my 2 cents from Groovy School @mineopoly mining the heart.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
|---|---|---|
| Wisdom | Creativity | ELS |
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching | Trivia | Song |
My goal is to use the proceeds from Groovy School to help kids who fall into the cracks. Even in a rich country students don't get the things they really need. Especially I want to support kids with dyslexia and dyscalculia to receive therapy. I would also like to support English classes for North Korean refugees.
Am not a trained teacher per say but am a volunteer at a local church as a Sunday School teacher, and I tell you, kids love games, tell them there is a game at the end of the lesson and they stay put until the end, eagerly waiting and the physical activity really gets them going and happy.
I once brought a drone and after class they took turns flying it, their faces lit up as most had never see let alone flown a drone.
Thanks for your reply @cmbugua. Welcome to Groovy School. Continue engaging in these posts and you will be rewarded in many ways.
There is a trend to get kids to sit still and watch something. For the short run it is effective as the numb out in front of a video but they really have a lot of energy that can be put to use.
You are totally right about that word "game". It is a magic word and has never been overused. Let's play the study game. I didn't play a lot of games when I was little but year after year I pick up games to use in every lesson.
Teaching Sunday for kids is totally a real teacher. Imagine standing in front of a dozen kids you only seen once a week and trying to get one word into their heart. That is a real challenge. Thank you for your dedication and for sharing with us.
the drone is a kind of engagement to activate students learning process and have fun. Great idea.
The incredible poetry sir, I am also very happy to entertain the children
Thanks for sharing this wonderful picture. You really get those kids motivated. Not just singing a song but follow with actions. You are doing a great things to be a positive influence.
Welcome here anytime :)
you are well come sir
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I can work sitting down (I have to!) but I get my best ideas (and write a lot of my posts in my head) doing one of three things - pottering around in the kitchen, walking or showering - all times when I'm using my body but my brain has space to think.
It's sad that the kids you're working with don't get space to just be kids, and great that you can give them that little bit of space where they can be. I don't have a huge amount of other activities to suggest, but one that pops into my head is laughter yoga.
There are lots of vids on youtube if you search for laughter yoga kids - this is just the first one I came to
Speaking of Alice Cooper - DO they get school holidays over the summer?
Awesome @kiwideb. I missed this earlier but now see something to inspire me. It is the first week of school in Korea and I am really busy but I'm looking for new kinesthetic approaches. Thanks a lot for sharing. We get 3 or 4 weeks for vacation over the summer but a longer winter vacation. But most of the kids study in private schools the whole vacation.