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SPENT – HIP4O MANAGING PERSONAL FINANCES
I was teaching Grade 12 Personal Life Management at W.C. Honourable Kennedy Collegiate. I had observed that the students weren’t as receptive to traditional teaching methods such as fill-in-the-blank booklets. I considered how young generations have grown up in a highly technological realm with all the answers at their fingertips. Students are accustomed to multi-tasking and multiple sensory overloads, making it difficult to focus in classes that are very singular in their approach. In accommodation for the digital age and its effects on learning styles, I brought a contemporary perspective on pedagogy.
To begin the lesson, I had prepared a worksheet to assess their prior knowledge and which will be used to evaluate their understandings after the unit is completed. We had some great discussions about money, its power to place value on items and people, and how it divides people into economic classes. We moved into our PowerPoint presentation with a supplementary note for them to fill in the blanks. To scaffold my students learning, I found a financial literacy game that ended up changing the whole dynamic and direction of the class. Spent is a game all about financial choices and hardships. It is an interactive experience where you make difficult decisions regarding rent, travel costs, paying bills, employment, insurance, and more. It makes you consider your priorities in life and shows how fast you can go broke (lose the game). Starting with just $1000 in the bank, you must survive a month worth of unexpected fees and difficult financial choices.
I insisted it was best to play the game as a class to spark debates on the best decisions considering different influences such as values, morals, and financials. The next thing I knew, I was managing full force debates on each question. We took votes for which was the best direction to take. If the choice was between two answers, I would ask the question, count to three, and everyone would yell their answer (“yes or no”). All you could hear from our class was loud crowds of students yelling “YES!” The students were so invested in the game that I had students pulling up their chairs to get closer to the action. To organize the discussion more efficiently and effectively, I would call on people for their opinion, and then we would have a rebuttal or take a new vote with this new perspective in mind. The room was buzzing with energy, excitement, and active engagement like I had never seen before. We had a blast. The class ended up completing and winning the whole game and avoided going broke altogether. This meant it took the entire rest of the lesson to get through this activity, but it was well worth it. Mid-way through, I debated cutting the game short, so we continue with the “formal” lesson and worksheets. I decided to see the activity to fruition because I thought back to the specific expectations for this lesson, and I knew that this game had them interacting with the material in a way that would stick with them. They were able to make difficult financial decisions in real-time, demonstrating; being consciously aware of their finances, applying their learning of budgeting for wants and needs, and the internal and external influences that affect their choices. This activity was intended to be a supporting material for my lesson that I thought would last 15 minutes but turned out to be this incredible active learning experience through discussion and debate.
At the end of class, I asked the students to put on a sticky note: one thing they liked about the lesson and one thing they didn’t like/suggestions for change. This allowed me to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification in the classroom.
Since the game brought so much energy to the class, I decided to let them play it individually and write a reflection on their experience. The reflection questions were designed for the students to evaluate the influences on their decisions and compare their experiences with the game. There were a variety of opinions about which way they enjoyed more. Some thought the game was a fun and fresh way to learn. Others preferred it by themselves so that they had control over the decisions and results. What I did notice was that the more outgoing personalities liked the game for its debate opportunities. Also, the students with Individual Education Plans and the English Language Learners preferred playing the game as a group because they found it to enhance their understanding by hearing other people’s perspectives. This survey revealed how important collaboration, peer-to-peer education, and differentiated instruction is for successful teaching of a classroom full of multiple intelligences.
FEAR FACTOR – AVI1O TEXTURE
Art at the grade 9 level brings students of various abilities and intelligences into one classroom, but the beauty of art is that it welcomes everyone. I like to bring creative teaching methods into my classroom because they promote engagement and are memorable; ultimately, helping students grasp the concepts more effectively. For my unit on the Element of Texture, volunteered students had to describe to the class what they felt inside the box, while their peers guessed what it is they were feeling. This also was a great kinaesthetic way for them to learn that texture is a sensory experience. As it is April Fools, one of the mystery boxes contained jello, so the kids thought it was a hilarious surprise to stick their hand unexpectedly into a dish full of blue jello. They had a blast with this activity.
The rest of the lesson was an interactive experience playing with actual textures via ripping/folding/crinkling paper and experimenting with frottage and sgraffito techniques. For example, when demonstrating how to create actual texture I was ripping paper and crumpling paper exaggeratively to show them how this next unit has room for them to let loose and explore material expression. I also had them do a rapid sketch where they had to draw different types of texture and had one minute on the clock to do so. While this was happening, I would play fun upbeat music to keep the mood lively and engage them in this mini challenge! I used the InSwan document camera to show demos and show student examples for encouragement. Ultimately, the students had a blast following along with this hands-on lesson and enjoyed the challenges throughout.