Most Popular Games in the ESL Teaching
To begin with, I’ like to say that I’m pretty excited about writing this summary since this course was an interesting online journey and there are some things to share, indeed.
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Denys L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Role of Games
The games play an extremely important role in teaching and particularly/especially during my classes! I consider this to be not just one of the teaching techniques, but the solid, essential, natural, and extremely useful part of the whole world of education. All of us, no matter how old we are, find ourselves enjoying the game. We have a playful nature either it is on the surface or deep inside of our hearts.
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Personal Experience
Why do I use many games during my classes and why do I regard it as a universal tool of the teacher-student rapport establishment? First of all, as it was mentioned above, all people are inclined to playing. That means that games are of the international and multicultural nature. This is something that can unite. Personally, I put the emotional aspect of the lesson on the prioritized place. When I get a new class, I try to make my newbies “fall in love” with me as a person. This is what contributes a lot to my success as a teacher. Then, the class arrangement will become your little family gathering arrangement, and it will go smoother, more effective. Taking to account my experience of teaching Asian children, I cannot but mention the great function of games being a 100% universal icebreaker. One can begin with some simple warm-up games like “pass the ball” or “freeze”. The further complexity and, as a result, the educational effectiveness of the games will grow with the students' individual intellectual development and general class atmosphere improvement.
When talking about the teaching Asian students using games I want to mention the problem-solving effect of playing. When it comes to you, as a teacher, becoming your students' friend, the sacrifice takes place. When creating a casual and friendly atmosphere the discipline level can decrease in some cases. Not always and not forever, since at the end of the day, your students love will be expressed in their respect towards you. Anyhow, in these sorts of issues, a game can bring the attention back (f.e. young students). It also can burn even more desire to learn and increase the interest in the subject (f.e. older students). Moreover, playing makes the main catalyst of any class (the teacher) enjoy his job even more!
Also Read: What My TEFL Course Taught Me About Classroom Management
Power of Games
Since we are talking about not just games but educational ones, it’s important to notice that they can “force” a playing individual to actually learn and memorize the needed material. Every game should have Its own strategic reason and academical purpose thought-out by the teacher. So that the useful and joyful parts are combined together.
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To sum up, I’d like to say that joy and happiness are the inherent, essential parts of a successful and healthful learning environment. Whenever one teaches babies, youngsters or adults of all ages, the game will be a key to endear. All in all, the learning process is not only about collecting knowledge but also it is about collecting emotions. The positive experience will always help in gaining success and will definitely inspire a person on his life path. That is why I believe in games to be something necessary and extremely useful for any teacher to implement.
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