The Nature of Competition

I had a rather successful lesson with my students this morning. (Actually, I don't know if it was successful in driving their learning, but it was successful for getting them involved and thinking.)

We played Analogy Relay Races. I put two posters with identical (fairly easy) analogies on the board and divided the class into two groups. Each group had to answer all the questions by taking turns. (No skipping people.) They could help each other, but they had to all participate.

And they did!

And the hilarious thing? One of the students, early on, said something to the effect of, "Why are we so worried about this?" And there was no reason for them to get excited about winning. I mean, the prize of one small piece of candy? Negligiable. The brag factor? Are you serious? Bragging about winning an analogy game in English class? Yeah, right.

But even knowing it was sorta silly didn't change their desire to win. The competition worked. They took turns. They helped each other out. They wanted to win (so they tried). I bet they at least had more fun than if they just worked on a worksheet. And maybe, because they were moving, a few of the kinesthetic learners got a shout-out. (I feel for the kinesthetic learners, being one myself. I think it's a shame it's considered rude to knit while sitting in boring meetings -- it actually helps me concetrate and remember information.)

I will admit, however, it wasn't quite as successful during the later class. It wasn't horrible, just not as wonderful. Still, it was pretty fun and not too hard on me (yay! student-centered) so it will probably make reappearances throughout the year.