Peoples Top Picks is a new initiative that delivers insights on how educators across the country are addressing current hot topics in education.

Monthly Spotlight: Games and rewards in education

What gaming and rewards does Peoples Education offer?
Peoples Education values the motivation and engagement that games and rewards offer to classroom management challenges. In the development of Measuring Up MyQuest™, great thought and emphasis was put into creating a rewards and motivation structure that would support students on their path to mastery, keeping them intrigued and entertained while simultaneously allowing the program to deliver high-quality content and practice.  

We surveyed advisors, teachers, and principals to see their thoughts and opinions about gaming and rewards in education, and here is what they had to say!

· 89% believe that games in education should consist of an even amount of motivation and education.

· 78% believe practice through games helps students master difficult concepts.

• “The use of games allows students to demonstrate their ability to apply and practice the skills and concepts acquired.” —Patricia Campbell-Bell, Literacy Coordinator; Reading Specialist, Parker Community Academy, Chicago PS District 299

· 89% believe that rewarding students who do well in the classroom will motivate other students to do better.

Have something to say? Share it! Submit your own case studies and testimonials via our Web site by clicking on Share Your Success Story under the Community section. Get a chance to see your comments posted in the Peoples Education newsletter!

Write What Matters

Current Events: Outside the Vacuum

     The weekly current event is a staple of social studies classrooms throughout the United States. It falls to the social studies teacher to make sure that students are reading or watching the news and staying current with hot issues in their region, country, or the world.Often, however, these current event assignments occur inside a vacuum. A student cuts out an article or finds one online, skims through, writes a few sentences, may be asked to speak about it in class (or, more often, not), and then they have fulfilled their current event requirement for the week. What is missing is a true understanding of the issue, as well as a personal connection to the material.

    I am combating this drive-by attitude toward current events by having students choose a newsworthy topic in September that they will follow for the entire year while documenting through a blog. They select a topic that deeply interests them and that is sustainable, meaning that while they are talking about it now, they will also be discussing this topic in the news in the spring. For the rest of the school year, students are required to be keeping current with their topic and writing a blog post about their topic each week. They can discuss new developments in their topic as well as making predictions about where they think things will wind up regarding their topic. An extra requirement is that they must read each other’s blogs as well to broaden their understanding of current events and to identify the “experts” in their grade.

     What I’ve found is that students are more engaged and have a broader understanding of their topics than those who are simply cutting and pasting unrelated events to fulfill a class requirement. Conversations in the lunchroom often begin with “Hey, for social studies I’m researching X. Did you know . . . ?” It warms my heart and gives me hope for an informed citizenry when they grow up.
 
—Amy Bozza, 8th Grade World History Teacher, Frelinghuysen Middle School, Morristown, NJ

At Peoples Education, we continually seek input from educators at all levels to improve our partnership with schools and districts. Your opinion counts! Each month we will reach out to the education community for feedback on a specific topic. We will post what we learn in this newsletter and on our informative Facebook page. 

Join the conversation on Facebook and be heard!

See you next month!

Sincerely,

Peoples Education

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