One of my main goals this year has been to get more games into the classroom. As a social studies teacher, I like the idea of using games for a few reasons:
1. Games are a simulation of concepts that students can play around with and understand through interaction. When talking in the abstract through lecturing or reading and writing, students get the facts, but they don't get the experience. Games provide a way to live in the world of the concepts you are learning about and interact with them in more tangible ways. For example, I've had a lot of people suggest using Settlers of Catan in economics to illustrate concepts like scarcity and trade. Students aren't just learning what those are, they're applying those concepts in a tangible way!
2. Games are immersive and provide an emotional connection to the content. They create interest and excitement because students aren't just learning about the information, but they are using and manipulating it, often for competitive or goal-accomplishing tasks. And the very best games provide mechanics that are built into the system to further build the atmosphere of what you are learning about. For example, the game Freedom: The Underground Railroad isn't just a quiz game where students identify important figures in the history of abolition. They interact with this system and attempt to run it while avoiding the dangers of that time period, ultimately having to make difficult decisions about who to save and how to advance the goals of the movement. This was one of the games that really kicked off my fascination with using games in a classroom setting.
3. Games are fun! They're a chance to play, which is important and necessary for growth in and of itself. But it also allows students to play with other students, interacting and learning in a controlled settings how to deal with each other. When we talk about developing skills, interpersonal interactions are an essential skill to learn for 21st century jobs, so games provide a venue to do that.
4. Side note, but I also really like that games put a little more responsibility on the students. I ran an experiment in my AVID classes a couple years ago where they had to pick up a small card game that they had never played before, learn how to play, and attempt to play for the whole class period. If the whole class did, I would give everyone donuts. The frustration was obvious at first, but there was a tangible moment in each small group game where something clicked and the students suddenly understood and had a great time with it! The independence and perseverance was important in the process of playing the game, but also the open endedness of the game, where students had to figure out how to play best on their own and strategize to win.
5. Games provide flow. I'm interested in learning more about flow states and their importance in learning, so I'll probably do a whole post just about that when I have the time, but games are a great place to see flow in action; when you're in a game, you are immersed.
So I decided to kick off each of my classes this year with games. I'm teaching 2 sections of Government, 2 of AP Government, and 1 of AP Psychology. For the first day, I did a quick intro survey and introduction for myself, and then I showed a video explaining how to play and got them into groups to do it! For Gov and AP Gov, I used the game Secret Hitler, which is a social deduction game kind of like Mafia but in pre-World War II Germany and players are secretly either Liberals or Fascists. For Psychology, I went with a whole class game called Two Rooms and a Boom, which is another social deduction game for up to (and over) 30 players, where, depending on your team, you are either trying to keep the president and the bomber in separate rooms or get them in the same room. Also, some players have different roles that provide different experiences or win conditions.
The results were different for each game. Secret Hitler was almost universally a hit in Gov and AP Gov; games were heated and hilarious, and a common response I got was, "When are we going to play again?!" There were a couple of groups that had trouble understanding and getting started, so I stepped in a bit more, but mostly, I spectated and enjoyed the energy! Two Rooms and a Boom, not so much. I was surprised that a fair number of the students seemed to get into it based on their comments, but there was a decent contingent that started checking out. Part of it, I think, was class size (I had 29 students playing), and it was a whole class game as opposed to small group with Secret Hitler. Part of it, I think, was confusion about the game. Some students didn't understand what their goal was or how to accomplish it. And part of it was that the game wasn't quite as engaging in its basic form like Secret Hitler was. I think the role cards would have added some spice to it, but they were another level of complexity I wasn't sure I could deal with.
Afterwards, I did a "3-2-1" to gather student comments, and here's what I got! It's a long list, but I want to make sure I record them somewhere!
AP Psych
3:
1. Games are a simulation of concepts that students can play around with and understand through interaction. When talking in the abstract through lecturing or reading and writing, students get the facts, but they don't get the experience. Games provide a way to live in the world of the concepts you are learning about and interact with them in more tangible ways. For example, I've had a lot of people suggest using Settlers of Catan in economics to illustrate concepts like scarcity and trade. Students aren't just learning what those are, they're applying those concepts in a tangible way!
2. Games are immersive and provide an emotional connection to the content. They create interest and excitement because students aren't just learning about the information, but they are using and manipulating it, often for competitive or goal-accomplishing tasks. And the very best games provide mechanics that are built into the system to further build the atmosphere of what you are learning about. For example, the game Freedom: The Underground Railroad isn't just a quiz game where students identify important figures in the history of abolition. They interact with this system and attempt to run it while avoiding the dangers of that time period, ultimately having to make difficult decisions about who to save and how to advance the goals of the movement. This was one of the games that really kicked off my fascination with using games in a classroom setting.
3. Games are fun! They're a chance to play, which is important and necessary for growth in and of itself. But it also allows students to play with other students, interacting and learning in a controlled settings how to deal with each other. When we talk about developing skills, interpersonal interactions are an essential skill to learn for 21st century jobs, so games provide a venue to do that.
4. Side note, but I also really like that games put a little more responsibility on the students. I ran an experiment in my AVID classes a couple years ago where they had to pick up a small card game that they had never played before, learn how to play, and attempt to play for the whole class period. If the whole class did, I would give everyone donuts. The frustration was obvious at first, but there was a tangible moment in each small group game where something clicked and the students suddenly understood and had a great time with it! The independence and perseverance was important in the process of playing the game, but also the open endedness of the game, where students had to figure out how to play best on their own and strategize to win.
5. Games provide flow. I'm interested in learning more about flow states and their importance in learning, so I'll probably do a whole post just about that when I have the time, but games are a great place to see flow in action; when you're in a game, you are immersed.
So I decided to kick off each of my classes this year with games. I'm teaching 2 sections of Government, 2 of AP Government, and 1 of AP Psychology. For the first day, I did a quick intro survey and introduction for myself, and then I showed a video explaining how to play and got them into groups to do it! For Gov and AP Gov, I used the game Secret Hitler, which is a social deduction game kind of like Mafia but in pre-World War II Germany and players are secretly either Liberals or Fascists. For Psychology, I went with a whole class game called Two Rooms and a Boom, which is another social deduction game for up to (and over) 30 players, where, depending on your team, you are either trying to keep the president and the bomber in separate rooms or get them in the same room. Also, some players have different roles that provide different experiences or win conditions.
The results were different for each game. Secret Hitler was almost universally a hit in Gov and AP Gov; games were heated and hilarious, and a common response I got was, "When are we going to play again?!" There were a couple of groups that had trouble understanding and getting started, so I stepped in a bit more, but mostly, I spectated and enjoyed the energy! Two Rooms and a Boom, not so much. I was surprised that a fair number of the students seemed to get into it based on their comments, but there was a decent contingent that started checking out. Part of it, I think, was class size (I had 29 students playing), and it was a whole class game as opposed to small group with Secret Hitler. Part of it, I think, was confusion about the game. Some students didn't understand what their goal was or how to accomplish it. And part of it was that the game wasn't quite as engaging in its basic form like Secret Hitler was. I think the role cards would have added some spice to it, but they were another level of complexity I wasn't sure I could deal with.
Afterwards, I did a "3-2-1" to gather student comments, and here's what I got! It's a long list, but I want to make sure I record them somewhere!
AP Psych
3:
- People get really hyped
- “I can’t say” is a bad excuse, rather, use “my card won’t let me”trust no one; people are very curious
- I learned that sometimes the best directions are just jumping right in
- People picked up on the object of the game quicker than others
- I was way too confident in the information given to me and I was wrong
- Most people hope for the best
- Most people were very open about what team they were on; people stick with people they know
- Found out people were observant
- lying is easier now with lower stakes
- People like the power
- By finding people from the same team, you can work together to take power to your advantage
- Succeeding as President or Bomber can be reached silently OR by looking for allies
- I learned that tiles really have an impact on how people respond to you
- I found out that people will mostly not pay attention to you if you lay low, it’ll make it easier to slip under the radar
- If you want to have fun you have to have a card that has a character or you’re a leader
- I also learned that psych is gonna be weird (but in a good way)
- It’s extremely fun to hide your card and watch others try and figure it out
- People can be manipulating
- The most pressuring job is the leader’s & not a lot of people want the position
- 2 When people hold something important, or know something, they don’t know how to keep it in
- nobody wanted to be the leader
- most people revealed their identity
- People seemed to follow the leader blindly
- The game created unnecessary tension and distrust
- Acting is everything; People can trick you
- People often ignore people who are silent
- Each card was important to the game
- tricking people into liking things is just psychology; eye contact is key to lying
- The rules of usurping the leader… you can take power even as President or Bomber; the way I needed to synergies in order to influence the leader’s decisions of hostages
- Some people were really aggressive when asking for your team
- The groups within a group that form when there are different teams
- People who are the leader aren’t really questioned until someone has a solution to fix the problem
- When my card said I couldn’t speak I want to take more control of the game
- I thought it was interesting who wanted to be a leader/who didn’t
- 1 What point were you trying to establish with the game?
AP Gov
1.
- 3 Facists are reptiles
- When being a facist, pretend not to be enough times to gain their trust
- People are hard to trust; running a gov. is hard w/ differing options
- People are sneaky; Never trust anyone; Government is full of liars
- Trust no one; everyone lies; backstabbing hurts
- How people may not tell about their full intentions in government
- The government is complicated
- There was a voting process, and it wasn’t like a monarchy; Vote for liberals if you’re facist
- there’s a lot of shady stuff going on in government
- pay attention to everyone’s choices
- Government is unreliable and corrupt
- People are nice, so its hard to tell if they’re lying
- Government cheat the system
- facists can be anyone & anywhere
- if nobody asked questions it was easy to push your agenda; facism starts off not so bad then catches you unexpectedly
- 2 People are easy to fool
- There isn’t much communication in the gov.; I had to keep my mouth shut in order for my side to win
- Facists always won
- Without talking its hard to gain any knowledge about the people voting
- People are snakes
- facists hold office for a long period
- The game was in honor of the Facists
- 1 So in Germany, facists always kinda had the upper hand?
- Is this game like life itself?
- Can I trust you?
- Why did everyone think I was Hitler?
- Will we be playing more board games?
- Trust no one; Trust your instincts
- Those who are more open about their side in a game may be lying
- Lying is difficult; No one trusts me
- It’s really easy to accidentally reveal yourself haha… gotta be careful
- Revealing yourself (facist) could still work to your advantage
- We stick together with the same opinions and ideas that we have of others with every game
- I should be making a lot of new friends in this class
- Be careful who you trust; wit is key
- How easily people can betray
- Accusation needs to be backed up with evidence
- Everyone was the enemy
- Facists are bad
- Trust is hard; don’t trust everyone
- I learned about the liberal perspective lol
- I learned the perspective of a facist
- I found out that the government can get rowdy
- Being Hitler is stressful
- It was surprisingly easy for Hitler to come to power
- Looks can be deceiving
- Mr. Taggart is a part of the purple shirt history illuminati
- This is how governments are run
- Everyone seemed so happy
- Anyone was hitler; Everyone could be lying
- Honesty was funny
- The importance of reading people
- WWII was hard
- That the game was actually about government
- How accurate traitors are
- The amount of emotional attachment we get to a simple game
- 3. Why did that table flip out?
- Can we play more games?
- What’s the deal with hitler man?
- 3 It’s really hard to trust people; Gov’t takes trust; trust gets stuff done
- Liberals are sneaky
- People are shady
- Making new friends is cool
- That people can’t always be trusted
- Board game design is a lot more difficult than I thought
- Finding fascists isn’t that hard; Finding Hitler wasn’t hard
- You can’t trust everyone
- I’m not good at being Hitler; I’m also not good at being Liberal
- Anyone can be elected President
- How liberals think
- It’s kinda fun being Hitler; But it sucks being fascists; no one trusts anyone
- Pick n’ choose who you trust; investigation is key; don’t shoot just anyone
- Society is quick to judge
- Board games are harder when you haven’t had breakfast
- 2 innocent people can act shady
- Fascists can be sneaky
- It’s weird to be Hitler
- How rad Hitler can be
- people will blame others to save themselves
- The art of the possible
- 1 I loved the game idea
- Why am I evil?
- I want to learn more about diff. parties
- Why can’t I be Hitler?
- Why can people judge so quickly?
- 3.People trust you more when you’re the loudest at the table AND you can prove yourself to be trustworthy
- I found out that I need to shuffle better
- I hate being unable to trust people
- Lying is hard to use as an advantage
- Dome people love lying more than others
- Hitler never wins
- I learned how influential people can be if talk and rumors spread
- The chancellor really has the ultimate say (most times)
- No one is telling the truth unless they are liberal
- Get elected before celebrating
- Gov related games can be fun
- Gov. always lies
- You can’t judge by the look of players to determine anything
- Votes actually matter
- It’s not hard to fool someone or get fooled
- That people in this class are really good at lying
- Admitting to something is sometimes the best lie
- False accusations twist trust quickly
- 2.How people voted to portray who they wanted you to think they were
- The designs people put on their namecards
- Your vote actually doesn’t really matter
- Different ways to remain unknown
- How strange it was deceiving people I didn’t know
- How quickly policies can get passed
- Some people are super slick
- Gov. isn’t so confusing
- We don’t trust each other
- How fast pace a sort of educational game can be
- Why they kill people
- 1. When will we play again?
- R you Hitler?
- Do people lie this much always?
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