Kyle Warner
Kent State University
OH

Wed, Oct 16, 2019 1:47 PM
Spicing Up Your Classroom With Games

Right off the bat I really like one of the lines in the article which is "Species, of course, do not make a meal, but they make the meal more enjoyable." This is essentially saying that games can be good for providing some type of fun in the classroom sometimes, but too many games (or spices) can lead to a bad classroom environment. I agree with this article in the sense that games are a good way to challenge students and make learning a little bit competitive. I also like that the author is speaking from experience with her kids, so she has some proof that using games to guide learning can be very beneficial. Review games, in my opinion, should be done before every exam. Most high school students will not go home and study by themselves and a review game makes studying much more fun. I also think that games in the classroom can build stronger friendships throughout the class. If students are on a team, they will all want to win (because no one likes to lose) so they will have to talk to each other and work together to come up with the correct answers, usually in the quickest amount of time, to win the game. One more good point that this article states is that you have to plays these games with a purpose. They should not be used just for time killers and I think that the students need to be told that. If the students are taking advantage of the game, there should be a backup activity, that will usually be a lot less fun, that the students should complete instead. Overall I think this article was a good read that contains many good points about improving a classroom with the use of material-related games.

Wed, Sep 11, 2019 6:25 PM
Stress: Good and Bad

I chose to write a review about this article because I was curious as to what the positive sides of stress can be. I do not stress a lot, but I do know a lot of people that deal with stressful situations daily and I wondered how that could possibly have a positive impact on their life. The article mentioned that stress can activate the “fight-or-flight” response of a student, getting him or her ready for a big game or exam coming up. This would be an example of a positive side to stress, but, in my mind, you do not want to get amped up too much for something like an exam. There are definitely more negative effects that stress can cause for students such as acne, sleeping problems, headaches, depression, etc. I do not necessarily think that this article is promoting living a stressful life, but I do think that it is aimed towards students who do stress a lot that, sometimes, stress is a good thing. The key is knowing the difference between good and bad stress. The article does mention some classroom activities that can assist the students in finding out what kind of stress they are dealing with. If a student’s “stress” is motivating him or her to do better in the classroom or in their personal life, then the stress they have is positively affecting them. If a different student is being affected by stress negatively (headaches, depression, panic attacks) then they should seek help whether it is from a parent, counselor, or even a friend.