Monday, 27 February 2012

Classroom Management Games

Classroom management games take the focus off the teacher and puts it on the students.
Managing a classroom is a crucial aspect of a teacher's job. From behavior to time management, lack of controlover your class can handicap your students' learning experience and even lead to diminished test scores. Classroom management games can get your students involved withmonitoring their own behavior and contributing to a productive class experience. This takes some pressure off of you and is a viable "change up" to the monotony of perpetually telling students to behave.

1.Classroom Rules with Pictures
You can find many pictures online that express some common classroom rules, such as"work quietly" and "hands to yourself." Determine your classroom rules and print out two copies of each corresponding picture. Write the description of a particular rule above one picture and leave the other one blank. Go over the word descriptions for each rule, then use the description-less pictures in an identification/flashcard game. For example, the first student to raise her hand with the proper description (word for word) gets a point. This game reinforces your class rules, so later you won't have to tell your students what to do; you can just point to the appropriate picture.

2.Group Points
This is a day-long game that encourages student compliance with your classroom rules and the specified tasks of the day. Divide your class into several groups. Throughout the day, keep a tally of each group's"behavior points." When you catch a group doing something appropriately, add one point to their total. If a group is misbehaving or not performing up to par, then dock them a point. Use incentives and prizes for the team with the most points, such as extra recess time.

3.Charades
Children can become distracted and rowdy when they are bored. To keep them engaged, try new ways to introduce or review topics. Use"Charades" to have students act out topics of the day. Divide the students into several groups, and have each group pantomime for the other groups. The group that guesses the most topics is declared the winner. This activity forces students to think of each topic in new ways, so they can properly act them out and guess them. This helps in memorization and application of the new information you taught them.

4.Apple Pass
This game also offers a new stimulus for those hands-on learners in your class. This game keeps students engaged with lesson topics, while encouraging group discussion. Have the students toss an apple around a circle and blurt out words from the day's topic. The words can be vocabulary or any relevant word. If the validity of one of the words is called into question, then allow the student to justify his use of it. This helps keep the students engaged and develops their reasoning skills. Otherwise, if a student drops the apple or doesn't say a word quickly enough, he is out. The winner gets the apple as a treat. This instills healthy eating habits. Make sure you wash the apple before the student eats it.

Time Management Classroom Games

Time is an important factor in ones life. Time management skills should be taught at younger age. Quality of students life will improve if they develop good time management skills. Time management is rarely taught in formal classes. many students do not receive any formal training in time management skills until they reach college, by that time students will have no interest to learn. Teaching time management skills to is hard as students will feel somewhat distraught, so games on time management skills can be used to create interest in them. By playing games they will learn to work as a team with others. Some of the management games are.

1. Committee Meeting.
In this role-playing scenario, give students a description of an organization that they work for, along with a list of tasks they must complete. Tell them to decide, in the meeting, when each task must be completed, who must complete it, and how much time they expect it will take to get each task done. After they have created their fictional organization's schedule, ask them to discuss and analyze it.

2.College Advisor
Have one student play a frazzled college freshman and another play his college advisor. Give the first student a list of classes, as well as homework assignments and the dates of exams. The second student must help the first to create a schedule for reading, studying, and completing assignments. Then, have them switch roles. Each student will learn that stress often makes time management seem more difficult than it needs to be. When helping someone else create a schedule, they won't feel the same anxiety they might experience in creating their own, which will allow them to focus on planning instead of stressing out.

3.Desert Island
The popular game in which each player says what she would bring withher if she were stranded on a desert island is a great icebreaker and learning game, says SOS.net. Ask players to name five or ten items theywould bring with them. Inthis version, tell them to focus on items they could use in saving themselves. Then, to practice time management skills, ask each player to describe how he would use those items to save himself.

4.Planning Lessons
Letting students plan a schedule of lessons might seem a bit unusual. But when kids have the chanceto take control over their own education, they often become very excited aboutlearning. Tell each student to pretend she is a teacher creating a lesson plan schedule about a certain topic in which she is interested. For instance, a student might choose"marine biology" or"pollination," something broad and complex enough to spend time talking about over the course of a few days. Talk with students briefly abouttheir choices. Then, ask each student to design a schedule for teaching the lesson, along with activities and means of assessing results, such as a quiz or homework project.Tell them exactly how much time they will have for teaching and discussing the topic, and ask them to consider how much time their fictional students will eed to complete their assignments. Take their suggestions into consideration as you design your own lesson plans.

Corporate Management Games

Corporate management games place the player in the position of a Chief Executive Officer or other high-ranking company leader in their quest for profits, profits and more profits. These types of games are sometimes referred to as "tycoon" games, after hits like"Railroad Tycoon" and the more lighthearted"Rollercoaster Tycoon."
1.
Capitalism 2
*.
This classic business game may be a few years old, but it mimics the decisionsand pressures of a CEO's life so well that it is sometimes used by professors and lecturers atHarvard Business School to allow students to simulate running their own company. Scenarios involve everything from running an upstart IT company from the groundup, where long research-and-development campaigns are your bread and butter, to running established companies selling heavily branded consumer goods like soft drinks and snack food. A free demo can be downloaded from its publisher's website.
2.
Railroad Tycoon 3
*.
"Railroad Tycoon 3" jumps back in time a few hundred years to the age of the railroad robber barons like Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould.Starting in the 19th century, the player builds a modest New England railroad company into a transcontinental transportation giant. Along the way, he won't just have to deal with the competition. New technology, political strife and obscure stock market manipulations could all serve to devastate his company at any time. To withstand these forces, players will not just lay track, but also purchase strategic industries like coal mines and canneries, and keep a watchful eye on the stock market to fend off hostile takeovers.
3.
Hollywood Mogul
*.
"Hollywood Mogul" is an independent game that puts you in charge of yourown movie company. Youdecide which scripts to buy, which novels to adapt and which celebritiesto staff. You can take the bold and risky route of working with unknown talent, hoping to discover the next big star, or you can work with established celebrities. However, doingso can be tricky, as the prima donnas will all drivea hard bargain. Besides simply a salary and a cut of the profits, many stars will demand to work with specific actors and directors, who will come to the studio with their own demands. At the end of each year, you have to decide which movie to push at the Academy Awards. Winning an Oscarwill be a great honor for your talent, but it will alsoserve as a way to milk more money out of the box office for movies that are getting old.

Anger Management Games for Teens

Teach your teen to release his anger through games.
As anger management becomes a more recognizable problem among teens, the use of games to redirect that anger is becoming a viable option.However, it is not enough tojust learn how to control orredirect the anger, your teen must learn there are situations outside his control and the proper techniques for handling these uncontrollable occasions, so he is preparedwhen they occur.
1.
Hidden Heart
*.
Adapted from the book,"104 Activities That Build,"by author Alana Jones, theHidden Heart game allows teens to explore the hidden angers and fears inside as they build self-esteem. To play, the teen writes down activities that make him feel angry, situations that cause him to feel discomfort, and occasions when he feels powerless or afraid, on small strips of paper inserted into a balloon called his "heart." The teenwrites all his coping methods of hiding these feelings on a larger secondballoon. Some coping methods may be humor, sports, walking away, feigning confidence or avoidance, such as shopping. Insert the smaller "heart" balloon into the larger balloon andblow it up. Discuss the coping methods used by the teen, talk about alternatives and lead the teen to evaluate alternate methods to deal with his anger. Pop the balloon as a symbolic gesture of breaking down these walls.
2.
Role-Playing
*.
Teach your teen an alternate method of releasing anger by role-playing. Designate him as the mediator in several stressful situations played out by other familymembers or teens. These interactions can be as simple as someone wearing a favorite shirt to losing in a competition. During the process ask him to describe different methods the participants could have used to handlethe situation, before it reached a violent conclusion. After each session, have a round table for participants and the teen to discuss how the feelings were brought out by the situations and alternate methods of resolution.
3.
Board Games
*.
Play the board game "Life"with your teen to illustrateto him that there events out of his control and left entirely to random chance.Discuss with your teen how rolling the dice is likelife, although you may plan your future, other events may interrupt, or change your plans, causing anger. Develop strategies for your teen to minimize the effect of the random loss of control and strategies to work around the obstacles as hereturns back on track.

Anger Management Games for Kids

Helping children understand anger and its causes is an important step in their learning to master it.Kids unable to deal properlywith anger may have troublesocially and developmentally as they grow up, and it can lead to serious problems in their adult lives. Playing certain types of games may help kids identify sources of anger and cope with anger issues normally.
1.
Out of Control
*.
Out of Control is a game for a group of four to 15 people, according to Gamesforgroups.com. The game's purpose is to make the players live by rules they have no controlover and use the feelings they experience during thegame as a basis for discussion afterward. The game is intended for kids who tend to get angry when things don't go as planned or as they want. To play the game, wrap upseveral small, age-appropriate prizes in wrapping paper. Get at least as many prizes as there are kids, and maybe a few extras. You will also need a pair of dice. The game will be played in twoparts, but explain only thefirst part. Gather the children in a circle and let them take turns rolling dice. When a child rolls a double, he selects a prize (still wrapped) from the table and places it in front of him. If he does not rolla double, his turn is over. Play until all prizes are claimed. Now set a timer for 10 minutes and tell theplayers that in this round rolling a double will let them take a prize from another person. End the game when the timer goes off. Some kids will have more than one prize and others may have none. At the conclusion of the game, discuss with the children how it felt when luck didn't go their way and whether they felt out of control. Ask them whether it made them angry when they lost prizes or failed to roll a double. Find out if anyonefelt angry about the game and what they did to control the anger.
2.
Board Game Challenge
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The Board Game Challengewill most benefit children who get angry in competitive situations. Set up board games such as Operation and Jenga and have some play money onhand. The object is to playgames and get awarded a set amount of play money for accomplishing a task inthe game (such as $100 forremoving a bone in Operation). Give money for good sportsmanship and take money for bad sportsmanship. A prize is awarded to whoever can win the most play money by the end of a set time. The prize will make the competition more intense and give the kids incentive.In a discussion following the game, ask the children how it felt if they lost. Did it make them angry or disappointed, and why?How did they handle it? And do they think that competition is a good thing or a bad thing?

Monopoly

A classic board game that is based around money and property management,Monopoly can be adaptedto an MBA setting by giving students a certain amount of money and taskthem with making a profit in a short period of time. This game is not only easyto play but can help teach students valuable lessons about conservative spending and property management. Even thoughit is an old board game, it still has valuable lessons to teach.

Informatist and Capitalism II

Capitalism II
Capitalism II is a business simulation game in which players are able to take control of a company as the CEO in fields such as agriculture, media, retail, industry, mining, real estate, advertising, human resources, forestry and development. Students can play this game on a computer and be tasked with turning a profit by managing the business to the best of their abilities. Capitalism is very intricate and requires a lot of management, so this is a perfect game for higher-level business students.Informatist
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The Informatist is another computer simulation gamein which the player takes control of one of 16 different business types, over 80 products and 35 real estate options as well as countless employees to monitor and manage. Students are tasked with managing their expenses while keeping employees happy and turning a profitin a set period of time. This is a perfect game for teaching students the ins and outs of the more intricate business matters.

Monopoly

A classic board game that is based around money and property management,Monopoly can be adaptedto an MBA setting by giving students a certain amount of money and taskthem with making a profit in a short period of time. This game is not only easyto play but can help teach students valuable lessons about conservative spending and property management. Even thoughit is an old board game, it still has valuable lessons to teach.

Business Competition

Assign the students to groups and give them eacha business type to manage.This type should be something in the lines of manufacturing, distribution, finance, agriculture and so on; any type of business that will work off other businesses is perfect. Give each business a set amount of mock-money and a set period of time in which they are tasked to make a make-believe profit from that money. They then have to work with other businesses in the class to mutually beneficial profiting to complete the project. This will help the students get a handle on the actual act of doing business with others.

How to play pictiomary

Ready? Set? Draw! This is a great word-guessing game with pictures you draw as the clues for your team partners. You don't need to be an artist to draw in this game, where the originality of the players creates a lot of fun. You will need at least three people to play the board game version.
Difficulty:
Easy
Things You'll Need:
*. Timer Or Stopwatches
*. Card Tables
*. Chairs
*. Prizes
*. Beverages
*. Party Snacks
*. Pencils
*. Paper
Instructions
1.
Divide the players into teams.
2.
Name a permanent"picturist" if you have only three players. He willdraw all the clues for the other two players.
3.
Have each team select a picturist to do the drawingfor the first word if you have four or more players. This duty rotates to all players in turn. The remaining team members try to guess the word being drawn.
4.
Have each team place a playing piece in the start square on the board. Roll the die to see who gets thehighest roll to go first.
5.
Let the beginning team's picturist select the first card. She has only 5 seconds to study the word she will sketch.
6.
Start the timer, and give the picturist 60 seconds tosketch clues for her teammates.
7.
Allow the picturist's teammates to try guessing the word for the full 60 seconds as long as the picturist draws no words, letters or numbers and uses no body gestures.
8.
Have a successful team that has identified the word within the time limit roll the die. The team moves ahead on the board by the number of spaces indicated on the die.
9.
Let the same team then select the next card and continue with a new picturist. Only when the time expires before a wordis identified does play rotate to the left to another team.
10.
Continue play until a team wins by landing on the finish square and identifying the word selected.
Tips & Warnings
*. Each card lists different words in five categories. The correct word to be sketched is determined by the location on the board of the team's playing piece.
*. If the playing piece is on aspace marked "All Play" orif the word to be sketched is marked as an "All Play" word (with a triangle markbeside it on the card), thenall teams sketch and guessat the same time to see who gets it first.
*. The die is not rolled at the beginning of a turn. It is rolled at the end, only when a word is successfully guessed. A turn begins with the selection of a card.
*. A playing piece must stay on the same square as long as its team does not identify the given word.
*. The picturist duties rotate to a new player on your team every time the team must sketch.
*. There are different versionsof Pictionary, including Pictionary Junior for ages 7 to 11 and Pictionary on CD-ROM, which can be played solo or over the Internet. See Related Sites and Things You'll Need.
*. In special "All Play" situations a picturist from each team gets to look at the word and sketch it for his teammates. All teams do this simultaneously, and the first team to identify it wins the word. Winning the "All Play" situations is very important since you are competing against everyone at the same time. And since the normal rotation of play may be changed, you might miss aturn if the team to your left wins the word.