fun
TRANSCRIPT
What’s fun got to do with it?Joni Dunlap CFD & SEHD at UCDhttp://thoughtsonteaching-jdunlap.blogspot.com/
Superhero powers: work avoidance, mass email deleting, stirring two bowls of hot soup at the same time, knowledge of every pop song from the 1970s, squirrel-chatter translation, and x-ray vision. My favorite color is purple.
Why care about fun?
• How can I get students’ attention, and get them excited about the content?
• How can I show students a lighter, more playful side?
• How do I help students connect, and keep coming back for more?
• How do I help students explore their creative side?
Fun = pluff???
• First-day/week of class = FUN!
• Lecture = FUN!
• Class discussions = FUN!
• Representation of understanding = FUN!
• Assessment = FUN!
Fun strategies…
• …to spice up the first day/week of class
• …to get to know each other: past, present, future
• …to get oriented to the course, delivery, structure
Truth-or-Lie bios• I lived in Saudi Arabia as a youth
• My first car was a 1966 Barracuda with red leather interior
• I have been a vegetarian for 25 years
• I was a member of the road crew for the Grateful Dead from 1989-1991
• I used to produce and direct on-air pledge drives for public television
• I was held up at gun point and had my car stolen as the get-away vehicle
Scavenger hunt• In your own words, state the learning objectives for this
course.
• What is the purpose of the Weekly Survey?
• What is the best way to reach Joni outside of the course? How quickly will Joni respond to email? And, when is it best to contact Joni with questions, concerns, challenges, etc.?
• What learning objectives are addressed by the individual project due on March 9th?
• What is meant by academic freedom?
Caption the photo!
Fun strategies…
• …to get to know each other: past, present, future
• …to get to know a topic
• …to represent conceptual understanding
Soundtrack of your life
http://finetune.comhttp://songza.comhttp://blip.fm
Cloudbusting
http://www.wordle.net/
Storytelling, soap operas, & “Naked Came the Manatee”
http://voicethread.comhttp://www.jingproject.com/
Roleplaying
http://www.xtranormal.com
Fun strategies…
• …for staying in touch with each other
• … for sharing resources, ideas, our lives
• …for quick-and-dirty assessments
Daily Mobile Photo Challenge
Tweeting the night away
http://twitter.com/
Fun strategies…
• …for assessing new learning
Test…oops, I mean game• Stump the professor
• Phone a friend
• Name that answer
• Voting a question off the island
• What’s my line?
• Truth or lie?
• Are you smarter than a 5th grader?
Creative representations
• Story, comic strip, song, movie poster, sandwich board, music video
• Puppets, action figures, super heroes, role-playing
• Virtual field trips
Final thoughts…I ain’t making this stuff up…
I loved all of your “fun” activities. At first I thought I would hate them, that they’d be a big waste of time. But I get it now, and see how they not only helped me get to know you and the others in the class, but actually helped me learn too!!! Thanks for a great class!