Interactive activities: Making your class FUN!

Making class fun:
Incorporating interactive activities in classroom teaching

Black out, lights up

Today we started class a bit differently. It was 5:10 and Dr. Boyanton went around the room to different groups of people some with two persons others with three persons in the group. The weird is thing that she went around whispering something to each of the groups. She started on the opposite side of the class so it took a while before he got to me.

When she finally got to me I was curious to know what she had been telling everyone else. She told me and the girl behind me (Anais) to prepare a skit showing the example of a teacher giving a student Time Out. We were like less than five minutes from acting this out and my partner and I were still not exactly sure what we were going to do. All that was set was that I was going to be the teacher and she was going to be the misbehaving student. The first group started performing their skit and I was a bit nervous because we were that four group to go up. The skits went by fast and before I knew it the third group was already in front of the class. At the moment I quickly turned around and told Anais that all she had to do is talk as if she was interrupting my lecture.

Our turn was next and I got ready to improvise my lines. My partner did exactly I had wanted her to do and before I knew it was over. We did a good job. All this happened within the first five minutes of class and I was finally awake and ready to pay attention in class. (Jorge Mujica)

Today was a very exciting day. We had many interesting activities to better our learning styles. We created our own show in teams were first we demonstrated Positive and Negative Reinforcement, Punishment, Extinction, Token Academy, etc. The shows were pretty interesting because they were educational, well organized, and they showed a lot of the theory that we have been learning, and it has served for us to retain more information because it served as repetition for us.

Today we had such a harmonic environment were we felt comfortable of acting in the show without feeling nervous, instead we felt that we could act without any problem because we were in a community of respect. This day was mostly interactive, and group activities and I think these are the best strategies that can be used for teaching, strategies used by Dr Boyanton. (Dennis Salinas)

PBS Show

Then we go over the memory. Sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. I once read somewhere that if we could control and retrieve from our sensory memory we would actually remember the license plate number of the first car we saw. That’s some crazy stuff. Then we move on to the PBS show. I was actually rather scared. I thought there was no way we can come up with something in like 3 min. However to my surprise we actually did. I also think we did quite good for improving the skit. All we as a team needed was an idea and we clicked on the same page. One thing I can say about that was if we didn’t get to know each other over the last week or so, that would have never worked. We wouldn’t have been able to click. (Vero Gene Frady)

Debate

Today in class we reviewed our exams and I thought that it was very interesting that Dr. Boyanton gave students the opportunity to earn points back on their exam if they had a strong argument for their answer. I had never seen this approach before. It was a very successful exercise because not only were we given the right answer but we were able to discuss why it was the correct answer.

Another plus to this exercise is that you are able to check your students for understanding. When we got the part where we had to agree or disagree with the given statement I felt that things kind of heated up a little. Different students had different opinions about the statements and how they were written. It was interesting to see how different students read the statement differently. I personally thought that the statements were not confusing at all but other students felt that the statements should have had more information. I guess this is an example of how we all have different learning techniques.

I had fun today in class today I guess it was that we were all participating and giving our opinions. In the two years that I have been at the University of Texas at Brownsville I have never known the names of every one of my classmates like I do right now. I also feel very comfortable sharing information with any of my classmates. There is a student in class that I had for a class a couple semesters ago and I remember he was very shy but in this classroom he has not displayed that yet. I really enjoy that classroom atmosphere. (Crespin Gonzalez, July 18, 2008)

Yesterday’s class was one of the most interesting classes I have ever had. During our class our midterms were passed back to us and before we began to review them Denting told us that if we got a point or even half a point wrong on a certain question that we believe was right and have an evidence to back it up we would receive our credit back.

In the years that I have been in college I have never known a professor to review much less have a classroom debate on why we were right on our answers on the midterm. Reviewing and having the debates we had in class made me understand how I could of misunderstood the question or how there could of been a better answer. I commend Mrs. Denting on her teaching ethics and how she holds the students attention during her lectures. (Stephanie Huerta)

I enjoyed our debates (almost arguments) in class. It was interesting to hear the opinions opposite of mine. I figure that, for example, everyone would be against comparing racism and special education, so I was extremely surprised that some people thought it was fine. It really opened my eyes that even when something seems pretty obvious to me that others will still differ in opinion. I was open to listening to them, and even though I did not change my mind, I was happy that I heard a different perspective. I believe that as we become teachers, ideas that we hear from others is what will keep our teaching methods fresh and keep them from going stale. (A.L.)

Counseling activity

My favorite part of today’s class was doing the problem-solving activity. Dr. Boyanton divided the class in to two groups, one group was going to be listeners (counselors) and the other group was going to the patients. The patients had to talk to the counselors about their problems and how they think should have handled it, or solve it, or just done different.

It was fun to hear how everyone actually shared their real problems and how we really got to share our opinions and advices for the future. I got to hear out 3 different people and it felt good to listen and to give of what I think would be the best advice for their corresponding situations. I only got to share my problem one time but it was also very interesting to see how the other person would react about my problem or argument and to hear what type of advice they would give me. I wish we would have had more time to be able to share our problems with everyone in the class. (Erika De La Garza, June 19, 2008)

Using unusual images

I thought it was hilarious today in class when I could not see the old lady in the picture. I could see the young lady but not the old one. Ha-ha. I saw the two faces and the candle holder right away. This is where constructivism comes in. I feel that constructivism is the way a person chooses to learn and see things in a way that is more comfortable for that individual. It’s kind of the way we learn. When we learn, it is our brain processing new information. We say processing because we understand it, and it is not memorization. I have a very good memory, but I feel like I learn these things. I think I have a good memory in visualizing things, or hearing things.

Appreciation Party

The first half of yesterday’s class was very interesting and I enjoyed it very much. I found our warm-up activity very interesting and I was moved that five people found that I have skills that they want to have or respect I can not tell you how much that moved me and I was really touched that some of my peers felt that way about me…honestly words can not express my feelings. I have to say that the social cognitive learning theory was a bit confusing even though it was just three stages each stage had a lot of sub information and some of it was just a bit overwhelming for me to take in. (Ryan Alaniz)

Last but not least, I want to thank you Dr. Boyanton for the Appreciation Party, I had never experience anything like that. It was overwhelming to see how others pay attention to the little thing that makes us who we are.
Thank You. (Yolanda Bodden)

Another thing I enjoyed about class was when we had to write down something we liked about three people. I think that was such a great thing to do, because when I went up to my three people to tell them what I liked about them I could see how their face lit up. It was something to make us feel good and maybe boost our confidence a little bit. (Monique Solis)