Lecture games

Writing the answers will keep them focused on the task of learning. After a portion of your lecture has ended, pass out a short quiz of no more than 5 or 6 questions based on covered materials. Have participants answer the questions, and then go over them.

For maximum interaction, you can then have them work in groups for a group answer before reviewing the answers yourself. This technique is a good one to use while you are lecturing. Simply leave blanks in your workbook or pass out worksheets with blanks for participants to fill in as you lecture.

After a lecture segment, hand out a crossword puzzle quiz to each participant. Wait an appropriate amount of time for participants to complete the puzzle. Consider giving a prize for the first correctly completed puzzle. To ensure participation or if you have a mixed group, you may want to have participants complete this activity in groups or pairs.

You can find worksheet generators, fill in the blank, etc. In this activity, you give each participant either a question or its corresponding answer on an index card. Hand them out randomly. Next, instruct participants to stand up, move around, and find the person holding the matching question or answer. To add variety to your lecture modules, divide your participants into groups of 3 to 5 people.

Pass out 2 to 3 pages of information to each. Finally, let each group present the material. You can then add any needed information. This works well with non-technical topics. When teaching a process, hand out index cards with a step of the process to each participant. Next, ask the participants to get themselves in order from beginning to end. Once they are in line, review each step of the process and make any adjustments that are needed.

If the group is large, use a piece of cardstock with a keyword printed on the front and select a small number of people to complete the exercise in front of everyone else. The cardstock with the keyword will help those in the audience to stay involved in the process. Post four flipcharts around the room, each with a different question.

Divide your class into four groups. Instruct each group to stand next to one of the flipcharts. Next, give each a different colored marker and five minutes to answer their question. When the time is up, the groups rotate to the next question and add any additional information to the next chart with their colored marker. This activity will provide a physical pattern interruption and cut down on duplicate answers.

This exercise is similar to Four Questions; however, instead of posting questions on the flipcharts, you list topics covered in your lecture. You then instruct participants to go stand next to the chart that lists the topic they find most difficult.

Once at the appropriate chart, ask the participants to write down what is particularly difficult. When they are done, instruct them to sit down. Then go through each chart clarifying and reviewing areas of difficulty. This activity has the added benefit of telling you where your teaching is effective and where roadblocks are popping up.

A picture is worth a thousand words. A demonstration or a video is a worth a million. To illustrate your points, consider adding a demonstration or video segment where appropriate.

Allow participants to take part in the demonstration. At the very least, have them answer questions about the demonstration or video seen. List six to seven uses for the information you have provided during your lecture on separate pieces of flipchart paper. Hang them around the room. Next, ask participants to stand next to the use they think is most applicable to them. Have them list why that is on the paper.

Review the responses. Then, have them choose the use that is least applicable to them and repeat the exercise. During the second part, you can clarify misconceptions or gaps in learning regarding why a fact or application might be valuable. Divide participants into groups of 4 to 7 people. Pass out an index card to each group.

Have them summarize the information you shared during your lecture on the card. Review each of the summaries when all groups are done. How can this thing impact the way you think about things? Unfortunately university level education can be a little lofty.

They should be doing this anyway. But of course, do it in a polite and well-meaning way. Practice tests are some of the most productive ways to spend your study time. In fact, doing a study practice test during your lecture will further help to simulate study conditions. This way, you can obtain the information in small, bite-size chunks. Sitting in lectures is depressingly passive learning. You have to just sit there and listen to an old dusty professor talk on and on about stuff.

Active learning can involve doing work experience, talking with friends or conducting experiments. You can try to write about the topic in the lecture in a way that you think is more engaging and entertaining. Use this time right now to set one up. Head over to wordpress. If you explain it clearly, people will log on and read your stuff! So, have a think: what other interests were you considering studying before you selected your current degree or major? For me, it was European Languages.

For you, you might jump from a Social Sciences to a Humanities major, or a Psychology to Chemistry major. Do some research, ask friends, and see what strikes your interest and what career prospects there are for each major you look into.

If you find university boring all the time then maybe you could consider an alternative career path? And the reality is, some of them will end up getting you equal or better pay than if you got a college degree. I print the lecture slides and scribble notes all over them, then store them away for when I need to go back and study them. This causes tons of problems. Do-eared papers, notes shuffled in the wrong order, and a lot of loose paper lying around. The most common thing I do and often in the middle of lectures is to type up all my notes that were hand-written so I can go paperless as much as possible.

I find that the additional benefits of typing up the notes that I hand wrote in previous lectures are:. Simply get out your diary or calendar and block out some time to study!

I aim to block off at least an hour, preferably two hours, at a time to really get stuck into my work. Do you have an hour or two between classes after this lecture? I got a message that I had to go and pick my sick niece up from her school. I take a lot of pride in getting a good review, and professors do take it to heart when they get poor feedback.

So, consider going to Rate My Professor and dropping a negative review of them … but only if they genuinely, really suck. It could help the next student avoid selecting this class and getting as bored numb as you. Part 1: Productive things to do in a Boring Lecture Part 1 of this post gives you 21 productive ideas to make sure you survive a boring lecture and leave feeling like you did something to help you learn. Scroll down to get started with all 21 productive tips for boring lectures.

Go to Part 1 now. Part 2 will provide you with ideas for passing the time when bored in class. All these ideas were crowd sourced from my friends. Go to Part 2 now. Ask a Relevant Question to get the Teacher back on Track The first thing to do would be to try to right the ship. The professors speak in slow monotones. The content is dry and disconnected from real life.

I hate it! It is such a waste of your time and money! Your question might be something about: How does this information relate to the assessment? Can you give an example of how this information is applied in my future profession? Read over your assessment prompts. Does anything on the assessment prompts relate to the lecture? Try to write down the key points the professor is pointing out.

Keep one Ear Open Okay, so the lecture seems irrelevant to you and not worth listening to. Use the time to do your Weekly Readings A boring lecture is a great time to catch up on your weekly readings. Start writing your Essay! What better time to start that essay than now? To write your essay I recommend you: Start with a brainstorming session. My preferred way to brainstorm is to use mind maps. Write a no-pressure draft. Just start getting words down on paper! Would You Rather gives students an opportunity to divulge more about themselves, and liven up discussions.

Here is a list of this or that questions for inspiration. And here are more icebreaker questions for students. The premise of this activity is that a natural disaster strands eight people representing each intelligence on a desert island.

Teachers love Desert Island Intelligence because it adapts well virtually, and serves as a fun conversation starter. Here are more problem solving games to try. Rube Goldbergs are intricate machines that people program to complete a simple task. Rube Goldberg Off is a challenging online classroom game for science classes that asks students to compete to design the most inventive machine. Teachers can set the parameters of the activity by instructing students to create machines to complete a certain task.

Building the machine is an example of a hybrid activity. According to the University of Texas , utilitarianism is a philosophical concept that values the choice that brings the greatest amount of good to the group. Utilitarian Test is an online classroom activity, where students discuss the ethical nuances of famous utilitarian questions, such as the trolley problem , fat man, transplant surgeon, and Heinz dilemma.

Teachers can use Utilitarian Test to get students to reveal the logic behind their decisions, and see if students truly understand the concepts. Online instruction is a completely new experience than in-person lessons. A great way to have fun with an online classroom is to get out of the classroom.

Some locations of live facilitated options, while others are fully digital. Either way, virtual field trips provide an excellent and engaging learning opportunity for students. Here is a list of the best virtual field trip ideas , and one with virtual tours for kids. You could also participate in take your child to work day.

When students and teachers are apart, it may be difficult to keep students on track. To help set the tone of your lesson, use entrance and exit cards at the beginning and end of class. The entrance cards prep students for your lesson, while exit cards check comprehension. An important virtual classroom idea is that learning is not restricted to the time when your students are online. Students can collaborate synchronously, which is when they are all online at the same time, or asynchronously, which is when they are not necessarily online at the same time.

When people are not in person and rely on video for connection, their attention span shortens. To prevent students from becoming disengaged in class, break up your lesson into manageable chunks. As a teacher, try to avoid speaking to students for extended periods because your students will become disengaged.

Instead, pepper in activities or challenges throughout your lesson to encourage participation. Teachers can use these questions to check comprehension among students, and see who is still actively listening to the lesson. For teachers, think, pair, share may already be a familiar concept since it is a learning strategy that is used in in-person classes.

Using think, pair, share in an online classroom maximizes participation and keeps students focused on the lesson. Teaching online is a tough adjustment to make that requires teachers to think deeply about how to best adapt their methods for distance learning.

With these online classroom games, activities, and ideas, you can take your lessons to the next level and increase student productivity.

Next, check out our virtual group games for more fun ideas. Still stuck on how to engage your students virtually? Here are some frequently asked questions about online classroom games, activities and ideas. Adapting in-person games for a virtual setting is entirely possible with some resourcefulness.

Some examples of games you can play virtually are the digital versions of scavenger hunts, Pictionary, trivia, and Jeopardy. To make a virtual classroom fun, break up your lesson into manageable chunks with exciting online classroom games and activities.

By mixing things up, you prevent your class from becoming bored and disengaged. The best virtual classroom activities are extensions of ideas you have already taught in class. By tying in your lesson to the activity, students can play, while also applying principles you taught them.