In an effort to make U.S. studies as immersive as possible for their students, Mr. Litz and Mr. Ritsko – Park Middle School’s 7th Grade U.S. Studies instructors – have been selected to attend a week long summer institute with the purpose of integrating games with classroom learning. They know that no matter who you are and what your background, all people know what a game is. Through participation in a game based curriculum, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning by interacting, engaging, and working on the results that they set for themselves. This approach teaches team building and cooperation while making the social studies curriculum approachable and accessible to all students.
Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson HistoryQuest Teaching Fellowship (a program created to expose teachers to new educational philosophies and techniques) has partnered with the Institute of Play (organization devoted to creating game like curriculums to simulate real world problems and well-thought out solutions) to host a weeklong series of professional workshops designed to provide teachers new educational techniques with a focus on educational game design. Games naturally require users to implement many skills that are considered 21st-century learning objectives. From practicing active listening and peer-to-peer communication, to using constantly changing data to make informed decisions while problem solving, games offer an interactive medium by which people (and in this case, our students) get to improve their critical thinking skills.
The addition of game-based learning to the U.S. studies program is sure to make for a more engaged student population and an incredibly exciting learning experience here at Park Middle School. Mr. Ritsko knows from his days as a student at Park Middle School, the way students learn has evolved and he, along with his colleague Mr. Litz, are delivering hands on experience with the outcome of history in a student centered way!
(above) Students featured: Christian Estevez, Ralph Ramos, Kotey Ashie, Hadley Moran, Jade Glassman, Emma Philip.
