Educational Games and Simulations
I made a bunch of Educational Games and Simulations
Here's what some teachers and students have to say
Here's what some teachers and students have to say
Teachers
Max is a brilliant young man and easily the strongest teacher candidate I have encountered in more than 20 years of teaching Max has proven to have a deep well of empathy for the students he works with. He has an almost intuitive sense of how to engage different sorts of kids. Max has considerable talent at evaluating "where students are" and building assessments to meet the needs and abilities of his students. Max is a high-energy presence in the classroom. He draws students into the activity by his example. I think that the best measure of the success of the class was the fact that he had to repeatedly remind the students to leave at the end of the period. To a student, they wanted to remain to continue their planning and plotting. Max had, I think, taken a class where things should have been quite pro forma: explaining a rule book, and turned it into a lively, instructive time which left the student ready and eager to proceed with the curriculum. The fact that the lesson was given on the day before the Thanks giving holiday makes this performance all the more impressive. |
Students
The overall enthusiasm of the class impressed me. I'm used to having a sit-down-and-listen-to-my-lecture sort of history class, but we actually got involved and that made it much easier to understand the subtleties within medieval dynamics. The High Middle Ages game was a great way to rewrite history and then learn about what actually happened... The Horse People raid that we played outside with marshmallows and fruit snacks was one of the best history activities ever. The horse people game out behind the school was a blast. Never before had I thought that being a nomadic horseman could be so much fun. In all seriousness, it was more engaging then a series of in class discussions, and is the most memorable aspect of this class... The most fun thing that I did in this class had to be the time that we went outside and acted out the battle. . |
Skittles Simulation
Max provided a student activity in which he replicated medieval social order and economic distribution by means of skittles candy and playing cards. The game was conceptually sound and the student responded with considerable hilarity. Taxes, rents, tithes were played out with skittles. By the time he was done, the class had experienced the medieval social order in a graphic and quite memorable way. Taxes, tithes, etc. were actually paid by students walking from table to table paying the different powers their share of the crops. Students who found themselves peasants actually became annoyed. |
High Middle Ages
Max developed a system of on-line record-keeping and electronic situation maps which have transformed our traditional simulation of the High Middle Ages. It resolved rule changes and kept students honest in their record keeping, which radically improved the quality of the simulation. |
Mercenary Cost-Benefit Analysis
Max used a set of statistics and cost figures to explain why mercenaries were so often used in this period. Rather than simply declaring it as a fact, he let the numbers explain the issue and then wrapped up with the point he wanted to make. I have taught the material for many years and had never seen the question addressed with such graphic, specific detail. Max has graciously given me a copy of the presentation for use in future classes. |