A teacher played the video game Clash of Clans and discovered nine things about learning through game play. The teacher learned that learning is most effective when fun, done with others, and involves picking strategies to grow. Taking risks, celebrating efforts, and relearning topics are also part of learning. Realizing gaps and asking questions helps fill gaps. When facing failures, rebuilding with prior learning is possible. Collaborative team experiences provide challenging and exciting learning.

1. Mike Toncich

2. • What You Can Learn About Learning Through Video
Game Play
• Using Clash of Clans a teacher made nine discoveries.

3. • It’s fun to play and learn with people you know.
• To grow you need to pick the best and fastest strategies.
• Learning something new means taking new risks.
• Learning deserves to be celebrated and often
collaborative efforts.

4. • There is times you need to go back a relearn something
you have already learned.
• Learning doesn’t happen once but at one step at a time.
• Realizing there are gaps in my knowledge and studying
and asking questions are ways to fill the gap.

5. • When confronted with failures I learned I didn’t have to
start completely over, I could rebuild with what I had
learned.
• Some of the best and most challenging learning
experience was being apart of the excitement and energy
of a team effort.

6. • Authentic Assessment: What You Can Do in 5 minutes, 5
days, 5 months, 5 years . . .

7. • Make sure that the teaching objective for the day is assessable.
• Create a question that captures the learning target for the day.
• Pass out and collect entrance/exit cards to get a quick snapshot of
progress and needs.
• Sort entrance/exit cards by those who are getting it, those who are
almost there, and those who aren't getting the lesson. You can use this
information to plan tiered groups.
• Take quick notes on a clipboard about student work -- check, check-plus,
check-minus will do.
• Remember to call on students randomly.
• Hold up white boards with student work to point out exemplary samples.
• Look over a student's shoulder to see what he is writing in his notebook.
You can then take your own notes about what you saw or talk to the
student right then about what he is doing well and what he could be
doing better.
• Ask students to turn and talk to each other in response to a directed
question. You can then listen in on those responses and take notes or
join the talk to offer suggestions.

8. • Determine what students know.
• Prove it.

9. • Determine if students are making progress.
• Determine if students are mastering the subject
materials.

10. • Reflect
• Refine
• Conference with Administrator or Literacy Coach.

11. • Complete realignment of vertical curricula