English Challenge

This week I organized an "English Trivia Challenge" event between my first and second year students at the teacher training college.  

I invited my colleagues at the teacher training school, in addition to a University Professor and the Director of a local English language school to be on the judging panel. I knew I would need as much back up as I could get because the competition would be fierce!

Both classes were competing for the glory of victory. The second year students were especially eager not to lose to the new arrivals, the first year students. They knew it was their only chance to claim the title of champions. 

Although I do not typically promote competition, preferring instead to focus on collaboration and communication, I decided that this was my last chance to make learning really fun for my students. We only have one week left of school this year and it will be filled with high-pressure exams! 

With the aim of collaboration, I included the students in every step of the planning process of our "Jeopardy" inspired game. To make it as participatory as possible, the students themselves came up with the categories, questions, and answers for the game. I wasn't sure how this would work, since the students would know the answers to all the questions (each class would know half of the questions). I decided to add an element of suspense by adding a few bonus questions and, of course, I wrote the final challenge question. 

During the first round, the second year students dominated with a strong lead. The first year students looked crushed. I couldn't even look in their direction without feeling terrible for the pained expressions on their faces. Then, during the second round they came back with a vengeance, leading the second year students with a score of 4300 to 3700 points. 

It was time for the final challenge! The category was Famous Speeches. I explained to the students how to "bet" an amount of points to risk to gain or lose during this final round of the game.

Each team wrote their wagers on a piece of paper and then had one minute to answer the question. When time was up, the first year students revealed their wager, a conservative 100 points. Their answer, however, was wrong. 

Second year students then revealed their wager, 700 points, and their answer: Correct! It was a very dramatic conclusion for the second year students! They lost control and became carried away with excitement. Their prize was an Obama DVD and a certificate declaring their victory! The first year students remained satisfied; they played a brilliant game and certainly demonstrated their strong skills in team work! 

Each participant received a tote bag, t shirt, and water bottle and also the fruits of everyone's labor throughout the year, including a book of stories about teachers and a book of teaching strategies written by the second year students and a newspaper and a video news broadcast created by the first year students!

I am proud of all of my students for participating in such a fun event and for embracing the challenge! The first year students are already planning for next year's challenge and I am certain it will be as much fun as this year!

After the competition, we all drank warm sodas and watched the news broadcast. It was a perfect celebration of the students' hard work throughout the year as well as a way to remind the teacher trainees how fun and engaging learning can be! I hope they bring the same enthusiasm they showed this week into their future classrooms.