Ball tossing
This activity is a great way for students to retain information regarding medical terminology, but will this truly make the students more interesting in learning more without playing this activity?
This is one strategy of many that can get learner attention.
I have not used this paticular activity before and i plan to try it but i have used similar ones, like for example i play Vocabulary Bingo. YOu put a list of medical terminology words on the board and tell the students to fill them in on the blank bingo sheet where they want. Then you call out the definition and they have to find the correct word on their bingo sheet and get try to get bingo first. I gave a vocabulary quiz the next day and most of my students got 100%. its fun and ther are learning and dont realize it.
Thanks for sharing your Bingo adaptation, Barbara. I'm glad to hear you had success with it.
My students manage to surprise me everyday I enjoy returning the favor:)
Barbara, I'm so glad you feel this way; it is the sign of an outstanding teacher.
I have been teaching terminology for years and I am going to try this. IT seems it will liven up the class.
I remember doing ball toss games when I was in school and it definitely was something that livened up the class for sure. We also made up songs for different medical terms and different ways of associating specific terms with their meaning. For example..when learning the terms dorsal..you can think of dorsal fin on a dolphin or fish being on the "back side" and therefore dorsal would mean back. Or utilizing visual cues with specific terms..for hyper think of something being very active or too much..like a hyperactive child running around so in turn associating the term hypertension with that visual cue your blood pressure is too high. Trapezius muscle..they can think of a trapeze or someone swinging/flying on a trapeze bar. If you picture that then you'd be able to associate it..okay so trapeze..trapezius..okay got it! your body would use that muscle with movement of your arms and shoulders therefore swinging on a trapeze would involve that motion and therefore the trapezius would be a muscle that does that and is in that area.
I love doing it this way. Sometimes I'll draw something on the board for the assocation or we even do a game of charades..and act out something to see which term, or word part I was referring to.
I wish I was in your class. You have found the secret to successful learning. Please continue your efforts!
The ball tossing seems like a great idea to liven up the class and retain the information. I would like to try this one and the baseball. They are all great ideas to help retention.
I think the ball tossing method is a great way to break the monotony after a period of lecturing. I shall try this one when I see my students yawning.
Yawning is a good sign to the instructor to do something active with the students.
I think this might show them that there are different ways to learn and that it isn't always as difficult as it may seem to be. This game gets them up, talking and laughing and learning at the same time. I will definitely try this to give the students more incentive to study on a daily basis and not wait until the day before a test. It can keep them on their toes because they would not know if and when the game was going to take place so they would be more likely to be prepared.
Lisa, keeping my learners active and anticipating what I will do next is what makes teaching fun for me, the instructor. I'm sure you might see the benefit of this as well.
Michele Deck
I have not yet used the Ball tossing, although I plan to in the near future. I find that any activity that will help to break the monotony of a lecture and get students actively involved in something is a good tool. I use Bingo, Jeapordy, and a couple of other games, usually offering an incentive of 5 extra credit points for winning team members. The extra credit can be used for a test in any subject, and I have noticed that they Rarely use them for the classes that I use the activities in. They seem to retain more of what they learn when doing something fun and interesting.
Vickie, the approach you are using is obviously a successful one, and I hope you add some of the suggested activities in the course, too.
Michele Deck
I like this idea of ball tossing alot....it will break up the class and give the students time to stretch their legs while reviewing what they learned in class. I also think it would be fun to do!
this type of activity is what i do on the first day of class to break the ice between new students
This activity will really keep the students awake and participating, I think it is a great way to engage the learners.
I have tried this in class as an end of term review of topics where the students come up with the questions and answers.
Another version that I have heard of but never tried is where different questions are written on large pieces of paper. These are all taped together into a ball (so it kind of looks like a cabbage). Then this gets tossed around and the students have to peel a layer with question off and answer it.
