I say that a good seminar is the one when you take away at least one new idea / teaching method/ game etc. The last seminar that I attended a couple of months ago was organized by Oxford University Press and I can say that it was great because I learned many new things that I could use with my students immediately. The most interesting for me was the "updated" version of the well known game "Simon says". I tried it with my 5th grade students (around 10 years old) and I can say that it was really really fun.
This is how it goes.
You ask the class to stand up. It's good if you can organize the classroom so that there is enough free space for the students to move around. It is helpful if you could provide pictures for each character that is involved in the game. First you start with Simon. I forgot the pictures I had had prepared at home so I had to improvise right before the lesson which wasn't so bad after all :) I put the pictures on the board and explained the simple rules to the students. When I say : Simon says touch your nose - everybody should do this, if I don't say Simon says but still say touch your nose you are out of the game.
This is Simon
The next character that joins the game is Speedy Suzie. As the name itself implies when the students hear her name they should perform the activity in a fast manner.
This is Speedy Suzie
Then comes Lazy Lucy and she does everything in a very slow way.
And finally Opposite Jack who does everything in the opposite way.
You can watch the video and see how all of this works in practice. As you can see the students were super excited and we really had a lot of fun.
I hope you'll find this interesting enough to use it in your classroom, too.
I would like to hear from you so feel free to express your thoughts in the comment box below. Let me know if you are familiar with other "updated versions" of other games.
Here's a link to the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TduWn7QFsrI&feature=youtu.be
