Randomizer

woodcutter · Post by **woodcutter** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:33 am

I have recently started to make lots of use of randomizing activities in class, after having observed another teacher who assigned each child a number and then used a computer program which shoots random numbered balls out of a cannon (displayed on a big screen). The Korean children are more willing to participate after being chosen randomly, and it is a useful thing in a number of games.

For myself, I have a collection of all the English nicknames in the class on small pieces of paper, and often ask children to draw a name randomly out of a bag. They seem to get very excited about this.

What I would really like to do is set up some kind of big "wheel of fortune" thing at the front of the class, but I can't think of how to do it. Any ideas?

Sally Olsen · Post by **Sally Olsen** » Fri May 30, 2008 5:59 pm

I did this in a small way with an umbrella which you can twirl around to some designated point - an arrow on my finger held to the side. I had sticky notes for the content so you can make these as big or small as they are able to read or see.

We also had a game made from an old tire which was hung on the wall with a bracket connected to a pole.

What do you do with the nicknames after they get them?

woodcutter · Post by **woodcutter** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:42 am

The great thing about selecting kids for a roleplay or something at random is when you have a class that sort of wants to perform, but doesn't do it through peer pressure. They like to select the names and force their friends to perform, and once "forced" they sometimes feel OK about putting some gusto into it.

There are also some "guess who" games where it is helpful to draw out a name, perhaps with some other information, and another technique is to make everyone write an answer to something in a quiz game and then select the person to answer at random, (checking the paper) so that everyone has to try.

barryfun · Post by **barryfun** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:34 am

I too, found that using a randomizer in class is a great way to motivate the students to pay attention. They never know if they will be called next and most students want to avoid the embarrassment of not knowing the answer, so they really pay attention.

I started developing flash games where I could enter my students names and they would be randomly chosen to make a sentence or say a vocabulary word. You only have to enter the students names for each class once, and they will be saved on your computer for each game. You can check everything out here at:

www.barryfunenglish.com

Also, under the 'Tools' section there is a tool that will just randomly select on name.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Barry
www.barryfunenglish.com