EnTeam Blog
Building a Win-Win American Culture
A common statement heard recently from many American reporters, politicians, and citizens is, “Americans are more divided today than we have ever been.” The claims of unprecedentedly high levels of division in America are, of course, inaccurate. Even as far back as the 1600s, as indicated in “The 1619 Project” [...]
The Power of Cooperative Play
Do you ever feel like life itself has turned into one big competition for our kids? As a parent, I find myself constantly pulling my kids' focus away from “who’s better at XYZ.” I work to turn their attention to others and fight off the Me! Me! Me! attitude that [...]
Why play games with native speakers?
When students who are learning English interview students learning Spanish, they both benefit. For example, consider ways the game Language-Partner strengthens both students: Increased Motivation: Since both of you are helping your partner learn your native language, you are the authority and they are listening to you. Both [...]
Peer Proofreading for Scholarly Development
What engages and motivates students to write excellent papers? What makes teaching more enjoyable and efficient for teachers? Peer Proofreading offers powerful answers to these questions for students at both the elementary and secondary level. This pedagogy makes teaching more enjoyable because students help each other produce high-quality academic [...]
Examples of sports and games that reduce prejudice
What helps people who have differences become less prejudiced and more productive and respectful of each other? Under what conditions do sports and games reduce prejudice? Approaches for answering these questions can be compared by using groundbreaking research published in 1954 by Gordon Allport that laid the foundation for intergroup [...]
Certification Process
Facilitator Certification in EnTeam Games EnTeam facilitators use EnTeam Games to strengthen players socially and academically. You are welcome to use EnTeam Games. They are freely available here. When you open a game on the EnTeam website, you will see game rules and suggestions for setting up the game. If you would like help using [...]
Too Many Problems To Solve: A Partner Game
If you want students to practice enough to become proficient, make practice into a game. For example, memorizing the multiplication tables or becoming quick at following an algorithm can be turned into a game by using Too Many Problems to Solve. Start with a stack of problems that follow a [...]
Family Winning Together
Some of my fondest childhood memories are sitting around the Thanksgiving table, playing EnTeam Games with my entire extended family. Grandpa Ted would ask us for our feedback and I loved discussing ways the games could be improved to foster even more collaboration. My name is Tanya Wohlfarth, and I [...]
Adults Established Racism. Can Children Reduce Racism?
What are effective ways to increase respect and reduce prejudice between groups? How can prejudices due to differences in race, culture, and socioeconomic status be overcome? To answer these questions, four organizations are collaborating to engage parents and their children to explore the use of games that keep score of [...]
Children Grow Their Skills in Collaboration as They Play
How do you know children are growing up with the capacity and willingness to prevent future violence between people from different cultures and faiths? A group of teachers worked together with EnTeam facilitators to answer this question in October 2001. They participated in workshops using games that challenge players [...]
Why Play EnTeam Games?
Why play EnTeam Games? Because players learn to bring out the best in others. For example, Maurice Burns directed Project Respond, a program for at-risk children in north St. Louis City. Maurice tested EnTeam games by using them as activities for the middle school students in the after-school program. One [...]
Breaking Down Barriers, One Zoom Call At A Time
During the past two years, the conflict resolution activities provided by EnTeam Organization have addressed interpersonal conflicts between students who are together in one site for the after-school program. These students know each other and may even have grown up together. The conflicts that arise among them are different from [...]
Could games impact income and wealth distribution?
Research shows that rich people have increased their income and wealth faster than other people in recent decades. The rise in economic inequality raises important questions: Why are rich people gaining an increasing share of income and wealth? What is needed to reduce economic inequality? How could the growth in [...]
Building Bridges that Reduce Segregation
Since 1954, schools have been required by law to educate students of different races in integrated schools. In the decades since the Brown decision that outlawed segregated schools, the level of effort toward integration has varied widely. While some signs of progress are apparent, the level of segregation has remained [...]
The Power of Constructive Criticism
The benefit of constructive criticism showed up again yesterday. Ten volunteers tested a new version of the online EnTeam Game Drawing Together – a collaborative version of Pictionary that challenges teams to draw and correctly guess one picture in 90 seconds on a digital whiteboard. As with all EnTeam Games, [...]