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” by Nikole Hannah-Jones, people living [...]
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 work. Proofreading teams – [...]
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 cooperation as a tool for [...]
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 the intergroup conflicts that exist [...]
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 stubbornly stable for six decades [...]
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, the players win together – [...]
Although the most common way to win is a contest in which one side can win only if the other side loses, there is another contest in which both sides lose or both sides win.When your goal is to improve your performance, the standard of excellence is your previous performance. If you can't improve your [...]
September 11, 2001 was a tragic event for our nation. It left us with many questions about our role as a nation and a community. In response to the event, how did we react? Unfortunately, there was anti-Muslim rhetoric and fear mongering in the media shortly after the 11th of September. Not all responses were [...]
Students love experiencing new views of their subjects. When they reach a new vantage point and find their footing (get comfortable with the process) they ask for more. Gamification and collaboration open the door to new perspectives and help students soar. How do we enjoy the experience and let students have fun without wasting valuable [...]
Einstein working at a messy desk EnTeam games are set up with multiple routes to the answer. Rather than a traditional lecture-based classroom format, EnTeam measures cooperation in collaborative games. Open-ended questions are asked of students that force them to innovate, strategize, assess their progress, and then try again. Here are some simple [...]