Student Disengagement: Which Games Get Them Involved?
I’ve been thinking a lot about disengagement lately and the lack of interest I am seeing in many students. I teach English as a foreign language, in a private language school, in Greece.I’m trying to find simple games or activities that actually shift the energy in the room and get more students involved, especially the quieter ones.I do use things like Blooket or Kahoot, which definitely help, but I’m looking to go beyond that.Not things that just fill time, but things that genuinely pull students in.What are your go-to games or activities that work in practice and help tackle disengagement?
9 replies
Really interesting, Despoina, thank you for sharing this.I like the idea of giving students a real space to express opinions, especially when it connects to things that matter to them. That’s usually where engagement shifts. I can see how something like this would work well with more advanced students who are ready to go beyond just answering and actually start thinking and arguing.I’ll have a...
You can take Blooket, Gimkit, Wayground, etc and make them competitive within your class or across classes with a leaderboard. My students are competitive and enjoy the friendly competition with their peers across my 4 classes (World History)
Curipod - this is the one that I find gets the quiet students engaged time after timeYou can use it to deliver an entire lesson or just one activity. Students love to vote on each others contributions and because their names are not attached to the work it takes away, or at least, reduces, the fear of someone else seeing their work.
Thank you for this - efharisto in Greek :)Really appreciate the way you’ve framed it.That distinction makes a lot of sense and it actually made me pause and rethink what I’m doing. I can see how gamification can sometimes stay on the surface, while what you’re describing goes much deeper.The idea of students needing the language to succeed really stayed with me. That’s exactly the shift we’re...
Kia ora Fenia from New Zealand.I think one helpful distinction here is between gamification and game-based learning. Gamification adds game elements like points, rewards, and competition to existing tasks. That can definitely lift the energy, but sometimes it only changes the surface of the activity.Game-based learning, on the other hand, is where the learning happens through the game itself....
give me a shout if you have any questions. If you do decide to use it, I'd love to hear how it works for you
As I teach English as well in a Greek Private School, in Middle School and High School, I can easily relate to what you 're saying about disengagement. One platform I have found useful this year is Kialo.edu. It is an online debate platform and it has helped me motivate advanced speakers of English to express their opinions on topics of interest to people their age.
Really interesting, especially the anonymity part. That’s where I see a shift with quieter students too. When they’re not exposed straight away, they’re much more willing to contribute. And I like that you’re using it as part of the learning, not just as a tool to make things more fun. That’s the difference for me. I’ll have a closer look at this, thank you for sharing.
Yes, I agree, I do something similar. That friendly competition across classes really changes the dynamic. More students stay involved, not just the usual ones. Works well when it stays light and purposeful.