Teacher Edition: Games and Younger ESL Learners feat. Jay Bernardo - 030

Dustin Staats Podcast Season 4 November 17, 2018

Teacher Edition- Episode 30: Games and Younger ESL Learners feat. Jay Bernardo!

Episode Overview

In this “Teacher Edition” episode of Board Gaming with English, Dustin and Rich talk to Jay Bernardo about how he has used games with his younger ESL learners. Jay uses game-based activities in his classes. He also uses some elements of gamification. Jay discusses some of his challenges and insights into incorporating these teaching techniques in his lessons. Jay is currently teaching in Taipei, Taiwan. He also runs a board game review website that reviews Asian board games called Cardboard East.
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CardboardEast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CardboardEast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CardboardEast-2056934307882574/
Read more about the episode and take a look at the games they talk about in this episode below.
Our new Facebook Group for Educators: Games-based Learning, Gamification, and Games in Education
Our new Facebook Group for English language learners: Using Board Games (and other Games) to Learn English
Thank you to Revolution Void for their wonderful contribution of a segment of their song “How Exciting” for our introduction. The song can be found in full on this music archive.
Thank you to Purple Planet Music for their song “Mumbai Mood” on our Desert Island Questionnaire Segment: http://www.purple-planet.com

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(Transcript coming soon- support our podcast and email us a transcript of episode 30)

Enter our Contest

Be sure to enter our contest to win Werewords (from Episode 11- Student Edition: Werewords). How can you enter?

Listen to the episode for the secret word.
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The contest will run from episodes 30 through 33. You can earn a total of 12 entries for the contest.

Episode Topics

Jay Bernardo

Jay is currently living and teaching ESL in Taipei, Taiwan. Jay is a writer, ESL teacher, web developer, amateur chef, and gamer. He is an avid board game player and uses some innovative ways of adding different gaming elements into the classroom.
Jay’s Desert Island Questionnaire: Mansions of Madness, Cyclades, and Netrunner

High-interaction Versus Learning

How do we know our students are learning? As teachers, we want our students to enjoy our lessons, but where do we draw the line between entertaining and teaching? In this episode, Jay, Dustin, and Rich discuss the effects of confidence and intrinsic motivation. Can games can be used as a tool to boost student confidence or create intrinsic motivation within our students? Be sure to listen to find out.

Tips for Using Games in Class: Classroom Management

Jay discusses how he has implemented games in his classes as an EFL instructor. He explores different classroom management styles based on different age groups. Jay says, “A lazy teacher is a good teacher.” Be sure to listen in to hear his explanation!
He also explains how to be a strict teacher and how to set guidelines in class. Having structure is one very important aspect of implementing games in class.

Speed Games!

Jay uses various speed games for his classes. This is one simple way to add an element of gamification to your lessons to increase engagement. We discuss Katie’s episode (Teacher Edition: ESL Puzzle Game for ESL Lessons or other Disciplines feat. Katie Sill – 028) and go back to using her puzzle as a timed game.
Jay also discusses a Japanese game that he transformed for his classroom. This game is all about organizing sentences in the correct order. Be sure to listen in to hear Jay’s explanation of the game.

Cardboard East

Rich asks Jay, “Is there any game from your review website (Cardboard East) that you would use in your class? Jay explains how really any game can be used to develop language. Be sure to check out his website for some awesome games designed in Asia.

Board Game Summer Class

Jay runs a board game class in the summer. This gives him a chance to experiment with different games in class. It also allows students to play and learn English in a less stressful setting.

Younger Learners and Following the Rules

Jay talks about how he introduces games step by step. He starts with very simple games and only introduces part of the game at a time. This helps students adjust and learn the rules of each particular game. However, keep one thing in mind – the learning and experience come above everything else, including the rules.

Using Games to Learn Chinese

Jay talks about the first game he bought in Taiwan, Dominion. It was the Chinese version, so he discusses how this game helped him learn some basic game mechanics in Chinese.

A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster

Dustin talks about Koster’s introduction of games as a form of art that provides feedback. Dustin, Rich, and Jay dive into this topic briefly in the episode. Be sure to listen in to hear more.

Purchase a Theory of Fun through our Amazon affiliate link and support our podcast!

Games in this Episode

Throughout the episode, Dustin, Rich, and Jay mention a few games. If any of these games sound like something you might enjoy playing yourself or in your class, you can help support our podcast by purchasing these games through our Amazon affiliate links. We will earn a small commission at no expense to you. Check out the games below: