Raise your hand if you’d like to create a “picture-perfect” classroom—a place where your students are engaged and responding eagerly. A place where you hear the “Oh, man! We have to clean up already?” comments when your students just want to keep going. Can this classroom truly exist in today’s high-tech, fast-paced world?

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While the “picture-perfect” classroom may seem like more of a dream than a reality, it is certainly not impossible. At the end of each day, teachers want to feel confident that their students are going home with a sense of wonder and accomplishment. Educational games—desktop computers and tablets included—provide effective teaching tools that can motivate students and captivate their interests to foster this environment.

So, how do you get started?

1. Begin by personalizing the relationships with students.
Establish personal connections and build a strong rapport with your students at the start. From the moment Kaylee walks into the room, acknowledge her with a high five and a “Good morning.” Spend time in small groups to ask Tommy and Stephen, who play together at recess, what they spend their time doing at home. Plop down next to Sheila, who never speaks up in class, and find out what excites her. Personalizing relationships with your students from the start sets a positive tone, sets expectations, and helps them feel connected. After all, kids are more absorbed in the material if the classroom culture is welcoming and expectations are clear.

How does this impact e-gaming?
Educational gaming personalizes the learning environment for your students. It does this by offering approaches that will not only meet their learning styles, but also their individual interests as well.

2.  Incorporate objectives faithfully.
When planning a game-based learning lesson, teachers must adhere to learning objectives and goals. “Playing video games to learn” sounds like fun to anyone, but administrators and parents will only buy into it if the games are intentionally aligned to the curriculum.

How does this impact e-gaming?
According to nonprofit research firm SRI International, children are 90 percent more engaged when they are actively participating in an activity, as compared to simply reading. Educational games increase active engagement in the lesson. E-gaming ties the skills to their keenest interests, which, in turn, initiates digging further into an interest without being told to do so.

3. Avoid reinventing the wheel.
While teachers often come up with their own creative ways to integrate technology into lesson plans, online resources such as Submrge, Graphite, Edshelf and Edutopia provide inspiration for teachers. Resources like these are dedicated to empowering teachers with helpful hints, imaginative ideas, and lesson plans to ignite student learning without reinventing the wheel.

How does this impact e-gaming?
Today’s tech-savvy kids will be more engaged through digital-learning technologies. Using readily available resources will allot you more time to integrate the standards into your day. 

4. Organize small group stations.
Just as there are many philosophies in education, there are differing opinions about small group instruction, as well. However, if specific expectations are established from the beginning, you’ll avoid a classroom management nightmare.

How does this impact e-gaming?
Placing students in small groups enables you to adjust gradually to the use of e-gaming in the classroom. Begin with three to four stations, depending on your class size, focusing at least one of those stations on using digital learning tools.

Suggested stations include:
Station 1: Teacher instructed– Personalized learning enables teachers to key in on learning styles.
Station 2: Technology integration – Skill-based programs on a tablet or computer.
Station 3: Independent study – Students work independently to accomplish a task.
Station 4: Small group collaboration – Students collaborate to complete tasks.

Overwhelmed yet? Start small.
Since you’ve read this far, you’re already interested in enriching your curriculum with digital learning. While it may seem overwhelming at first, feel free to start small. Providing your students with just a few minutes of digital learning and increasing the amount each day channels their energies and personalizes their learning. With practice and patience, your students will be performing like critical thinkers and problem solvers in no time at all.

Lindsey Hill is a two-time Elementary Teacher of the Year honoree and veteran teacher of 14 years. As the lead for reading engagement innovation at Evanced Solutions, LLC, she explores current trends in reading innovation to aid in the development of solutions that increase reading proficiencies among our youth. By spending time with parents, teachers, librarians and students in and out of elementary classrooms, Lindsey is able to demonstrate how kids can embrace their interests to learn and read proficiently.