Teach Like It's A Video Game

   "I am so bad at art", "I can't draw", "I hate math", "I hope he makes the test easy." Over and over we hear these quotes and others from our students. They said these comments in grade 1 and they continue it throughout the rest of their schooling years. They cling on to what they are good at and shy away from things they are less confident in. It's like a kid who never progresses away from the dribbling drills in soccer learned at age 5 into more complex skills because he doesn't have confidence to pass or shoot. Last time I checked, kids at age 15 don't aspire to stand in one spot on the soccer field dribbling on their own. Then why do we as teachers not do more to rid these fixed mindsets in a classroom? 
    Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset, states that we have one of two common mindsets, fixed and growth. The fixed mindset does not take risks, cares about extrinsic outcomes and consequences and simply does not grow because they don't challenge themselves. Conversely, the growth mindset constantly take risks. They set goals with the intent to overcome them and LEARN. 
    However, the funny thing is that these fixed minded students aren't fixed at home. Whether we like it or not, many of our students go home and play video games. Actually, these kids think all day about the video game they will play when they go home after school. They think about how they will defeat the next level of Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. They don't think about going home to beat level 1 for the 400th time. They willingly take the challenge to take on the next level knowing they may get defeated. They are exhibiting the growth mindset. So, in their favourite activity these seemingly fixed mindset students are showing growth. 
    When is the last time you watched a kid play a video game? Did they know you were in the room? The answer is probably no! Why? Because they were so intrinsically engaged that they couldn't take their eyes off the task. They didn't need someone to tell them when to begin and stop or when to go left or right. They figured it out on their own. See, when they are engaged they shape their own learning.
    So, as educators, what can we take from the video game/child interaction? Well to begin, when playing their video game, these students are not merely compliant, attentive and connected, but rather they are impassioned. A classroom needs to provide this. An environment where students don't just connect with the curriculum but rather they connect in a way where what they are learning gives them satisfaction at a personal level. Here is why it is essential that your classroom meets the needs of all children. Let them ignite old flames and discover new passions. 
   With guidance and modelling, allow the students to weave their learning through the different levels of the curriculum. Allow them to choose the "dragon" which they must make a proposal on how to slay. Daniel Pink states that humans feel most engaged when they feel they are being intrinsically creative. So allow kids to see the learning outcomes in advance, make a proposal on how they will creatively defeat these outcomes, carry out their scheme to rule the world, share their progress, and then give them time to reflect on the effectiveness of all their steps in their conquering of their latest level.  So instead of standing at the front of the room and telling your students how to beat the evil Zurg, give your students autonomy. Show them trust and they will find their own method to defeat these rulers of evil empires. 
   As teachers we think daily of how to better the learning of all children we come into contact with. We create units, lessons and activities to make sure that our students are progressing along with the prescribed learning outcomes. But there are always students who just simply don't. To all, but especially these students, ask them these questions; "Are you as motivated to improve at school as you are to beat video games?"  "Why do you think learning to beat levels is different than learning at school?" "If school was run like a video game do you think you can win?" and finally "How would you win?" Allow students to delve into their video game passion, and they might just take down Godzilla!