Games: Laina Yoakum

 I watched the "Games as Assessment" video, and I have had some experience with this in younger classrooms. As I go through my college experience, I learn more every day that children, especially young children, learn and interact better with engaging, seemingly fun activities. When children can play games and make learning fun, they are more likely to want to do it. 

A lot of what I do at younger levels is play-based learning, and children can engage with different domains of learning through play. This includes science, mathematics, English, social studies, and social-emotional learning. I think it is not only a good way to explore children's knowledge, but also enjoyable for them. This can create an environment where children want to learn, are excited to learn, and show off their skills. In most preschools I have been in, teachers often use informal assessment through play and use their observations to record what children know, what they discover, and what ideas they need to work on. This is a better vision than children sitting at a desk, feeling stressed or anxious about knowing or not knowing the right answer, or even being timed during testing.