Looking For An Engaging Way To Extend The Learning Of Struggling Students: Terry Ward
Terry Ward
Terry Ward, The Silver Sensation, is not only a leader of her district but also of the entire science community, serving as President of the Texas Science Education Leadership Association.
Terry met Legends of Learning in 2018 at the Metroplex Area Science Supervisors Big Event. She saw the benefits of game-based learning, but wanted to see data before adopting the program. “We are all about program evaluations, and without data to support the program, it doesn’t fly in our district.”
After conducting a short pilot program during testing season, Terry brought on Legends for Northwest’s middle schools. “We were looking for an engaging way to extend the learning for our struggling students.” Extension of learning outside the classroom has become a topic of discussion among Legends schools this spring, with many districts looking for distance-learning alternatives while planning for potential school closures.
Terry plans to collaborate with Legends to assess the impacts of the program after the 2020 testing season, but she is pleased with the impact on student learning so far: “One of our 8th grade teachers was so excited about Legends and how engaged his students were in the program. They were truly excited about science. Seeing one of our inclusion classes so engrossed in the games was amazing.”
Look for The Silver Sensation in the coming year at TSELA, CAST, and MASS Big!
