Games, Games, Games- Modeling games!

I loved the Hestenes "Modeling games in the Newtonian World" article. It is exactly how I see teaching my students. Making modeling into a "game" or a problem to solve engages students and gets them thinking critically. I want my students to not just learn biology but also learn how to be an independent thinker. This is much more important to me than a student just memorizing facts. I want my students to take the techniques I teach and apply them for the rest of their lives, not just while they are in my classroom. I think the article exemplifies this. They state in the conclusion that students are wasting their time playing the wrong game, I couldn't agree more! "They think the game is to collect facts and memorize procedures." That is how physics is taught the lazy way. A real teacher will get students to discover how the real physical world works and grab their attention by how intriguing how the world works. This article is all about model centered instruction. I want my classes to model every single day, if possible.   Another topic this article discusses, is making the models individualized. Each student needs to make it their own. This has so many benefits! I love the idea of model-centered instruction and am very happy that this is the direction science education is heading. I also love making everything into a game. Especially for younger students. Nothing is more exciting than teaching students a game that is actually teaching them important concepts. Even though the article was specific to physics I can see applying it to any topic and look forward to trying it in my future classrooms.