The Value of Play and Experiential Learning with John Beale

Your students inherently understand play. Engaging in hands-on learning and gamification is a natural way to discover, learn, and retain information for learning, regardless of age. CERTIFIED Ambassador, John, sees that in his classroom every day. 

John Beale began his educational career working in museums including the Spanish Colonial Quarter, the Florida Agriculture Museum, and the Florida Maritime Museum. After more than a decade in experiential education he brought his experiences to the classroom, first at middle school level teaching science and STEM marine science before finding his place at Allen D. Nease High School in St John's County, Florida, teaching Introduction to Engineering and Design, Civil Engineering and Architecture, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing and sponsoring the Transportation Technology Club with a focus on Aerospace and Electrathon motorsports. He believes that industry certification creates a solid pathway to college, careers, and creativity and that collaboration and cooperation in and out of the classroom benefits all involved.

In today’s episode, John shares why it’s so important for educators to focus on play. However, it’s not just play for play’s sake. He teaches how you can make your learning objectives and assignments more playful and hands-on, helping drive student engagement and buy-in. You’ll love John’s practical advice for making your classroom more engaging and playful. 

Looking for more? Here are some additional resources to get you started. 

Bring play into the classroom with one of John’s go-to tools: https://www.blooket.com/. 

Learn more from the Harvard study John mentioned, “A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools”: https://pz.harvard.edu/resources/pedagogy-of-play-book.

Get other ideas for your classroom on our blog: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/blog. 

Connect with your fellow educators, like John, in our CERTIFIED Educator Community here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8958289/.

Don't miss your chance to register for our annual CERTIFIED Educator's Conference at https://certified.certiport.com/.