Fun Theory
From the desk of Leigh Ann . . .
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
Volkswagen has a campaign entitled The Fun Theory. It is dedicated to the thought that “something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.” One example of the theory at work shows how a group transformed stairs into a giant electric piano. Their goal was to promote movement and encourage commuters to take the steps rather than the escalator – thus getting more exercise. Their musical stairway worked, and as the smiling commuters danced their way up the stairs, they had fun moving and burning more calories than simply standing on the escalator.
http://www.thefuntheory.com/award-entries
It is no surprise that fun is motivating, so maybe we need to apply the Fun Theory to our classrooms. Our ideas don’t have to be as fancy as the ones on the website, but we can use fun to change some simple classroom behaviors for the better.
What are you constantly reminding your students about? Simple things like:
- Not putting names on assignments
- Forgetting homework
- Careless mistakes
- Moving safely in the halls
- Taking care of supplies
- Excessive chatting
- Promoting healthy choices (nutrition and exercise)
- Keeping the room clean
- Unkind words
Together with your students choose a problem on which to focus. Brainstorm and ask the children to take ownership of the issue. Break up into groups and challenge them to devise numerous Fun-Theory solutions to the problem. Encourage the students to be imaginative and come up with three or four promising solutions. Discuss and demonstrate how they might work and then come to a consensus about which you will put into practice. Try out the solution and then reflect on the results.
Challenging our students to take ownership of problems and encouraging them to come up with fun solutions inspires curiosity, stimulates social awareness, and builds personal resiliency. if an idea doesn’t work, refine it. Learning is fun if errors don’t feel like failures. When children are involved in fun exploration and discovery, they are engaged, enthusiastic, and motivated. They are powerful young people who are capable of using their senses to take in information, process it, make discoveries, solve problems, reflect on outcomes, and build knowledge from their findings. Taking ownership of classroom and school issues empowers our students and the new knowledge they gain from problem solving leads to further action and the confidence to take on new challenges. Like Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”