Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Nintendo Wii in Schools? Good or Bad?

I am doing some research on the Nintendo Wii in schools. As you may know, I teach PE two days a week at St. Mary Magdalen. We are working on our Cardiovascular Unit and just finished Jump Rope for Heart and Aerobic videos. While watching the kids following a (really bad) hip hop video I thought about Just Dance. Its a ton more fun and the coreography is 10 times better! So...I decided to bring the Wii in tomorrow for classes. Of course the kids couldn't be more excited! I'm now the best teacher EVER! But, should I continue to use the Wii more for sports and other games? Can I use it to incentivize the students to participate and behave well? I feel like I'm on to something, but as a parent, would you agree?

I have to say when it first came out I thought, "Nope...its still a video game and kids need to go out and play and get their eyes off the TV!" But then, my neice brought hers over one night and we all played Just Dance (even my dad)! We were sweating and I realized....this is a workout! I haven't played many other games on it, but I did change my mind a bit about it.

Here is one of the articles I found on the Wii in schools. Let me know what your thoughts are. Is the Wii appropriate in schools?


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