A recent cohort of Rutgers Alternate Route teachers designed low-tech classroom games aimed at stimulating student memory retention. These games use exciting and entertaining review formats to encourage information recall. Free for all to access, these games come with instructions and images for easy adaptation for all subjects and grade levels.

For students to excel on assessments weeks or months removed from the lesson, it's important that teachers shift from short-term memory tactics and find ways to make what they teach stick. In addition to preparing well-planned engaging lessons, teachers must also consistently invest time into strengthening students’ information recall ability. Games can help with this.

Let's face it; everyone loves to win. Everyone also enjoys fun. So why not introduce those two elements into the classroom experience with games? The magic of games in learning comes from their ability to engage, challenge, and reinforce previously taught skills and content. For this reason, they cannot be dismissed as time-wasting diversions from precious learning time. Games are not just about fun; they help teachers build connections between the rigors of learning and the satisfaction of achievement, while also reducing forgetting.

For students to excel on assessments weeks or months after a related lesson has been taught, it's important that teachers shift from short-term memory tactics and find ways to make what they teach stick. In addition to preparing well-planned engaging lessons, teachers must also consistently invest time into strengthening students’ information recall ability. Games can help with this.

There is no shortage of research examining the importance of having a racially diverse workforce in schools. The results of countless studies showing social and academic gains for students taught by teachers from diverse backgrounds have compelled districts nationally to intentionally recruit more Black, Hispanic and Asian teacher candidates. But what does the research say about male teachers in schools--specifically those like Miguel who teach at the elementary level?