Briefing

Mini lesson:
STEP 1: Connection (1-2 minutes) „You may have heard teachers telling task very easy to understand. This skill can easily learn if we follow the steps” STEP 2: Teach (3-6 minutes) A straightforward briefing is easily understood because it has a specific structure:

1. The context

2. The task

3. The rules

4. The tools

5. The questions

    

CONTEXT is the magnetic power that temptates the listener into the world of the game.

• It must be an offer or an invitation for the class of students • Should be funny and exiting • Make the class curious • The context should be explaining why they should be in the action

Bad example: „We will do fillet weld today…” Good example: " You can see a suspended bridge here. I’ll tell you a story where a welder… ""

THE TASK The second step is telling the class what to do exactly. It must be straightforward and simple. It should be no longer than one complete sentence. „You will have 10 minutes to write all the security settings necessary for TIG welding of suspended structures”

THE RULES The rules define the framework of the exercise. Rules will tell you the methods, protocols, timing and other boundaries when you proceed within the game. In the example above: You will have ten mintues, you can’t use internet, you need to write it down in the worksheets here, work in pairs etc…

THE TOOLS In this part, you will tell all the possible tools necessary to play. Sometimes this part seems obvious. Anyway, you tell it, name them all just to avoid confusion. Sometimes easier to define what not to use.

THE QUESTIONS Finally, you make sure that your message was completely conveyed to the class. Most of the teachers will fail to do it because they use one of the forms below:

• Are there any questions? (the answer will be silence for sure)
• Did you understand? (nobody dares to say no)
• Raise your hand if you do not understand (nobady raises hand)
• If you don’t get it never mind, ask me anytime! (sometimes it is too late to ask later on) So the right way to make sure that your message went through is to form a neutral question like this: Who has questions regarding to what we are going to do now? (and hold on for at least 10 seconds). In this way you do not assume anything on the mental capabilities of your learners, do not stigmatize them in no way. You are just asking them friendly to talk about their questions. And their questions will reveal that they have the same thing that you have in your mind or not.

STEP 3: Active Engagement (3- 6) improvising Ask someone to improvise a briefing based on randomly chosen topics. The improvising game is a short test that make the students memorize the five steps of a good briefing. In pairs one of them suggest a topic, then the other will respond a short improvised briefing. For example: Player A recommends: "fishing!" Player B (in reply, imitating standing in front of the class): "I and my old man want to go out for fishing with an aluminum dinghy tonight. We have this nice fishing set and two cans of beer. But we noticed that there are cracks in the bottom of the dinghy. We could establish the type of the material and the thickness too. (He shows the imaginary dinghy all around)

You will be the repairmen and you will have only forty minutes to fix it with these tools (showing them around) the materials are over there, and the safety stuff (shows them) are here. Only when you are secured you can start the repair. You will have an extra 5 minutes to plan how to do it, then we start the clock. Before you begin, you have to write down what welding process you will have chosen. Who has questions regarding your task?""

STEP 4: Link (3-6 minutes) Now you do the same with your exercises.

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CLOSING PART In the last 5 minutes everybody lists their own key learnings on designing games.