Succesful Learning Experiences

I am still not used to calling them learning experiences, but rather just lessons. One of my favorite was a World History lesson about the scramble for Africa at the turn of the 20th Century. My students were just not getting the concept imperialism. I made a giant grid on the floor of my classroom with masking tape that represented the continent of Africa. I chose 8 leaders from fictitous European countries and sent them out of the room tasked with equitably dividing up the grid with out actually seeing it. The rest of students were now African tribes people standing comfortably within their plot on the grid. They all named their tribe, created a motto and a symbol(most made flags). I gave them goods (candy) to trade with one another, but they were not allowed to eat any of it. Once all trades had been completed and every student had the candy they most wanted, I brought the European leaders back in, gave them a roll of different colored tape and told them to redraw the boundaries of Africa according to their conversation. I also added that they were allowed to do with the candy their native residents had accumulated as they please, and then the battle was on. In the end, like in real history, the European leaders walked away with fistfulls of candy while the natives had none. They were also now placed in different groups with students that they did not necessarily get along with (another part of my evil plan). I then gave the assignment of explaining what had happened and how it related to the real scramble 100+ years ago. The embittered natives were slightly bribed with the promise of retuened candy upon successful submission of a paper that identified who the fictitious leaders represented and who the natives were. Out of 67 students 100% of them turned in the paper on time and came in the next day filled with questions and ready for a very lively debate on the topic.
I feel that they got it and were inspired to follow up on their learning because most had been slighted by the lost candy, a the others felt a sense of guilt for taking what was not theirs (although that did not stop them from eating it without sharing). The personal impact as well as making the book come alive and history "feeling" real was very powerful. It also made teaching WWI and WWII more effective because the students could relate back to one f teh major causes.

"Think back to a successful learning experience you have designed - what made it successful? What was your role in creating that success?"