One of the required ninth grade readings is THE ODYSSEY. Not all twenty-four books of it, of course. Those who determine selections in textbook anthologies tend to underestimate the endurance and curiosity of high school students. But that’s a rage for another day.

Homer’s epic poem, which consists of over 12,100 lines, covers the ten-year period following the Trojan War as the hero Odysseus makes his way home. Sly Odysseus was the one credited with the idea of using a huge wooden horse as a gift to the enemy, thus getting past Troy’s city gates. That night, the horse’s belly erupted, spilling Greek soldiers into Troy and wreaking destruction. (Hence the expression, “beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”)

So, sometime during the reading of the excerpted portion in our textbook, the inevitable question(s) arose, “When’s the test? Is this going to be on our exam? What do we need to know? Are we supposed to be able to spell all these names?”

And those were just from me. No, not really. But, I did have the I-gotta-assess-this-some-kinda-way blues. So, in my procrastination funk, I cruised one of my favorite teacher blogs, Eduholic by Emmet Rosenfeld. Emmet doesn’t know that I “met” him (online) during my National Board Certification crazy days. In the year since, I’ve followed Emmet’s blog because, well, I’m amused, challenged, and relieved by his teacher thrills and chills.

The teacher gods were with me that day because I stumbled upon Emmet’s “Play Odyssey” idea, and we were off to “Let the Games Begin”!  The kids formed groups with the end goal of creating a game that would incorporate specific literary terms, plots points, vocabulary from their reading.

For the past month, my twenty-three freshmen flung themselves into this idea with enthusiasm, intensity, and focus. What made my little teacher-heart go thumpty-thump was eavesdropping on their conversations, like how many times Athena really helped Odysseus, how many men did he lose when the Polyphemus started brain-bashing his men, and let’s use this vocabulary word because I think we need to know what this means, and don’t you remember the story started in media res?

I watched them give and take within their groups, working to sort out who did what best, pushing even the reluctant and the cynical to action.  The groups weren’t in competition against one another.  In fact, they helped each other by having a “play day” to test directions by playing their games.  

What was most remarkable to me is not one time during the past four weeks did anyone ask me about the grade for this project. Each group chose a different approach, based on their initial game-playing conversations. 

Enough of my blatherings. I wanted to share some of their reflections of the experience because I am incredibly proud of them and hope they are equally proud of their efforts. 

Taylor: “…this project was kind of crazy because this is English class, not the Parker Brother’s Game Class. I also felt a sort of relief because I knew that this was going to be fun.”

Amanda: “I learned you need to be patient with others.  I learned more about the Odyssey by doing this project because I was no longer confused.”

Hunter: “I learned how great something can turn out. . .

Hannah; “I feel accomplished. . .”

Samantha: “I learned more vocabulary. . .that I didn’t know before. I also learned that the Odyssey has a great lesson: to be loyal to the ones you love.”

Caitlyn: “I didn’t really understand the book, but if you have to make a game from a book, you have to learn the book.”

Katherine: “I learned if you’re going to try to lead a group, it’s extremely important to listen to the members’ complaints and ideas.”

Amy: “I learned that people who make the games must be really smart. . . “

Carson: “I learned directions have to be specific in order for people to understand every detail. I also learned about characters that I didn’t know of before.”

Allie: “You have to get along with your group to actually get something done.”

Matthew: “Everyone has to help for the project to be good.”

Nick: “. . .it helps you catch a few things you might have missed the first time reading it.”

Anne: “At first I didn’t want to do an Odyssey game. I thought it was going to be hard and boring. Now that it’s over, I enjoyed doing the game. It was fun, and it helped me understand the Odyssey better. I also learned. . . you have to put aside differences and work together. . .”

Joel: “Making games isn’t as easy as it looks.”

Loreal: “The game making helped me learn things I couldn’t understand from the book because as you made the parts, you learned the material.”

Ashley: “Making a game fun, yet educational can be tricky.”

Carley: “Before the game, I didn’t really pay attention to character names and vocabulary. After, I was forced to pay attention and think about what I was typing.”

Alyssa: “I learned that working on a project with people. . .is a very hard thing. . .”

Andrew: “”It turned out to be a fun, but challenging experience. I went in with the attitude of this being easy, but it began getting harder when I realized all the information we had to put into our game. I learned a lot about the Odyssey that I didn’t realize before.”

Courtney: “I learned more about the Odyssey, of course, and that making games is hard, but rewarding work.”

Niko: “Surprisingly, we worked efficiently, and we finished early.”

Calette: “I learned the order of the Odyssey’s plot and all of the settings. I also learned how to write so that people can understand you better.”

Mrs. Allan: “I learned to not underestimate my students’ abilities to rise to the challenges set before them, and, sometimes, all I need to do is point them in the right direction, then get out of their way.”