Trickster

I seem to be a better trickster outside the classroom than inside the classroom. There seems to be a natural way of teaching outside the classroom that is fun: the children don't know they are learning because the learning situations are orchestrated, planned to create interest and to meet that curiosity "need". I know it works in the classroom too, at least it did when I was teaching elementary. I had spent 6 weeks traditionally teaching a unit on mammals. I gave the test. No one passed. Back then Jeopardy was just a new television show but I decided that for 6 weeks I would keep a list of questions we had covered in class for the different subject categories. Every Friday we played Jeopardy. Students were in teams so that they could help each other with the answers but everyone was required to take a turn in answering. At the end of 6 weeks I retested the unit on mammals. Everyone passed and some excelled. Okay, it works in elementary. But something happens when I'm in the writing classroom: maybe its the pressures of having to write so many essays. Anyway I feel pressured, and many students don't look at writing as a fun activity or even a desirable one. How might I make writing a fun activity so that I might trick my students into learning? I guess this is the question I'm really asking as I write my seminar paper for this class.