Request Trial / Register
The Civic Mirror is an amazing tool for students. Through the simulation, our class has not only learned more about our political system, but also about ourselves as students and citizens. It’s brought our class together and got us talking about important issues in our country and in our world and what we can do to change them. I would recommend this program to colleges everywhere.
Thank you so much for running the Civic Mirror Summer Institute the last two days. It was so helpful because it really let me experience the game before introducing it to my students. I had the opportunity to live through the excitement and engagement that are a part of playing Civic Mirror, and while doing so I was consistently thinking of ways to apply the program in my own classroom.
Exposure to civics‐related coursework is not enough to make more than a marginal difference for the vast majority of students. Far more important to predicting knowledge and discussion is whether students acquire a liking for the subject matter.
Civic gaming experiences are strongly related to civic engagement. Educators have a real opportunity to reach students through games. Building on the one‐third of teens who reported playing games as part of a class assignment, teachers might incorporate games with explicit civic content into their curriculum … Take full advantage of these possibilities!
The Civic Mirror simulation was quite possibly the most interesting educational activity that I’ve ever participated in. The trading, the real-life situations, the things that we accomplished, the arguments that we had and the conflicts we resolved. I feel this simulation really mirrors the world.
The Civic Mirror is the answer! My students are learning more as a class than ever before. They are learning faster and they are getting it and they are enjoying themselves! I have always felt that we learn best by doing. I finally found my solution: The Civic Mirror!
The Civic Mirror is almost magical in the way it weaves drama and intrigue with core curricula elements to generate excitement and anticipation in the classroom – for both teachers and students! It also challenges educators to rethink their roles and to re-conceive normative classroom structures.
I have never seen a classroom come so alive. It amazed me to see how much the allowance of freedom empowered my students … For the first time in my teaching career I witnessed students really questioning the world around them instead of blindly accepting what we had told them. Not only is The Civic Mirror a positive experience for students, but a necessary one.
My students are living out what they think a good government would be and seeing the problems that happen. I have parents calling me up telling me how much their kids are talking about what they are learning and how much fun they are having learning.
The Civic Mirror provided me with an incredible experience that years in school cannot teach about politics and economics. A straight-A student may have lots of knowledge, but I have the head start in the real world.
In simulations, students must apply what they have learned in a low-risk but real-life situation, which allows teachers to assess whether students have internalized information so that they can actually use it in their role as citizens.
The level of engagement in the class, the excitement about politics and government and the ease of teaching is extraordinary.
Endorsing Civic Mirror is the least I can do for all that you have done for me and our Native students. I love the teachable moments that come out of Civic Mirror that a book would never teach.
I liked how it wasn’t textbook work – it was more fun learning interactively – it gave us a real experience.
We now understand where our taxes go and how many things government has to consider when distributing the tax money.
It gave us ambition to learn – we needed to do our homework to run our country well!
We actually talked to our parents about political issues.
My students became physically and emotionally engaged in politics, law, economics, and leadership.
Communication and conflict resolution become key skills that are used every day.
Civic Mirror has been a springboard to better understand the issues and conflicts that arose in the past and in the world today.
I am so excited to have Civic Mirror be a part of the experience for our students. We have received nothing but extremely positive feedback from our past students who have participated in it.
During the last minutes of my 10th grade World History class, as students migrated to the door, I overheard a conversation between students about how great CM was, punctuated by “There ought to be a Civic Mirror class!” which drew several additional comments. That class was completely unrelated to CM, so that conversation was completely organic and speaks to the power of CM.
We are still playing the CM right now and the students LOVE it!!!! I have one who was a “not frequent” attendee prior to this game … and he’s been here every day since! And he’s even managed to be elected as our Prime Minister! It is a very interesting game … I wish we had a longer time to play it.
Talk about student engagement! The librarian served as auctioneer and only one student exceeded (by far!) his monetary allotment. I’m interjecting Civic Mirror into our study of government as it covers all the “boring content.” The kids are jazzed!
The Civic Mirror was as intense and engaging as the year-long Grade 6 epic soccer game.
Civic Mirror is a great way to learn how government and society works.
Civic Mirror has taught me to improve my writing skills so I could outwit anyone by writing a contract so I could easily win in court.
Students are engaged by simulations—and they learn more because they are so involved.
Simulations require students to use higher order thinking skills.
The culminating activity of a simulation often involves an audience, which motivates students to work hard and excel.
Being able to actually play the game and hear about your experiences and other teachers’ experiences using it in their classrooms was so valuable. I feel much more confident about using it with my students this year.
Thanks so much for all your work and creativity. You’re really helping to change education in this country.