Name: Leveraging Games for Learning
Start: 2026-09-14T13:30:00-0400
End: 2026-09-14T14:30:00-0400

Monday September 14, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT

Session Description:
Learning doesn’t have to feel like work! Games can be a powerful tool for engaging students while building meaningful skills in a fun and motivating way. This session will explore how educators can use games to target self-advocacy, language development, and vocabulary within individual and small-group sessions.

Participants will discover practical strategies for turning familiar games and simple activities into purposeful learning opportunities. We will explore ways to adapt games to meet individual student needs, encourage communication and interaction, reinforce new vocabulary, and practice self-advocacy skills—all while keeping students engaged and having fun.

Walk away with ready-to-use game ideas, adaptations, and strategies that can easily be incorporated into sessions. Whether you are working with students individually or in a group, this session will help you transform game time into meaningful learning experiences that students will look forward to!

Session Abstract:
Games are more than just a way to have fun—they can be powerful tools for creating meaningful learning opportunities. This interactive session will explore how educators can use common games to support self-advocacy, language development, and vocabulary, while increasing student engagement and motivation.

Participants will learn practical strategies for transforming familiar games into purposeful learning activities that can be adapted to individual student needs and instructional goals. The session will highlight ways to incorporate games into individual and small-group sessions to encourage communication, build vocabulary, practice self-advocacy skills, and promote meaningful interactions.

Participants will have hands-on opportunities to explore common games, collaborate with colleagues, and brainstorm creative new ways to use them for instruction. Together, participants will discover how a simple game can be transformed into multiple learning opportunities with a little creativity and intentional planning.

Whether you are looking for fresh ideas to engage students or new ways to target specific skills, this session will provide practical, adaptable strategies to help make learning more fun, meaningful, and memorable.

Session Goals:

Identify ways to use common games to target self-advocacy, language development, and vocabulary.
Collaborate and create new ways to adapt familiar games into meaningful, goal-oriented learning activities that can be used in individual or small-group sessions.
Apply game-based learning strategies to increase student engagement, communication, and participation while making instructional sessions more fun and meaningful.

Speakers

Kim Yenerich

DHH Connections LLC

Kim Yenerich is a Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing located in Lafayette, IN. She graduated from Illinois State University in 2004 with a BS in Deaf Education. She has worked as an Itinerant Teacher for over 15 years. She also dabbled in First Steps for a few years as a Parent Advisor... Read More →

Monday September 14, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
502 East Event Centre 502 E Carmel Dr, Carmel, IN 46032, USA

BLV and DHH

INSAIL 2026

Kim Yenerich

Get help with the event

INSAIL 2026

Kim Yenerich

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