Manzanas con Manzanas

Describe the last time that you were "in the flow" and lost track of time, wanted to keep going, and felt engaged in something related to education or learning?

I have pondered this question for a few days now.  I keep thinking, "When was the last time I felt engaged..."

Statistics?  Nope.  More like bored to tears copying definitions from the Power Point slides.

CORE?  Double nope.  Every day is class discussion dominated by 10%-15% of the students.

Health?  The class where I catch up on work from other classes?  Nope.

...and so my thoughts went.

I did eventually think about my study abroad experience in Mexico.  While I'm sure several cases of engagement have actually occurred between June and now, I liked this example best.Throughout my month-long class, my not-so-favorite teacher, Sylvia, tried to keep our attention in many ways that did not work in the least bit.  There are only so many grammar activities one can gain from in a 3.5 hour class (especially when everything was a review from not only my college advanced grammar course, but high school Spanish as well.)  What really made a lasting impression on me was when Sylvia would let us play Manzanas con Manzanas or Apples to Apples.  My classmates and I picked up so much new vocabulary by playing this game and would throw around our new words in our free-time.  I was engaged with the competitive aspect of the game itself as well as trying to remember what all the new words meant so I could strategically play the right cards at the right time.  I always seemed to loose track during Manzanas con Manzanas time and the game never seemed to last long enough compared to the endless grammar exercises.

My theory: college professors ought to go speak with the professors in the education department for a lesson in keeping students engaged.