Long-Term Planning

• Successful classroom simulations require extensive planning. Regardless of the grade that you teach, it is not a good idea to decide that you will do a simulation a day or two in advance of the actual activity. This is a definite drawback of classroom simulation, since it requires educators to spend a great deal more time on their lesson plans than they normally would. Furthermore, teachers who decide to plan a simulation must not let this interfere with the preparation of other short-term activities and lessons.
  
  

Cost

• The expense of running a simulation is one of the negative aspects of this type of activity. Depending on the type of simulation you would like to run in the classroom, there may be significant costs involved. In general, you should run a simulation only if you can make sure you will have all the resources you need. A poorly constructed simulation is hardly worth doing. Never start planning a simulation before you are certain you can pay for it.
  
  

Student Preparation

• Simulations are the culmination of previously learned material, and work best when students have been prepared in advance. Thus, running a simulation will probably not reduce the amount of material you must include in the lesson unit. A simulation goes above and beyond basic lesson plans and is not a substitute for lectures or student reading. A classroom simulation will probably extend the amount of time you spend on a particular topic. This can be a cause for concern if you already have a packed curriculum.
  
  

Student Initiative

• Simulations require a high degree of student initiative. For that reason, classroom simulations are better suited to older and more mature classrooms. Teachers need to evaluate their students' abilities before planning a simulation. If you have a class that requires a great deal of prompting and direction, a simulation would probably fail. Even if you do have a class that can handle a simulation, there will always be two or three students who will not take enough initiative to get anything out of the activity. This problem can be exacerbated if there are large gaps in ability among students.