Gamifying My Classroom

Over the past few weeks, I have tried something new in my classroom...gamification.  Gamification has been that big scary concept I had read about and heard about at conferences, but I never thought I could successfully implement gaming into my classroom.  However, I was wrong.  A few weeks ago, I introduced Chore Wars to my high school students.

photo: flickr

Chore Wars is a gaming platform to earn experience points for completing household chores.  However, it can also be modified to work in a classroom with homework, discussion questions, classroom activities and extra enrichment activities.  I created this game for my high school Personal Finance classes.

I selected this game because it appeared to be a fun, engaging, and interactive way to reward students for completing their work and encouraging them to do extra enrichment activities.  I did consider other gaming platforms, like Classcraft and ClassBages, but Chore Wars was more interactive for the students.

How do you play?

For students to get access to my "Chore Wars Party," I shared a link with them and they created an account.  Once students created their account, they were able to see all the of adventures I had created for them to complete.  To further entice interest, the students were able to see the other students they were competing against in the class.  

The Dungeon Master (teacher) creates different "adventures" or tasks for students, the Apprentices, to complete.  I included daily homework assignments, as well as extra enrichment activities, such as tutoring a classmate, reading a financial article in the Wall Street Journal, and teaching elementary students how to count money during their study halls.  As the Dungeon Master, I was able to name the adventure and determine how many experience points to reward.  I based the experience points on how challenging and time consuming the task would be for the student to complete.  The more involved and difficult the task, the more experience points were awarded.  Students leveled up based on the number of experience points earned and as tasks were successfully completed and mastered. 

Two amusing and entertaining aspects of this game were the chance of receiving a "treasure" and the possibility of stumbling across a "wandering monster" while attempting to complete a task.  A "treasure" could be receiving a piece of candy, eliminating three questions from a homework assignment, or having five minutes of cell phone usage at the end of the class period.  But "wandering monsters," such as a troll, wolverine, one-legged pirate or giant rat, could create havoc by causing injury to the player or by reducing the amount of gold pieces received for completing a task.  However, encountering a wandering monster would not take away the experience points the student earned.  I created and controlled this adventure by entering the percentage of students who would receive a treasure.  This game was further tailored by designating a specific number of gold pieces or listing a range of gold pieces for the treasure.     

Players and the Dungeon Master could see how they compared to the others that were playing the game on the leader board.  Players could see how many experience points other players had and other items they had in inventory, such as gold pieces and treasure.  

There are different views for the leader board.  When first logging into the portal, students can view the experience points they have earned that week compared to other students.  The second way to view the leader board is to view your "party."  It will list every student within the party, their level, character type, and experience points.  The final way to analyze the leader board is to click on an individual student and it will summarize their statistics of experience points, gold pieces, and treasures they might have received.  This view will also display the students' strength, constitution, dexterity, charisma, intelligence, and wisdom points.  

Leader board #1

Leader board #2

Leader board #3

Students could exchange gold pieces for rewards in the real world. For example, students might redeem 400 experience points to eliminate three questions for a homework assignment.

How did my students react?

They students' reactions to Chore Wars were mixed.  Some students stated they really liked the idea of Chore Wars.  They enjoyed receiving in-class rewards and experience points for the work they completed.  Their favorite part was encountering the wandering monsters.  However, other students thought it was too elementary for them.  They stated it was a good idea, but they couldn't really get into the game.  Through their feedback, it was suggested I try Chore Wars with my middle school students instead of high school, which I plan to do next semester.    

One thing I did not like about Chore Wars was that students were on the honor system as far as claiming their adventures.  A few of the students did not actually complete the tasks they were claiming experience points for.   

Have you gamified your classroom?  What platform are you using?  What advice do you have for educators just starting to gamify their classrooms?

Makerspaces

A month ago, I attended ITEC 2015.  It was an exceptional conference where I was able to collaborate with educators in my field and see the latest technology trends in education.  My big take away from the conference was makerspaces.  After reporting back to my building administrators, I'm excited to say we are in the beginning stages of creating our own makerspace.  

What is a Makerspace?  A makerspace is an interactive area for students to be create, ticker, invent, learn, and explore STEM topics.  I was intrigued with this idea because of the critical thinking and problem solving skills students would demonstrate.  Using the makerspace, students are the content creators instead of content consumers.  Some projects include technology, while other projects require little to no technology.  Some makerspaces have 3D printers, EV3, Sphero, Cubelets, Dash, and MakeyMakey.  Other makerspaces utilize Legos, marble and cardboard challenges.      

Below are two resources obtained at ITEC to learn more about makerspaces.

• Makerspace.com is an excellent resource for setting up a makerspace, brainstorming project ideas, and gleaning tips from the pros.   
• Diana Rendina's blog is a well rounded foundation with many makerspace resources.

Does your district have a makerspace?  If so, what are some of the projects you have done?  What have the students created?  What resources do you recommend?  Please share your thoughts below.

What I Learned from Gaming

I would like to start off my saying I am not a gamer...or should I say was not a gamer.  That all changed two weeks ago.  For an assignment, I was asked to play Kingdom Rush and analyze how it compares to the process of learning, especially for students.  At first I was a little unsure of the assignment, but I kept an open-mind during the process.  The results surprised me. 

First, I was surprised at the overall learning experience of the game.  In Kingdom Rush, you build towers and place knights/wizards along the road to kill the "bad guys" so they cannot pass.  As with any learning experience, you have a phase of frustration.  I was SOOO frustrated at time, especially when it took multiple times to pass a level.  However, I used my failures as a learning opportunity to prepare me for the next battle.  This directly correlates with classroom experiences.  Students get frustrated when they don't understand material, but its using those mistakes to better prepare you for your future learning experiences.     

Another surprise I had was experiencing flow, which is the state of mind when you loose track of time because you are so involved and engaged with the task at hand.  One night I started playing Kingdom Rush with the intent of stopping about 45 minutes later.  However, when I looked at my clock, almost two hours had passed.  Relating this to students, if they can reach "flow" in their studies, they will be so engaged they don't even realize it.  Through this gaming assignment, I am going to look deeper into educational games, like Minecraft Edu, and possibly implement it second semester.  

Successfully completing each level took problem solving and critical thinking.  Each level was progressively more challenging and it required me to think strategically.  When I did not successfully pass a level, I had to determine what was wrong with my knight and tower placements and if I needed a different combination of each.            

At the time of this posting, I am on level 15.

Finally, I was generally excited and encouraged to continue on the quest when I passed a level.  After I passed a level, I wanted to continue leveling up.  This is another reason I want to investigate gaming in education.  Wouldn't it be amazing if students wanted to "level up" in the classroom?!

Kingdom Rush has been an extremely fun and addicting game to play.  When I was first given the assignment, I intended to complete only the minimum hours required.  However, I completed those hours in the first day and have continued to play in my spare time.

Are you gaming in your classroom?  If so, what are you using?  Has it been effective?

App Smashing

This week, I experimented with App Smashing.  App Smashing is the process of taking multiple apps and using them together to create a final project.

I used several apps to create this project.  First, I located pictures previously uploaded to my Facebook account and then saved them to my camera roll.  Next, those pictures on my camera roll were used to create picture collages in PicCollage.  After saving the collages to my camera roll, I was ready to use Tellagmi to share my story.  I created an avatar and recorded the audio of my story.  Using the collages made earlier in PicCollage, I inserted the collages as my background in Tellagmi.  Once I recorded the audio with my avatar and background, I saved the video clip to my camera roll.  The next step was to piece the seven video clips together.  For this task, I imported all the video clips into iMovie.  I arranged the clips in the correct order and trimmed some of the clips to the desired length.  After completing that step, I then saved the finished iMovie to my camera roll.  The final step in this app smashing project, was to upload it to YouTube.    

This was a fun learning process for me.  I can't wait to have my junior high technology classes experiment with app smashing in the future.

If you are App Smashing in your classroom, what are you doing?  What are your favorite apps or combination of apps to use?

Using Social Media in the Classroom

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay.  Undoubtedly, I am more connected to friends and family than I would be without the use of social media.  So, how is it changing education?  Is it changing the learning environment?    

Social media is impacting the learning environment of today's students and teachers.  Learning does not and should not solely take place within the four walls of a classroom.

Social media is changing the learning environment for me, as a teacher, through professional development.  Social media, especially Twitter, allows me to have meaningful professional development with colleagues all over the world.  I have access to relevant information 24/7 and I can pose questions to individuals in my Professional Learning Network.  Teachers can also follow hashtags, lists, and participate in tweet hours.  Social media has also changed the cost of professional development for school districts.  Using Twitter, teachers do not need to be physically present for PD trainings.  While teachers still do attend some conferences in person, school districts have been able to reduce the cost of PD.  The book, Social Media for Educators: Strategies and Best Practices, emphasizes that teachers need to play an active role and not just be an observer if social media is going to be meaningful to them.  The book also states, "The impact of social media is dependent on the network of individuals you develop" (Joosten, p. 17, 2012).  In school districts, social media is available for educators to connect with others in the same field and to develop a high quality of skills needed in the educational field.

Students are also engaged when it comes to technology.  We, as educators, should harness their interests and engage students by using social media in the classroom.  I recently read an article, My Favorite Teachers Use Social Media: A Student Perspective, and the last paragraph really struck me, "I hope that educators will consider experimenting more with technology and social media in their classrooms in a way that will be intellectually challenging to students.  Believe me, your students will appreciate it, even if not every attempt is successful." - Katie Benmar.

Katie makes a good point.  I think some teachers don't utilize technology and social media in their classrooms because they don't know if it will be successful, they don't feel comfortable with their knowledge base of the technology/tool, or they have fear of cyber bullying and privacy concerns.  The fact is, social media is not going away anytime soon.  I would rather incorporate social media into my classroom and teach students how to be responsible users (digital citizenship) than to ban it out of fear of the "what if's."  I ask my students to try new things all the time, so I also must be willing to step outside my comfort zone and try new things as well.

About two weeks ago, I incorporated Twitter into my classroom for the first time.  The response was not what I was anticipating.  The previous day, we were discussing SMART goals in terms of setting financial goals.  I asked them to send me a tweet - What does the acronym SMART stand for?  Some students immediately pulled out their phones and sent the tweet, but other students were hesitant.  When I asked why, they stated they didn't want their friends to see it on their Twitter feed or they were worried it was the incorrect answer.  I told them not to worry about the answer since it was more of an experiment for me.  A few students were still hesitant and even stated "other teachers don't make us tweet to them."  Despite the reluctance and protests, it was a good trial run.  The more I incorporate Twitter into weekly or daily lessons, students will become more comfortable with the idea.            

Vicki Davis posted A Guidebook for Social Media in the Classroom and some ways teachers are using social media in their classrooms.  I would love to hear from you.  What social media are you using in your classroom?  How are you using it?  Have you found it to be successful?  

Photo: flickr.com 

Google Classroom...The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Plain and simple, Google Classroom has been my lifesaver this year.  I am new to Classroom but I am highly impressed with this platform and how easy it has been to incorporate into my classes.  I am learning more about Classroom everyday by following Alice Keeler's blog.  

As I stated, I am new to Classroom, but I would like to share how I have been using it in the first month of school.  

• Announcements: Classroom has a stream page where teachers and students (if you give them access) can post announcements.  I post when projects are due, upcoming tests, or any changes students might need to know.

• Post Resources: Before Classroom, I would email or post resources on my website.  That was fine, but students would forget to look on my website, state it wasn't there, or not find it in a timely manner.  With Classroom, I have one central location for students to look.  Ideally, I want students to check my Classroom everyday for assignments, resources, and announcements, but Classroom is relatively new for them as well. I'm sure in another month, it will be second nature for them to check it daily.

• Works with Google Drive: We have been a 1:1 school for almost 2 years, so I have most assignments in a digital format.  I can browse and attach anything in my Drive (Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.) to an assignment or announcement to share with students. 
• Assignments: I post most of my assignments in Classroom.  Students log into Classroom, find the assignment, open and complete the work, then turn it in.  I love the "turn in" feature in Classroom.  When a student is done with their assignment, they click the "turn in" button.  The assignment will automatically go to a folder within my Google Drive.  Before I used Classroom, I would share a Google Doc with students, they would make a copy, and share it back to me.  While that method worked, I would receive an additional 50 emails from my students that day.  Now, I do not receive those emails and I can quickly see how many students are done vs not done by going to that assignment in Classroom.  The one thing you need to remember when adding an assignment is what kind of viewing/editing privileges you are giving the students. 

• Post discussion questions: First, you can elect three different settings as far as student response.  1) They can post and comment within Google Classroom, 2) they can comment on a teacher's post, but can't create their own post, or 3) only the teacher can comment and post.  I allow my students to post and comment, because I want this to be a communication board.  
• Makes it easier when I'm gone: This past week I had my wisdom teeth removed and took a few days off.  Preparing for a sub has never been easier.  I loaded the assignments, descriptions, and resources into each class and set the due date.  If the students had any questions, they would comment on the assignment or create a post.  I would then receive an email notification if someone would comment/post, and I would be able to log in and help the students. 
• Makes it easier when students are gone: When students ask, "I was gone yesterday, what did I miss?"  The answer is usually, "Look in Classroom."  Ideally, I would like to get to the point when a student is absent, they automatically go to Classroom and complete any assignment that might be posted.  That way, when they return, they are not behind. (I know....probably not going to happen, but I can dream, right?)  
• Organization: I love how Classroom keeps me organized. Everything is in one centralized location. 

If you are new to Classroom, it only takes a few minutes to set up.  Here is a short video overview of Google Classroom.

Alice Keeler has an amazing blog on Google Classroom.  If you would like to learn more about Classroom, her blog is a great starting point.   

If you aren't using Google Classroom, I highly recommend you try it.  Here are 10 Things to Start with in Google Classroom.

Since I am relatively new to Google Classroom, I would love to hear how you are using it in your classroom.  How are you using it?  What have been your successes and failures?  What should I try next in Classroom?

Welcome to my new blog!

I will be using this blog to document my learning journey through UNI's Instructional Technology master's program.  I graduated from UNI in 2011 with a degree in business education.  Currently, I teach 5-12 business and technology at Coon Rapids-Bayard.