Start Gamifying Your Classroom Today!
Hello All!
It seems surreal that I am sitting here typing my very first blog! I’m excited and nervous to say the very least, but I think what I have to share is valuable, so here I go! Thank you for joining me on this ride. I hope to share information, strategies, and methods that have helped me transform my classroom into a place of epic student growth. I hope you find inspiration here to revolutionize your lessons and your classrooms as well.
I came to gamification on accident. I am a middle school teacher, so I work with kids who are 11-13 years old. Although these kids are concentrated awesomeness, impulse control is at an all time low and fun is a huge priority. Middle schoolers need to move, and I have found that multiple short activities work best with this age group. I remember watching a study hall one day. One student was working on homework, the other twenty three were playing games on their chromebooks. And that’s when I had my first big idea. When given the choice, middle schoolers would rather play games than do work. I mean, who can blame them? Right then and there, I knew that I needed to tap into playing games, or making lessons feel like games if I wanted students to fully engage. If I could disguise learning so that it felt like play, my students would be unstoppable! It was also an effective way to get those hard to reach kids. Increasing engagement, especially with the kids who may not excel in the academic setting, is a huge part of academic growth.
That first big idea set a plan in motion in my mind. I had a thought that kept buzzing in the back of my brain each time I wrote lesson plans. Then, about a year ago, I finally listened and brought my idea to fruition. It was the end of the winter; it was always grey and we had been inside for what seemed like forever. My lessons felt like they were stuck in a rut, and I needed to spice them up. If I was bored with my lessons, how were these lessons supposed to inspire and engage my students? I pulled out a unit that was about 2 months down the line and I decided to make a game out of it. That was the moment that Dragon Quest was born!
I pulled apart the unit and asked myself what needed to be there. I went back to my essential questions and the standards. I peeled back the layers and kept what was at the root of the unit. I knew I wanted the unit to play like a game. That meant I wasn’t going to stand in front of the room and lecture, I needed kids to drive their own instruction. It needed to be differentiated, so kids could move at their own pace; we know that’s the best way to ensure learning for all learners. I knew from my child’s homeschool program that there is a benefit to requiring students to succeed before moving them on to the next lesson, so I wanted to include that piece in my unit. I needed a way to encourage attendance. I wanted to engage the students who didn’t see the value in school - if I could get them, it would be a huge win. The path from start to finish couldn’t be linear, because there was no “game” in that, so I included some pitfalls. I understood, however, that these pitfalls couldn’t crush my young scholars, so they had to be easily overcome. There had to be some reason for students to finish the unit, so I built in bragging rights and a winner’s certificate. I also built in some Social Emotional Learning pieces because there is never a bad time to help adolescents learn to manage social situations and emotions. It took me two months of planning and prep work, but at the end, I had a comprehensive game that incorporated all of this…but would the kids like it, and would they LEARN?
Don’t take it from me, here is some anonymous feedback I got from my students:
“My favorite part of French this year was Dragon Quest.”
“Dragon Quest is so fun!”
*with tears in eyes* “I’ve never gotten a 90 before!” (Ok, this one wasn’t anonymous)
“Dragon Quest is the reason I came to school.”
Those words are powerful. I knew students liked it because they would actually RUN to class every day. Every single student participated - 100% engagement. I knew it worked because not only did they learn, they learned the material in Dragon Quest better than anything else I taught last year. Gaming in class works. Period.
As I headed into summer, I presented Dragon Quest at a professional summit, and I knew I was on to something huge in education. This one unit had changed the way I wanted to teach moving forward. I sat down last summer and gamified my entire curriculum. I am still teaching the same content, but the method is updated. TRUTH BOMB: my students have learned and achieved more than any other year in my 24 year career. Gamification is such a powerful teaching methodology that I am hooked and I’m ready to share what I have learned and my materials with anyone who is interested in seeing huge amounts of engagement and growth in their students. Something this good shouldn’t be kept secret. It’s time to revolutionize teaching!
It wasn’t until a few months ago that I heard people mentioning “gamification” with regard to teaching. A little research showed me that it’s actually a thing, and it is super effective for a multitude of reasons. It engages the adolescent mind in so many different ways. It feels so wonderful to circulate in a class of engaged learners instead of standing in front of the room, in front of the board, lecturing bored students. But more on that research to come in my future blogs. You won’t have to take my word for it, I will share the facts too!
As we hunker down into the final stretch of the academic year, I’m actually excited to go back through my curriculum and make adjustments to what was great curriculum, in order to make it outstanding curriculum. I’m excited to see how far my students can climb. I’m so inspired to be in love with my lessons again. I truly have the best job in the world!
And now that I have a platform, I’m happy to share my wins, my losses, my materials, and what I have learned with all of you. Please join me next week for the official launch of this blog, myTPT store, and of course my Facebook page and Facebook group. Get ready to love your lessons and Game On!
