Summer school classes started with structure and class routines. Introducing the game on day four of fifteen with my students meant that I could identify real reasons for why I wanted to play the game with my students.
1st Session Reasons
Rude/Impulsive Ss
Ss Falling Asleep In Class
Inappropriate use of technology
Reward students for progress made
2nd Session Reasons
Lack of collaboration and communication
Limited participation
Reward students for being positive and hard working.
What Classcraft does is give students the ability to earn privileges (powers) as they advance their character and become heroes inside the classroom. It was important to tweak these abilities so that they mattered, and I took some great suggestions from the Hutch Playbook, like mage council meetings for major assessments.
It gave students a better sense of belonging in the classroom, allowed them to have rewards and a means to own their class. They also gave me many tools to help gamify over the existing structure of explorations, examples, assignments and assessments and reward students for pursuing quality in their practice.
Students were always more interested in doing extra practice before an assignment if I phrased it as a Boss Battle, and were more focused and collaborative on a review if it was a race to find treasure. Summer really flew by because of the fun my students and I had while learning Algebra 2 and playing Classcraft.
So glad to hear your summer school experience went well and that Classcraft helped Jeremy! It's an awesome experience to read that I helped you. This is really encouraging! Thanks for taking the time to share Mr. Kautz!
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