One thing really sticks out to me when trying to create a learning environment where students develop self-regulation and group interaction skills: gamification. To make gamification work I must constantly monitor student work. I do this by walking around the classroom, assisting students, and use Apple Remote Desktop. I also use CHAMPS to model how the technology should be used. My CHAMPS protocol changes depending on the activity I am having the students do. These all contribute to the success of my classroom environment, and help me to implement gamification in the classroom. I generally reward students who are doing the right thing and redirect students who aren't. Most want the reward and will change behavior without needing a consequence, other than not getting the reward.
With gamification I think about how "playful learning can in turn lead to deeper engagement with school, better retention of learning and a stronger motivation to persist all the way through school" (Stavely 2015). This is so true!! In my experience I have tried many resources, but Kahoot and Quizlet.live take the cake as my students go crazy for these! They love the competition, and just find it really fun to play, even if they don't win. I also have a lot of fun watching them. When playing Kahoot they will yell out answers, sometimes it is the right answer and sometimes it is wrong. They have so much fun seeing how many students will take their answer. Sometimes it is really funny to see which students don't want to think on their own. They start to change their habits when they realize taking the easy route sometimes doesn't get the results they want. With Quizlet.live it is fun to watch students work in teams. They have developed strategies and they really take their time. In the past I have gamified my class using Classcraft. I usually only give a few Classcraft points for winning, and it is not a lot, but yet they still love to play. “It’s important that they’re doing it for its own sake. They’re not doing it for a reward, they’re doing it because they love it. Especially for teenagers, who are under a lot of stress,” Russ said (Stavely 2015).
Artifact 1-Gamification (Gamification Plan)
In the end of the spring of 2017 I tried out a gamification plan for my 8th grade classes: math and science. Classcraft was alright, but it almost seemed to be separate, and I wanted to wrap the game into my class. I believe that by doing this it started to lead to more student success because students could see their success in the game. This was starting to lead to a growth mindset where students where striving to do better. Dweck (2016) says "a growth mindset is the belief that you can develop your talents and abilities through hard work, good strategies, and help from others. It stands in opposition to a fixed mindset, which is the belief that talents and abilities are unalterable traits, ones that can never be improved." This sounds very much like how Matera (2015) describes in his book but he calls it purpose-driven Learning. He uses the following qualities to drive his instruction: confidence, creativity, enthusiasm, effort, focus, resilience, initiative, curiosity, dependability, and empathy. The way Matera uses these words, or ideas, is by layering it over his course. He claims this has "encouraged collaboration and offered a ton of self-exploration. Learning was no longer about earning a grade; it was about discovery and growth." I believe this is exactly what Dweck is advocating for in a growth mindset. We as educators have a duty to help every student learn and this idea of purpose-driven learning or a growth mindset could really help us be successful with every student.
"Research has shown (and continues to show) that a growth mindset can have a profound effect on students' motivation, enabling them to focus on learning, persist more, learn more, and do better in school" (Dweck 2016). I think Matera's ideas would show the same results. "We need to help students understand that they learn as much, if not more, from their failures as they do their successes" (Matera 2015). If we teach students how to be more inclusive and how to help each other they can build more relationships with others and not learn to be so dependent on the teacher. We as teachers also need to adopt this mindset. We can't teach this to students if we aren't practicing it ourselves. If we can adopt this mindset then we can really have an impact on our students.
Sources
Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck
Matera, M. (2015). Explore like a pirate: Engage, enrich, and elevate your learners with gamification and game-inspired course design [Kindle Edition]. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting.
Stavely, Z. (2015, July 24). How to Bring Playfulness to High School Students. Retrieved November 4, 2016, from https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/07/24/how-to-bring-playfulness-to-high-school-students/
With gamification I think about how "playful learning can in turn lead to deeper engagement with school, better retention of learning and a stronger motivation to persist all the way through school" (Stavely 2015). This is so true!! In my experience I have tried many resources, but Kahoot and Quizlet.live take the cake as my students go crazy for these! They love the competition, and just find it really fun to play, even if they don't win. I also have a lot of fun watching them. When playing Kahoot they will yell out answers, sometimes it is the right answer and sometimes it is wrong. They have so much fun seeing how many students will take their answer. Sometimes it is really funny to see which students don't want to think on their own. They start to change their habits when they realize taking the easy route sometimes doesn't get the results they want. With Quizlet.live it is fun to watch students work in teams. They have developed strategies and they really take their time. In the past I have gamified my class using Classcraft. I usually only give a few Classcraft points for winning, and it is not a lot, but yet they still love to play. “It’s important that they’re doing it for its own sake. They’re not doing it for a reward, they’re doing it because they love it. Especially for teenagers, who are under a lot of stress,” Russ said (Stavely 2015).
Artifact 1-Gamification (Gamification Plan)
In the end of the spring of 2017 I tried out a gamification plan for my 8th grade classes: math and science. Classcraft was alright, but it almost seemed to be separate, and I wanted to wrap the game into my class. I believe that by doing this it started to lead to more student success because students could see their success in the game. This was starting to lead to a growth mindset where students where striving to do better. Dweck (2016) says "a growth mindset is the belief that you can develop your talents and abilities through hard work, good strategies, and help from others. It stands in opposition to a fixed mindset, which is the belief that talents and abilities are unalterable traits, ones that can never be improved." This sounds very much like how Matera (2015) describes in his book but he calls it purpose-driven Learning. He uses the following qualities to drive his instruction: confidence, creativity, enthusiasm, effort, focus, resilience, initiative, curiosity, dependability, and empathy. The way Matera uses these words, or ideas, is by layering it over his course. He claims this has "encouraged collaboration and offered a ton of self-exploration. Learning was no longer about earning a grade; it was about discovery and growth." I believe this is exactly what Dweck is advocating for in a growth mindset. We as educators have a duty to help every student learn and this idea of purpose-driven learning or a growth mindset could really help us be successful with every student.
"Research has shown (and continues to show) that a growth mindset can have a profound effect on students' motivation, enabling them to focus on learning, persist more, learn more, and do better in school" (Dweck 2016). I think Matera's ideas would show the same results. "We need to help students understand that they learn as much, if not more, from their failures as they do their successes" (Matera 2015). If we teach students how to be more inclusive and how to help each other they can build more relationships with others and not learn to be so dependent on the teacher. We as teachers also need to adopt this mindset. We can't teach this to students if we aren't practicing it ourselves. If we can adopt this mindset then we can really have an impact on our students.
Sources
Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck
Matera, M. (2015). Explore like a pirate: Engage, enrich, and elevate your learners with gamification and game-inspired course design [Kindle Edition]. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting.
Stavely, Z. (2015, July 24). How to Bring Playfulness to High School Students. Retrieved November 4, 2016, from https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/07/24/how-to-bring-playfulness-to-high-school-students/