"Why?"I am sure you have been around young children that are always asking, "Why". It is their natural curiosity shining through? Where does that constant yearning of "why" go? They have a "need to know" attitude about the world they are part of. They possess an intrinsic motivation to understand the perplexing environment they tromp through on a daily basis. However, as they grow and mature their "need to know" attitude seems to disappear. "Why?" SquasherWhere do all the "whys" go? Do our classrooms and schools slowly squash that intrinsic "need to know" attitude? We tell kids where to sit, tell them they must ask to get a drink or use the restroom, to raise their hand to talk, and walk in a single file line without talking. Do they become a product of their environment? Do they become conditioned to a culture of compliance? How do we get the "whys" to reemerge? Culture of "Why?"If we truly want the "whys" to reemerge, we must find a way to shift from a culture of compliance to a culture of why. Not only do students need to be asking "why" more often, but teachers need to as well. Why does literacy have to be seen as reading words on a page? Is coding a form of literacy? What about navigating a webpage or synthesizing social media? Does watching a YouTube video count as literacy? Are these forms of literacy valued and learned in our classrooms? What about paper/pencil worksheets, quizzes or tests to demonstrate understanding? Why not allow video creation? What about creating screencasts or songs? Why not allow a student to code a program to demonstrate understanding? When will it become the norm for students to have the choice in how they demonstrate their understanding instead of being told they must show their understanding by coloring in some dots on a piece of paper? Put the "why" in the frontI am not trying to point fingers at anyone. I am part of the system that seems to be failing our students. With the amount of new initiatives each year it is hard to find time to reflect on all of our practices. However, it is time we put "why" back at the beginning of what we do. Why do my students sit in rows? Why do they have to keep their cell phones put away? Why is YouTube blocked? Why do kids have homework? Why do we put a grade on someone's work when, in our economy, employers don't give a grade on our work? Why is the end product valued more than the process? Isn't it time to transform a culture of compliance to a culture of "why"?
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This school year I am trying out gamification. A friend that teaches at another school approached me about this idea. We both wanted to find a way to engage our kids through gamifying our classes.
Storyline We began this process by creating a storyline. The Slideshow below has a short video that explains our storyline. Badges This is the individual component of our gamified classroom. Students can earn badges in all subject areas. In addition, they have the ability to earn badges for completing "jobs" at home. As students accumulate badges, they are able to level up. Quests and Bonus Quests We wanted to have a team component to our game so we added quests. XP is awarded for weekly quests. In addition to our regular weekly quests, we added bonus quests. These are extra opportunities for teams to earn additional XP. Presentation Make sure to check out the presentation below. Allison and I shared this at ITEC 2016. |
Andrew FenstermakerInstructional Technology Coordinator | Innovation Coach | Google Certified Innovator | Presenter | Blogger | Adjunct @UiowaEducation | Owner @kids_f_i_r_s_t |