Blame the Unicorn

I'm building this app as I'm teaching, one lesson at a time. When adding new things, I tell my students they have "unlocked new levels." They have been so excited seeing the new things I add each day. So, if you're wanting to gamify, but are unsure about how much work it will require....take it slow. Build as you go! The kids will love it! Here are some screenshots from my app, so you can see the beginning of the gamification process. Home Screen STAAR Wars: This houses all the introductory resources that I used for engaging them in this game. This is where the leaderboard will go, along with any other videos I make along the way. FDP War: Fractions, Decimals, Percents This is the first war that we are fighting. I used the STAAR released test questions as my basis for the first major war (unit). Then I used backwards planning, to think of all the skills they would need to be able to do in order to answer the questions. (ordering...

One of the newest buzzwords of education is GAMIFICATION. Put shortly, gamification means using game principles to engage and motivate students. Gamification is NOT putting a student in front of a computer all day, every day, and oddly enough it is not the same as game-based learning . You can even gamify without using any technology at all, though admittedly, technology does make it easier. The point is this is not about technology or games, but about finding the elements that motivate people to persevere. Unknowingly, I have been using elements of game design in my classroom since my first year of teaching: I  level my assignments   from easy to difficult, I use positive motivation often and regularly, I offer some form of reward for behavior and academic achievements. I de-emphasize failure as a negative concept, choosing to consider it as an opportunity to learn and try again. Naturally, than, this new wave of gamifying everything has been very intriguing to me. Yest...