The first day of school is important on so many levels. Your first chance to establish relationships. Your first chance to foster a class culture. Your first chance to set the tone.
Do you want the first impression of your class to be lock-down procedures, syllabus reading, and rule recitation?
Heck no!
We want our students, after the first day, to want to come back the next day. We want them to talk about what they did with their friends and family. Not just that, we want a chance to get to know our students. Personally, I want to try and have a conversation with each student by the end of the week. If I can do it on the first day; even better!
The lesson I use the first day is an adaption of one described by Dave Burgess in Teach Like a Pirate. Check a description here.
There really is nothing like kids walking into the room on the first day and seeing Play-Doh or Legos on the desks. Below is the Google Slide I use for the activity.
I have students write a reflection about what they made in their science journal (see second slide). This enables those students who might be reluctant to share a chance to collect their thoughts. I can also read the reflection if I can't quite figure out what their build represents.
When doing this activity I give plenty of time during the last part of class to have students share stories about their summer, family, and really anything. Just get the conversations going and establish a rapport. You will quickly learn which students share and what interests are. It is so important at this point to be supportive and affirmative. I use the improv "yes and" strategy. Don't shoot down student passions and ideas.
Student: I play video games.
Teacher (DON'T SAY): Those are a waste of time.
Teacher (DO SAY): Neat. What is your favorite to play?
Remember be honest and true to yourself. Most importantly, HAVE FUN with this activity. No work involved here other than setting up the activity and breaking it down.
Featured on: https://sites.google.com/view/teacherandstudentprojects/home
Here I sit wondering what's going on in my classroom. Thankfully, today at least, I know the teacher that is covering my class. At least for today I know the room won't be destroyed. I am home for the week since I tested positive Sunday night and had symptoms. Spend the previous week and weekend intending to be in class. The new reality of science teaching with COVID is that you always need to be flexible and have two sets of plans in mind: remote and in person.
The planning is made more complicated with the implementation of new standards. By now most science teachers in the US are at least familiar with the idea of 3D lessons based on NGSS. Storylines are an increasingly popular topic of conference sessions and workshops. As storyline is essentially a unit plan based on a phenomena or series of related phenomena. Personally, I use the 5E instructional model often meshed with ADI (Argument Driven Inquiry) to plan out my units. Done properly this requires specific timing of lessons, student engagement, and scaffolded learning. With COVID interrupting schooling I sometimes feel like throwing the whole mess out the window.
With either myself or students absent for key aspects of the Storyline that scaffolding just does not happen. Often the phenomena are "You had to be there!" moments in my classroom. A video or picture is good but just does not have the same pop. Fighting the good fight in science education is challenging in good times and beyond frustrating now. I keep telling myself (or lying to myself) that I am doing it right and my best efforts will have to do.
What's beyond frustrating is that as a science educator I know that doing science in person, with scientific equipment, with your peers, is the best way to learn science. Science requires discussion of ideas and proposing ideas and explanations in a dynamic way. Students need engagement with the material in a deep, meaningful way which is almost impossible remotely.
Onward I trudge, through the muck of COVID education.
I've been streaming on Twitch for almost a year now. The experience has been amazing. My online connections to wonderful people has expanded and strengthened. I had several goals when starting the journey as a streamer. One was to improve my practice as a teacher and as a gaming club advisor. The other goal was to have fun meeting people and learning the technology involved (I find playing with tech fun and enjoyable). I've done many streams that involve me reflecting on my teaching practice and getting feedback from chatters. What I didn't expect was the idea I came up with awhile ago and have been processing in my head trying to codify.
Twitch streams have mechanics to engage and chatters and gamify the stream experience. Can we take any of these mechanics and incorporate them into the classroom?
Channel Points
As you watch a stream you gain channel points. Viewers can spend the channel points to unlock features (like highlighting their next post) or get the streamer to do something (Hydrate: drink some water). The viewer gets to interact with the streamer and control some aspect of the experience.
The streamer can customize the experience for viewers and make whatever rewards with a matching image. The more you watch the more points you get and the better the reward is (ideally). This mechanic allows the viewer to directly interact with the streamer. This is also a reward for being present and participating.
Bits and Subs
Bits are more of a currency than Channel Points. Giving Bits to a streamer is akin to throwing money into the hat of a street performer. You buy Bits on the platform that you can then disperse as you feel fit. Giving Bits can put you on a leader board and give the spender status among the other viewers. Giving Bits can also unlock Emotes and other features in the chat. When you Sub a channel you are showing the ultimate support. You are rewarded with special sub-emotes and badges for subbing for consecutive months.
The Twitch Classroom
These features of Twitch made me think of SAPS as outlined by Michael Matera in Explore Like a Pirate. SAPS is an acronym for Status, Access, Power, and Stuff. Channel Points work within the Power paradigm. The viewer has the power to control the stream and streamer. Giving Bits and being a subscriber gives the viewer Status and Access. Status is gained by being able to use Sub-only emotes and badges. You can also "Access" Sub-only chats and sometimes Sub-only parts of the streamer's Discord.
Trying to understand my description of these mechanics, without having ever watched a Twitch stream, will not give you the full picture. I encourage you to stop into Twitch and watch these mechanics in action. How do they encourage audience participation? How do streamers interact with viewers? How is this similar/different from student-teacher interactions?
How might we leverage these game mechanics within our classrooms? How might your Google Meet or Zoom session be different and more engaging? I have already used some of these mechanics in real life via Classcraft where students can spend Gold Points (GP) on choosing the music, being able to eat in class, or receiving candy. I do wish the process was as easy as it often is on stream in Twitch. For me this has proved an interesting source of thought recently. Some if not all teaching for me will be remote in the fall. Having some system in place to encourage online chat participation is intriguing and full of possibilities.
So I did this thing.
I started streaming on Twitch.
When I first started the streaming journey I wasn't sure where I was going with it. I started at first to get an idea of how everything worked for the esports program I was running at school. I needed to figure out the technical aspects, but also the social and cultural load that comes with it. The social and cultural depth here is huge. Hours were spent discovering what terms like "Raiding" and "Bits" meant. I figured going into this I was in for some learning; this has been intense!
I started streaming, in part, to help the Rensselaer Esports team stream. We're looking to stream practices and matches on a regular basis. Streaming at home and learning there definitely helped. I encourage anyone who is running an esports program to stream themselves first to get to know what streaming is (I'll be writing a separate post about the esports program).
I've also been streaming for personal enjoyment. Figuring out technology and how it works has always been a hobby; streaming fit right into this! I recently got a new microphone and enjoyed the process of setting it up and adjusting settings. I love learning these things! For about a decade now I've been making my own videos and publishing them for science class. Recording myself is a commonplace thing at this point. Taking the leap to live streaming was not effortless; however, the transition was easier due to my earlier endeavors with screencasting.
A few other experiences got me going. Last year I attended PAX East and at several panels the panelists encouraged those in attendance to stream. One panelist said, and I'll paraphrase here, "Don't worry if someone else is streaming the same thing as you. Get out there and do it. You just might do it better."
I also attended USM Summer Spark and attended Michael Matera's talk on maintaining a YouTube channel. Check his channel out here. He had lots of great insights on using video for personal growth as well as professionally. That talk edged me towards getting going streaming. Six months later I was Affiliate on Twitch and still stream three times a week.
I gamify my eighth grade classes. A major critique of gamification is the extrinsic motivation it often relies on. I put a great deal of thought into how I utilize games in class. I try to understand and evaluate what I do in relation to the "carrot and stick" limitations on student motivation and management. Extrinsic motivation is not to be discarded as some suggest in place of only attempting to foster internal motivation. Both have their place within the classroom.
Sure, ideally, all students in front of me would be motivated by some internal passion and drive. That is not the case. Nor, as some suggest, are wonderfully planned lessons the panacea of motivation and management. Your awesome lesson will not relieve some students of the baggage they bring to class. Your empowering lesson promoting student choice and agency won't change a terrible marriage, mental illness, or myriad other problems that arrive with students in class. I digress.
Extrinsic motivation has its place in the classroom. I'll give two stories from my years of teaching, both involving the simplest and most common of motivators: candy.
Story 1
I believe it was my fifth year teaching. My period six class couldn't seem to get to class on time and it wasn't always the same students. A few were repeated offenders but about a third of the class was coming in late; not a behavior I wanted to continue. I didn't want to call home and write detentions for eight students. I spoke to a few of the worst offenders and called home for them. The rest of my plan?
On the next Monday those in the class before the bell had one Starburst placed on their desk as they did the bell ringer. Students coming in late took notice and asked. I told them it was a reward for those who came in on time prepared. The next day more students arrived on time. The following day even more. By the end of the week only a few students arrived late.
The next week I didn't hand out candy, but guess what happened? They kept arriving on time. For the rest of the year I didn't give out candy for being on time. I just had to change their behavior the one time to elicit the continued positive behaviors. Of course there were a few students that needed the negative reinforcement of phone calls home and detentions once in while but that was rare. Was this candy experiment external motivation? Heck yes! Did it work? Fantastically!
Story 2
John (not his real name of course) was not a great student and didn't even have great attendance. He lived in poverty and was a nice kid you could talk to one on one. He had trouble staying on task and focusing in class. Detentions and phone calls home were not going to go far (I knew the family) so I had to find another way to get this child through science 8. Talking to him after class one day we came up with a behavior plan together. Every day he was on task and didn't get in trouble he could stop by after school for two Starbursts. It worked. Simple as that. Our little agreement motivated him to do better in class. At the end of the school year I stopped by his house with a bag of Starburst.
Conclusion
I think most teachers that try everything to reach students will have similar stories to mine. The truth is that not all strategies work with all students. Instruction and behavioral interventions need to be on a case by case basis. As teachers we adapt and do what works for us and the students in front of us. Extrinsic motivation isn't the evil thing some would have you believe. It must be placed in the tool chest and used appropriately and with care. Nor should it supplant our endeavors to increase internal motivation through student agency and choice. Part of what comes with teaching experience and professional practice is understanding and utilizing techniques and strategies at the right place and time.
The Trust Generators outlined by Hammond (2015, p. 79) sparked my thinking regarding how I build rapport and relationships with my students. The five Trust Generators are: Selective Vulnerability, Familiarity, Similarity of Interests, Concern, and Competence. I have used each in varying amounts to reach students and aid in the learning of science.
As few as five years ago, I made it a point not to show any weakness or vulnerability in class. I believed that showing that vulnerability would somehow indicate I did not know what I was doing and that I was an imposter. This thought process changed as I reached out to other teachers, collaborated with those teachers, and continued to read up on what makes “good teaching.” Ramsey Musallam in the book Spark Learning: 3 Keys to Embracing the Power of Student Curiosity discusses how he felt he was an imposter in his own classroom. Part of recognizing my own faults and living with them was opening up to students about them. I now freely take responsibility if I do something wrong and often use it as a teaching moment. If a lesson does not turn out the way I expect we reflect on it together. I’ll ask questions such as, “Should I try this experiment with next year’s class?” and “When we do this lesson next year, what should I change?”. Students are empowered by this and I get good feedback to improve my teaching.
Familiarity is easy in the small city school district I work in. We know each other. I know the families after having worked in the same district of 17 years. Any walk down the hall, any time of day, is met with friendly greetings. Students regularly see me at games and events as well. These interactions are important in that we can see each other as people; not just student and teacher. We can develop common bonds because we both have families and similar interests. I see a different side of students as their coach and club adviser as well. We can relate on another level that is similar but yet very different than that of teacher-student.
I always ask students about the games they play with their friends and family. Probably 90% of students play mobile games, video games, or table top games that I can talk with them about. This year I had one African American girl that did not seem to like to do anything till I had her stay after for Gaming Club and play Mario Kart. She stayed after to play several other times and I could tell it was a safe and relaxing place for her to be. Many students that struggle academically are also gamers and love talking about the games they play. Other pop culture is also a great way to relate to students. I have conversations about Anime, music, and TV shows with students. I ask for recommendations and ask them questions about their interests. I will even throw in a reference to their interests on tests or in lessons.
Remembering details about a student is a challenge for me. In the past few years I have begun to journal certain things students tell me about their interests and family so I can follow up later. This journaling can be important for other reasons (such as tracking parent contact) but is a great reference for me for rapport. Teachers can see well over 100 students in one day and hear a multitude of stories and concerns from students during that day. I have tried, especially with struggling students, to pay extra attention to their needs and concerns. Knowing what NOT to talk about is equally important. Some students have strained relationships with family members, for instance.
I believe that students come to class at the beginning of the year hoping for a teaching that is caring and knowledgeable. They want the teacher to bring passion into the classroom and get them excited about the content. Students respond well when that learning is related to their lives and interests. As a teacher you need to know your content and be able to break it down into understandable bits.
The first week of school is all about relationship building and class culture. The first day of school students arrive into class and see a piece of wax paper and container of Play-Doh at each desk. Their task: build something that represents their summer and then write about it in their journal. I purposefully spend very little time on direct instruction. The activity gives me time to circulate through the room and talk to every student about what they are building. The next day we focus on journaling and what that protocol looks like. For each student I try to link our interests somehow and find something I can ask them about again later. Students are sitting in cooperative groups. I note who they are sitting with and listen to conversations.
One of the next activities is the Fortnite Marshmallow Challenge. This is a fun gamified approach to the classic team building Marshmallow Challenge. Students can earn points as their group learns about the classroom (how to make Flipgrid, how to access Classroom). They then spend their points on power-ups for use during the design challenge. This gives me the opportunity to see group dynamics and again move about the classroom. The Fortnite theme immediately grabs student interest. By the end of the first full week of school I have spoken to every student several times, established a culture of teamwork and fun, and laid out expectations regarding group work and learning. There is at least one student by the end of the first week that realizes that nothing has been “graded” and that they have not learned any “science”. This opens the door for me to talk about the importance of teamwork in science and how learning isn’t about grades.
References
Hammond, Z., & Jackson, Y. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a SAGE Company.
Musallam, R. (2017). Spark Learning. Dave Burgess Consulting.
The following post is in response to the writing prompt below on Culturally Responsive Teaching. We are using the book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond (2015).
What did you learn about how your cultural experiences shaped your worldview?
Would you characterize your cultural background as individualist or collectivist based on the definitions in Chapter 2?
I’m an army brat. My cultural experience and background is distinctly different from the rest of my family except maybe my sister. I grew up with the culture of my immediate family, the military, and Germany. Each has its own distinct culture that shaped my worldview. I grew up acutely aware of culture. Also of note, the culture of my childhood is distinctly different than my current culture.
I long realized that culture is something peoples have that you need to learn about before traveling to the country of that culture. I have visited over 15 countries. Many required preparation before visiting in order to avoid culture shock and know how to avoid cultural faux pas. I recall in Grafenwoehr Elementary school we had Host Nation class in which we learned about the German culture. The class was mainly about surface and shallow culture: holidays, language, and social expectations. Learning all this about German culture attuned me to the idea that there were many cultures (often within a larger predominant culture) and how important it was to understand and be respectful of those cultures while in their space. I became very adaptable in managing being in and out of different cultures.
The deep culture I developed was an amalgamation of coping mechanisms for being within cultures. My mental model developed into traits that allowed for my ability to adapt culturally. Things like trying foods (surface culture), never taking pictures of foreign military personnel or equipment (shallow), and how some cultures don’t “discipline” their children (deep) all were things I had to understand and place in my mental model. Most culture education I received when traveling involved the surface culture of the place being visited along with some delving into shallow culture. Nothing beats host families for really getting a feel for a culture. Traveling, touring, and staying in hotels only allows one to delve so deep into a culture. Staying with a family enables you to experience the food, music, and environment (shallow) but also have meaningful conversations and exchange of ideas (deep). There are challenges, however. One challenge is that each of you are representing your own culture and country. I know I took much care to represent my country (culture?) in a positive manner and explain when I was speaking for myself and when there were differences within my own culture. An example conversation could have gone:
Host father asks, “What do Americans think of X, Y, Z?”
I would respond, “Americans have differing opinions such as A, B, and C. I personally feel A.”
Another challenge is determining which things are family and local differences between your culture and theirs. For instance, your experience staying with a rural family will give you a different cultural perspective on a larger culture than staying in an urban area. Certain things may cross these cultural boundaries such as language (shallow), but other cultural aspects may be different such as their relationship to nature (deep).
Drawing generalizations from one cultural experience is risky. Consider how difficult narrowing down American culture is. It is so voluminous! I helped sponsor an exchange program that hosted Dutch students and we wanted the Dutch students to experience American culture. What was culturally specific to America and specifically to our specific area of upstate NY? We arranged activities involving making S’mores, visiting historical locations, and picking apples. We baked pumpkin pies and some visited the mall. These were mainly surface culture events but the relationships and discussions (as is the main point with cultural exchange programs) are what were important. We wanted to delve deeper into that deep culture. These are the experiences I know shaped my worldview and wished to import on some of my students. As much as we are different culturally there are also so many similarities.
And that is a summation of my worldview. It’s not about the differences but about the similarities. People everywhere love their kids. People everywhere love to play games. People everywhere love a good story and a good joke (though humor does differ). People everywhere love to gather with friends and family for food and fun. That’s it. These fundamentals cross all barriers it seems. All deep culture has these similarities. It does not matter if they are individualistic or collectivist. I remember someone remarking about the culture of East Germany. They regretted the lack of trust in your neighbor and inability to easily travel. The speaker reminded the listener, though, that the flowers were still beautiful, happy weddings occurred, and the joys of life continued. We need to remember that even in cultures we may view negatively, life goes on and certain joys of life continue.
Germany is more collectivist than American. The United States is the most individualistic culture in my opinion and was founded as such. Our country was founded on individual rights and that continues to be a driving force in society and politics. Germany, being more socialist is indeed more collectivist. Most Germans see little problem in helping each other pay for college. Businesses are much more heavily regulated for a perceived common good. I grew up in this society and thought it worked pretty well. My culture shock came when I began my college education stateside and was flabbergasted at the opposition to what I had grown up viewing as normal collectivist ideas being washed as evil. I did grow to understand that I do have many cultural perspectives that are individualistic. There need to be limits, for example, on how far the government can go at regulating my life (or business). Honestly, I didn’t think much about my views on this until I began voting and working. I now have the lens of individualistic and collectivist to consider when evaluating cultural norms.
I consider my cultural background a mix of individualistic and collectivist. I have long valued teamwork, family, and community. Through scouting and my experience with the military I understood that accomplishing goals requires the help of others and the work of teams of people. That knowledge, however, did not extend to my understanding of school work and academics. I wrongly believed that all that people accomplished academically was in social isolation. People did well in school, I thought, due to hard work and natural intelligence. Only after I graduated from college did I reflect, talk to others, and realize I had it all wrong. My individualistic view could not be further from the truth. Those that did great in college got where they did by working with others, talking to professors, getting help when needed, and networking. They weren’t just isolated in a room studying like I was. I did not have my friend who was an excellent writer, for instance, review my papers before submission. I considered it cheating at the time. Looking back I realize that was wrong. Collaboration is a hallmark of success. My cultural viewpoint as either individualistic or collectivist continues to evolve and I am often not sure what direction I lean.
From that I have rated myself on the four categories as follows.
3: I understand and am proficient in this, and I regularly practice this in my classroom.
2: I understand this somewhat, but I’m am not proficient at it and I don’t use this regularly in my classroom.
1: I am not sure what this is, and/or I cannot do it.
Ready for Rigor Framework
2 - Awareness
2 - Learning Partnerships
3 - Information Processing
2 - Community of Learners and Learning Environment
There are several patterns that emerged as I reflected on my self-reflecting scores for the Ready for Rigor Framework. First of all, I have a love of learning myself and a passion for figuring out how learning happens. For this reason I scored myself a 2 in “Awareness” and 3 in “Information Processing.” I recognize that culture affects learning and that is the impetus behind my deciding to learn more about culturally responsive teaching. I want to know how to have culture be an aid in teaching and learning instead of a barrier. Over my seventeen years of teaching I have continually adapted lessons to provide ever more authentic opportunities for students and try to make classes culturally relevant. But am I really? Could I be doing more? I believe this is in fact where “Awareness” could be improved and in turn help me improve student information processing.
I have recently been reflecting about the balance of giving students both care and push. Knowing when to do each is challenging and effective teaching makes it look effortless. I made a concerted effort this past year to get students away from thinking about school being about grades, and instead that school is about learning. We don’t do what we do in school for a grade, but as part of learning. This was a shift for students and I. Being able to balance care and push was easier when the focus wasn’t on “getting work done.” This is similar to how the tone and effectiveness of parent-teacher conferences change when any discussion of homework is removed. Something deeper can be discussed rather than why “work isn’t getting done.”
By shifting class culture from that of one focused on grades, we could develop in my class a rapport that focused on learning. We also then developed a common language about learning and goals. That is why I rated myself as a 2 for Learning Partnerships since I feel there is more I can do with CRT to get that care and push well balanced. I feel I do need to help students share a common language they can use when talking about their learning. Now that I have made a cultural shift, that can be followed by a language shift. Often I find students want to do well, have questions about what to do, and struggle identifying how I can help them without doing it for them. Part of the cultural shift was that I will not help them “figure it out”. The students need to do the cognitive heavy lifting. But arming them with the language to help them articulate better questions as well as understand and help their peers is a vital next step. Reference Hammond, Z., & Jackson, Y. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a SAGE Company.
I've always been a fanboy of game-inspired learning, game-based learning, and gamification.
For at least the last 14 years of my 18 year career I've been actively incorporating games as a method of teaching, review, and making class fun. This post isn't a treatise on GBL. There are plenty of other places to learn about the benefits of games in education.
Inspired by Paul Darvasi and others* who use commercial games in class, I planned to do the same. If you've looked through my posts you know I used to use MinecraftEdu extensively in class prior to this post. I am no stranger to GBL.
This year I wanted to try using a game to help teach ecology in either my Living Environment Lab or my AIS Living Environment class (Living Environment is biology for you non-NYS people). I looked through Steam's copious catalog of titles. I knew there was one I was looking for that I had seen before but couldn't remember the name.
Eventually I found the game: Shelter.
In the game you play a mother badger leading her young through an often hazardous environment. Along the way you must feed your offspring, navigate raging waterways, and find shelter to avoid predators. The game only takes about 45 minutes to complete. Each level is 10 to 20 minutes of play depending on your propensity to explore (or get turned around).
My goal was to use the game to add context and engagement to the unit. As a commercial game it didn't come with prepackaged lesson plans or direct content. Using the game therefore required a deep-think on the best way to incorporate it into class. I decided we would first play the game and then talk about what we saw and how it relates to the content we were learning. There were a few hurdles I had to get through first.
9th graders playing Shelter
Getting the game into class was the first obstacle. I used my own Windows laptop that had Steam and the game installed on it which made it easier than trying to get things loaded on a district computer. I tried getting access to Steam online at school with no success. Even with me and the two IT guys looking into it we couldn't get Steam connected. Instead, I played the game in offline mode with no problems. Taking my computer to and from school the days we played was a pain but there was no way around it.
Second, it's not a problem but something to keep in mind: I bought the game myself (obviously since it is on my personal Steam account). I buy games regularly so it's not a problem for me but I get it if teachers are reluctant to take the time to make a Steam account and start purchasing games to then use in lesson plans. I personally can't think of a better way to plan lessons!
Final issue I had was to planning it all from scratch. I did a quick Google search and didn't find any other lesson plans using the game. I thought for sure someone must have done it before and posted about it. Perhaps, but I didn't find it. Let me know if that person is you! Designing the lesson myself has the benefit that I can now claim all these materials are my own. Feel free to copy and adapt to your own classroom. I can see this being used from grade 4 to 12. Just be aware that the baby badgers do die and it could be traumatic for younger players. Heck, I got upset when they died!
A note about the plan. The class had already had exposure to the content. In this case the game was not introducing new content, but reinforcing content. The plan outlined below can easily be switched about and is what I plan on doing in the future, not what I did. One difference is I did the food web before the category sort. I think doing the opposite order is better.
Day 1
Introduce the game and the Frayer Model graphic organizer (5 minutes).
Play the first level of the game (20 minutes).
Discuss what was recorded on the Frayer Model (15 minutes).
Day 2
Play the next level of the game continuing to complete the Frayer Model (20 minutes).
Discuss results again (5-10 minutes).
Play the next level of the game (20 minutes).
Day 3
Review the Frayer model (5 minutes).
Have students sort the organisms from the graphic organizer into categories: Producers, Consumers, Autotroph, Heterotroph, Predator, Prey. I put the categories on lab tables and had each organism's picture and name printed out.
Day 4
Play the next level of Shelter (15 minutes).
Have students construct a Food Web using the organisms from the game (20 minutes). I had students do this on a wall. You can have them to this in groups or call on students to add arrows and organisms. Focus on talking about energy movement.
Day 5
Have students construct an energy pyramid (20 minutes). I taped one on the wall and had students fill in the organisms and name each level.
Play the final level of Shelter.
At the end of the lessons I did a quick ten question, multiple choice, summative assessment. All the sorting, webs, and pyramids are formative assessments and you can gauge how students are doing based on that feedback. In the future I'd love for students to provide commentary as they play (like Twitch streaming) about the science they are experiencing. I did ask if they wanted to any of it streamed and they said "no."
Shelter 2 is available on Steam as well. It follows the life of a pregnant lynx. I'll be playing it over the summer to assess its efficacy for classroom use. If it seems a better fit than Shelter 1 I may switch the lesson over.
Link to Folder with my materials. Use and adapt, but please share out to me and others what you do and how it goes!
Note:
The game involves European badgers that are omnivores; the American badger is carnivorous.
Timing is a tricky thing. Playing the game ahead of time is a must.
Get students to play the game. Have them take turns. Even if reluctant they will eventually get into it.
In an earlier post I shared out summer "to do" list. Time to reflect on what I did and didn't get done.
Here is the list:
Learned the Basics of MakeyMakey
Build a 2L water bottle rocket launcher
Read Make it Stick
Started learning how to use RPG Maker MV
Updated Classcraft Sentences, Random Events, and Behaviors
In short, I did all of them, and MORE!
Played with MakeyMakey and my Chromebook using Sketch. Easy stuff and I'll try incorporating it somewhere this year.
Built that 2L water bottle rocket launcher. Now to develop a plan for its use at school.
My 10 yr old daughter testing out the launcher.
I read Make it Stick and I also reworked my question bank and thinking in regards to spacing, interleaving, and recall. I've also become more vociferous in my position that learning styles are bunk. I'm not going to get into more detail on my teaching philosophy regarding learning styles here, but will save that for a later post. Suffice to say, varying instruction has value, just not the value generally attributed to it.
RPG Maker MV is a very robust, easy, and fun game maker. I spent a few hours everyday learning its in and outs. Got through the beginning tutorials. The problem was that I didn't end up with an end product I can use yet and feel that valuable summer time could have been spent doing other things to improve my class game experience.
I went through most of my Classcraft stuff. Now I need to finish up some quests. I really want quests to work better this year and have more student completion of them. Part of it is the art of the "initial success". Most good games don't have you fail immediately. You have a series of easy successes to train you in how the game system works.
Wow. I did quite a bit. I also got first place at a martial arts competition and earned my blackbelt. Also spent four days at NYS Master Teacher conferences learning about science and science education.
Sometime around 1986 my mother decided to enroll me in Karate classes. My dad was often away for work (activity duty military) and she wanted some male role models in my life. Not sure what influence the movie Karate Kid had on the decision to put me in Karate classes (I did like the movie), but it was the start of my martial arts journey. I recently made a video that summarizes this journey as part of earning my blackbelt at the Chinese Martial Arts Academy (CMAA).
Me in 1986
You bet I was excited about the release of the YouTube series Cobra Kai. Here is the description of the show from YouTube:
"Thirty years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny Lawrence’s life has taken a rocky turn as he tries to forget a past that constantly haunts him. He seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo. But the LaRusso-Lawrence rivalry of yesteryear is reignited when their lives become intertwined with the next generation of “karate kids.”
As a father, teacher, and martial artist I found much to love about this series. It's like the makers of it asked,"What could we produce that Scott will really get into?"
Though the series wasn't meant to be an examination of teaching and learning I couldn't help but contemplate the decisions made by the adults and youth in the series. There was give and take both ways as there is in any classroom. Here are a few things I thought about.
What was my take-away as a teacher.
The Power of Reflection
There should be no need to point out (if you've seen the show) that Johnny Lawrence is not the teacher you want for your kid(s). He drinks. He puts his students in dangerous situations. He advocates for winning at all costs. It's Cobra Kai dammit!
He does have lots going for him as a teacher though. As with any aspiring business owner he quickly realizes that he needs customers to keep his business open (more importantly to him, to also outdo LaRusso in someway). So he listens, reflects, and accommodates by accepting girls and admitting he needs more than one specific "type" of student. He reflects on how his actions affect his students and dojo. He definitely makes lots of mistakes and you continually hope he makes better decisions. That's one reason I found the story compelling. You could almost see him reflecting during and after the final matches in the show. You Teach How You Were Taught
If you are a parent you are familiar with this. When put into a tough situation you fish around in your mind for a response. Your son/daughter fails a test, for example. You search around in your myriad of memories for how your parents may have dealt with this. You go to your role models. How would my mom or dad deal with this? Johnny did the same. He had one instructor at the original Cobra Kai. That's all he knows. Your not going to squeeze water from a rock. Adjusting your teaching style is challenging and requires time and reflection. He comes from one school of thought and that is what he relies on and goes back to. Often as teachers we don't realize how often we do this. I believe this is why observing good teaching is valuable. You can gain new perspectives and branch out your thinking and teaching styles.
Differentiated Instruction
Especially at the beginning, he may not be the teacher you want for kids, but he may be the style of teacher they need. Some students respond well to in-your-face challenges, tough discipline, and no-nonsense teaching. Different students need different approaches. Imagine if one of Sensei Lawrence's pupils was coming from a tough home life. Maybe one already involving abuse or neglect. His literal "punch you in the face" teaching style may not work as well as calm and caring. Being a good teacher means being able to adjust your approach when dealing with different students. It also requires knowing your students in a real way. Johnny Lawrence does not relate well to his students. He is very distant. LaRusso, however, talks to his student and tries to develop a rapport with him.
High Expectations
Johnny Lawrence has them. He expected each of his students to try their hardest...or leave. He didn't go soft on them. His top students also bought into the program he was selling and excelled. Results speak for themselves and success breeds success. High expectations for everyone brings up what is possible for everyone. I know in the classes I attend at CMAA that students often excel where they think they won't. They are often better than they think they are. I try for the same high expectations in my science classes.
Final Thoughts
In the next season of Cobra Kai we are sure to see more of Daniel LaRusso's dojo. I'm stoked to see how his school differs from Cobra Kai. There is so much more to talk about concerning martial arts teaching and how it compares to classroom teaching. I have a few more blog posts planned including: experiential learning, belt systems/gamification, assessment, and student attitude.
I 'm very interested in hearing other's thoughts on Cobra Kai and how it relates to teaching.
Trying to get a few things done this summer in relation to teaching:
Learned the Basics of MakeyMakey
Build a 2L water bottle rocket launcher
Read Make it Stick
Started learning how to use RPG Maker MV
Updated Classcraft Sentences, Random Events, and Behaviors
I'm currently reading EduProtocol and just starting to work on some quests for Classcraft. I still need to figure out how I'm teaching AIS Science this year. Will probably involve review quizzes and games.
Non-teachy stuff: training to do a traditional mantis style kung fu form in the North East Open in August. Building a few cutting boards made from salvaged wood with a friend. That's about it for big things.
Other things need to get done too.
Time to vacuum the family room!
I learned so much from one student during the last five years. She became known as my "other daughter" and though I helped her grow as a person; she helped me grow as a teacher and as a person as well. She has now graduated from high school. Before exploring the lessons I learned from this experience I need to provide a bit of background to give context to the lessons I learned.
In eighth grade she was having a rough couple days. Rough even for an eighth grade girl. She was so down on herself that I had all the teachers on our team write a quick positive affirmation on a card that I gave to her at the end of the day. As hoped the card made a difference and her mood changed. I thought I had done some good and that would be the end of it. Wrong.
We are a preK-12 building and she quickly began stopping by everyday. This turned into every morning and almost every afternoon through four years of high school. Often stopping by during school day as well. I swear she knew my schedule better than I did. We'd celebrate accomplishments and birthdays of her and her friends before school (my breakfast club). I continued to help her work through some difficult issues (see the * below) and became a mentor, confidant, and father figure.
What did I learn from all this?
I learned how to listen and communicate better. I did not have (I realize this now) really good listening skills. The ability to know when and when not to talk. The ability to know what questions to ask and when to ask them. I had never had to help someone through a crisis before.
Real relationships take time. Being seen at their softball game by students is great. Asking what a students will be doing on the weekend is also a great way to build rapport. But, As Aaron Hogan points out in Shattering the Perfect Teacher Myth,"It better be real." I'm not sure I would have truly understood what this meant unless I had this experience first. You need to be able to open up. Freely give of yourself. No, you can't do this with every student; however, some students need that deeper connection to a caring adult more than others.
I learned perspective taking. When helping her I began asking questions such as,"What would make someone do this?" or "How would I react to this situation?". I began transferring these perspective taking skills to working with other students (not intentionally) and trying to understand what drives students to make certain decisions.
*I learned how to work as a school team to help students. Sure, I knew a bit of how to do this before, but no in depth practical experience with an individual student for an extended period of time. Parents, admin, and guidance and other adults were all involved at some point. For some students it takes a team of adults working together to get them to a better place. As a teacher I need to be willing to go to bat for students to get them the help they need.
The most important lesson was the first one I learned the day I gave her that card: even the smallest act of altruism can have far reaching positive effects.
-This post is a small reflection on a life-changing experience and I felt compelled to share out something. Guess its kind of a "thank you" to her. There is probably more I learned and that may be written upon more reflection.-
I'm back home now and can relax a bit and I spent a week writing this post. I unpacked my bags in minutes, but it will take me a long time (weeks? months?) to unpack the experience. That same invigorating feeling of having been to a smashing good concert or winning a championship is buoying my spirits. I'm PUMPED. I am also tired as heck.
First of all, I'm glad I went. I paid for most of the trip myself and was hoping it would live up to the hype. The hype was well placed. The location was beautiful! I'm happy that the trip gave me the chance to experience the wonderful city of Milwaukee. The University School of Milwaukee is a site to behold. You can tell right away that the entire community takes great pride in the school and its students.
The conference was incredibly well run. Pamela Nosbusch (@pamelanosbusch) and Chuck Taft (@Chucktaft) made Summer Spark run so smoothly. This was their forth year doing Summer Spark and their organizational experience shows. Few things I noticed were: sessions on-time, tech issues few, key-notes superb, session rooms accommodating, and food wonderful. Honestly, it was one of the best run conferences I've been to.
Below is a list of the sessions I attended and main takeaways from each.
Top 10 Games for Any Classroom
-Melissa Pilakowski (@mpilakow)
A great assortment of ideas from Jenga, Scattagories, to a Google Vocab Challenge. I will definitely look at playing a few from this session.
AR and VR in the Classroom
-Rachel Dene Poth (@Rdene915)
I love seeing what new things are on the horizon. Google Expeditions continues to be the leader. Why are so many others on iDevices only? I find much of AR and VR a bit gimmicky still but the engagement level is amazing.
Teaching Inspiration
-Michael Matera (@mrmatera)
Finally got to see a presentation by the #xplap man himself. I'm going to use "time" as a game element in more activities.
Digital Breakouts
-DianaLyn Perkins (@PerkyScience)
Practical session from one of my #scitlap friends. I needed to know where to start and what Digital Breakouts were all about. This session has got me stoked to do one in the fall.
Insert Coin
-Chris Hesselbein (@ChrisHesselbein)
I had visited Chris' blog before and wanted to attend one more gamification session. His passion permeated the session and was a great review/introduction of game mechanics and gamification.
Student Voice in the Classroom: Don't Forget the Introverts
-Julie Smith (@Julnilsmith)
I posted a picture from the first slide of this presentation and my Facebook went nuts. My introvert friends are not introverts on the internet I guess. Good practical strategies for reaching out to introverts: wait time, give students paper to write down questions, provide speaking prompts, and more!
Bite-Size Mastery: Nibbling on Mastery Learning
-Tiffany Ott (@TechieTeachOtt)
I had been seeing Grid Method come across my Twitter feed for while and had a passing knowledge of mastery learning. I was hoping to get some specific pedagogical strategies out of this session. I learned out to plan out an entire lesson for mastery. Love it. She provided a sheet breaking down a standard into DOK levels that go with lessons. A formative assessment at the beginning breaks out students into DOK levels to tackle those tasks.
Shattering The Perfect Teacher Myth
-Aaron Hogan (@aaron_hogan)
Aaron wrote the book with the same name as the title of this session. I managed to snag a copy from him after the session. He went over each of the myths in his book. One thing that stuck with me is the change in thinking from "Students should know how to do this." to "I need to teach students how to do this." This is particularly true for behavior problems in class. The idea that students are trying their best. Not just thinking that they are being lazy.
My goal is the blog about my experiences at USM Summer Spark which is a two day conference on innovative teaching practices. Many educators that I have met online via Twitter and other conferences will be attending. Never before have I spent my own money to travel to and attend a conference. From all I've heard it is worth every penny.
About a month into this school year I knew I would need something to reinvigorate my love for teaching and get me excited again. Without getting into any details I just want the ready to understand that of my 15 years teaching this one was the most trying and exhausting. I don't want you to also think this is because I'm now a veteran teacher and am old and jaded. Not at all. I leave the complaining to those around me and try to remain positive. Try to remain positive.
Planning ahead I got to Milwaukee a few days early and saw some sites as I anxiously awaited my colleagues. Tonight I get to meet many as we wine and dine. Wait. Not wine in Wisconsin. Beer. We'll gather around and talk teacher. With teachers I find there is never a lull in conversation and teachers generally like to talk. Often about teaching.
The last few weeks are upon me. Time to plan out my summer edu "to do" list.
Water rocket launcher build
Build wrestling room weight class board
Treasure chest with items
Plan or help plan physics class
Develop Classcraft quests
Get more stuff for game club
Read books
All I can think of for now. I will probably tack on more after attending USM Summer Spark and after reading more books.
Last week my physical science students had to complete a podcast on one of several topics relating to sound. The stuff they came up with was pretty good. Some exceptional. Of definite benefit was that they already knew how to use Soundtrap thanks to the music teacher. The bumper music was great. Next year I will try doing this again but give students much more time to schedule recording time in Studio M308A and the music room. The enthusiasm for the assignment was refreshing but they struggled to plan their time and get things recorded. I also need to provide more time for script development.
Studio M308A
Starting the project at the beginning of the unit with a sign-out sheet for the entire two weeks should give students plenty of time. Completion rate of long term projects is always a struggle,but this one in particular students seemed really stoked about and came in outside of class time to record. I would like to use a more social platform to share their creations as well and will need to look into how to best do that.
First time doing podcasts in class. Ever. The music teacher approached me about a collaboration involving Soundtrap. Students already have experience with it from music class and I figured I needed a year end challenge to liven things up.
Nervous about this though. I have never done this before. I worry students will run out of time, have huge technical glitches, and not get students learning the content I need them to.
Ordered a mic to work with their chromebooks and set up a recording studio in my prep room. Will need to make up a sign out sheet for the studio. Getting a class of 29 recording and keeping them on task may be my undoing. Great stuff may happen or complete chaos.
I've decided to blog more frequently for several reasons. The main one being that doing something is better than doing practically nothing. Most of my past posts have been very thought out and developed reflections. I still plan on doing those. Just blogging more will be of more benefit to me and possible benefit to others. I'm not thinking daily is an option, but some kind of routine needs to happen. Once a week perhaps? Maybe when I have a down moment in my creative lesson planning endeavors I can spit out a few reflections here.
In general I feel the posts will be shorter. Getting on a soapbox can make for just as large of a post too. The writing and rewriting part, though, is often where I my reflection happens and I worry I might lose some of that. Even now this seems more stream-of-consciousness writing with little reflection.
Halfway through the school year and it is time to reflect on how my gamification experiment is proceeding. I am not entirely happy with my progress so far, but realize that this is a process. I have had some success with Quests within Classcraft and in a few other places.
Successes
AP - Students regularly spend AP (ability points) to heal each other and use the Sainthood power (they get a Starburst candy).
Random Events - By far the most popular aspect of Classcraft and gamification so far. If I get going and forget to do it students remind me. I have yet to have a student that is not excited when they are awarded random XP or get to roll a dice.
HP - Students lose HP for doing things we want to discourage in class. Far fewer students ask to leave class since they lose HP if they do (unless required to leave by the front office or something of that sort).
XP - Students like to see that they are rewarded for doing well. Giving students XP somehow works to show a recognition by the teacher that they are doing well.
Quests - A limited success yet something worth mentioning in this space. I don't generally have quests integrated with grades. They are separate though there is some overlap (extra credit for some quests).
In Progress
Leaderboards - Yes, one of the most integral parts of a gamified class is not really there. I have no trophy or endgoal in place. Students see XP on Classcraft and that is all. Group/team XP and competition is non-existent. I thought I would have more ability to manipulate individual and team XP data within Classcraft for some reason. Would it be that hard to have team rankings within the game?
Badges - I have the labels that I want to print them onto. I have plenty of ideas for badges. I just haven't had the time to think it through and I don't want to introduce an aspect of the game before it is ready for roll-out.
Easter Eggs - I have started to consider this more deeply. I am thinking of starting really simple like including a hidden link in a document to a simple side quest.
Final Thoughts
I feel it is really quite impossible to have your entire game laid out before the school year begins. Like most teachers, I don't get curriculum time over the summer to plan out a regular curriculum let alone a gamified experience for learners. I've been slowly incorporating additional features as the school year moves on. I feel this makes sense in many ways. First, you don't want to overwhelm students at the beginning of the year, and you also don't want weeks of onboarding. Releasing or "unlocking" new features throughout the year can bring new life into a game that may need a bit of invigoration.
There are a few features that you can easily integrate into Classcraft or any gamified space: dice and cards. I've started to use both since the time after the holiday break.
The past few months I've started to release cards to students as a part of our game. I make cards using a MTG online card maker, print them, and laminate them. (Adam Powley @MrPowley has a great blog post on making cards.) I plan on this feature of the game growing as students find using them useful and fun. I have cards that let you hold our class bearded dragon and cards to change your assigned seat. Other features I hope to introduce in the next few months are posted leaderboards based on Classcraft XP, quests that take students around the school, and more inter-team competition.
The change in dynamics of gamifying my class have been amazing. The element of fun and engagement it provides is undeniably positive. We need these positive vibes in a year that has been a struggle as every day brings new challenges. Sometimes learning and games seem trite relative to the overwhelming social-emotional issues facing children. However, I suppose, that may be even more reason to gamify and introduce engaging methodologies into instruction.
