Gamification Update

For over a year I've been toying with the idea of adding more gamification elements to my science 8 classes. I took the plunge this year thanks to encouragement from DianaLyn (@PerkyScience), Michele Haiken (@TeachingFactor), Dan Curcio (@dandanscience) and Michael Matera (@mrmatera). Not sure they all realize their impact on my decision but thanks go out to them! There are also all those others too numerous to mention that are part of the GBL and gamification tribe. Most of those positive, hard-working, and fun-loving educators can be found at the Games in Education Symposium year after year.

Over the summer I read both Gamify Literacy by Michele Haiken and Explore Like a Pirate by Michael Matera in preparation for gamifying my class. At the end of the previous year I tried out ClassCraft with my high school physics students to get an idea of game mechanics and increase my comfort level going into this year. I also used Google Scholar to look at a few studies about  gamification in the classroom.

Initially my biggest decision was picking a theme and whether to use ClassCraft to aid in gamification. I liked the system employed by ClassCraft and was leaning toward a fantasy theme anyways so using it was an easy choice. (All those years of playing Dungeons and Dragons might finally pay off professionally.) Using ClassCraft I could also still make my own items, badges, and side-quests. After picking a theme I started a Google Doc where I wrote down all my ideas generated from brain storming. Everything from items to badge ideas and possible ways to award XP. The process helped me visualize the game and also start coming up with a common language we might use in class.

Implementation has been uneven. I knew things were going to be challenging when new students kept arriving to school. And kept arriving. And kept arriving. Six new students over the last month. Getting teams together and  everyone on-boarded is a work in progress. I currently have two students that have not made characters in ClassCraft. Period 6 (my class of 30) just got into teams this past week. My 2nd period class has been playing since the second week of school!

I also have not been very successful bringing the game world into class. My intent was to have class activities themed around the battle against the goblin horde. I have not found the time to rework lessons to embed the fantasy theme. Instead, I've been pulling out the same lessons as last year. The game is there but currently it is only a behavior management system (which is ClassCraft's main intended use anyhow).

Even with those drawbacks the gamification has been a success so far. Many look forward to the random event of the day. I love using the random student chooser in the ClassCraft system. I used to use a deck of index cards with student names. Students don't ask to leave class as often since they know they'll lose HP as a result. Students also enjoyed the one boss battle we had to review for a quiz. Students also seem to accept "Sentences" (the consequences for 0 HP in ClassCraft) more from the game than me. Guess it somehow seems more fair to them. I'm not the one giving the detention: The game is! In this situation a student was sentenced to a detention (it is randomly chosen from a list of sentences). The student agreed and did come after school to serve it. That whole situation still has me flabbergasted.

Next steps include bringing the theme into class more with inclusion of themed activities. To keep the game going all school year I plan on introducing badges first and then items. Additional badges and items will be rolled out as I become comfortable with their use and the game mechanics associated with them. I will be making videos to introduce Quests on ClassCraft but also other side-quests. One will be a catapult design challenge!

Must-Have Non-Science Materials for a Physical Science Class

In some states the school year is fast approaching and preparations need to be made. If you are a veteran science teacher you have probably accumulated many oddball items. Science teachers just starting out may not have accumulated as much stuff. Through my 15 years of teaching I have found myself coming back to certain materials over and over again for use in class. These are not pieces of science equipment to be ordered from a science catalog (with a few exceptions), but other knickknacks that are used frequently in my room and often purchased from Dollar Stores and supermarkets. From activities to demonstrations I use each of these multiple times a year in different classes and situations.

• Butane Lighter
• Utility Knife (Leatherman or something similar)
• Popsicle Sticks/wood splints
• Plastic Utensils
• Various Balls (golf, ping-pong, tennis, marbles)
• Felt, cloth
• Index Cards
• Box Cutter
• Candles
• String of various types
• Clear packing tape
• Cups, plates, and bowls of different sizes and types (plastic, Styrofoam etc.)
• Balloons
• Aluminum foil (foil pans too)
• Wax Paper
• Toothpicks
• Food Coloring
• Screwdrivers (tools in general)
• Pennies
• Tooth picks
• Straws
• sandwich bags

The district I teach in does not have Bunsen burners. If you do, congrats, and I assume candles and lighters will be less essential for you. Rubber-bands are notably missing. I try not to give my students ammunition. I also did not include writing and art supplies on my list. I limited it to those items used for science labs and demonstrations. The candles were ordered from a science supply company probably 13 years ago and I still have plenty left. Some items of course have non-science uses as well. Popsicle sticks are good for building as well as using them to choose random groups. I will also note that I have taught everything from general chemistry to earth science lab. The variety of classes are part of the reason I have accumulated this hodgepodge assortment.

But that is the benefit of having these items in stock: the myriad uses. I'd love to hear from other teachers about items they constantly use that aren't necessarily science specific. Please share!

Post-ISTE17 Wrap-up

ISTE17 was bigger and better than I could have imagined. I heard the total number of people was around 30,000! I managed to walk the entire Expo floor and walked through most other parts of the convention hall(s). I did not manage to get to a singe session or keynote however. I traveled with my wife Becky (@RebeccaBeiter) and we were sponsored by Legends of Learning as ambassadors. They are passionate about using games to teach and they are trying to do right by teachers and students. This was our first time to an ISTE Conference and we were not disappointed.

ISTE17 Expo Hall

Highlights

Meeting People in RL

I made it a point to meet up with Michael Matera (@mrmatera). Michael and a bunch of #XPLAP folks were meeting up and playing games. Played a riveting round of 2 Rooms and a Boom. My wife who loves a good game as well joined in. Had a great time and met some great people. Wish we could have stayed longer playing games but there was so much to do.

Gamers Gaming

On the last day I finally connected with and Dianalyn Perkins (@PerkyScience). She is the first #scitlap connection I've met in real life. We talked for a good 10 minutes about gamification and we could have talked longer. This showed me what a limited medium a Twitter chat can be! Having a real conversation was so productive and enjoyable even as short as it was.

Me and Dianalyn

I also met with Michele Haiken (@TeachingFactor), author of Gamify Literacy. She spoke at the Rally for Educators put on by Legends of Learning. I am now convinced to at least give Classcraft a try after speaking with her. Gamification is a big undertaking of mine and Michael, Dianalyn, and Michele should prove great sources of information and inspiration.

Hanging out and meeting old friends and making new ones is a key to enjoying ISTE. I went to several events including the Educator Rally sponsored by Legends of Learning, Quizlet Happy Hour, and ETK17 (Edtech Karaoke, yes it's a thing). The first two in particular were great ways to sit down and talk shop with other educators. Since my trip (and my wife's) was made possible by Legends of Learning they were our go-to group to hang with. Good people trying to do great things for students. Same can be said for all of the people we met with.

I loved running into Karl (@AZkochsner) who I had met at Honeywell Green Bootcamp many years ago. We talked a great deal at the Quizlet Happy Hour and he told me about Physics Quest and a STEM Notre Dame Fellowship.

Great talk were also had with knives chau (@iwearthecrowns) and Steven Isaacs (@mr_isaacs) at breakfast. Also discussed GBL with Steven at a round table sponsored by Legends of Learning.
Also met up with Emily Merritt (@EmilyMerritt) at the Swivl/recap Booth. One of the things I love about talking to teachers from around the world is that the problems we face are similar and yet we often work in such diverse schools.

The Expo Floor

Yes, I walked the entire Expo. I ended up with a pile of stickers, a weeks worth of t-shirts, and about 8 bags. I particularly enjoyed seeing what game companies were represented. There were many more 3D printer companies than I expected. I made sure I visited Quizlet, Kahoot!, Flipgrid (I wanted to know what it was all about), Vernier, SphereO, and BrainPop. Walking through the entire Expo Hall took most of three days. I also visited a few posters and playgrounds. Though I don't regret spending lots of time in the Expo Hall; next time I will branch out sooner. My wife and I didn't go out of the main Expo Hall area until the last day of the conference.

Final Thoughts

Becky and I definitely want to attend ISTE18 in Chicago now. We enjoyed the networking and brainstorming of innovative ideas that the ISTE convention provides. I still can hardly believe I got to go and the cherish the memories and connections I made. Becky and I also stayed an additional few days to enjoy San Antonio itself. We had a great time eating and visiting the riverwalk. We even did a Ghost Tour on our final night. I definitely suggest other attendees for these conferences to make time to visit the hosting cities outside of conference time if possible.

1 Week Till ISTE17!

Just registered for another event on Eventbrite. Things are quickly filling up and I realize now just how tired I will be by the end of this journey. I have not registered for any paid sessions at ISTE itself.  I am currently just spending time at the Legends of Learning booth and walking the floor most of the day. If there is something I should be attending or missing out on during the day let me know.

I am currently registered for the following:

#CoffeeEdu
Monday, June 26, 2017 from 6:00 AM to 7:00 AM (CDT)

Riverwalk BYOD
Monday June 26, 2017 from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM (CDT)

ISTE Rally for Educators
Monday, June 26, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CDT)

Quizlet Teacher Appreciation Happy Hour
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

ETK (Ed Tech Karaoke)
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM (CDT)

The Riverwalk BYOD is the only thing scheduled through ISTE at the moment. The rest are on Eventbrite. I also have a lunch/roundtable I will be attending on Tuesday. There are definitely a few booths I want to visit including Vernier, Quizlet, Kahoot!, and ClassCraft. There are also people I want to say "hi" to in RL like Michael Matera and @PerkyScience. I will stay connected via Twitter (I am @pentaclethra) to make sure I can connect with as many people as I can.

Preface to ISTE 2017

When delving into educational technology it doesn't take you long to realize how excited some people get over the annual ISTE conference. I first became aware of the organization during my instructional technology degree classes about seven years ago. I even helped with a portion of the Denver Conference via Second Life. It was lots of fun and I still stop by ISTE Island on Second Life. (My avatar is Skleros Kwan if you want to look me up there).

I get a kick out of going to conferences and symposiums. The contagious excitement helps wipe away the stress of teaching and get me pumped for getting back in the classroom. I have never been to a national convention or conference of any type. The closest was going the PAX East this past winter with my daughter. I kind of expect ISTE 2017 to be like that except for it being edtech, not gaming.

PAX East 2017

As with PAX, I will do the following at ISTE:

• Bring a water bottle
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Talk to people and vendors
• Sit down once in awhile
• Bring a snack or two
• Bring phone and charger
• Realize that no matter how much you plan you still won't get in to certain events/vendors but being flexible will allow for a better experience.

So perhaps the last one is poor planning on my part. Getting into a meet and greet or panel at PAX was pretty much impossible for this n00b.

I am not sure about ordering business cards as I have heard suggested. Just seems odd for a teacher to have a business card. Maybe if I call it a "PLN Card" or something it won't sound so silly. I have also seen it suggested to bring address labels for giveaways and drawings. Not a bad idea I suppose. Where do people tend to order these things?

Regardless, I'm looking forward to ISTE. Even if I just wander around the EXPO floor and catch a few other events and dinners I'll be happy. I will also be spending a copious amount of time at the Legends of Learning area.

For info on preparing for ISTE see:  ISTE 2017 Survival Guide

Switching it Up

I decided to conduct small experiment.

Can I survive with just a Chromebook and ditch my teacher PC?

For the past year I had been contemplating the switch and was initially hesitant. For one, I knew that my interactive whiteboard (a Hitachi Starboard) would not run on the Chrome OS. Secondly, I did not have a projector with HDMI. A fail turned into a win about a month ago when my old projector failed. The district had no replacement bulbs but did have a nice new projector that was installed. I have a nice Onkyo amplifier/receiver that I run my HDMI through and sound is so much better through real speakers! I also had an old 2 MP IPEVO document camera that works great with the Chrome IPEVO Presenter app.

I kept my PC and moved it to a counter that runs on the right along the front of the room. There are a few things I still need it for including; accessing documents I never transferred to my Google Drive and using my interactive whiteboard (which I haven't used since the change).

One obvious benefit has been being able to quickly take what I've been working on with me. Period 1 I have to report to the suspension room and it is handy just being able to clam up the Chromebook and get out of my room. I can then easily return before class and plug in the HDMI and start class. The same goes for the afternoon and packing up to go home. The Chromebook keeps a charge and I can easily work with it through the weekend without a charger. The space savings on my desk can't be overstated. Students no longer have to look around my monitor and I have more room to use the document camera. An unexpected side benefit is that unlike a desktop PC the Chromebook doesn't randomly decide to update and restart. Also, when a student hits the red emergency electrical off button the Chromebook doesn't shut off.

The switch has been a success. Now, if only all my students had Chromebooks on a daily basis.

An Overview: Legends of Learning

"Want to help an educational start-up test their science games?"

I was asked this simple question via Twitter by a teacher I had met at the Games in Education Symposium in Troy, NY. My response was simply, "Where do I sign up?"

That was the start of a journey that I expect will continue into the foreseeable future with Legends of Learning.  As I write, Legends of Learning is at NSTA 2017 with an awesome looking booth (their the ones running around with the capes on). The educational startup launched their platform this past week with hundreds of games available for teachers to access and students to play.

35 Learning Objectives for Physical Science with 6+ games in each.

What is Legends of Learning? Greg Toppo of USA Today described it as 'Spotify for learning games.' Teachers can make an account, make a playlist of games from a multitude of science learning objectives, and then have students join and play the games. Students join the game using a Launch Code (similar to Kahoot! and Quizlet Live) and work individually to progress through the playlist of games. The system tracks student progress in the games and keeps tabs on ever important assessment data. Since rolling out the system has become increasingly robust and feature rich. Features still to be added are Google Classroom integration, better tracking of data based on student and question, and the ability to add a co-teacher to an account. New features being added are all part of the feedback given by teachers to Legends of Learning. Feedback is not just on the quality of the games, but on the platform overall. Teachers have also been involved in reviewing and writing the questions used on the site.

Probably the best part of Legends of Learning is their willingness to bring teachers on board and listen to feedback from the beginning. I really enjoyed the opportunity to be a beta tester and work with developers on games. Collaborating on this project has been hard-fun. I put countless hours into playing through games, taking notes, and chatting with developers. What helped the process was how positive the developers were are and how willing they are to listen to constructive criticism. The platform is definitely better for having had teachers involved from the beginning.

Games can be a powerful learning tool. Too often teachers seem reluctant to incorporate more games into their curriculum. The combination of state assessment pressure and skeptical administrators are often cited by teachers as reasons for not using more games in the classroom. Legends of Learning has tried to remove these barriers by showing the research behind game based learning and including data in the platform.

At the moment games are being added at a rapid pace. Every time I go back to a learning objective there seem to be more to choose from. There are games for instruction, review/reinforcement, and assessment. How you end up using the platform is up to you. Some teachers have found it useful for introducing a topic; others have used it for "extra time" after other assignments are completed. Regardless, Legends of Learning has given teachers a great place to start using games in the classroom. The site is far better than letting students loose on sites like Cool Math Games or Science Review Games. With Legends of Learning you know the games have been reviewed by teachers and should play an any device. You can also leave feedback for other teachers and the developer.

If you've been thinking about getting more games in the class or maybe just want something to spice up your classroom  give Legends of Learning a try. Joining and trying it out is free! Log on and get gaming!