The next plan.

So, with the new year starting up soon, I've been reviewing my plans for Silvercraft. I will continue to use Edmodo to keep track of points, but I want to see if there is a better way to incorporate all the elements of Edmodo. For instance, awarding points as the "mark" for each assignment, then only when all the assignments are marked will I add the points to the running total. I think that would help me stay organised. I really need to check out ClassDojo and see if their scheme is the same.

[Oh! I forgot to mention... I bought an iPad! I don't know yet if there is anything in particular that will affect Silvercraft, but I hope so.]

One idea I had at the end of the year last year is to make check-in slips for students. They can have two official check-ins before the due date (have a check-in cut off date?) when they can get feedback and points.  They can also redo meetings on their own time as long as it's not before the cut-off date/next due date. I like this idea, but I don't know if it is making things too complicated or not. I'll need to think on it a bit more.

Roll out! What happens when we start?



My trial account with Edmodo points

So, the game is now officially named Silvercraft! The French name is Artgent. I will probably keep the name even when Minecraft's popularity wears down. I like how it is a pun on my name and art/craft. Creativity and creation is important in my class and I love how the name reflects that.

I decided to keep track of points on Edmodo for the trial run of the game. I chose Edmodo partly because my class and I are already familiar with it, but also because it is fairly simple to do. I wish ClassDojo was more flexible with the amount of points it gives for each action the student takes because that would be perfect - just a simple click on the computer or smartphone and it will add it to the student's running total. Their website says they are planning to implement this feature, but until then, I will use Edmodo. The way I have it set up on Edmodo is with a new group specifically for the game and an assignment due on the last day of the school year. Each student needs to "submit the assignment" with just their name, or anything at all in the assignment section. I can then change their grade from my computer or Android app. This works really well to adjust individual student points on-the-go, but it's a slight hassle when I want to award points to multiple students.

So after a few days of running the game, there are a few things I've noticed. The first is that the students each react completely differently to the game. (Not surprisingly.) Some got really into it and started changing their prize tokens in right away; some have been hoarding their tokens for the right moment; some seem pretty disinterested, while others are constantly checking their points. I am really happy I put in the bonus rule about getting points for doing nice things for others. It has encouraged the students to do small polite things for others (like holding the door open) and rewarded those who are always doing little kindnesses - bit more than that, it encourages them to notice when someone does something nice for them, and gives them something more they can do to thank the person by reporting the kindness.

I have also been thinking about my feedback methods in view of the game. I tend to give feedback very informally over the course of a project, with my students only getting formally marked at the end. I spoke in an earlier post about the rubric system I currently have in place and also about how I want the gamification of my classroom to give smaller amounts of feedback more often. These two seem to be somewhat inconsistent... unless I give out rubrics over the course of a project. I am thinking I could schedule "check ins" periodically and give points and rubrics then. This fits with the model I already have - when students are working on long-term project, we set up mini-due dates and have one-on-one or group-on-one meetings to happen on those due dates.

Finally, I think I need to promote the game more - mention it aloud when someone receives points; make it known when someone redeems a token for a reward; toss out more reward eggs... that kind of thing. I think I need to keep it at the front of everyone's mind until it gets settled there.

EDIT: June 11
I have started giving intermediate rubric points during our check-in meetings for our inquiry projects. I'm not comfortable about the scores in view of how I feel about grades (in that they are not helpful, give a false view of the work, and distract from what the student needs to do by giving it a sense of finality instead of continuity... but that is a huge topic all on its own) but I am willing to see this through and see how it goes. My concern about grades is that by using a rubric score as a multiplier, the meaning behind that score is completely lost. I need a way to make it more clear; to tie it into the game without losing the meaning behind the mark. Maybe change the way I break it down on the score card? I'll have to do some more tweaking on the next project... next year.