Classcraft and High School

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- Mélysa Fréchette, Community Manager, support@classcraft.com

12 comments
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My Algebra 1 kids love it and look forward to it. I find it is a perfect behavior management tool. However my Math Models kids (most have failed Algebra 1 exams) are too rowdy for it to work. 

My English I students love it; but my English III students aren't as amused. They're also not amused by most things, though. I'm excited to try out premium next semester though!

What I notice, is that if you have events that require HP loss or falling in battle (some auto ones do) then don't have 'phone call home' as a consequence. I had to ignore that one more often than not. The way I play it, is that HP loss is documentation of misbehavior. So when I call home, I can say something like 'he's lost 15 hp this week just for talking.' And the newsfeed is helpful for tracking it.

 

They also love customizing their avatars, so encourage them to make a profile. Spend a nice day going over the system during the first week of school. Especially if they are 1:1. They can set up the profile in class. Use their powers in class as time goes on. If you're lax on cellphones, there's an app too for phones.

 

Also: I like to switch seating charts every six weeks. My class sits in groups unless testing, so it means the group changes every 6 weeks. I do like giving them a chance to change their class. Especially since the new seating chart might land 4 warriors together without a healer and a mage. They love it. If they got bored with being a mage, then it gives them an option to switch. They get to keep their levels and they get the 'hands' back for the powers. They also get whatever gold they spent back. It's like a fresh start for them. Always a fun mentality to instill. 

 

Last thing: Mage is underwhelming as it is in  the demo. I tweeked the 8 minutes longer on exams power to straight extra credit on an assignment. No one used the 8 minutes. But warriors got a cheat sheet and healers got notes. Way unbalanced. But plenty of room to personalize.

I work at a small independent school and so far the kids love it!

I am working on free premium trial, but the first quest I tried was a huge success, and boss battles provide an awesome change-up from the regular Jeopardy-style review games!

I was planning on playing with this system during the summer and I have another co-worker who is looking into the program as well. We work with PreAP and AP kids and I worry about getting the kids to buy in. Thoughts?

Jonathan,

I don't teach high school, I teach middle school, but I don't think you will have any problem with buy-in.  In my experience the higher end kids are more excited about it, and buy in more quickly.  

what about for the non gamer kids. How do you get them to buy in to the system. Also how have your admin's reacted to use of this LMS? I saw another post where an Admin told someone to stop using classcraft, feeling that the system was not academic. My situation is I will likely be teaching a state tested subject next year and I wonder if my admin would go for this program. 

Yes, even the non-gamer kids (though there are very, very few of those in this generation).  They buy-in pretty much automatically, mostly because they like the benefits they get (powers) and customizing their characters.  My admin has been totally supportive.  I think that admin you are talking about is the exception, not the rule.  Even if they are hesitant, convince them to let you try it for a year, and show them the results.  They will be convinced.  Yes, it is not "academic" at first glance, but it is a better system of classroom management than I have ever seen.  I went from giving out several "due process" forms (discipline) each trimester to giving out almost none (I think 1 this entire year).  It is simple, easy to implement, and yes, it takes up some time in your class (about 5 minutes a day at most usually), but it pays back in much more on-task time for students.  The results speak for themselves.  

Will there be another story coming out?

 

Hi Joseph,

Our goal is to create more story mode quests in the future; however, we do not currently have a set timeframe for the new season in our story mode quests and we will not be able to have them ready for the next back to school.

I'd highly suggest you have a look at our featured quests from awesome educators on our Marketplace however: https://marketplace.classcraft.com/en/featured/month

Cheers!

Would anyone be able to share how they integrated high-school math lessons into Classcraft? I am in a teaching credential program, and I am still looking for materials to use to teach students. What materials do you use, and how do you set them up on Classcraft?

I teach science at an alternative school for students that have been subject to disciplinary punishment/placement. I find that most students here will buy into the program as an alternative to normal disciplinary measures like calling parents/detention. Any Pre-AP and honors students will almost immediately buy into this system.

I use GP as a way for students to buy from the store I have set up in addition to their character customization. Students may purchase mechanical pencils for use in my class (they can't bring their own materials to this campus), candy, sodas, and up to 5 points of extra credit per assignment. These things really motivate students to behave as they can lose access to the store for a week if their character loses all their HP.

Since students are also not allowed to have their heads down, my healers have a power to be able to take a break from the lesson for stress relief and the only way to have their head down in class.

Pledges are extremely important for my classes since they drive the reason they should not get in trouble. Most students absolutely hate speaking in front of their peers and doing anything that might be embarrassing like dancing and singing in front of their peers.

I've only been using Classcraft for these last 9 weeks and have only upgraded to premium for the last 2 weeks so I'll post more as I think of anything.

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