Idea Pooling: Death Sentences

Follow

In the legacy post by the same name @Kevin Peoples posted the sentence "Amnesia: Forget a Power" How do you take powers away if you use this?

12 comments
Date Votes

Click on the Student, then Learn Power.  Click on the Power you want them to forget, then click Unlearn.

You can have them write a reflective paragraph about why they fell in battle or serve a mini lunch detention "locked in Dugneon". The kids can just relearn the skill that they forget.

I just did a semester of this, and my English I students came up with great consequences for falling in battle. Here's what they came up (keep in mind, this is highschool):

 

1. Write a letter due in 20 minutes

2. Copy vocabulary list a certain amount of times (new list each week)

3. Exercise (push ups, sit ups)

4. Stand for 10 minutes

5. Write an impromptu poem about an object in the classroom and perform it

6. Take cell phone for 10 minutes

7. Take headphones

8. "Hug it Out" not entirely sure where they were going with that one.

 

Some fun ones I do:

1. Talk like a pirate for 30 minutes (it's our mascot)

2. Compliment every group member in your group (they love that one)

3. Silence for 30 minutes

4. Rock, paper, scissors against the teacher. If they win, they get bumped to 5 hp after they fall. (Best 2 out of 3)

5: Sing your favorite childhood song

I liked the idea rock paper scissors with the teacher. 

I use detention on friday.

Give a short presentation about a topic student's chooses

Extra homework assignment.

Mentoring a classmate who needs help (they love this one)

Write an 8 line, rhyming poem about vegetables and present it to the class.

See the GameMaster at the very beginning of lunch to pick up papers from floor, arrange bookshelf, fix computer cart cords, place headphones in numeric order, etc.

A random player from a team other than yours gets to steal 100 GP from you (or 10 AP or 50 XP or whatever you choose).  If you do not have 100 GP, you must report to the GameMaster at the start of lunch to earn it.

A random player from another team, with a role other than yours, gets to use your powers and you must pay the AP for their use.

A random player from a team other than yours gets to steal half your current GP.

1, 2. 3, 4, I declare a thumb war!  Battle the GameMaster in a thumb war.  If you win, you get 10 HP after this fall.  If you lose, you only get 1 HP.

Bow down to the GameMaster!  Lose your chair for the next 10 minutes and kneel next to your desk instead.

Delayed:  You are the last to leave class today.  Push all the chairs in while you are waiting for the rest of the class to depart.

Draw a picture of a wolf (our school mascot) and turn it in to the GameMaster.  I am also the yearbook adviser, so I can use good drawings in the yearbook.  :-)

Help the lunch aids clean up the wolf-den during the last 5 minutes of lunch.  Have a note signed stating you helped with a positive attitude.

Select a teammate to "gift" half of your current AP.

Show up to Ms. G's study hall to receive help on a math assignment.

May not use any powers for the remainder of this week.  I hope it is not Monday!

Thor has thrown down his magical hammer and a little good luck as fallen your way.  You are saved from an ominous death AND you replenish 10 HP.

Watch the news tonight and tell the class about a current event tomorrow.

Write a perfect complex sentence using all of the following words: although, giraffe, tongue, castle, king.

You are now a pauper.  Lose all but 15 GP.

Those are just a few of the ones that I use in class.  I try to keep them easy for the kids to complete, but a bit of an inconvenience.  I don't want my really good students to wind up having to serve a 20 minute detention because they got caught in a domino reaction of death that they have no control over.  If I have a kid who continually acts out, then I deal with him/her individually.  The GameMaster always has the power to change things.  I have been known to say that the next time __ dies in battle, I will come up with a specific consequence for him/her.

One of my sentences is "Amnesia: you have forgotten how to use all powers for one week"!  Have a great school year!

I would like the option to pick the sentence for my students. Sometimes the reason for the fall does not warrant a detention but I want it in there for those who do need it.

I agree with not having sentences be random, or at least have the option to be either random or specific. Especially when students get caught in a domino reaction of death that they have no control over.

Hi Jarett and Mike,

Games are more interesting when a player doesn’t know what will happen or when something doesn’t fit into a pattern they recognize. Sparking student curiosity, interest or inspiration can energize engagement in the learning process. In the beginning, we do suggest to reward more good behavior and keep the HP loss to a minimum in order to motivate and encourage the students. 

However, we do want the students to be accountable and there is a social consequence by it impacting the whole team, which is important. Having your team lift each other back up from 'Falling in Battle' is a great collaborative experience and it creates what we like to call 'Hero Moments'. 

Having 'Sentences' random also makes discipline seem fairer because it comes from the game and not the teacher directly. Perhaps detention may need to be a consequence kept outside of Classcraft if it doesn't fit well within your classroom management, and then used as needed and added on top of the less severe sentences that you have in the game. 

What are some of the experiences that some other teachers have had with the more severe sentences and the fact that one student Falling in Battle can cause a chain reaction?

We'd love to get your feedback :)

@Jarett and Mike

I would disagree that students getting caught in a domino of death is not under their control.  Unless you have random events that cause huge amounts of damage, students always have a chance to help their teammates.  If they don't, that is a choice that they made, not beyond their control.  For me, when the chain reaction happens it is usually because the people on the team were being selfish, and either hoarding their AP or using only powers that benefited them.  That's not being a team player, and sometimes they reap the consequences of that behavior.

As for specific sentences, I agree with Martina.  It is important for the sentence to come from the game, not the teacher.  It makes it seem less like a punishment.  However, in my class, if I have a student do something that warrants a detention, I handle that outside the context of the game.  They get a detention, and maybe lose HP, but the detention itself comes from me, not the game.  This also allows me to do this punishment one on one, instead in front of the whole class, which I think helps students be less likely to repeat the behavior.

What does "unlearn" do?  Can they apply the AP already spent to a new power or do they have to re-spend the AP?

Hi Tina, 

The "Unlearn" button is used to allow students to change a power they chose. They get refunded the power points needed to purchase access to this power and can use these power points to gain access to a new power.

Please sign in to leave a comment.