If school were a video game
By: Ginger Schwartz
Tags: Gamification, Teaching And Learning, Education, Educational Technology, Classroom Management

Teaching is not for the faint of heart or the thin skinned. Often, we are faced with having to conduct uncomfortable parent teacher conferences for “Little Johnny.” Long gone are the days when the student was at fault for not learning the curriculum. Today, we, the teachers, face scrutiny as to why the learner is not learning. If the student is not getting it, then it is simply our fault. We just are not teaching in a way to reach their little darling. It was during one of those types of meetings when a parent made an offhand remark to the tune of, “If school were a video game, then “Little Johnny” would be interested.” Naturally, as a sixth-grade teacher I responded, “I know, if only school were like Fortnite.”

Dabbing, water bottle flipping and fidget spinners are all so 2017 for students. Fortnite is the current middle school video game craze. If you can’t do the Fortnite dances, then you just aren’t cool. The schools have students “dancing” all over the place. Our school talent show this year had several acts with students, male and female, doing all the Fortnite dances. Don’t get me wrong. I will take this craze over the last three any day.

Pop culture will forever spill into education, but what is interesting from my observation is the types of students that are drawn to video games like Fortnite.

Those kids. You know. The students that the other teachers can’t handle or make a connection with. I teach those kids. I LOVE those kids. They are my passion. Those kids are the hardest reach, and it is up to you to find the connection. So, when that parent said,

If only school were like a video game…

I knew I was on to something.

What’s Fortnite, anyway?

Fortnite is a free video game that is available on most platforms and mobile devices. Fortnite: Battle Royale was released in 2017 and is a sensation that has sweeped the world with over 45 million users. All ages are playing this free game either solo, or in groups. It is collaborative in nature like MineCraft and has a zombie aspect that interests war gamers. The players can interact with one another and they enjoy having their emotes (avatars) costumes upgraded (for a fee) and having them dance. They dance to classic dances like the Chaleston and contemporary dances like the Floss. Thus, the Fortnite dances that we have been seeing in our classrooms. Fortnite: Battle Royale is unique because the gamers want to work together to defeat the Storm.

If they can work together in a video game, then how can we make them work together in a classroom?

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

Student problem behavior has persistently been communicated as a major concern with teachers (George, 2018). Educators feel their concerns are lost on deaf ears because administration views the behavior problems are due to inadequate classroom management and engagement. Teachers have spoken up that discipline issues were one of the most considerable challenges of their time and it impeded instruction and learning (George, 2018).

When you work with those kids, it would be nice to know if there was something that could make the students and your life easier. A more comprehensive approach is one that focuses on students, teachers and administration working together. George (2018) explains PBIS was made known in the 1997 amendments of IDEA. It has come to relate to the utilization of Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) in school conditions and school-wide conditions (SWPBIS).

The premise is not to focus on the learners and their behaviors, but by engineering settings in which favorable actions occur.

My classroom environment needed a remodel. I needed a PBIS system that met my needs, but would have the students engaged. I needed a video game. Then it hit me!

I needed PBIS WITH gamification.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Gamification

Gamification is the integration of:

game based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning and solve problems (Kapp, 2012, Chp. 1).

Teachers have long used games to entice engagement from students. Like typical research, you can find studies that support gamification and others that oppose it. It doesn’t matter what research says, people like games! But in our day and age with tweens, if the game isn’t plugged in, you will be hard pressed for full cooperation. Elementary students have been exposed to PBIS systems through gamification like ClassDojo.com and RedCritterTeacher.com. These products are great for younger students.

I needed something that would interest my Fortnite crazed tween sixth graders. My Twitter PLN brought me to Classcraft.com. It was here that I struck gold.

Image courtesy of Classcraft Studios Inc.

Classcraft

Gamification with PBIS is an excellent foundation to help all students become intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. In the spring, we were nearing high stakes testing season and we needed an extra push to make it to the end of the year. Classcraft fit the bill for my classroom needs. Classcraft has the option to join as an educator for free or to upgrade to the premium option that includes many additional features. During spring break, I signed up for the premium package for Classcraft to start revitalizing my class. I changed no other instructional strategies aside from incorporating Classcraft as part of the curriculum. It was an instant success. Students who rarely spoke to me or other students were quickly discussing their avatars, training their pets and how to level up in the game. Behavior issues became nonexistent as the students worked together to win boss battles and complete quests.

Image courtesy of Classcraft Studios Inc.

Classcraft is a multiplayer PBIS online video game that immediately drew my student’s attention because several exclaimed that the avatars looked like avatars from Fortnite. Classcraft is a role-playing game (RPG) with the teacher assuming the role as Gamemaster. The origins of the game came from Shawn Young in 2011. It was built for his own personal use in his classroom and eventually grew into a global launch in 2014 (Sanchez, Young, Jouneau-Sion, 2015). During an interview about Classcraft, Young said,

There is a reason gamers are willing to spend hours repeating the same boring task to complete an objective; but aren’t willing to spend 5 minutes doing math homework: games fulfill 7 fundamental motivational needs (autonomy, competency, relationships, discovery, surprise, feedback, storytelling). (The Teaching Factor, 2016).

Most teachers are eager to tap into the focus our students have the capability of achieving while gaming, but fail to achieve in in our classrooms.