The Quest before The Quests
I have been so excited to start using the new ClassCraft for my junior (11–13) classes. I am teaching the two advanced levels this term. The students are quite proficient not just in their language use, but their learning attitudes.
Introduction: Before we started
The two groups (Wednesday & Saturday) were both positive about this new way of having grades, but the Saturday group was more surprised. Interestingly, none of those students attended our school last year, so they were taken aback by the possibility of bringing (and using!) devices to class. After I explained to them that we would be using ‘something like’ Google Classroom, most of them approved. They are familiar with MS Teams or Google Classroom from the days when schools were closed. However, the ‘online learning’ period is not etched as a happy time in their memory.
I quickly chose the default powers and behaviors, and added their names very easily. It was time to add some more unique behaviors.
They all forgot about the bitter taste of online learning as soon as we started negotiating the Classroom Behaviors. The Saturday group was very strict. They did not want to give themselves a lot of points for any rules. I set up the levelling up to be at 1000 points, and I’d like them to be able to do so every couple of weeks, if they exhibit positive behaviors. They will need a lot of crystals in Chapter three, to buy powers.
The Timeline Strategy
We have 10 weeks of the course. My goal is to start Chapter 2 in Week 3, and take two weeks for each consecutive Chapter. This would allow us to have the full game mode for the last four weeks. During the Positive Behavior setup, students asked me if they are going to get punished for BAD behavior. According to the new class progression, this happens in Chapter 4.
Chapter 1: First tools
We tried the volume meter. It was hilarious! The students couldn’t believe that it was picking up the chatter from the other end of the classroom. One of our positive behavior rules is that each student should answer at least three teacher’s questions. So, we used a random picker, and everybody got rewarded. My favorite part was looking at their sparkling eyes while watching the Ancient Awakening Story preview. The music, the graphics, the sound effect, … I even switched off the lights to give them the cinematic feeling. It worked! They all wanted to pick characters immediately, and go on quests!
Holding off for another week
There will, most probably, be some new students registering late and joining in the second (or even third) week. This is why I decided not to go ahead with Character setup before Week 3. I actually like this ‘pleasure delaying’ method. The students are shown what to expect, but not thrown into the deep and overwhelming end at the very beginning. This makes them eager to start playing, it creates the need, so once they do start, they will have the motivation as well as the understanding. Such a great change from the ‘old way’. Of course, as a teacher, I can choose to skip this ‘pleasure delaying’ period, and jump into Chapter 2 immediately. Based on my last year’s experience, the slow introductory pace seems wiser and more efficient.
The only thing I am confused about is the progression bar: my Chapter 1 progression is stuck at 1/10 although I have all the parts checked but the last one. I am sure it will crystallize itself very soon 😎🔮.
I will write the next Class progress report as soon as we reach the end of Chapter 2. For now, the students are to collect as many XPs as possible and hopefully level up. In the meantime, they’ll get used to the new class rules, and encourage each other to earn more.
