Gamification: Learning, Engagement, and Classroom Culture

The excitement and anticipation were tangible and took me by surprise.

In my pursuit of gamifying the classroom, students were working as teams to complete a variety of activities at stations, ranging from sketchnotes, to summaries, to Instagram stories.  Each time they completed an activity, the teams would earn a badge and a certain amount of dice based on the quality of their work.  The roll would be hit points against one of the villains in our year-long class game.

Over the course of the three days of stations, students were engaged with the activities, were working together, and were understanding the information.  They were eager to receive the badge but even more excited to roll the dice.

Teams started cheering for themselves as they scored hit points and weakened the enemy.  Then teams started cheering for one another.

Towards the end of the third period, students knew that the next roll of the dice might finish off the
villain.  As I looked over a team’s work, other teams stopped working.  As I looked up from examining the work, I saw the whole class crowding around us.

I was taken aback.  They were all there waiting to see if this roll would throw them over the top.

There was almost a collective holding of their breathe as the team prepared to roll.  The anticipation was high as they rolled….as I totaled the roll.

When I announced the total, the classroom erupted.  The roll was high enough to defeat their nemesis.

This was the experience I was hoping for through gamification.  Students were engaged and learning, practicing skills and learning important concepts.  They were also collaborating with one another.  What threw this over the top, however, was the camaraderie amongst all the members of the class. 

I was excited to see them all pulling for one another.  I feel there were great gains in developing our classroom culture as well.


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If you have moments when you’ve expereinced the power of gamification or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Can I Use the Bathroom?

“Can I use the bathroom?”

This is a question often heard during a middle school class. The constant interruptions wore on me. So, I stopped them last spring.

Instead of having students ask me to use the bathroom or to go get water, I would allow students to dismiss themselves for those purposes. 

I told them that I was trusting them to choose times to leave during class that were more appropriate than others.  They were also told that they would still need to sign out of the classroom appropriately.  Lastly, so I could know where they were at a glance, students would need to prop a red (for the bathroom) or blue (for water) placard at their seats.

As their eyes lit up, students revealed they were skeptical. This year I received the same response. In both cases, it took the students a little time to get used to dictating when they use the bathroom. After the first week, I respond to the bathroom / water request with, “I can’t answer that question.”

There has been no noticeable change in the frequency of students leaving the room, but I think the students appreciate the trust and autonomy I’ve developed with them.

This approach has taken the burden of making a decision off of my shoulders, lessened interruptions in class, and allowed me to treat the students more like the people they are.

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If you no longer require students to ask permission to use the bathroom or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Students Set the Tone With Expectations

Starting the school year and getting to know new students is both interesting and exciting. These early days are also when expectations are established.

Last year and this, I started began establishing expectations in a different way. I put that responsibility into the hands of the students.

As a small group activity, students work together to think about what makes a good student and what makes a good teacher.  I have them use a Frayer Model to think about what a good student is, says, does, and does not. They repeat the process for a teacher.

I pull together the students' thoughts, create one Frayer for students and one for teachers.  I will print each as a poster to hang in the classroom.

They will then serve as a reference throughout the year: posted as a reminder as to what the students should be doing, as a reminder as to what I should be doing, and as an opportunity to reflect on how well they are being good students and I a good teacher.

I will also set aside time during the course of the year for all of us to review the expectations and write reflections as to how well we are being good students and a good teacher.

The expectations are not perfect, but the gist of them is strong and clear. And most importantly, they come from the students.


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If you have students help create expectations for class or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Laughing at Myself With the Students

I’m not very good with names. I try, however, very hard with my students’ names because it is a simple way to connect with them and their identities.

At the end of a period’s second class with me, I was trying to stretch my brain and recall students’ names. I approached this one student and felt like the name was on the tip of my tongue….elusive….just out of reach.

The students give me a hint. It starts with “J.”

My mind is racing through all the “J” names it could recall from the various rosters: Justin, Jason, James, Jack, John….  I try one of them that doesn’t feel quite right.  It isn’t.

I pause, shaking my head, narrowing my eyes in concentration.

The students give me another hint.  It ends with “E.”

More racing. Well, stalling is more like it. “Jake” comes to mind, but I know that’s not right. Then “James.” No, no, no. No “E” at the end.  I’m stuck again.

Now my face shows confusion, so the students give me a THIRD hint (how embarrassing).

There’s an “O” in the middle.

My mind is starting to force versions of “Justin” and “Jason” that just don’t exist. I’ve got nothing.

The students are all watching me.  Quite a few are starting to giggle.  Some, I can tell are stifling full-on laughter.

I’m a bit frustrated with myself and irritated that I let this student down.

“You’re going to have to tell me. What is it,” I say.

A collective exhale of laughter: It’s “Joe.”

Another pause, as my brain calculates their hints.

I roll my eyes and start laughing with the students.

In the back of my head, I’m realizing my folly was a good moment for the class. We got to bond over something simple which can strengthen our relationships as we go through the year. We laughed. Having the classroom be a place students enjoy is important. They saw me as a person, making a mistake, laughing (and hopefully learning from said mistake).

Though unplanned, this moment we shared is like many that can happen throughout the school year which draws the members of the class together and helps to build a strong classroom culture.