(An avatar of me! The ClassCraft team made this after something I created was chosen as Quest of the Month. They also send me an amazing poster with this on too!) Last year I used ClassCraft to gamify my classes. This is a great website, where all of my students can log in, and they can earn points, (through positive behaviour - linked to ATLs and IBLP, or through extra-credit quests), and they can customise their characters! It also has a lot of fun features, like the volume meter, (which my students literally beg me to put on), as well as boss battles, (multiple-choice battles, where they destroy a monster). I very rarely set homework, and if I do, it is only a short reflection vide on FlipGrid. However, I have lots of students who ask to learn more. In ClassCraft I am able to make 'Quests'. This are story based, extra-cred activities, which students can do at their own pace, (you can also do it in class, and pace it yourself). I've done ones about how design improves space travel, right through to a coding quest. Long quests are not part of the free package, but you can do quests, with up to six objectives, on the free account. So that you can experience a quest, sign up to ClassCraft, and import this new quest I made. It is short, so available to all free accounts, and it focussed on the UN Global Goals. When you have an account, click this link to import the quest: "Save the World by 2030" I use the UN Global Goals for all my units, and have put this in ClassCraft, along with rewards for strengthening their Approaches to Learning Skills (ATLs) and demonstrating the IB Learner Profile! If you like it, and sign up, then you are welcome to import my other quests too:
Lastly - I know that my post my sound a bit abstract, and you may just want to see it in action, so here is a video tutorial, showing all the key features and set up!
I recently became the ATL coordinator at my school, and part of that is designing activities for our core/advisory programme. Here I have some digital citizenship lessons, some from Common Sense Media, then I have lots of different sessions, covering everything from international mindedness, to human rights, through to LGBTQ issues. It's been a lot of fun to design, and I am trying to get a lot of the sessions done over the summer, so I just roll them out next year. The sessions are all designed so they are mostly discussion led, so the advisory and advisory get to know each other well, and also flexible, so they can be done in 25 minutes, or for the whole lesson. I have a teacher slide as the opening slide for each presentation, with information for the advisor, including if they have to print anything (rarely). I also have a few longer projects, which happen over several classes.
I thought I would give you a sneak peak of the first (slightly longer) project our Grade 6s will do. This will introduce them to the ATLs, and the UN Global Goals, and will have them work together, in teams, to make water filtration devices! At the end students will do a short presentation, which will include the ATLs they used to complete the challenge. They will also learn a little about the 6th UN Global Goal, Clean Water and Sanitation, and will see existing products, such as the LifeStraw and also water related problems, including Guinea Worm. I will provide a bottle of dirty water, and some resources, including coffee filters, fine sand and pebbles. Feel free to make a copy of the presentation, and adapt it for you school (giving me credit please). Also a link to the image at the top of the page. |
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June 2023
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