Gamification Fosters Creativity in Students
Gamification can enhance the learning experience by bringing the content to life. Matera shares that “well-designed games help make learning visible. When we see signs of progress, we feel smarter and stronger” p 48. I find this to be true in my career as well today. When we feel like we are progressing in any way, it motivates us to continue moving forward and try our best. This is the attitude we want our students to have. Gamification gives students an opportunity to be the drivers of their own learning through its personalized and engaging approach. I really enjoyed the quote shared in the Power of Gamification in Education TED Talk video that said: “Control leads to compliance, autonomy leads to engagement” – Daniel H Pink. Oftentimes we try to control too much of the classroom setting as teachers. In reality, students can show and tell us what they need and we can provide that for them in the classroom in hopes of it leading to more engagement with the content. Gamification gives us opportunities to hear and learn about what our students like and dislike, what makes them engaged, what excites them. ClassPoint shared that we should survey our students about what games they like before we try to present games in the classroom. It seems like a no brainer, but I think more surveying should happen throughout the course of the school year to see how students are interested in learning the content.
TCE Concepts x Gamification
- Education is not neutral/teaching is political
- What makes a good teacher? I believe a good teacher is one that is invested in the engagement of their students with the content. The speaker/teacher in The Power of Gamification in Education TED Talk video shared that he didn’t want to just see his students as grades or numbers in the system. He wanted them to enjoy going to school and figure out how to make learning fun for them. It is so important to show students the reasons why they are learning what they are learning and I think that through the engagement that gamification provides, it is possible to do so.
- Curriculum is co-constructed
- Teachers and students both play an important role in education. To successfully use gamification in the classroom, teachers need to survey their students to see what they like and dislike when it comes to the types of games they like to play. This is key in creating engagement through gamification. When teachers and students work together to co-construct the lessons, the content becomes more meaningful and impactful for students. We want students to walk away having a better understanding and being able to use these tools in the future.
Graffiti Pages in First Grade
- I used the game, Graffiti Pages, where students can draw pictures that relate to what they have learned (Matera p. 68). We are currently learning about How-To books in writing. We have written a few How-To books together, so now that they are familiar with the structure they are going to be creating their own How-To books. We talked about how it is important to write a How-To book about something they actually know how to do – something they are an expert at. For this creative game, students were asked to draw pictures of the things that they are experts at. This could be a hobby, sport, skill, an area of strength, etc.
- I explained the creativity behind Graffiti Pages to my students. I shared a few examples of what I could write a How-To book about and I had them brainstorm what they could write their How-To’s about. I told them that they would have creative freedom with their pictures and I encouraged them to try to label their pictures. I asked them to draw at least 5 pictures that represent what they are experts at.
- My students were engaged with their graffiti pages during this lesson. They drew pictures that represented their understanding of what they are experts at, they used crayons, twistables, markers, and pencils to draw/color their pictures, and almost all of them were able to add captions to their pictures. Students who found the captions to be a challenge, were able to draw pictures still. I learned a lot about what my students are experts at by simply walking around the room, observing, and checking in with them.
- My students added their graffiti pages to their writing folder for reference when they begin writing a new How-To story. Overall, I felt like my students really enjoyed this creative outlet during writing time and it will be used as a tool and visual for them in creating their future How-To books.
I agree that gamification leads to the development of more skills and autonomy. I liked the quote you included, “Control leads to compliance, autonomy leads to engagement.” I have been reflective upon my classroom management style, and I would like to lead my students to intrinsic motivation rather than point systems and prizes. This quote was very inspiring and helpful! I also liked how you added the importance of surveys. I feel as though I get so caught up in standards and preparing them for tests, but it should be a priority to check in with our students to see what works for them.
When I was reading about the graffiti pages, I thought this would work so well in an elementary classroom, and you did just that! I love how this was a brainstorming activity rather than a post assessment, and how your students were able to draw all of the things they are good at. Also, I think it is so fitting that a few of them drew among us, which aligns with our theme of gamification. I’m sure their families would enjoy seeing this at the end of your lesson! My only suggestion would be to maybe hang them in the classroom prior to sending them home. I think this is such an important message that they have things they are good at, and to take pride in their page by seeing it in the classroom. Great post!
Thank you for your response Emma! I love the idea of hanging their graffiti pages in the classroom. My students use writing folders where they can store their current writing, finished books, and tools/resources for writing. I am having them keep their graffiti page in their writing folder as a resource for them to pull out so that it can give them ideas for their How-To books! I would like to display these when we finish up our books!
Hi Carolyn,
I love that you were able to make the connection between gamification and making learning/thinking visible. You are so right, sometimes as teachers we create these elaborate plans/ideas for our students and we do not consider our students opinions. I like your idea of surveying your students throughout the school year, you will never know your students thoughts/reviews on an activity unless you ask!
I always love seeing what you’re doing in your classroom as I also teach 1st grade. The Graffiti pages was a great connection to writing. I like how they were able to draw things that they felt like they were experts at. This is such an engaging brainstorming activity for 1st graders that will make them think deeply about their writing possibilities. It sounds like this was an overall great success for you and your students as you were able to learn about them more, and they were able to stretch their thinking through visuals and captions. Way to go!
Here is a blog post about gamification in the classrooom, after reading this blog I think that your activity did a great job at setting a goal- draw 5 things that you’re an expert at, setting rules- you have to be an expert at the thing you draw so you could write a how to book about it, and then you were able to converse with students and give feedback on the their drawings. https://lawtech.pepperdine.edu/gamification/
Ciara, thank you for your response and for the blog post resource – that is a great resource to look at for planning future games in the classroom. I really enjoyed the Graffiti Pages and would like to use it again, it’s perfect for our students’ age group!