Gamification, is it really the answer?

With all this talk about Gamification in the classroom... I thought I would bring the notion up at home. I asked my Freshman if she would like to win/earn badges for completing assignments or for doing well on quizes as a way for her teachers to recognize her and maybe even have it reflected on some sort of a leader board. The response I received from her and my husband surprised me.

What she she said was "no way." You see, she is Highly internally motivated to do well! She is also quiet and a teacher pleaser in class, thus she falls through the cracks in school when it comes to teachers recognizing her... So much so that the kids that earned the brag tags in intermediate school were the ones that, in her opinion, would get in trouble and did something good such as holding a door open and would then earn a brag tag. This past year, she earned 100 on her EOC Algebra test, the only one in her grade level to do so and someone else earned the math award when it came to the end of year awards. Now one could say that the scores came in after the certificates were already made, the point is, she was overlooked. This has been the story of her academic career. My husband also chimed in and said that his experience is one where he has in the past been awarded merit badges at work do to his excellence in sales. He has in fact been the leader in sales at his location for the past 5 years. Somewhere along the way, his sales became an expectation and others began receiving the award and recognition even though he has top sales. So they wouldn't feel bad..why is this? Perhaps we are missing the mark when it comes to badges, awards and recognition. They are afterall external rewards. As we know and research suggests, external rewards do not effectively translate to internal motivation? What are your thoughts?  A badge to the first person to comment!

Lounging Around

Today I attended the Educators Lounge event in Dallas. It was held a an old theater called, The Lakewood. It was amazing!!! It took all but a moment to catch the cool vibe this venue held. I attended with my conference bestie, @cwatts27, who is not only a blast to be around, but also shares with me a passion for life-long learning!

The afternoon consisted of @thenerdytecher, sharing his message that students are silently begging us to challenge them. I see that everyday throughout the school building and I hope to challenge other educators to reach out to students, know them and build relationships with them! I heard @8amber8 speak about how important it is to be a connected leader in education. My take aways from Amber are, sharing is caring, focus on the verbs not the nouns and that campus VISION should permeate all aspects of your campus! That's good stuff, right??? And @tomwhitby shared that it is not the devices but the relationships that will be most meaningful. He also said that it is our "moral obligation" to share with other educators. Love this too!!!!

At this point it was time for a break before meeting back up and hearing from 2 local educators and how they are making a difference in their educational world.

We heard from Travis Allen, @ischooladvocate, who is a college student sharing the message of growing up in a digital world and not knowing a time without technology. Amazing to think about;) He shared, If You don't change, You'll never change Anything!!! I couldn't agree more. Be the change and LEAD THE WAY!!!   Next on list of greatness was @ArvinCBRoss. An amazing college student paving the way for youth mentorship and sharing the message that there is a creative genius inside all of us. His inspirational talk surely left me wanting to hear more about his journey.

And finally, @web20classroom, who shared his message that we need to think differently. No longer can we bury our head in the sand, we must stand up and do what's right for kids, and that educators must share with other educators. 

At this point the presentation piece of the day was over and Christie and I got a chance to share our 2 bits about the day... Thanks Christie for pushing me to get in front of the camera and #bebrave. The most amazing part was the networking at the end of the day... We lounged around with great folks and got to know @ArvinCBRoss...heard his story of overcoming adversity and how he is a mentor for youth today. He is definitely on my "Ones to Watch" list!!!

I learned a lot and have many great take aways! 

Would I attend another Educators Lounge? Absolutely!!!!

Have I inspired you enough to attend one? I do hope so;)

Just Lounge'N Around,

Christina