I've been spending some time thinking about some additional things that I would like to add to my class (like some signs around the room), but I have mentioned to the kids that I would create a tournament for their favorite games.
I've spent some time planning it and checking for feedback on gamefaqs to see what others think. I have finally come up with a tournament format and style for the students. Introducing VSC math's very first Christmas tournament!
I know that the students will really appreciate this and I'd like to see the level of motivation they have upon hearing this. The only downside is that they must have all gold tokens from now until the beginning of the tournament in order to enter, and I am gunning for 16 players.
The fewer the number of players, the easier it is to run. The more players there are, the better the class is going. I still have to come up with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize for both tournaments though. Maybe I should get the students their own Amiibos?
Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Gold Mystery Photos & Prize - Week 3
This week, I decided to give things a little break with Super Mario 3D World and I brought in Mario Kart 8. A few of the students were excited to try this title as some have never played it before, and I think they were a bit tired of SM3DW. We had a blast!
I think this will be a new favorite! I'm waiting until the 21st for the new Smash Bros. for Wii U releases.
Friday, September 19, 2014
The Golden Mystery Prize
When I look back, I am happy that I made the prizes set up more like an MMORPG/RPG. It's very interesting that students (even those who were mostly in silver tier) chose the mystery prizes more than the known prizes. I know that a few of the students have checked out the blog and have gotten a sneak peek at what the mystery prizes are, but they seem to have kept the secret to themselves.
These prizes gave an element of excitement to the rewards because students have to spend an entire week just to figure out what the prize is. The golden mystery prize was the Wii U. I spent about 500USD yesterday purchasing a Wii U, the game, 3 wireless pro controllers, and tax. My efforts have not gone to waste (and neither have theirs).
What I like the most about games like SM3DW is that the experience is
different every time. The reason why a game like SSBM is so fun is that despite
having the same characters and the same stages and the same moves, there are so many items that provide for a different experience
almost every time. Have you ever eaten the same thing over and over and over and over and over again? (I have, which is why I added an extra two "over"s to emphasize my point). You literally cannot eat it anymore.
But there are so many worlds to explore in SM3DW and students have to work together to complete levels and progress in the game. Just look at the first video. What I liked the most about this was not only the collaboration aspect, but students took turns and were able to share the controller and the gamepad without any quarreling. We are off to a great start for the new year! I have created a system that inspires students to feel good about themselves and the EFFORT and hard work they have put into my class. It's not about being smart or being the best at math. It's about working as a team, being responsible for your actions, and trying your best.
These prizes gave an element of excitement to the rewards because students have to spend an entire week just to figure out what the prize is. The golden mystery prize was the Wii U. I spent about 500USD yesterday purchasing a Wii U, the game, 3 wireless pro controllers, and tax. My efforts have not gone to waste (and neither have theirs).
But there are so many worlds to explore in SM3DW and students have to work together to complete levels and progress in the game. Just look at the first video. What I liked the most about this was not only the collaboration aspect, but students took turns and were able to share the controller and the gamepad without any quarreling. We are off to a great start for the new year! I have created a system that inspires students to feel good about themselves and the EFFORT and hard work they have put into my class. It's not about being smart or being the best at math. It's about working as a team, being responsible for your actions, and trying your best.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
The Success of VSC Math Recognition
Success!
The first day of VSC Math recognition was a success. The plan I laid out from an earlier post worked:
1) Spend the first 5 minutes of class by having students cash in their tokens and recording the prizes.
2) Hand out any tangible prizes at the end of class, and keep record of intangible prizes for later.
3) Prizes that require students to come upstairs are either scheduled (and upheld) or take place during lunch on Thursday.
The key thing is that this reward system is manageable. There was only 1 issue:
I have 3/4 classes before lunch, so 1 class was left out today because I do not have them before lunch. The only fix I can think of is going to the class they're in during my prep and completing this survey, but this is obviously not going to work.
This class will have to get their rewards (the ones require students to come upstairs for lunch) on Friday. This is fine. When mail starts, that class will have double the rewards on the same day, so I think it balances out nicely. The fact that this system is manageable means that I can move onto mail (something far easier to manage) without revising, but most importantly I will give this system a little bit more time to settle in first before moving to mail.
The first day of VSC Math recognition was a success. The plan I laid out from an earlier post worked:
1) Spend the first 5 minutes of class by having students cash in their tokens and recording the prizes.
2) Hand out any tangible prizes at the end of class, and keep record of intangible prizes for later.
3) Prizes that require students to come upstairs are either scheduled (and upheld) or take place during lunch on Thursday.
The key thing is that this reward system is manageable. There was only 1 issue:
I have 3/4 classes before lunch, so 1 class was left out today because I do not have them before lunch. The only fix I can think of is going to the class they're in during my prep and completing this survey, but this is obviously not going to work.
This class will have to get their rewards (the ones require students to come upstairs for lunch) on Friday. This is fine. When mail starts, that class will have double the rewards on the same day, so I think it balances out nicely. The fact that this system is manageable means that I can move onto mail (something far easier to manage) without revising, but most importantly I will give this system a little bit more time to settle in first before moving to mail.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
The VSC Math Time Bomb
The anxiousness of the process of students cashing in these tokens has seriously gotten to me. I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. All I've come up with is:
A) I have 3/4 of the classes BEFORE lunch.
B) Perhaps I can bring up the reward page and give students about 2-3 minutes to discuss with their group what prizes they want. I'll remind them that if they have combinations such as 3 golds and 1 silver, they have to choose from silver prizes.
C) I'll record what each group wants on my clipboard.
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A) Fruit snacks/Bronze Mystery prize will be given out at the end of class
B) Silver prizes (Lunch with Mr. E will be Monday) and other silver prizes will be accounted for
C) Gold mystery prizes given at lunch Thursday.
Let's see how it works!
A) I have 3/4 of the classes BEFORE lunch.
B) Perhaps I can bring up the reward page and give students about 2-3 minutes to discuss with their group what prizes they want. I'll remind them that if they have combinations such as 3 golds and 1 silver, they have to choose from silver prizes.
C) I'll record what each group wants on my clipboard.
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A) Fruit snacks/Bronze Mystery prize will be given out at the end of class
B) Silver prizes (Lunch with Mr. E will be Monday) and other silver prizes will be accounted for
C) Gold mystery prizes given at lunch Thursday.
Let's see how it works!
Saturday, September 13, 2014
VSC Math Recognition
Here's how it works: Each day, groups can earn 1 token (gold, silver or bronze) depending on factors such as coming prepared, classroom behavior, participation, and working together with their group. The week starts on Friday and ends on Wednesday. Students can earn tokens on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday is the day where students redeem 4 of their tokens for a prize. I give them out at the end of class and the students coordinate which member of their group will take them home and hold onto them.
The following are the prizes:
Each tier of prizes contains a mystery prize. The students will have to figure out what these prizes are. I modeled it after RPG/MMOs. I think leaving it up to the students to figure out what the mystery prizes are contains some kind of value that I can't quite put my finger on yet. Students have a choice to pick whatever prize they want. Each member of the group will get a prize, and each member gets the same prize.
Gold mystery prizes: Playing Nintendo Wii U during lunch period on Thursday (once a week). Nintendo has tons of kid-friendly games that even adults enjoy and they are all multiplayer. I won't purchase all of the games upfront. Students can earn more games over time (I'll buy them and add to our collection). These include fun competitive multiplayer games like Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3d World.
I told students about this blog earlier this week. Thankfully, they are very excited about it! The other gold mystery prize is a feature on the blog! Silver mystery prize is 10 minutes of free time (thinking of 15 but I want to start small first). The bronze mystery prize is a plush toy. If students earn 4 gold tokens for 4 weeks in a row, they'll be added to a Hall of Fame section of this blog that I'll create. These are all subject to change depending on the kinks that need to be ironed out (as with any system).
So far, students have been holding up their end of things, so I hope things will run smoothly on Thursday. One of my challenges will be the actual process of students redeeming these as I can't have so many students in front of my room! I'm thinking of distributing bronze prizes in the lunch room, and take the students who will play or spend lunch with me upstairs.
Gold mystery prizes: Playing Nintendo Wii U during lunch period on Thursday (once a week). Nintendo has tons of kid-friendly games that even adults enjoy and they are all multiplayer. I won't purchase all of the games upfront. Students can earn more games over time (I'll buy them and add to our collection). These include fun competitive multiplayer games like Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3d World.
I told students about this blog earlier this week. Thankfully, they are very excited about it! The other gold mystery prize is a feature on the blog! Silver mystery prize is 10 minutes of free time (thinking of 15 but I want to start small first). The bronze mystery prize is a plush toy. If students earn 4 gold tokens for 4 weeks in a row, they'll be added to a Hall of Fame section of this blog that I'll create. These are all subject to change depending on the kinks that need to be ironed out (as with any system).
So far, students have been holding up their end of things, so I hope things will run smoothly on Thursday. One of my challenges will be the actual process of students redeeming these as I can't have so many students in front of my room! I'm thinking of distributing bronze prizes in the lunch room, and take the students who will play or spend lunch with me upstairs.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Introducing: The Official VSC Math Tokens
I came up short spending a lot of time trying to find a site that will sell me personalized/engraved coins for my reward system. I needed Gold/Silver/Bronze coins that I'd keep in a treasure box that students would redeem later in the week. Unfortunately it's simply too expensive in addition to being a process that takes plenty of time (meaning I would have to push back the start date for my rewards by perhaps a month).
Courtesy of the Social Studies teacher for giving me the brilliant idea of creating custom dollars instead (really, I thought of this but I can be far too stubborn sometimes). I have created:
Courtesy of the Social Studies teacher for giving me the brilliant idea of creating custom dollars instead (really, I thought of this but I can be far too stubborn sometimes). I have created:
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