I am extremely late publishing this post. My life has gotten a little crazy with some personal life stuff (i.e. applying for and getting hired for a new part-time gig! VIPkid is super amazing, and I will probably be writing about it soon!)
This last few week I have been playing with Classcraft. If you have not already heard of Classcraft, it is a wa
y of "gamifying" your classroom. It basically turns your classroom into an RPG (role-playing game). Think "Dungeons and Dragons" meets Class Dojo, which sounded like just about the right level of geek for me.
Although, I'm pretty geeky, I actually don't know a lot about role-playing games, so getting used to the language and the way the points worked took some time. There are a lot of moving pieces.
Instead of trying to explain all of it in a blog post, which would get long and complicated, (and redundant! -Classcraft has plenty of tutorial videos!) I thought I would give my list of pros and cons with using Classcraft.
I use a lot of comparing to Class Dojo, because I feel like it has been used in the classroom enough that most teachers will know what I'm talking about if I use something familiar. I love Class Dojo and still feel like it is the BEST for lower grades (and for some classes, higher grades too). Classcraft is just a bit more mature and has some differences that might appeal to some teachers. I am NOT dumping on Class Dojo when I use the comparisons, I still love it. This just might be a more effective tool for some.Pros
Let's start with the pros! I really have enjoyed using this platform for the most part for my computer classes. It is different and fun and the students seem to like it.
- Beautiful graphics! --Part of what drew my students in from the get-go was the imagery in the game. I had one of the videos paused up on my board when the students came into class. They were immediately interested. They saw a mage with the powers coming from their hands and wearing the outfit, and they thought it looked so cool.
Each student has a character profile with a cool scene behind them and their equipment and teammates in the background. It looks like a character page for a video game. - Along the same lines... Downloadable Graphics! --In the teacher materials, you can find a downloadable folder that has all of the images used in classcraft! For FREE! I am currently turning the logo into a poster for my door and using some of the cool images for around my room.
Teachers who have used Class Dojo or other platforms that get so integrated into your classroom culture always love decorating their rooms to go with it, using the pictures for prizes, badges, even bathroom passes! Classcraft completely gets this and makes it very easy to do.
And now to talk about the actual game! - Teamwork and comraderie--The students are put in teams. They are able to use their powers that they have earned to help each other out. If a teammate starts to lose Health Points (HP) the warrior can take the hit for them. (Why would they do that? To gain Experience points and level up to get more powers!)
When a teammate "falls into battle" (I know it's all so geeky and awesome!) the other teammates lose health points too, so it benefits everyone to help their teammates do well in class. - Behavior Management--The students want the powers and want to level up. When they know they can gain experience points by trying their best, they become more motivated. The "game" also has a built in consequence system for when students lose all of their HP. These can be set by the teacher.
- (With Premium) Google Classroom Integration--This has probably been my favorite feature. Classcraft will AUTOMATICALLY award experience points for turning in assignments on Google classroom. I can also import the graded assignment and it will award points based on the grade they got. So easy.
- Equipment, Powers, and Pets--The studnents can gain powers to use in the classroom (such as getting to listen to music while they work or switching seats with a classmate for the day) as well as dress up their character using Gold Pieces that they have earned. The students love this way more than I thought they would.
With the premium account, they can also choose a pet and send it on quests to gain more points. - (With Premium) Quests -- I also have enjoyed this feature. Since I am a specials teacher I put all of their tasks for the day in a quest. They are expected to finish the quest before the end of class. I could see this being a really useful tool for long term assignments. Each step of the assingment can be a task in the quest. The teacher can set the tasks to be self-progress, where the student just clicks a button to say their done with the task, or teacher led, where the teacher must unlock the next task. The writing process came to mind immediately when thinking about ways to use this.
- (with premium) Volume Meter- This has been amazing!!!! You can set the volume meter on a timer and set a reward. If the students go the whole time without going over the bar, they are all automatically awarded the reward that you set. If they go over, a warning message comes up. The teacher can either choose "false alarm" or continue the timer. If they have triggered the warning, the reward gets smaller. Each time the students go over the noise limit, the reward gets smaller.
This has worked like a dream!
Cons
There are a few things that someone might not like about Classcraft. Some of the things that might be considered cons are also things that might make some teachers like it.
- Not really free... OK, there IS a free version and it is great as just a Class Dojo style behavior management system. The students can have characters that they can log in and dress and use their powers. But it is not as integrated into the classwork as premium. You can of course choose how you would award the experience points based on classwork, but it is just not built in like it is with premium and takes some extra work.
The free version does not have quests, grade converting, pets, or volume meters which are pretty much my favorite things. The paid version is pretty affordable though, and you are given the option to pay for a whole year or to pay monthly. - Can be confusing for some--The complexity might turn off a lot of teachers, but I actually think it's what keeps the students bought in. Class Dojo feels baby-ish to older students sometimes and Classcraft has a similar function, but seems cooler to them. The fact that the language and point system are more like a World of Warcraft game make the students enjoy it more and helps them use their strategy skills.
- Not great for younger students--The videos and demos on the site even show Classcraft being used with high school age students. It really is meant to be used with older kids. My different classes use it differently. With my third graders, it is basically Class Dojo but with pretty pictures. Fourth and fifth grade use it to manage their tasks and know that they are getting their work done. They like using their gold pieces to change their characters and train their pet but they don't really use the powers in class. Sixth grade has a better handle on it.
I also only see them for an hour a week, so they don't really have time to get the hang of it. It might be different if I was a classroom teacher using it every day, all day.
Conclusion
I have enjoyed using Classcraft and definitely think it is a worth a look, even for elementary teachers. The students LOVE it. However, if you want something that is easy to implement and very simply a way to track behavior, I would stick with Class Dojo, which is always free and has many useful tools and is great for data collection!
