A Post Copied from another Blog

This is a description of an MYP Individuals and Societies unit I helped work on at KAS. Since I am afraid it will be taken down, I decided to copy it over here. 

This post was copied over from the Share blog where we could help spread the good teaching at the school. That was one of the many ideas I copied from SIS.

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Jen and I met about this unit way back in October. She wanted to design a unit that incorporated elements of gaming.

After meeting with her to discuss which unit she would be doing, when it would happen, what she wanted to accomplish with this unit [student outcomes], we both went off and did a little research to gather more ideas.

I came across many articles, but then I came across Paul Swanson’s blog. He is a technology coordinator at UNIS Hanoi and had experience assisting a middle school humanities teacher, Kelsey Giroux, gamify her unit.

At our next meeting, Jenn had a better idea of the direction she wanted to take, so I added what I had found — most notably to add a narrative to the unit.

See how the unit has unfolded so far – Unit 3- Medieval Europe

• She created a Google Site in which the sections (levels) are divided by pages.
• For her first level, the students each created their own coat of arms. They then took a picture of it and used Thinglink to explain their thinking. (This also pushed students to more critically evaluate their own work.)
• The students then voted on the best coats of arms.
• Throughout the unit, pictures are uploaded to Instagram and displayed on the class blog through an Instagram feed widget. This has led to authentic discussions about digital citizenship and responsibility.
• The Thinglinks were then embedded into a Padlet where all of them could be displayed at once.
• Each unit has Google Docs with directions, creating independence amongst the students.
• Students independently move through the levels after they have attained the point requirement.
• There is a leaderboard so students can see their own progress. This has freed Jenn from reminding them what to do next.

The unit is still in the toddler stage — and all that stage implies — but what has become most apparent is the increased motivation and engagement from the students.