Ok, so I don't know about you all, but I have had a rough few weeks. It's been very busy both at work and at home. My boys have started middle school basketball season, my daughter had a birthday and I have had to be out of town at 3 conferences in 4 weeks and all during benchmark testing time. I feel like I have literally been running in circles. I know that you all have had just as much craziness going on in your lives also. It seems like the stars just don't want to align for us to have as much face to face time these days. So, a session at GaETC really grabbed my attention & I really got excited about what I learned - Gamifying your PD. Are you excited? No? Well, let me explain...
Gamifying has been done with ALL sorts of things these days! You can earn rewards and badges in all sorts of areas these days. Of course, we think of kid games where they kids "level up" when the accomplish certain tasks. I mean, Pokemon Go is full of badges and level ups that kids learn. But these types of badges and rewards aren't only in kid games. How many of you own a fitbit or other fitness wearable? You can earn a badge for being at the top of your friends list in the "Work Week Hustle" or when you meet your goal 3 days in a row. Anybody a Starbucks Gold Card Member? Doesn't it feel good earning those stars? Or how about those Ingles gas perks? Getting that 10 or 20 cents off eases the pain of the grocery bill a little, right? But you get those rewards, perks, badges, because you did something to earn them. Gamifying our PD works in a similar way.
When you attend a PL opportunity, or complete a task related to a "Just in Time" PD activity, you will earn a badge for your showcase! Earning badges is a way to keep up with your PL hours and achievements. For now, most badges will be online badges, but as I can afford, I want to give you actual sticker badges to match your online badges. We will need to think of a fun way to display your stickers! Your online badges will be kept in an online showcase. If you are able to come to the PL session this Thursday, I will help you put your 1st badge in your showcase display!
I'm pretty excited about the changes in PL coming this month. With a school of our size, it seems to be getting increasingly difficult to have the time for productive PL opportunities. I know you all are exhausted at the end of each day. I'm hoping this will give you a way to have the PL you need, just at the time you need it, but also have the options for attending further topics of interest after school as well. So, I hope to see you all this Thursday & at the end of our time together, I'll show you how to set up your badge in your showcase!
Gamifying has been done with ALL sorts of things these days! You can earn rewards and badges in all sorts of areas these days. Of course, we think of kid games where they kids "level up" when the accomplish certain tasks. I mean, Pokemon Go is full of badges and level ups that kids learn. But these types of badges and rewards aren't only in kid games. How many of you own a fitbit or other fitness wearable? You can earn a badge for being at the top of your friends list in the "Work Week Hustle" or when you meet your goal 3 days in a row. Anybody a Starbucks Gold Card Member? Doesn't it feel good earning those stars? Or how about those Ingles gas perks? Getting that 10 or 20 cents off eases the pain of the grocery bill a little, right? But you get those rewards, perks, badges, because you did something to earn them. Gamifying our PD works in a similar way.
When you attend a PL opportunity, or complete a task related to a "Just in Time" PD activity, you will earn a badge for your showcase! Earning badges is a way to keep up with your PL hours and achievements. For now, most badges will be online badges, but as I can afford, I want to give you actual sticker badges to match your online badges. We will need to think of a fun way to display your stickers! Your online badges will be kept in an online showcase. If you are able to come to the PL session this Thursday, I will help you put your 1st badge in your showcase display!
I'm pretty excited about the changes in PL coming this month. With a school of our size, it seems to be getting increasingly difficult to have the time for productive PL opportunities. I know you all are exhausted at the end of each day. I'm hoping this will give you a way to have the PL you need, just at the time you need it, but also have the options for attending further topics of interest after school as well. So, I hope to see you all this Thursday & at the end of our time together, I'll show you how to set up your badge in your showcase!