In my class we use many game-based learning platforms. As a Khan Academy Ambassador, I have used all aspects of Khan Academy. The video's are easily used in conjunction with EdPuzzle. The teacher dashboard allows me to drill into students' gaps. Students can start anywhere you want them to. At the beginning of the year I have students start at Kindergarten math. They get lots of points and I learn many things, such as how well they comprehend reading the problems. One year a student surprised me when they didn't know what minimum meant. There are games in Khan Academy and I plan on diving into those more this year. Khan Academy doesn't have the color or elementary feel of Dreambox or iXL but it is always free. I use Khan Academy for math and for grammar. Khan Academy also has a module called LearnStorm that each class has to join and they compete against other classes. This is a great way to build community at the beginning of the year. I save Prodigy for January, as it is a welcome change, but I have to keep an eye on whether students are spending too much time on choosing outfits etc. I sprinkle in iXL (when it has been paid for) as I will sprinkle in Dreambox this year. I want to use more tools like Seesaw and Flipgrid to listen to students explain their thinking.
As for ELA, I will continue to use NoRedInk because the engagement is high even for the limited edition. Sometimes to change it up I will have students compare NoRedInk to Quill.org. I can let the students choose. SpellingCity is a program that is useful for spelling, vocabulary, printing cursive and writing. I have used Typing.com because when my students used NitroType, they used the keyboard like you do when you play video games. Their typing did not improve. I wanted to check out Keyseeker but adobe flash was blocked on my mac. I will try it out with my PC later. I have also had much success with teaching my students Spanish with Duolingo Classroom. It definitely helps my students transfer language skills from Spanish to English.
I use Class Dojo,(I am a Class Dojo mentor) for so many different things, like SEL, Writing, as a timer, to make groups, keep track of the decibels, portfolios (although I like Seesaw better for this) that I think of it as my assistant in the classroom. Yes it has points, I can set up the point structure and I can give rewards so while it is gamified it is so much more..
I love Quizizz, I can use it for many different subjects. I have created folders to hold quizizz that align to the Units we are working on. I can create quizizz's and edit quizizz and teach with quizizz, give practice with quizizz and track all student performance in downloadable reports.
I have used Kahoot for premade lessons that align to CAASP Prep that I do with the whole class. It even reminds students to get some sleep!
The more I use NearPod the more I like it. The district and Benchmark pushed out slide decks for ELA and it was very easy to adapt them to a Nearpod. The feedback reports were some of the best I have seen. I liked the live setting so I could demo on the whiteboard space. While I need to get better at Seesaw, it seemed harder to get a class read on an assignment.
In my classroom we also use Code.org to teach digital citizenship and logic through block coding lessons. We also use Wonder and have Dash and Dot in the classroom to practice our coding skills. I also use MergeCube as a fun way to see 3D holographic style images. I like to use it to teach students to observe closely.
Our school uses iRead and Read 180 as intervention tools. We were told that they were not to replace Benchmark so those students that use these programs miss another part of the school day. I have never been trained in these tools except to look at the reports generated on the Scholastic site.
I do not like FasttMath because I do not see improvement on my student's scores. After reading/watching this week's readings/videos, I realize that I am only using games at the most rudimentary level. I need to ramp up and learn how I could use some of the games like Gris, Never Alone, Zoombinis and Minecraft Edu. The AR games will require an investment in hardware. I do have one iPad in my class and maybe I could get more through Donors Choose.
Examples of gamification that I run into all the time, are embedded in the car. I liked our hybrid honda because it told me when it was creating energy and when it was using it. It changed my style of driving. I also use MasteryConnect to evaluate my students and it shows a bar graph comparing my class to my cohorts. It does feel like a game with color feedback and points. I have to admit, I check my classes performance as compared to the district in Benchmark as well. I can be very competitive.
My students tell me that they play Fortnight, World of Warcraft, Roblox, Grand Theft Auto. I have never played any of these games and have felt that I need to at least familiarize myself with them.
I am eager to play with the games listed in " Schrier, Karen (2019): Learning, Education & Games, Volume 3: 100 Games to Use in the Classroom & Beyond. Carnegie Mellon University." A to Z Safari, Antura & the Letters Counting Kingdom, Never Alone, Play the Knave, The Red Dot Game, Splattershmup, Teachley: Addimal Adventure Time Trek, Zoombinis, Time Trek and Edutopia's recommendation for Gris and The migrant trail. I think that this next year we need to use as many SEL tools as possible, to cope with our student's anxiety and trauma. I like the Never Alone and Gris as real opportunities to have students express themselves. I liked Play the Knave to get students to act out their reading to find meaning through speaking. I use a program called DramaWorks to have students share through movement and speaking. Perhaps I can meld the two programs and then adapt it to use with Flipgrid. As for Zoombinis I am thinking that it could be a great conversation starter as to personal differences and racism.
My objective is to teach my students the California State Standards for content in a way that is pedagogically sound, engaging and fun. I find that using the technology resources and games is the best way to do this. As I have heard before they will only be in fourth grade once. I want to be the best teacher I can be to help them along their journey to adulthood while still enjoying their childhood.