A well-run, fun classroom is pivotal to the way students learn. But for some educators, meaningful classroom management can be a challenge. Gamifiying a classroom is one strategy educators use to improve this.

In Episode 230 of Class Dismissed, we chatted with Shawn Young, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Classcraft, a platform that helps educators motivate their students using the mechanics of games.

Young says classroom management is core to a teacher’s job, but ironically, there are few digital tools to support the cause. 

Consequently, Young and his colleagues created Classcraft to make the classroom experience more exciting for students. 

Young says that the classroom experience for many kids is meaningless. 

“It’s just tasks they need to do, and that is work,” says Young. 

So they created Classcraft to repackage students’ engagement rules with the hope of developing intrinsic motivation.

When gamifying with Classcraft, kids strive to gain points and improve their avatars. For instance, Young says they have a thing called “random events,” and it’s a way to kick start a class. 

An example would be that everyone has to speak like a pirate, or students have 20 seconds to build a paper airplane, and whoever goes the furthest gets a hundred points.

To hear more of our interview with Young and find out if it’s challenging to gamify your classroom, listen to Episode 230 of Class Dismissed. You can find each episode on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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