Hello ClassRealm fans,
While looking back over some of my blog posts I noticed that I always focus on the positive aspects of ClassRealm. I mean, it IS a completely perfect system, right? Right?! RIGHT?!? Wrong. I guess when it comes to promoting ClassRealm I usually want to focus on the good parts. It’s not exactly hard to see why one might do that. I feel it’s only right to occasionally go over some of the issues I have with ClassRealm. Welcome to the first installment of… ClassRealm Complications!
Complication – Keeping Track of Data
There are so many different aspects to ClassRealm that keeping track of all the levels, XP, rewards, profiles, and individual achievements is an immense hassle. The biggest issue is keeping track of all the papers involved. Every story and book overview written has to be read and recored in the Achievement Log. Each achievement is worth a certain number of XP, which have to be recorded on the Level Sheet. Once a student has so many XP they level up. Once the class has so many levels they earn a reward. As you can imagine it becomes hard to keep track of it all. It’s frustrating to grab my keys at the end of a long day and walk towards the door only to remember that I haven’t logged all my ClassRealm information for the day. I don’t always remember either. Things come up, or I have to make it to my coaching job and the ClassRealm paper work piles up. People ask me why I don’t just put everything in a spread sheet, but that’s just one more step to worry about. ClassRealm is a wonderful system and it works well as long as you can stay on top of it. But can you? As a teacher with dozens of other things to worry about, ClassRealm shouldn’t be the hassle it is when done on paper.
Solution
Now this problem can (and will) be solved with one simple fix – an online interface. A student could submit a story for review on the ClassRealm site or a ClassRealm app and it would send it right to me, the teacher. I could read it, deem it worthy and the computer would log it away. The site would award the student an achievement, XP, levels and inform me of their reward (if there was one). As much as I love paper, as a material, I’ll be filled with joy the day ClassRealm goes paperless. The potential for our system skyrockets with the use of technology and that thing people call “the interweb”. Now we just have to get an interface made. Easier said then done, eh? Until that time I’ll be staying a little later then I’d prefer, making sure all the levels add up, making sure every students gets the XP and achievements they deserve.
I was moved from 5th grade self-contained classroom to 6th grade math over the summer. I had made my own version of your character sheet and was all ready to try out my take on ClassRealm… and then tried to make it completely math-themed for 100 students.
The Algebraic Archers, Ratio Rogues, Fractional Fighters, Mathemagicians and Computational Clerics were a hit. Students were motivated, engaged, played contests for prizes of XP instead of candy, etc…. And then the wave of record-keeping hit. I tried to have THEM keep track of all their XP, but many were losing their sheets in the shuffle of the day…
I, too, await a digital interface. ClassRealm is a FANTASTIC concept, but I’m not organized enough to pull it off in a middle-school setting.
Hey Mike!
Glad to here that ClassRealm was/is motivating your kids. I did let my students keep track of their own XP to begin with, but then kids would cheat and give themselves XP and levels they hadn’t earned. Better if the teacher tracks it all, as students can be… greedy? Haha. As you mentioned it’s also hard for my students to hang on to papers for more than a week or two at a time. Thanks for the feedback. We’ll be sure to inform you as soon as our online system is available.
– Ben
Hi Ben,
Found you through Kotaku. I’m a B.Ed (French as a second language) student at the University of Québec in Montréal and I just wanted to let you know I’m going to talk about ClassRealm next week in my teaching methods for French immersion course. I think ClassRealm would be brilliant in a French immersion class, especially as it gives students a valuable and fun opportunity to communicate in French both in oral and written form. Plus, it can cover many subjects and the way it fosters a sense of community is perfect for a language immersion setting. I can’t wait to try Random Encounter Fridays in my elementary school practicum next fall… if my supervisor is open-minded enough to let me do it with Pokémon music, of course. haha
– Annabelle
Hope it goes well! Let us know how you students do 😀