That might be an exaggeration, but I was going for maximum impact. I am keenly aware of the importance of building relationships with students, but I sometimes feel that the literature on this topic overlooks the capabilities of curriculum design as a pathway to connecting with students. Bringing student interests into the classroom not only increases their engagement, but it also helps students to see you as someone that they can connect with. I strive for a balance of exposing my students to new things to be interested in, while gaining their trust as someone who also values their interests, giving both equal time.
Pokemon GO has taken the gaming world by storm this summer. Like many educators, I had to ask, "How can I use this in my classroom?" I have come up with a list of ten ideas for "powering up" your lessons through Pokemon GO.
Pokemon GO has taken the gaming world by storm this summer. Like many educators, I had to ask, "How can I use this in my classroom?" I have come up with a list of ten ideas for "powering up" your lessons through Pokemon GO.
Ten Ways to Power up your lessons with Pokemon go
I shared that Pokemon sketchnote on my class Instagram page and was surprised to get a little push back from one of my students. I loved how she used some of the language we had practiced in class about how to disagree in a scholarly way and it got me thinking that maybe not all of my students think Pokemon is as awesome as I had assumed they would. So Idea #1 is to have a Pokemon debate.
 I wrote about this on my very first blog site. Ms. Marshall and the "Tear-able", Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It is a brief post, but if you like this idea and want to find out more, go read it.  |  I have used a paper like this before, but I'm evolving this compliment tear off page to be about raspberries.  |
If you don't feel like reading the blog post, here is the highlight reel:
The best part about this "lesson" was every few minutes I'd hear someone go "Awwww!" and I knew why. Before the class was over, someone discreetly left one on my desk and it said, "You can do it!" And I too went "Awww". I had to laugh a little because it was just the message I needed. I think I learned the most that day. My enduring understanding: a little bit of positivity goes a long way.
The best part about this "lesson" was every few minutes I'd hear someone go "Awwww!" and I knew why. Before the class was over, someone discreetly left one on my desk and it said, "You can do it!" And I too went "Awww". I had to laugh a little because it was just the message I needed. I think I learned the most that day. My enduring understanding: a little bit of positivity goes a long way.
Another Hyperdoc that I created that could easily be evolved into a Pokemon GO themed lesson is my Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century lesson. In this Hyperdoc students read Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Red Headed League” (19th century) and watched an episode of the same story from the cartoon series Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century. Then they made a versus infographic using Piktochart to compare & contrast the detective’s sleuthing skills. Sherlock Holmes Hyperdoc Just click on file/make a copy to add it to your drive and evolve the lesson. Have students battle test their Pokemon at a gym and create an infographic explaining which Pokemon are the best for beating specific types of Pokemon found in gyms. Battling at Pokemon gyms counts as research? YES!!!
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For directions, card templates & grading rubric, exit tickets, notes on game play & classroom management click on the link Shifting Instruction to Meet Common Core Standards. It will take you to Teachers Pay Teachers and it is $3.20 to buy this lesson. Sorry, I know that sucks, but I give away more lessons for free on Twitter and through blog posts on my website than I put on Teachers Pay Teachers. The very small amount of money that I get from TpT each month helps to offset the cost of paid apps that I use for my class, like my website.
Create a shared Google My Map and hold Skype visits or Google Hangouts with other classes in different parts of the world to find out what types of Pokemon are prevalent in their area. I have learned from other trainers that my town is great for catching Evees, and I learned that if I went to their town I could catch a lot of Magicarps and Psyducks. I’d love to find out what trainers in other places are catching.
I also had a thought about having weekly Geography challenges; instead of "Where in the World in Carmen San Diego?" ask "Where in the World is Pikachu?". You could create a slide deck of clues, giving a new clue each day. Students could add Pikachu to a shared My Map with their location guesses before you reveal the location at the end of the week.
Building relationships with your students requires getting to know them, learning what they are interested in, and weaving those interests into the curriculum.
Click on the button below to go to my slides presentation where you will find more info on some of the ideas that I've shared as well as links to resources.
Have you got an idea about a Pokemon GO themed lesson? Share it in the comments below, I'd love to read about it!
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