Sol 1: Gamifying My Classroom - Creation of Mission to Mars

TL;DR: I am gamifying my 9th grade physics course to increase student engagement and success. Transforming curriculum into a alternate reality Mission to Mars while embedding game mechanics. Examples include: realistic classroom environment, storyline, intrinsic/extrinsic reward system, achievements, and student choice.
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Why gamify my classroom?
I typically look to the private business sector for best practices in education. Many companies are incorporating gamification into their training and productivity models. Consumers are purchasing loads of technology to gamify their lives through exercise, diet, and credit card rewards. Also, over half of American households regularly play and purchase computer or video games.

My students play games. By this simple realization, I want them to win at the game I call school
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What makes up my gamified classroom?
1. Storyline: The story is essential to add meaning and purpose of physics concepts to the students. As the story unfolds the students go through a hero's journey (a classic type of storytelling structure) where they start as a regular player and eventually are sucked deeper into the story by chaotic events, ups, and downs. Below is the trailer I am using on the first day of school. I will post a detailed script about the storyline in a later post.

2. Choice in challenges: Everyday students get a list of various challenges which they can attempt to complete. By completing challenges students have the potential to earn XP (experience points, see Rewards system). I have three types of challenges to keep the players engaged: content specific, soft skills, and random. I will post a detailed list of challenges in a later post. 

3. Rewards system/Leaderboard: Remember those boxy arcade machines shoved to the back of subpar restaurants? The crowning achievement of any one of those games, regardless of content, was to make it in the top 10. This is where you could record your initials or a message for all to see forever (or at least until the machine stayed plugged in). This same engaging tool is used in my classroom. Based on XP their scores are sorted in order from highest to lowest and level ups automatically computed. Many gamers thrive on competition and do everything possible to keep a basic rank.

Along with the public ranking of XP, students are given an achievement sheet. This contains all the levels they can earn with associated XP, test perks, and classroom action perks. The more XP they earn the more perks they get. The sheet is set up so students rank up quickly and become invested in them inadvertently.

4. Failure/Repetitively: Every game out on the market allows the player to die hundreds if not thousands of times. This same game mechanic needs to be embedded into any education curriculum. If a player is not devastated by failure then he/she will try again, and again, until he/she succeeds. At the beginning of the unit I release all the quizzes. Each quiz is pooled, which means for each quiz there are 30 questions written, but only 10 random questions are released to the student. The student must gain a mastery score (90% or above) to earn XP and move on. If the student does not master the quiz he/she can retake it as many times as it takes. I will post more detail on pooled quizzes and grading in a later post.

5. Realistic physical environment:

The classroom environment must compliment the story and evolve throughout the year. The first environment will look just like a mission control room at NASA. I will post more detail on different learning zones in a later post.

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My gushy thoughts and 2 cents: 
I am more excited about teaching this year than my first year of teaching. I am so happy to have a great co-worker, Dave, supporting me. I have a lot of unknowns which make me nervous. But I am confident thanks to Karl M. Kapp for writing such an awesome book, "The Gamification of Learning and Instruction" (Try checking out from library to save $$$, I did). Researched-backed evidence makes me feel more confident. Overall, what I am doing in the classroom this year will help my students succeed.

My three goals for the year:

1. ALL players will be able to show mastery on EVERY Physics standard.
2. ALL players will pass the course with a C- or above.

3. ALL players will go above-and-beyond and customize their own learning.