Sol 4: Engaging Achievements For Any Gamer

TL;DR: Three categories of achievements keep students motivated in the game (academic, random, and reacher). Vary these by categories and duration to keep students engaged and successful. 
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What are achievements and why you need three different kinds?
Another engaging layer in the gamified classroom is earning an achievement. These are special accolades which earn additional XP on top of regular class work. There are three categories of achievements: academic, random, and reacher.

Academic achievements motive students be consistently successful on content specific tasks. Examples include: perfect quizzes, perfect tests, master quiz streaks (pass a quiz three times in a row), and dependable (turning in all assignments in a unit).

Random achievements keep certain students interested in the
game. These types of students like to test the limits of any environment and find pleasure in discovering easter eggs. These achievements do not relate to the course and are only used to keep the student hooked. Examples include: snake feeder (feeding the class snake), dressed for success (wearing school spirit gear every Friday), bladder of steel (not using a single hall pass all semester), and quarantine zone (bring a bottle of hand sanitizer for the classroom).

Reacher achievements are completed by few students but provide a great sense of individual accomplishment. Examples include: celebrity status (setting up a Skype interview with a famous scientist) and the TED (creating a TED talk on a physics concept).

Achievements need to vary by categories and duration (long and short term). Change them up from time-to-time to keep students curious and excited. Everyone likes to feel a sense of accomplishment. Engagement breeds success.

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My gushy thoughts and 2 cents: 
Adding these achievements has jumped up the student engagement in my classroom substantially. Students are always attempting to earn these to gain additional XP. I really enjoy creating these achievements and find that they add a better sense of community because students are bringing in classroom supplies, making corrections, and striving for consistent success.