Sol 10: Three Reasons To Use a Leaderboard In a Gamified Classroom

TL;DR: A leaderboard keeps track of all the statistics in a gamified classroom and motivates students to push themselves to appear superior to others.
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Why is a leaderboard essential in a gamified classroom?

Reason #1: Show students they are progressing and winning
Each time a student completes an assignment, challenge, or achievement, they earn experience points (XP). These are recorded by the teacher and are automatically updated on the leaderboard revealing the 'Rank', 'Total XP', and 'Level'. Since students can never lose XP they are constantly getting a better and better score which in turn improves motivation. 

Reason #2: Align with XP Reward Sheet
As described in a previous
post, each time a student levels up he or she earns a test perk and classroom perk. Students look to the leaderboard to see how their XP and Level has updated.

Reason #3: Add competition
A particular type of gamer, the social gamer, feeds off of competition. The leaderboard automatically ranks students based on their 'Total XP'. Many students are driven to complete more tasks and earn additional XP so they appear superior to their friends and classmates.

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My gushy thoughts and 2 cents: 
I am amazed how the leaderboard is at the focal point of my gamified classroom. Students constantly check it to see how they are doing in class. This is a MUST to have.