Are You Failing as a Teacher?

by Monica Cornetti
Chief Engagement Officer, Sententia Gamification

My adventure into the world of gamification for learning began in the summer of 2012 when I received a call from a client asking me to develop a Creative Thinking Workshop for her managers using gamification. She said to me, "I know you do that gamification thing..." 

I was honored to be asked and thanked her for thinking of me and assured her that I was INDEED the ideal professional designer and trainer to hire for this workshop. After all, I had earned the reputation of using games to interact and motivate participants in all my leadership, strategic thinking, and communication workshops.

However, as I asked her about her objectives and outcome goals ... I was quickly Googling the word “gamification.”

Truth was, at the time, I didn’t have a clue what gamification was. I had heard the term bantered around … but as of yet it wasn’t something I had turned my focus to. A lot has happened since then.

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks reviewing case study submissions from our most recent Sententia Gamification Surveyor Certification students (Level 1) – and once again, I am humbled by the skills and creativity of the learning professionals I have the privilege of teaching.  

I've added project samples of the Level 1 required submissions that anyone can access for FREE at our Gamified Learning Academy. These projects are a selection of those that were tagged as Outstanding for their overall demonstration of the fundamentals of gamification as it applies to the process of gamifying adult learning program.

I’ve heard it said that a teacher fails if she has not been surpassed by her students – and as you can see, at least for today, I am not failing.

Here are Four Simple Steps to Help Your Students to Surpass You:

1. Set High Expectations - Cultivate an expectation of knowledge acquisition AND application in your courses. Set high expectations of what your students can and will achieve. People generally will rise to the level of expectation that you’ve set for them.
2. Be a Lifelong Learner - New ideas and research that can enhance your curriculum and teaching style are popping up all the time. Refreshing your content with new ideas and teaching methods will make a huge difference in your level of enthusiasm which will spread to your students. They will feel your authentic passion for learning.
3. Genuinely Care About Each Student - Do a gut check concerning the students in your class. They can sense how you feel about them, so regardless of your personal sentiments, it is important that you work with each of your students to ensure their success. Be happy to be there and see them, take an interest in their work or hobbies, and try to incorporate some of their real-life examples into your lessons.
4. Be Transparent and Ready to Help - Provide students with plenty of examples of excellent work so they understand how you evaluate complex or subjective assignments. Provide documentation on what is expected for their assignments and a rubric on how the projects will be evaluated. 

If now is a good time for you to learn how to enhance engagement in your live, vILT, or eLearning programs, our hands-on certifications take you through the trademarked and proven process of gamifiying a corporate training or adult learning program. You can create results-driven gamified training, design unforgettable eLearning programs that boost  business and learning outcomes, build challenges to engage employees, and generate real behavior change. By following the plan, you lead them to solve problems and master skills faster. No coding skills are required.

Our next Level 1 Certification 8-Hour Course is scheduled for August 2 and 5, 2022. You can learn more and register HERE.