The Real Life Math Game

In class yesterday, we talked about a lot of different topics including research, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and connecting across disciplines. However, the most catching part of the class for me occurred within the last 5 minutes. Rory, one of our teachers, posed a question asking what a class that's based on acting out a game might look like. At my high school, the AP History class played some sort of game for the last couple months of the school year that involved them taking on the roles of different country - similar to the board game "Risk". I really have no details about the technicalities of the game, because I was (and am) awful at history, so I wasn't actually in the class. If you're interested, though, and want to find out more and possibly use it in your own classroom, I can definitely find out the information from someone who took it.

However, this isn't the kind of game-like class Rory is talking about. The AP History class played the game as an "outside of the curriculum" activity. If I remember correctly, it is how they spent their class time once the AP test was over, therefore the game, while probably having some meaningful learning experience, was played at almost a no-stakes level. Their AP test score wasn't dependent at all on how they did in this game. What Rory is talking about, is a game that IS the curriculum. A game that encompasses the entire school year, not just a portion after all the "important" tests are done. This got me to wonder - how could I turn my math classroom into a game that makes students excited and eager to come to school?

For some reason, my first thought was Candyland. Let's be honest, who doesn't love candy, chocolate, and bright colors? I envision an awesomely decorated classroom, with areas designated to represent each of the "lands" in Candyland. Since this is a hypothetical classroom, I also want those really cool Node Desks from Steelcase. They come in 12 different colors, and they're amazing. There's one classroom in the School of Ed (that I know of) that has them, but they're just grey. Here's a picture:

So, I want my math game classroom to have these chairs, coordinating with the colors of the Candyland decorations. Then, I would decorate the entire floor like a giant game board, with the different colored spaces and a winding path all around the classroom. The idea is this: Students get to design a game piece during the first week of school. The game pieces with somehow adhere to the game board on the floor. Each student will start at the beginning on the first day of school. Then, everyday, there will be opportunities to move your game piece forward in the game. Turning in your homework, getting above a certain grade on a test, etc. are all examples of things that can move your game piece. Because the chairs above are on wheels, it will be really easy to move them around in order to access all parts of the game board. It's my hope that this game would inspire students to do their work and try to achieve the goals needed to get to move their piece forward. There would also be little incentives on the board along the way, such as free homework or bathroom passes. I'm not sure how feasible this idea actually is, but in my head it's definitely a math class environment that I would want to teach and learn in!