“These kids today have ZERO attention span.”
“Students can’t focus on a task for more than a few seconds.”
“How can I teach complex content to kids who have the attention span of a flea.”
You’ve probably heard these kinds of comments from educators over the last few years as they try to convince you that today’s students are just “wired differently.”
I think it’s hogwash. I think it is a gigantic, albeit persistent, myth.
Here’s the truth: That same student with the short attention span will go home and game for like 8 straight hours! They’ll barely be willing to set down their controller long enough to use the restroom. Food? Maybe after they level up.
I’ve seen my son intensely focus while gaming for hours at a time, all the while socially interacting with friends and working collaboratively to overcome challenges while under pressure. Short attention span? I don’t think so.
Our students don’t have an attention span problem. Many classes have an engagement problem. The Teach Like a Pirate philosophy always entails discovering what engages students even (especially!) outside of school and then asking why. What is it about gaming that draws students in? What principles are embedded into popular games to keep people playing more and more in an almost addictive fashion. The gambling industry analyzes exactly this for far less noble purposes. We are trying to get kids hooked on learning, collaborating, overcoming obstacles, and developing resiliency in the face of daunting challenges. If the gaming industry has insights into how to do this….we should listen! It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and even though they make games to play…they aren’t playing. Trust me…they study this stuff!
Taking these game mechanics and seamlessly embedding them into how we run our classes and deliver our curriculum i
s called gamification and it is transforming education around the world.
We are proud to have released the ultimate guide to show educators exactly how to incorporate these powerful ideas into their classrooms. It was written by gamification and game-based learning guru, Michael Matera (@mrmatera), from Wisconsin. It is the third book in the Teach Like a Pirate series and it’s called, eXPlore Like a PIRATE: Gamification and Game-Inspired Course Design to Engage, Enrich, and Elevate Your Learners. It’s jam-packed with practical strategies that you can IMMEDIATELY implement in your classroom…like literally tomorrow!!
The book starts with an impassioned argument for the benefits of gamification and then devastatingly CRUSHES 9 of the most common myths associated with the field. He clearly shows how these strategies can be used effectively at ALL levels and in ALL content areas. You will walk away convinced.
The best of the book to me is that it is designed to be useful whether you are looking to completely overhaul your class or if you just want to spice up a single lesson later this week. I can’t imagine any teacher reading this book and not coming away with multiple ideas that they actually implement. Basically, Michael gave away the farm on this one…it is JAM-PACKED with so many amazing strategies that your only problem is going to be deciding what to implement first!
Even if you go into this book knowing NOTHING about gamification…this is all you need to get started and will have you up to speed in no time.
Are you already a game-based learning devotee? You’ll wonder where this book has been your whole life! You are going to be stunned at how many ideas he has pulled together and you’re not going to sleep for a long time!
Also, if you think this book is all about high-tech stuff because we are talking about gaming…no way! There are tons of completely low-tech and even no-tech strategies.
How can this get better? Easy! There is even an online community on Twitter with the hashtag #XPLAP to help and support you. They chat each Wednesday at 7CST but the hashtag is active all week. Want more? Michael has a website that includes podcast interviews he has done about the book, blog reviews, and links to book study questions and discussions. This is a complete package!!
We love finding amazing practitioners who are revolutionizing education and then asking them to swing open the doors of their classrooms and show us exactly what they do! We are PUMPED to bring you this amazing book and, as always, we appreciate your support.
You can find the book on Amazon right here. As always, if you buy the paperback you can add the Kindle version for only $2.99 and start reading right away on any device.
Thanks so much! Let us know what you think!!
Dave Burgess
President: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
New York Times Best Selling author of Teach Like a Pirate
& co-author of P is for Pirate
* On a side note, it’s been my experience that fleas have extraordinarily long attention spans. I spent a night in a Georgia hotel room last year with fleas who demonstrated remarkable grit, perseverance, and resilience in the face of repeated attempts on their life. Their ability to focus and “immerse” themselves led to my first-ever middle of night room change.
