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This is my blog; I don’t blog regularly...it’s a work in progress!

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A blog to share upper elementary / middle school teaching experiences and connect passionate educators.

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Share ideas that come to mind during presentation.

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Write any unanswered Q's here and I'll answer by end of the day!

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Write any unanswered Q's here and I'll answer by end of the day!

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Twitter - Some gamification EDUrockstars to follow

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Twitter - Some gamification EDUrockstars to follow

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@mrmatera
@tishrich
@heckawesome
@mrpowley
@slapshot99
@mrbold05
@hmarrs24
@MeehanEDU
@teachlikeaninja
@mpilakow
@Kim_Schepers

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Post your theme ideas here and we will build on them!

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SPEAKING & WORKSHOPS

Want to be a game-changer in education? eXPlore the creative and engaging waters of game inspired course design learning with me at your next event! I will equip you with practical skills in gamification whether you're looking for an all-day, idea-packed workshop, a motivational keynote about the new world of education, or simply one of my many diverse, topic-specific conference sessions.

Contact me at MichaelMatera@explorelikeapirate.com for more information about how together we can eXPlore the powerful and motivating world of gamification in the classroom.

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Want to be a game-changer in education? eXPlore the creative and engaging waters of game inspired course design learning with me at your next event! I will equip you with practical skills in gamification whether you're looking for an all-day, idea-packed workshop, a motivational keynote about the new world of education, or simply one of my many diverse, topic-specific conference sessions.

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Tisha is an innovative district Student Engagement & Professional Development Specialist, international speaker, Canva Learning Consultant, Canva Education Creator, podcast host, and author from...

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I am currently on a Hurri-cation 2018. I have evacuated my eastern South Carolina home in Pawley's Island and have...

In my first year gamifying a student suggested that the students actions during a unit should have an impact on...

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I am currently on a Hurri-cation 2018. I have evacuated my eastern South Carolina home in Pawley's Island and have... In my first year gamifying a student suggested that the students actions during a unit should have an impact on...

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Hi, I'm John. I'm a high school teacher. An instructional coach. A marathoner. A Spartan. A Tough Mudder. And a theme park junkie. I believe that enthusiasm is infectious, and that our classrooms should feel like a full-blown escape from the everyday routine of the time-honored academic death march.

They say your favorite class is the one that you like the most. And your best class is the one where you learn the most. I want my class to be both.

Every.

Single.

Day.

So I wrote a book. And the amazing folks at Dave Burgess Consulting graciously decided to publish it. It's called and it's available now. People really seem to dig it! In July of 2020, Book Authority ranked EDrenaline Rush among the top 20 titles on their list of the " 100 Best Teaching Books of All Time."

This is the official online home for the book and all things #EDrenaline, including a bunch of the cool stuff that I'm reading, learning, and trying out in my classroom. Here you'll also find lesson plan supplements from the book and speaker information if you'd like bring this same game-changing energy into your school, along with a regular stream of content with related links, blog posts, teacher tips, and all sorts of cool resources that keep me working harder every day to become a better educator. Just like an escape room: we learn together by throwing ourselves in and trying stuff out. And just like a road race or an obstacle course: only way through it is to do it, right?

Thanks for stopping by. And please feel free to join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #EDrenaline. Steel sharpens steel, and if passionate educators are working together? There's no telling what we can do!

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Game-changing student engagement for any classroom

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Here are some educator created websites that inspired my own classroom game site.  Be warned...you could spend hours on them :D

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@KaraDoenges - Kara’s Class Site

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Michael Matera
Carrie Baughcum
Timers Playlist
WellPlayed - podcast
Gaming Can Make A Better World - TedTalk
The Power of Gamification in Education - TedTalk

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#XPLAP
#Games4Ed

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Scrabble
Boggle
Scattegories
Railroad Ink
Spoons
Clue

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@MrMatera - Michael Matera

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@MrKoz31 - Andrew Kozlowsky

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@MeehanEDU - John Meehan

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What would happen if school were more like a living video game? How much more could we learn if we mixed the rich storylines of The Legend of Zelda, the massive open world maps of Assassin's Creed, the hidden secrets of Tomb Raider, the head-to-head leaderboards of Madden, the community-driven gameplay of Pokemon, the strategic resource management of Minecraft, the epic squad battles of Fortnite, and the super cool power-ups of Mario Kart?

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@MrRoughton - Kevin Roughton

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100% free Powerpoints, videos, lesson plans and activities for world history with a focus on lessons that fit the Common Core.

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Mr. Stock Rocks - My views on teaching, innovation, and all around awesomeness

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My views on teaching, innovation, and all around awesomeness

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Here are some articles that I read about gamification BEFORE I started it in my own classroom.
1. Gamification in the Classroom
2.  Educators Got Game
3.  Epic Fail or Win?
4.  The 9 Key Elements...

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Timer
Dice

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Bananagrams, scrabble, yahtzee, word waffle

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Uno
Kimps
Spoons
Exploding Kittens
Trouble
Life
Monopoly
Cards Against Humanity
What do you meme?

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Jenga
Risk
Payday
Solitaire
Tic Tac Toe
Clue
Monopoly
Trouble
10! 10!
Yahtzee

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Dominion
Monopoly
Pandemic
Katan
Sorry
Rummy
Uno
Mancala
scattegories

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Duck, duck, goose
Sparkle
Heads up, 7 up
Monopoly

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Settlers of catan
Eurchre
Quirkle
Quelf
sorry
Trouble
Chess
Uno

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Solitaire
Monopoly
Life
Chess
Checkers
Uno
Poker
Sequence

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cards against humanity
monopoly
life
scarttegories
cards

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Check out this site to make you own cards.

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Uno
phase ten
battle ship
monolopy
ispy
charades
dice
pictonanry
go fish
guess who
candy land
chutes and ladders

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Crazy 8s
Tag
Red light green light
Hide and seek
31
Checkers
Chess