ClassRealm is my favorite thing

Today I am deciding to write about something that has not been released yet. It is a classroom management tool known as ClassRealm. ClassRealm was created by Ben Bertoli as a way to keep his students interested in his classroom. He theoretically turned his own classroom into a roleplaying game (RPG).

At the start of the year, each student can choose a race and an enhancer. The list of races are Mermaid/Merman, Vampire, Werewolf, Goblin, Troll, Witch, Wizard, Ogre, Elf, Ghost, Angel, Cyborg, Yeti, Zombie, Human, Fairy. The list of enhancers are Ninja, Pirate, Warrior, Samurai, Knight, Prince, Princess, Alchemist, Mystic, and Mage. After the students pick their race and enhancer they fill out a get to know you card with their character, a picture, and their strengths and weaknesses.

The students have different achievements that they are able to accomplish and they can earn experience points and try to gain levels. The achievements are level based, so there are easy and harder achievements. Sample achievements include anything from reading so many books to not getting in trouble. Some achievements have nothing to do with their normal schoolwork and may include extra credit items that are not done at school.

The creator has different awards for individual levels and team levels. They have to earn so many experience points to gain a level. Some awards may include extra points on a test of the person's choosing, extra recess for the whole class, and a class ice cream party. ClassRealm has been proven to help with classroom management. Ben Bertoli has noted that he noticed a significant decline in behavior problems and missing work. This idea has increased the attitude of his students in the classroom.

One of the achievements he does for his class includes the students writing a report or story that includes six paragraphs. In the first two weeks of the beta test, every student had turned in a paper. These were all done outside of the classroom.

When I get my own classroom, I am definitely going to incorporate this idea. I like the fact that I can bring my love of video games into the classroom. You can find more information about the idea at www.classrealm.com. I will also be putting a link in my sidebar.

The Amazing Spider-Man is My Favorite Thing

Release Date: 2012

Directed By: Marc Webb

Last week I watched the movie, The Amazing Spider-Man, for the first time. I will say that I liked it way more than the first one for a couple of reasons. The main reason is the portrayal of the main character, Spider-Man. I felt that Toby McGuire was trying to hard to have Peter Parker be awkward. The new actor to play Spiderman, Andrew Garfield, plays off this awkwardness so much better. I like the high school crush love interest of Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy rather than the stalkerish love interest between Peter Parker/Mary Jane in the original. 

I really enjoyed learning about the history behind Spider-Man. The start of the movie tells you that this is going to be a darker venture than the first trilogy gave us. The movie starts off with the death of Peter Parker's parents and how he came to live with his aunt and uncle. I really liked how intense they made Uncle Ben's death scene in The Amazing Spider-Man. This tells you that the movie is going to be darker than the previous movies have been. 

I know that a big problem that some people had with Spider-Man 3 is that it had what people dubbed as "Emo Peter." In this movie it was played off as silly and comical, which I do not believe was the intent of the creators. During this movie Peter Parker does go into a state of extreme sadness and depression, but he has all the reason to. He just found the one person that he thinks could solve the mystery of his parent's deaths, his uncle just died and it was partly his fault, and he just got these new powers and is trying to save New York City, but the police are not too fond of him and they issue a warrant for his arrest. 

This leads me into the main reason I loved this movie. Even though it is based on a fictional comic book superhero, it has some realism to it. After Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man he starts targeting criminals that look like the person who killed his uncle. The only problem is that the police do not agree with his actions. They believe that he should leave this work to the police. I think that is what would actually happen if a real superhero popped up in any city. The police would not be thrilled of this person going around doing their work. It makes them look bad because they are expecting a civilian to do their job. 

Those are my thoughts on the film, The Amazing Spider-Man. I actually do not watch a lot of movies, but I really enjoyed this one. I liked the realism of it and how much more down-to-earth it is compared to its predecessor. They really play up the idea that Peter Parker is just a normal teenager trying to fit in and get the girl.