City, Suburbs, or Country. Which do ye choose?

I think teachers would benefit from studies in game design. My wife told me recently about a class she substitute taught for that turned the entire classroom into a continual game. Students (5th graders) were all residents of a make-believe country, in which appropriately directed behavior lead to additional privileges and make-believe money, and misbehavior lead to...taxes.

One of the rules of the game that I especially liked was the choice that students were given about what to do with the money they earned in the game. The classroom was divided into "The City," "The Suburbs," and "The Country." Students who chose to spend a little more money for rent, were able to keep their desk in the front of the room, in line with others who chose to live in the city as well. Every morning, city dwellers would arrive to school to find a mint on their desk and a cushion on their chair. Students who lived in the suburbs paid a little less, and were allowed to sit in small groups of four desks each behind the line of city desks. Country residents sat by themselves further back in the room and had the least amount of living expenses.

There were other things students could do with their money as well, such as things like insurance to protect them from random events (printed on a stack of cards the teacher had) that each student drew from each day.

What I love about this game was the subtle way in which the teacher blends fun with control in the classroom to obfuscate a rather strict and disciplined environment, and resembles an article I wrote earlier about using games in education. The value imbued to the City seats in the front row, helps to reverse the typical classroom mystique in which bad kids always want to sit in the back, and at the same time keeps the highest concentration of students closely (and willingly) underneath the teacher's watchful eye. Any bad kids who still want to sit in the back, will find themselves without cohorts, since the Country is sparsely populated.

Something to highlight again is that this game rewards students with choice. Poor behavior in class does not lead directly to punishment per se so much as it does to a diminished ability to choose between privileges, and a loss, to some degree, of control. Student's must learn a strategy of good behavior and adherence to classroom norms in order to enjoy increased levels of freedom and choice.

And may I not fail to mention, of course, the very practical benefit the kids receive from learning to keep track of their money and make wise decisions about how to spend it!