Powers are one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of Classcraft. They grant students special privileges and abilities while also encouraging collaboration, communication, and teamwork. This makes them very effective at motivating students to advance through Classcraft.
One of the main types of powers is universal powers, which are the customizable powers you designate to be available to all students from the very beginning of Classcraft, regardless of the type of character they have. Normally, it’s only been possible to create a maximum of three universal powers — until now. As of today, you can create an unlimited number of universal powers, and you can remove them whenever you want!
So, to celebrate, let’s run through ten ideas for universal powers that you can use to motivate students and help them improve their behavior.
1. Participate in school announcements
The more outgoing students in your class might love to be involved in school announcements. Whether they get to read important updates or give a special shoutout to a friend, getting to speak over the intercom is something that lots of students would jump at the opportunity to do. This is a fun power that teachers and administrators can collaborate to arrange.
2. Redo an assignment
Everyone deserves a second chance. When a student wants to do well but just struggled a bit on one particular assignment, having an opportunity to give it another shot can mean the world to them. Depending on the policy you have in your classroom, this may already be an option, but if it isn’t, why not make it a universal power?
3. Choose the Spirit Day theme for the class
For schools that have Spirit Day, this can be one of the best days of the year. It’s an important way to keep students engaged and excited while fostering a strong school culture. When it comes to the Spirit Day theme, you might follow different themes per class. In this case, letting a student choose the class theme could be an excellent universal power.
4. Sit in the teacher’s chair
The teacher’s chair has a certain kind of mythical, powerful quality to it. What’s it like to sit on the throne and watch over the class? Any student who wants to know this can strive for enough Crystals to earn the privilege. You might make it even more fun by switching places with them and sitting at their desk. Who doesn’t love a change of scenery?
5. Drop your lowest quiz grade
Once again, second chances can mean a lot. Many students struggle with quizzes and tests, and it can be great to offer a bit of amnesty without over-favoring a particular student. This is a great way to use universal powers. If a student uses this power, their lowest quiz score thus far will be dropped and their average will improve a bit as a result.
6. Invite a friend to eat lunch in the classroom
Letting a student have lunch in the classroom with the teacher is a common special privilege to offer students, and some teachers use powers in Classcraft to grant this already — but let’s sweeten the deal. What if the student could invite a friend to join them? Make this a universal power and you’ll spark both motivation and a sense of camaraderie
7. Get special privileges during independent work time
If you allow independent work time in your classroom, combining this with powers is a perfect way to grant certain privileges without interrupting the flow of lesson time or group work. A universal power could, for example, allow a student to take a five-minute break or get to wear headphones and listen to music specifically during independent work time.
8. Be the teacher’s helper for the day/class
Lots of students love to take on simple responsibilities and help the teacher have a better day. Not only is it great to encourage this kind of helpfulness in general, you can also use it as motivation within Classcraft when you make it a universal power. On top of motivating students, it creates opportunities for fostering positive relationships with them
9. Phone a friend during a Boss Battle
Boss Battles are fun and engaging ways to check for understanding and stay in touch with the progress of your students’ learning. Sometimes, though, a student might be pretty stumped on a certain question. A universal power can allow them to “phone a friend” during those suspenseful moments, or in other words, get a classmate to help them with the answer.
10. Call me Captain!
Of course, sometimes you’ve gotta make room for silliness in the classroom, so it’s only right that you get silly with powers in Classcraft from time to time. A student who earns this universal power can decree that everyone in the class must refer to them as “Captain” for the day. You can also brainstorm other silly titles — how about “Your Awesomeness”
And that wraps up our ten ideas for universal powers! Don’t forget — with the new update, teachers using Classcraft with individual Free or Premium licenses can create an unlimited number of universal powers and remove any of them at any time. The same goes for administrators with school or district licenses (in this case, only admins can create or remove universal powers). We hope you all enjoy it. Let the Crystal-earning commence!
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