Blog > 03 June, 2022
Creating an interactive scoreboard for a classroom needn't be complicated or a lot of effort. Find out more in this post.
Creating a scoreboard for your students is a great way of keeping them engaged and fostering gentle competition. Let's take a look at why it works, what things you can track, and which tools you can use.
At the most basic level, a scoreboard should be seen as a motivator, a way of driving positive behaviour. It should be a counterbalance to student's grades, which only measure academic performance. And yes, it is absolutely essential that a classroom scoreboard is a fun and entertaining endeavour.
It is essential to identify the core values that you would like to reinforce. This will depend on your students. The values can be broad like "Respectful to others, Responsible," or more detailed like "On Time, Active Learner, Teamwork."
To create a successful scoreboard, ask yourself these questions:
Let's go through them one by one.
First, determine when and how points will be awarded. Do this with your students. Allowing the students to make their own suggestions will increase "buy-in" and engagement. It is essential that activities that get rewarded are easily observable and measurable. Not only should it be clear to everyone what points are given for, but it should also be quick. Examples:
Another fundamental decision is whether your students achieve points individually or as a team. Again this will entirely depend on your class and the behaviour you are trying to drive.
Competitions in classrooms are great, but they are not the best way of driving long-term behaviour changes. We will write about competitions in another post and focus on ongoing events here.
To establish the scoreboard and drive home its usage it should be updated regularly. You should also establish a regular recognition of achievements. We recommend updating at least once a day (or more often) whilst recognising achievements once a week. Aim to make it into a classroom ritual. Aim to celebrate success.
What should the weekly reward be? It's not possible to give general advice here, but suffice to say: if being on top of the scoreboard is intrinsically rewarding enough for your students, then you have succeeded!
If you find yourself in a remote-teaching environment, then creating a classroom scoreboard can be a great help in tracking progress and achieving a degree of cohesion. Most class management tools (e.g. Google Classroom or Class Dojo) will allow you to add URLs, so you can link to your scoreboard.
If you need some inspiration for a theme, why not try a Harry Potter House Points scoreboard?
Let's go through some popular options for creating a scoreboard.
Use Keepthescore.co. Thatβs us π! This tool is super quick to setup and comes with a bunch of features and themes to make your scoreboard look attractive. Itβs free to try and costs 15 USD to unlock some features.
Notecards. The notecards are placed on the students' desks (so they can see the points). One student passes them out at the beginning of each bell and collects them up at the end of the bell. You can then tally them up at the end of the week. Idea: the front of the notecards can have a team logo and team name on them, while the back of the notecard has a collection of their points.
Use a pre-made template. There are a bunch of ready-made PDFs for you to download on sites like TeachersPayTeachers.com. If you click this link it will automatically show you free resources.
Use Powerpoint / Google sheets. This has the advantage of being a tool that you are probably already familiar with. Also, if remote teaching is a consideration, you will require a digital version of your scoreboard. Again, there is a vast array of premade material available on sites like Slideteam.com or Slidegeeks.com. Also check out how to create a leaderboard using Google Sheets.
If you have questions or feedback, then do comment below