The Traitors of Algebra 2

When new teachers ask me for advice, one of the most important things I tell them is to find ways to incorporate their own passions and interests into their teaching. There are far too many demands on us not to do that and still have a thriving classroom. Teaching can quickly become an unsustainable enterprise when followed by the letter of the law.

The most recent example of me taking my own advice is a game I’ve started playing with my students. It’s called Traitors.

If you’ve watched the popular reality show on Peacock of the same name, the game is identical — with some modifications for the classroom setting. I fell in love with the show the moment I started watching it, and playing it with students allows me to tap into my interests. Here are the slides I used to explain the game to my students:

A few things not covered in the slides:

• I am in private communication with the Traitors (via Slack), who inform me of who they want to murder
• I announce murders to the class (each murder victim receives a letter from the Traitors declaring their murder)
• All Banishment votes are confidential (at least for the foreseeable future, no one will know who voted for whom)
• The prize pot starts off with nothing in it and gradually grow as the class completes Weekly Missions, ultimately resulting in a pizza party (I hope)

In the remaining time we have together as a class, I hope the game fosters anticipation in the hearts and minds of my students. Who will the Traitors murder next? Who has the class voted off? There will certainly be drama when the answers to these questions are resolved each week, but I’m confident that the game’s edginess will fuel student engagement. Of course, the twists and turns that I will add along the way will only heighten gameplay!

To add to the game’s theatrics, each student has a portrait of themselves hanging in the room, which will be X’d out whenever they are eliminated. This mirrors what happens in the reality show.

Other than gameplay, which is loads of sneaky fun, I appreciate several other things about Traitors. First, it’s a long-term game that runs in the background of our class. Most games that are played in my classroom span a class period or maybe two. But Traitors, as I’ve designed it, will last over two months. And despite its long lifespan, the game will not disrupt instruction all that much. Everything I would normally do will still happen. After the launch, which took about 20 minutes, the time investment for the game is small. Banishments and murders each happen once a week, and we’ll use the last five minutes of class to announce them. All the gossip and interrogation the students will do to each other will happen outside of class or in the shadows of our work together during the week.

Another aspect I really like about the game is the Weekly Missions. These are going to be a great way to have a classwide goal each week, something we can work towards. The missions will be tangible and obtainable, but not always linked to grades. For example, since a couple of my classes have had issues with tardiness, here was my first Weekly Mission, which I called “3-for-3”:

I believe the end of the school year should stimulate as much anticipation as the beginning. I chose to play Traitors in the latter months of the year because it will add a thrilling finale to a series of activities I use to bring closure to our class. When June rolls around, our Traitors endgame will be a great addition to my end-of-year class events.

Despite my giddiness for playing the game with my students, I’d be remiss to not admit my hesitancy. My students are a wonderful lot, but before starting the game, I had to be confident that my class culture could handle the lies, deception, and mind games that Traitors will undoubtedly bring to the class. It could be a lot! I had to run the game by my cogen and ask colleagues about it multiple times in order to build my confidence to actually do it. The biggest piece of advice I received: To keep the Banishment votes confidential.

Time will tell how the game pans out and if the Faithful can indeed identify the Traitors before the end. We’ll see!

bp