Mr Powley – The Professional
Welcome to Classroom Powerups!
I am currently the Dual Enrollment American History Teacher at HCS Early College High School in Conway, SC and have been in this position since 2008. In 2013 I began transitioning my classroom based on the the principles of gamification. Through reflection, iteration, and lots of error my classroom and philosophy has evolved into a series of concepts that I call game-inspired design. In addition, my academic background has also allowed my to serve as an Adjunct Professor at Horry Georgetown Technical College as well as a Teaching Associate at Coastal Carolina University.
Mr. Powley – The Appearances
Since 2013 I have been honored spread the game inspired design concepts to colleagues around the country. Here in Horry County I was named model exemplar for Blended Learning and tech innovator of the month. In South Carolina the SC Council on the Social Studies named me the Teacher of the Year in 2015. I have presented at the SCCSS Annual Conference since 2014 dealing with subjects ranging from Gamification, to National History Day, and Historic Concepts. At the SC Ed Tech Conference I was able to present a session about a Flipped Classroom style I developed called QWIQR which led to a guest blog post about the same concept on the Corwin publishing blog. My biggest presentations occurred in 2017 and 2019 as I was accepted to present at the national conference for the Future of Ed Tech (FETC) in Orlando, FL. If you can’t catch me live and in person I am a frequent Twitter correspondent and post regularly in the #XPLAP and #Games4Ed chats under the handle @MrPowley.
Mr. Powley – Passions
History and teaching others about this fantastic discipline is one of my great passions. I volunteer as the regional coordinator for the Coastal Region of the South Carolina National History Day Program. Over the course of the year I work with the state coordinator to organize the regional competition that will have nearly 600 middle and high school students compete in history based projects. We work to ensure high quality judges from local historical institutes will interact with and give feedback to competing students. The effort and passion coming from the students, the judges, and the volunteers are truly inspiring.
In addition, I am also a Deacon and Head Usher at my Presbyterian Church. My family and I participate in meeting the needs of our local population. We have participated in food drives, clean-ups, and congregation care.
Mr. Powley – Gets Personal
I have been married to Amanda since 2007 and we are the proud parents of three young boys – Wesley, Benjamin, and Gabriel. They are truly the joy of our lives. Our family time involves lots of movies, games, and reading. When not hanging out with the family I enjoy gaming and distance running. I am not fast, but I do eventually get there.
Classroom Powerups 