It's been quite a while since I've posted. I really wanted to have meaningful posts and add content that would be purposeful. Thus begins my new posts with the Adventures of MinecraftEdu. To be honest, my adventure begins with watching my son play Minecraft for the past 4 years. He started playing while he was in 7th grade and absolutely loved this game.
When he shared the game with me, I wasn't automatically taken with the game. I'm not a video game player by nature so I was not sure of the impact of the game until much, much later. When the research has come out and I have been watching TEDtalks on the benefits of gaming, I started to revisit Minecraft. What sealed the deal was the MinecraftEdu version and I was sold. I shared the concept with my son and he was just as excited to help me learn how to play the game.
He allowed me on his Minecraft server and sat next to me while I started to learn the basics. He took out his mouse, which I haven't used in 10 years. I'm a track pad person, so the mouse felt foreign. Pretty soon, I was feeling motion sick while playing, I got lost and couldn't figure out where I was or even how I got to the spot I was standing in. I made him take over and then I started asking questions.
Do you realize how many decisions a person has to make in order to start to build, or dig, or collect things? There is a lot of planning involved and the basics of learning which keys to use and whether you are in create mode or survival mode. I realized I like the create mode better, less threatening and NO loosing your life. I liked that!!!
So after learning the basics, I decided I wanted to use MinecraftEdu in my classroom. I started to look for grants to help fund the licenses. Our school foundation has a budget for each grade level, but our grade didn't have enough for the entire third grade to start. I'm an all or nothing kind of teacher and I wanted my entire grade level to share my adventure with me. Thank goodness, the ladies I work with are good sports!!!
To make me even more excited, Orange County Department of Education, offered a 3 day summer training course on MinecraftEdu. My principal approved for both myself and another member of my team to go. There were only 5 adults and 3 students. Small class, eager learners! It tools us the first day to really get the hang of it and by day 3 we were building our own worlds on our own server to share out with the group! It was awesome!!!
I knew then that I had to find a way to make it happen! So the adventure through the channels of school and district office black tape began. Lucky for me my principal fully backs the MinecraftEdu game and using it in the classroom. When you come back next time, I'll have more to share with the Adventures of MinecraftEdu in my classroom.
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