This is a reflection post for an assignment in a MOOC for Minecraft: Education Edition. The assignment was to try a mode of Minecraft (Survival, Creative, or Tutorial) and share in the discussion board. Webinar Assignment #1 – Surviving the Night I knew little about Minecraft this time last year, but was interested in learning about it to connect with my fifth grade students. To begin this process, I attended a session about Minecraft at MACUL (Michigan's conference for technology in education) and learned about the new release of Minecraft: Education Edition. I began dabbling with Pocket Edition to get my feet wet. I played a lot in the summer with my daughter (age 6) and she got hooked really quick! We spent all of our time in creative mode building some awesome houses, tunnels, and railways...my favorite! I had also tried the tutorial world in the trial version in the Fall and was impressed how it helped me and my students learn the keyboard commands easily, since most of us only had Xbox or Pocket Edition experience. Having tried both of those scenarios, I decided to try my hand at the mode I had been most avoiding...survival! Day 1: I did not know how long day would be, so I went to the nearest tree and got as much wood as I could. I then built a simple shelter, 5 blocks by 4 blocks and only 4 blocks high. I had not checked on how to build a door yet, so as the sun went down I closed in my house to be safe. I could not see a thing! When would it be daylight? If I knocked out a block to check for daylight would there be monsters there? If I left a skylight open, can monsters climb? I checked a couple times and saw stars and knew that a door or safe window would be what I worked on next. Day 2: I crafted a door and collected some more wood. I started to look for sheep so I could make a bed, but could only kill one. The beds had been mostly decoration in creative mode, but I was having a hunch that they could help make the night go faster. The nights sure seem longer than the days! Day 3: Rain! I made a wood pickaxe and begin trying to mine stone. I am picking away and some sort of gray block is disappearing, but not being collected in my inventory. I try to mine in three different places, but not having any luck. I try to find sheep with the little light I have left and have no luck. I barely make it back to the shelter and have a hard time finding and shutting the door in the dark. Day 4: I go deeper and deeper to collect stone (my daughter's advice), but it is still not showing up in my inventory. I do find two more sheep and make a bed. The night zooms past and I can get back to work. Day 5: I try a few more places for stone and try different shades of gray. As I venture farther and farther away from the shelter it is more difficult to make is back before dark. I did not make it this time and stumble around until I fall down deep into something! I wait out the night, surprised that I am not being attacked by monsters, and look up a long way once I have daylight! Day 6: I started to mine a staircase, but then realized that I had enough resources to build the staircase. That went much faster! I had to take a step back and figure out why the monsters did not find me. Hmmmm...looks like "normal" is not the default setting. So I survived a few nights, but maybe it was not that hard at all. I setup a new world with the correct settings and started again....and again....and again. I went about the same process of quick shelter, but tried to get the door with windows and a bed fit into the first day. Problem was once I died outside of the shelter from monsters, I kept respawning at night and away from safety (I learned about setting the new spawn location later). It took me four attempts to finally survive the first night with the monsters, but such a fun challenge! I am still having some difficulty collecting stone, maybe it is the wrong stone or I have the wrong tools. Something for me to keep working on. This assignment was a great chance for me to explore the Education Edition more and a mode that I have little experience with. While I think I still prefer creative mode, I also think I will go back and keep building more in my survival world. I also enjoyed playing with the camera and portfolio, they are awesome resources to share out what it happening in student worlds. I look forward to the next assignment and seeing how the classroom mode will connect all of us in the classroom! I am only one year into experiencing Minecraft, and I am glad that I have taken the chance to understand some of this world. Minecraft is a popular choice when we brainstorm for #goaltime. I was not always ready to help steer student projects into the deeper learning goal than what they are already doing when they craft at home. Playing the game myself has allowed me to understand more of the language and guide projects. This is extra helpful since we now have the ability to use the Minecraft Education Edition with all students in the class. I certainly knew that we would get more play and creation during #goaltime, but a student surprised me with a new way to use the game. She used Minecraft to present her project and her project did not have anything to do with the game! Kat's #goaltime was learning about making a cake...in a coffee mug...in our classroom microwave! Some weeks we had messes to clean up or some burnt smells, but in the end she had a tasty treat and enough to share with all 48 students. The twist was when she setup a Minecraft world for students to walk through. The world signs and markers that share her learning experience. So cool! When a student asked her why she chose to present with Minecraft, her answer was that she knows how to use Google Slides, Canva, PowToon, and other presentation tools. She said it was time to try something new! Check it out below: |
Matt HawkinsGull Lake Middle School Archives
March 2018
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