My Minecraft journey lesson two: Building community with Minecraft: Education Edition
Contents
Description
In this lesson, participants explore how to build and foster classroom community when using Minecraft: Education Edition with students. Participants will consider tips and tricks from Global Mentors and other educators before reflecting on how to create and adapt classroom expectations for a digital community.
Lesson-Framing Question
How can you build and foster community when using Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom?
Learning Objectives
- Participants explore how to build and foster community when using Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom.
- Participants consider tips and tricks for getting started with Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom.
- Participants reflect on how to create classroom expectations that promote positive behaviors in a digital community.
Module 1: Explore & Discover
“Students who are mastery-oriented think about learning, not about proving how smart they are. When they experience a setback, they focus on effort and strategies instead of worrying that they are incompetent.”
Module 2: Practicing Growth Mindset
With a growth mindset, failure is not limiting, but rather is an opportunity to grow and learn. This mindset helps to create an environment where it is safe to take risks, iterate, and try again. In the Getting Smart research report, “How Minecraft Supports Social Emotional Learning in K-12 Education,” educators surveyed from 11 countries around the world found that Minecraft helped foster growth mindset skills by giving students the chance to employ strategies such as:
- Working collaboratively with others (and within groups) to solve problems
- Practicing student agency to direct self-learning
- Overcoming challenges in teams with little help from the educator
Remember to be a learner alongside your students! Go in-world and work with them. Have students show you what they’re creating and explain how they’re building it. Ask your students to share Minecraft tips and tricks they have discovered with you and the rest of the class. And when you don’t know how to do something, ask your students for help!
Module 3: Building Classroom Community
Building a positive classroom community is essential, especially when introducing students to new learning experiences. Students must feel safe to take risks, fail, and try again in a non-judgemental, supportive, and inclusive community—whether face-to-face or in a digital world. To help students be successful, you can structure your classroom culture and learning experiences in a way that allows students to understand and practice skills that will help them to be successful in a digital environment.
Clear expectations and classroom norms can help your students learn to communicate and collaborate better in virtual learning experiences. In her article, “Classroom Management With Game-Based Learning,” Arana Shapiro, the Director of School Design for the Institute of Play in New York City, reminds us that while gameplay in the classroom can seem chaotic, the following four guidelines, that work well in face-to-face classroom interactions, are also critical in game-based learning:
- Regular successful classroom management rules still apply
- Assign student roles
- Act as the facilitator
- Wrap up with time for feedback and reflection
Module 4: Creating an Inclusive Digital Environment
Select each tab to watch three videos for practical advice to help you build classroom community with Minecraft: Education Edition. As you watch, use the guiding questions to reflect on your own classroom. Be sure to jot down any takeaways, ah-ha moments, or questions in your course notes document to help you in the Try and Apply section of this lesson.
Setting an Academic Purpose
When choosing to use Minecraft: Education Edition in your classroom, it’s important to identify the academic purpose. Having a clear academic goal will anchor all the related work your students do in the game. You don't have to map your curriculum to this tool, instead, you can look for places in your curriculum to use the unique affordances of Minecraft: Education Edition to help make particular learning experiences more joyful for your students. Get ideas form the following video for adapting existing lessons to use with Minecraft Education Edition in both out-of-game and in-game learning. You do not have to create new lessons to use within Minecraft: Education Edition; instead you can use this tool with the units and lessons you already have.
Guiding Question As You Watch: How might you use Minecraft: Education Edition for both out-of-game and in-game learning?
Building a Positive Learning Community
You're the expert at designing learning experiences and leading a classroom community, and by putting a few key elements in place, you'll be on your way to using Minecraft: Education Edition to foster a positive learning community both in-game and out-of-game. Hear how you can create classroom expectations and teach digital citizenship skills when using Minecraft: Education Edition. Having clear expectations before your students use Minecraft will provide structure and promote lifelong digital citizenship skills.
Guiding Question As You Watch: How might you help your students practice appropriate behaviors and set expectations for their digital community, even before they are online or engaged in game play?
Practical Tips for Classroom Management
You're probably eager to get started using Minecraft: Education Edition with your students. Before you begin, consider how you will manage your classroom in a virtual environment. Classroom management in Minecraft: Education Edition is similar to classroom management in your physical classroom—the key is clearly communicating expectations and consequences. Hear more about specific strategies for creating clear expectations and consequences, monitoring student progress, and establishing protocols for students honoring each other's work and resolving conflicts.
Guiding Questions As You Watch: How will you change or adapt your current classroom expectations and consequences for inappropriate behaviors for learning in a digital community? What are you already doing as the educator that you will keep doing to manage your classroom? What actions might you add?
Module 5: Try & Apply
Do you ever try something new and find yourself saying, “I wish I would’ve known…”? Well, the Global Mentors and other educators who are using Minecraft: Education Edition are here to help you with practical advice for getting started! You’ve seen ways to make using Minecraft easier and more intentional in your classroom, now, consider some other practical tips!
As you explore these resources, use your Course Notes document to create your own list of action items to consider thinking about prior to using Minecraft: Education Edition with your students. Think of this as curating a “best of” list of your favorite tips and tricks to explore. Be sure to take note of any resources you’d like to go back to later.
Tips for Using Minecraft in Your Classroom
Watch as Minecraft: Education Edition Mentor Stephen Reid shares helpful tips about what he learned as he began using this tool for teaching and learning.
Classroom Management Tips from Minecraft Mentors
The Minecraft: Education Edition team turned to some of the Global Minecraft Mentors to garner tips on classroom management—in particular, creating a positive classroom culture—when using game-based learning modalities in learning. Read more to find out what they suggest!
My Tricks for Using Minecraft to Motivate Your Class
Educator Joel Solomon shares his tips and tricks for increasing student engagement with Minecraft: Education Edition.
One Educator's Journey with Minecraft: Education Edition
Watch as Katja Borregaard, an educator at Skt Josefs Skole in Roskilde, Denmark, shares her journey of bringing Minecraft: Education Edition into her classroom.
Reflect on your takeaways from this lesson. You have six lessons left, so record this reflection in your Course Notes document to look back at when you finish the course.
Feel free to share your reflection (and what you learned) via the My Minecraft Course Lesson 2 topic on Flipgrid or by tweeting it out using the #MinecraftEDU hashtag on Twitter.
- How can you extend the classroom expectations you have in place to a digital community? What might need to be adapted?
- How will you prepare for using Minecraft: Education Edition with your students?
- What questions do you still have about using Minecraft: Education Edition? What would you like to know more about?
Module 7: Going In-Game
Before moving on, read the following options:
- If you have Minecraft: Education Edition installed on your device, move on to Lesson 3 or return to Overview Page.
- If you don’t have Minecraft: Education Edition installed on your device, go here for options to get started with this process. Then, move on to Lesson 3 or return to Overview Page.
- If you need help with any part of this process, use the Minecraft: Education Edition Knowledge Base.
