Group Screenshot Before Orienteering Mission
Thursday was the last chance for the Orienteering Quest with this Exploratory group. Strangely, I was excited and nervous about how it would go; it’s only 30 minutes out of my week. Would it be a “3rd strike; You’re out!” or “3rd time’s a charm.”
Success! 3rd time’s a charm! The kids appeared in the reinforced spawn site, all fluttering about. This was the first time they were all gathered together at the spawn site long enough to take a screenshot and without cleverly figuring out some way to escape. Aren’t they a good-looking group!
Some of my favorite quotes from the activity: “We have to take a screenshot eating apples.” “We won! Do we get candy?” “A 10!” One student’s response to my asking him to rate the activity on a scale 1 to 10.
Please read on. I promise you will dig this.
Once the screenshot was taking, the redstone lever was switched, and the kids bustled their way down the spiral staircase to the lower platform. Students in color coded teams of 3 to 5 grabbed their compasses from their team chest and ran off with each other in four directions in search of their treasure. The winning group exhibited teamwork via good communication and listening. Other students became separated from their group and lost. No doubt orienteering in Minecraft has great potential to foster teamwork, communication and problem solving skills. I think I will be doing more of this kind of activity. It was so much fun to watch. Below are some more screenshots and some short videos.
Teams go rushing down the spiral staircase of the spawn tower.
Teams arrive at the bottom of the spiral staircase of the spawn tower.
Heading North, South, East, or West to find their treasure.
One team working together hunting for their treasure.
Screenshot of one team with their apples.
Screenshot of Orange team with their apples.
Glad to hear you had success, looks like the kids had a ball, and learned how to navigate the world of Minecraft. Awesome stuff.
hi, im a kid trying to get minecraft into my school, not many teachers take me seriously because of my age. any tips on how?
Kristy,
I think it is great that you are trying to get it into your school.
I have a couple of questions for you:
How old are you?
Is your school public or private?
Do you have computers available at school?
One way to get it going is to find other students that are interested and start a club.
Another idea is to ask a teacher if you can complete an assignment using Minecraft. Like a book report or so where you build something and then make a screencast video narrating as you describe the scene.
Let’s keep talking.
im 12 yes my school does have computers its public and my brother has tried the assignment thing in two subjects so far. havent thought of the club idea tho ill try that
Has your brother had success with doing assignments in Minecraft with his teachers?
I will be providing another post soon that will describe what Minecraft is and maybe you can show that to administrators or teachers to help them understand the game. Another idea is to build something incredible on your own related to some class you are taking, screencast it and show it to your teacher. In the end, it is all about the learning in whatever way works for you.
‘another idea is to build something incredible…’ easier said then done. as for my brothers assignments they were treated with a bit of interest. i have already shown what minecraft is to the teachers and get a bit of questions about it at lunch but most of them are ‘why is minecraft so popular?’ ‘what do you do in the game?’ not ‘how could minecraft help maths’ or stuff like that.
Kristy,
Do not give up! Be persistent.
What kinds of things do you like to build?
Do you have any videos of your stuff on Youtube?
Maybe, my article will help. I will be uploading to my blog maybe tomorrow or Friday.
You can try showing it to your teachers.
i usually do red stoning, but im good at cottages, perhaps i could get some maps off the internet to show to teachers as long as its not for schoolwork. i could probably build a town for sose or something.
Those sound like good ideas. I must say, I am impressed with your interest and I encourage you to be persistent. Keep me posted on how things go.
Cheers,
Mr. Kahn
iv been talking to the librarian lately (iv already convinced him about minecraft previously) and told him about possibly showing a slide-show at a teacher meeting. he says he might be able to get a interview if i show him the slide first. so im making that now.
going to mention minecraft edu and how minecraft can help in teaching anything else i should say?
Kristy,
That is great. Here are a couple of things to also show. This is the recent article I wrote.
http://www.bwscampus.com/news/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=3150&ModuleID=503
In addition, here is great video demonstrated the powerful learning that can occur in Minecraft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE9_YAXao3I
Good luck and keep me posted.
finished the slide-show and going to show it to the host of the teacher meeting tomorrow. wish me luck!
i got it passed the host and into the meeting!!!! i will be showing it in about a week or so.
Well done, Kristy.
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