MinecraftEdu

We got district approval to purchase MinecraftEdu for our campus and I cannot wait to try this out with students!   Several other campuses began this journey last year and their excitement and lessons have gotten me excited to start it on the campus I work at.  

So far we have purchased the program and installed it in the lab in which we will be using it.  I have been testing out the software and controls on my own children (ages 7 & 9) so I could learn the teacher side and see how the program works.   So much to learn and fortunately I have kids willing to play so I can learn.

I was fortunate enough to go visit another campus (read about Lioncrafting here) as they used this program with their students and was energized by the students and their excitement and engagement while using the program.  Things I liked:

• Students sat on the floor in front of the screen to review before beginning
• Rules were established by students and are reviewed each time.  These include no griefing, killing, etc.
• Resources like firs will only be turned on with a good reason from the students.  
• Students determined what the purpose of the team was - they decided to build a mideval village
• Students then went to their machines armed with a purpose of what they needed to do.

These were some great take-aways that I need to remember to implement when we get started.
The biggest problem I am having right now is waiting.  Waiting for the right time to start using this on campus.  December is our official launch date.  Right now I am running Kodu camp and Code like a Girl is next week along with 5 professional development sessions I am providing. So for now I wait.