Problem Solving

This week, the kids created their "homes", a 12 by 12 by 12 block structure.  They had to decide how many floors they could put in their house and then build them.

Objectives:
Create a house that is 12 blocks tall, 12 blocks wide, and 12 blocks deep.
Use a list to figure out what the maximum number of levels you can have in your home.
Use problem solving skills (compromise) to resolve any issues or disagreements

I observed each group from across the room, so as to not disturb their conversations as they were happening nor have any proximity related influence on their discussions.  The first thing I heard was, "How do we get in?" or "How do we get out?"  Many of the kids either didn't know about doors, or didn't think to put one in.  Easily solved by clearing out two blocks and placing the door in the gap.

Next up, "I can't see anything?".  Most kids threw up some torches and moved on, but others brought about more clever ways.  Some installed windows, some ripped off their roof and replaced it with glass blocks, other with goldstone.  The kids worked together and had to first decide their options, then make the best decision that they could.  These are students that are not paired up with students that they would normally work with and typically don't have lengthy discussions that stay on topic, they are after all, 8 year olds.  What is interesting about these discussions is that the students really do debate which option to work with.  There is a method to their persuasion and the best part is that their partner's rebuttals are just as well constructed.

These students are collaborating on a project and I am amazed at how well they are doing it.  I have heard no arguments, no fits of sadness or frustration, just good clean focused fun.  They are working together and actually enjoying it.  I have not noticed anyone sitting on the sidelines doing nothing.  There have not been any bossy players telling others what to do.  These are events that are typical in group work, but non-existent in Mindcraft (my name for this time in our class).  My students are truly cooperating with each other and accomplishing tasks in peace.  To me, this is a major benefit of using Minecraft.  My students are being creative, planning, and collaborating on a project together.  The way that I have infused our math curriculum into this may not be the best, but it will come with time and practice on my end.  In the meantime, my kids are learning to work seamlessly together and I can focus on working with them, not putting out fires.

This is one of the more complex examples that a student created.    With the size of the houses, the students had to realize that they could only create 3 floors and have 2 extra block heights to work with.He chose to make the top floor and the first floor taller than the middle floor.  You can see how he divided the levels on the first picture.

It continues

This week, the kids have started a new activity that has a little more freedom and a little more realism to it.  I instructed them to build a house with their partner that is 12 x 12 x 12.  They can use any block type that they'd like and once the basic structure is made, they can fill it and decorate how they wish.  This morning, when they walked in I posted the question "How many block are needed to create your house?" on the board and just left it up.  As I was greeting the kids coming in, I could hear students discussing it.  Several of them were trying to figure it out in there head.  My hope is that they start to develop a strategy for solving this on their own.  Some might add 12 for each column, some might try to multiply.  I just want them to explore the problem in their head so that when we do discuss it, they have some ideas.

These are third graders who are currently learning about adding 2-digit numbers.  They do not know how to multiply and they have no experience with volume, perimeter, or area (I am aware of some issues that will be present when discussing the corners and how they relate to overall area and perimeter, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there).  However, using Minecraft, they are beginning to develop these ideas and will later be able to connect their own strategies with standard formulas.

Project Mindcraft, Engage!

Today, we started.  It was a little bit scary for me, however the room was buzzing with excitement.

I had the students complete 2 tasks, both were review skills from our first Topic in math.  Their first task was to create a number line that showed the days in the month of their birth as well as their birthday.  This was a review of using a number line to show a number.  It was a pretty simple concept and doubled as a way for them to get used to Minecraft's interface.

The second task was more complicated.    They were shown 5 different blocks and told to find the number of 2 block combinations that they could make using only 1 of each type.  Earlier in the week, we took a formative assessment where the students needed to find the combinations of outfits if a person had 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants.  Most students simply said, that makes 2 outfits.  I estimate that probably only 5% had gotten it right at that time, so we needed to try again.

To start we had to discuss the expectations and cover objectives for the day.  My objectives were:

We will...

• Represent numbers on a number line
• Make a list to solve a complex problem
• Solve a problem collaboratively
• Reflect on our activity to improve our future interactions

At the end of the time block, we stopped and the kids took a short survey in Google Forms.  

I was hoping to keep this activity to under 40 minutes, but most of the kids were not done.  Some problems arose as a result of technology and it slowed our completion.  

The results of the survey are found below:

How much motivation do you have to complete the tasks in class using Minecraft?

How much motivation do you have to complete the Practice homework sheets?

How well did you and your partner work together?

How successful were you in completing the tasks?

Average rating:

4.157894737

3.526315789

4.263157895

3.631578947

Additionally students were asked what ways they attempted to solve problems.  However, they did not realize that they could choose more than one answer and the data was not accurate, we will fix it for the next activity.

Examples of the Number Lines created:

These students created the number lines out of blocks.  The first struggle that they had was figuring out how many days were in their month.  To do this, one of them remembered that we have a calendar app on the tablet and he used that.  Once they figured out the number of days, they had to space the "tick" marks out equally across the top.  Most students put a sign in front of their number line to show where their birthday would fall.

Examples of the Combinations task:

This student created a row of 4 blocks that he stacked the different blocks on top of, thus "listing" out the possibilities.  You'll notice that there is one row that has a gap in it.  After creating this, he realized that if he used the same type of block on top of itself it was not correct because you only have 1 of each block type.

Two more examples of the combinations task.  These two students worked with the same method as the first.  You'll notice some minor mistakes in the second one, but they were not able to finish it due to time.

My thoughts:

This was fun for the students and they were more focused than usual.  In a typical 40 minute block with this group, I end up redirecting individual students at least 10 times.  Today, I only had to give 2-3 redirections. Why?  The kids were working on their own and utilizing each other to solve problems.  This kept them talking and working.  Only about 4 of the 11 groups completed both tasks, however, this was teh first time that we used Minecraft.  I think that there was a bit of a learning curve and the students were figuring out each other's strengths in order to make their groups more efficient.  Later today, the kids will write about their experiences and I will be able to get a better picture of this at that time.

Things to do differently:

As of right now, I think the only thing we will do differently is increase the number of worlds that students use.  Pairing 4 tablets (1 tablet is 2 students) together on one world is creating issues with getting disconnected, slow gameplay, and overall confusion about who belongs where.  I'm thinking that unless they are doing a large group activity, we will put 2 tablets on 1 world.

Setup

I have begun to formulate how this will actually work in my classroom.  I did a lot of research into alternatives to Minecraft and due to the limitations of technology in our room, I a going with Minecraft PE on our Nexus tablets.  I would much rather use MincraftEDU, however the price is an issue and we don't have enough computers to accommodate the entire class.

I have been thinking about ways to get around the fact that only 5 people can be on a single world at a time and the fact that I cannot possibly observe each child's construction at the same time.  My solution is to group kids into a team of students that all work on one world at a time.  I have designated "World Builders" who are responsible for creating the world that their team will join.  These students are ones who I know are responsible and will help keep the world regulated (no mobs) for our purposes.

Next, I began listing expectations and protocols for my students all available to them on pour Google Drive account.  My students will be able to easily refer back to them each time that we use Minecraft and we won't have to waste a bunch of paper.  This document can be found here.   After discussing it with the kids, we decided to make revisions as needed in a morning meeting.

The biggest part that I am stressing to my students is that this is all about collaboration and cooperation.  They must take turns, share equally, and participate for this to work.  My example was that one child does the building, then afterwards, the other does the blogging.  The next time, they switch roles.  That was just my suggestion, I am going to leave it up to them and see what develops.

We will start today, so wish me luck...

and so it starts...

Hello.  If you are reading this, I assume that you are interested in integrating technology in your classroom.  If not, you must be bored...

I have been a teacher in my school for 6 years now.  I am starting my 7th year teaching and 2nd year teaching 3rd grade.  Since my start, my fascination with technology has been ingrained in my classroom since the start.  First, just having kids with poor handwriting type their work into Word, to now, using tools like Google Docs and Drive to create and store student portfolios that house every single writing piece that my students create throughout the entire year.   The students in my class are given opportunities to learn, create, and present in the ways that we do out here in the "real world".  There is a technology component in our class every day.

We are fortunate in our room to have access to devices.  Most buildings and teachers have limited access that causes their integration to be stifled and sometimes non-existent.  Currently in my room there are 4 desktop computers that were updated last year (I'm sure that they are considered old by today's standards, but it is a public school and we get what we can).  Additionally, our building received 50 Nexus tablets (2012 model) that were dispersed to each grade level with 15 tablets ear-marked for each intermediate grade.  I house these in my room / hoard them.  Some might say that these tablets are largely "useless" since they are an old model and often have connectivity issues.  I don't see it myself.  I think that they are wonderful.  The keyboard is small, but the kids have small fingers.  They are able to use all the Google apps that make Google such an awesome tool for the classroom.  Sure, they don't have Flash, but who cares, I hear that it is becoming more useless anyway.

First, some things about me that might be important in later posts.  I do not follow the norm.  I smile before Thanksgiving, I am not particular about the color of notebooks that your child brings, and I couldn't care less about their handwriting as long as I can actually decipher it.  While some teachers might toil for days before school decorating, I choose to slap up some butcher paper and fill the rest in with either student work or anchor charts.  I do not crank the AC down below 70 and I leave my window open most of the time.  Our room is all about comfort.  With that being said, I am a teacher that is willing to try anything to get my kids motivated.

I first heard of using "games" in education when referencing things like math games.  Simple websites that put players against others in a race to complete more math facts correctly in a given amount of time.   I used these and other tools on a regular basis.  I couldn't help but wonder if there was a better way to apply games to education.

Some time later, I had a conversation with another "techie" and discussed the use of Minecraft as an educational tool.  I had some interaction with Minecraft, though my wife would consider it an obsession, as a gamer playing and enjoying the openness of the game.  Unlike the vast majority of video games that are available, it didn't have objectives, it didn't have some sort of mission and this strongly appealed to me.  The game allowed me to do whatever I wanted.  As I played and built monuments to my own greatness, I realized the creativity that it allowed me to express.  It reminded me of playing with Lego's as a child, except that there were no limitations of space or lack of blocks.  No cats running across and destroying hours of labor.  No plans to follow or direction to be imposed.  It is just simply a way to build and (if you want to turn on Survival Mode) survive in a world that is as expansive as our own.  My thoughts immediately went to "how can I use this with my students?"  I know that my kids were extremely motivated when it came to this game.  I have seen kids search Youtube and create things that were shown to them, build intricate rail systems that served a purpose, and create houses that rivaled the homes of celebrities.  As a teacher, I battled kids that wanted nothing more than to spend their evenings playing video games that were far above their maturity when they should have been reading or completing their homework.  It dawned on me that I should not battle this, but use it to my advantage as their teacher.  Thus, my motivation to build and start what I like to call "Mindcraft" in my classroom.  This is my motivation to blog.

I want to have a place for to reflect as I embark on this technology related exploration into gaming in education.  There will be problems and celebrations along the way, but it will be exciting nonetheless.  Perhaps it might inspire others to try it themselves, or at least spark some new ideas.  I hope that this experience will help others, or at least provide some entertainment.