We have started using Minecraft Education Edition in our Coding lessons!

When I first mentioned to my Intermediate Phase classes that our new A3 Microsoft license provides every student with access to Minecraft Education Edition, there was such excitement in the air!

What is MinecraftEdu?

Minecraft education edition is a game- based learning platform that can be used in all subjects to encourage the 21st skills of creativity collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Students really enjoy using this program when it is combined with the curriculum.

Getting started with Minecraft

Teachers often feel – how can I use this platform and how do I get started? I felt like that and was encouraged by the YouTube video about Katja Borregaard, an educator at Skt Josefs Skole in Roskilde, Denmark. She claimed one doesn’t have to be a gamer or an expert in Minecraft: Education Edition in order to get started. She took the plunge and got started for the sake of her learners, and she has never looked back. 

           

I started with Grade 7 and Grade 6 in Coding lessons. I was fortunate in that my students are already very knowledgeable about Minecraft – so they were able to teach me! We started with the Hour of Code Minecraft Education Edition activities. found on the Minecraft platform.  In these activities, the he students have to solve quests using coding. Here are some of our photos.

 

This is game-based learning! We are all learning such a lot! As we go along I will post more posts showing how we are using MinecraftEdu in our lessons.

Create lovely Google Site headers using Canva

This term the Grade 6s and 7s have been creating websites to use as digital portfolios. They used Google Sites for their websites and made their Google Site headers using Canva. Canva is a wonderful graphics online application. As a teacher I could apply to get Canva free for myself and all my students - my application was successful, so all the classes use Canva. The students came up with the loveliest of designs.

Learner examples

How did we go about making the website headers? 

Once again I found a relevant Youtube video to use to teach myself the steps. Here is an example of one of the videos that I followed for guidance  - 'How to Create Custom Banner and Buttons for Google Sites' from Vestal's 21st Century Classroom Channel:  https://bit.ly/3x5CkkV.

Create beautiful websites using Google Sites and Canva together

The Grade 6s and 7s have been creating websites to use as digital portfolios throughout the year. They used Google Sites for this. Of course, Canva, my favourite graphics application, helped the students create stunning sites.

How to create website buttons using Canva

They made superb headings for their websites using Canva  (see previous post) and they also created attractive buttons for each page using Canva. They used the following headings (we brainstormed the ideas for these headings based on last years ICT work): 
- About me
- My blog
- My stories
- My other writing
- My projects
- My videos and graphics
- My coding examples

They have started uploading this term's work to their digital portfolios, and so far have uploaded an 'About me video' and an 'I am' poem to their About Me page.

I blurred our learners' faces using https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/?action=blu

Learner examples

How did we go about making the website buttons? 

When I learn to do something, I usually find a relevant YouTube video or two, and then I create a relevant PowerPoint to guide my lessons with the learners. (You can see that I use Google Workplace and Microsoft interchangeably!) I convert this PowerPoint to Google Slides and add it to my Google Classroom lesson so that it is always available for the learners to look at. (I use Google Classroom for every lesson). This procedure works really well for me. 

Here is an example of one of the videos that I followed for guidance in making buttons - 'How to Create Custom Banner and Buttons for Google Sites' from Vestal's 21st Century Classroom Channel:  https://bit.ly/3x5CkkV.