Bring Ancient Worlds Alive Using Minecraft

Ask any class of middle school students if they have ever played Minecraft, and you will be surprised at the amount of hands that go up.  I would even go as far as taking a bet that EVERY hand would fly up, as mouths would begin to chatter relentlessly about the recent world they just created.

Creation.  That's Minecraft in a nutshell.  If our schools are pushing for creative outlets of learning for our students, then the perfect tool is sitting right in front of our naive, adult faces.

The answer is Minecraft.

I dabbled a bit with Minecraft at the end of last year, and I was blown away by the engagement of my students.  I knew I would have to take full advantage of incorporating it into my curriculum the following year.  I spent time over winter break developing a unit that incorporates learning "exploration" centers for ancient civilizations.  My goal was to have students engaged in various content about a specific ancient civilization, then replicate what they learned every Friday during our time in the computer lab playing Minecraft.  Below is a sample screenshot of my centers each week:

My goal is to provide learning activities that appeal to all learners.  I always include a close read lesson on Mondays, then I provide two literacy centers (primary source/secondary source) during the exploration centers.  The geography center usually enforces basic geography skills specific to the current civilization, and the video station also includes online discussion boards using reflection questions from the video.  Lastly, the culture activity is usually hands-on or STEM related.  For example, students had to build/analyze the invention of each stage of the wheel like the Mesopotamians.

Building & Analyzing the Invention of the Wheel with Tinker Toys

At the end of each "exploration" day, students add to our "Wonder Wall".  The "Wonder Wall" is where students record questions or curiosities about what they learned as a method of reflection and self-directed learning.  I began to see some great "wonders" that I allowed students to spend one of our whole-group Monday lessons exploring these further.  Many of these answers were then added to their creations in Minecraft later that week.  

Adding to our "Wonder Wall"

ePortfolio entry on "Wonders"

Then comes Friday.  Friday is the our "assessment" day, yet it looks a lot different than the typical paper and pencil test that I have usually given in past years during this same unit.  Now our "test days" looks like this:

I was blown away.  I never knew the Ziggurat of Ur was decorated with blue glazed bricks until I noticed many students adding it to their Minecraft replica of Mesopotamia.  I started asking why, and they told me they read it during their center explorations.  Wow.  I have been teaching the "canned curriculum" content because it's what I always have done.  When I let students explore on their own (with some facilitation), they started to teach me things.  Minecraft has been a great motivating factor for students to explore these civilization further than they would ever have in the past when we simply used traditional resources.

Since I was so impressed with what my students were creating, I felt they needed to share it with the world.  We slowly began to add in ePortfolios to reflect.  These ePortfolios have incorporated 21st century learning skills as well as been an alternative assessment for me to judge mastery of content.  Students access my Weebly webpage, upload screenshots, and answer various reflection questions.  

ePortfolio Mesopotamia Entry

Please follow our (in-progress) ePortfolios and leave us comments!

After using Minecraft for the past month, I know I will not go back to how I used to teach ancient civilizations.  I have seen engagement increase 100%.  I have seen students read as historians.  I have witnessed typically uninterested students build exact replicas of ancient structures.  I have heard students collaborate using vocabulary words that were never directly taught.  My students may not take a test after each civilization, and some may know more about hieroglyphics than the next, but I am witnessing self-directed, motivated learning on a daily basis.  

Bottom line.  Try it.  You will not be disappointed.

A Toast to My Team

It was that moment in time last year during our faculty meeting.  The 7th grade team had just been told we would be starting a blended learning pilot in the following school year with 1:1 iPads for students.  Then the emails came.  Everyone on the team knows exactly which one.  The one that outlined the loads of professional development that was in our immediate future.  We spent most of May/June in professional development inservices learning, experimenting, and discussing this new instructional shift we would be implementing in three short months.  As August quickly approached, we were faced with the actual implementation of our grade level blended learning model.  We had successes.  We had failures.  We had moments of pure exhaustion and desperation.  Then we had moments of utter joy and pride.  And this was all in a matter of four weeks.

As we begin third quarter, we are finally all settled into our adjusted visions for blended learning classrooms.  We sat in our weekly GLM today, and we began thinking back to the beginning of this journey.  Relaxed laughter filled the room.  Laughter about our non stop planning early on in the year.  Laughter about our mistakes with technology.  Laughter about thinking we could change the world after one week of blended learning.  It was a moment where we all could look at each other and realize how far we really have come in our own personal instructional changes as well as our growth as a team.  Then we really started to reflect on the amazingly positive changes we have started to see.  Students are independently learning.  They are teaching each other.  They are creating.  Yes, we still have bumps.  But we are finally realizing, it's okay because the journey is bigger.  And after one semester, we should be proud of what we have accomplished.

I personally wish I spent some more time in the other team member's classrooms to experience the amazing things they have started to implement.  This is my goal for second semester.  However, I feel it is only right to acknowledge some of our accomplishments as a team in the blended learning pilot.  My apologies if I do not touch on every thing, as I am often one of those teachers with my nose in my plans, too oblivious to the other plans happening around me.  So here's a toast to you...

Let's start with math.  The way our math teachers seamlessly incorporate digital learning such as Khan Academy mixed with small group instruction on a daily basis is something to be applauded.  As an English teacher, I am always envious of the routines, unit plans, and record keeping done by our math teachers.  The utilization of tiered choice boards, QR codes, differentiated Google Forms with embedded videos, and peer tutoring is the epitome of what a blended classroom should look like.  Computer programming was also used in the math classrooms which has instilled a passion in many students.  Standards based grading in a traditional gradebook is also attempted successfully in one of our math classrooms.  Shocking, it took a MATH teacher to figure out how to calculate the standards-based grades into a percent based gradebook.  Cheers to you.

Computer Programming in Math Class

Now on to social studies.  Our social studies teachers are fearless and willing to try anything.  Social studies has flipped their classrooms recording their lessons into videos to allow for time in the classroom to create and engage in the content.  I have seen amazing music videos about the Boston Tea Party and movie trailers depicting battles. Now they are on to gamifying their classroom.  Students have to "beat the boss" in order to move on to the next level.  A self-directed unit that gives students choice in their learning.  Even though my classroom isn't gamified, I have heard students use the term "beat the boss" in my self-directed units.  Must be engaging if the terms stick!  

Filming Movie Trailers for Social Studies

Time for science.  Our science teachers have been amazing at trying out new apps.  Currently, one of our science teachers has students choosing from different presentation apps such as Prezi or FlowBoard to create "Survivor"-esque biome presentations.  Students are designing "Survivor" challenges for a given biome.  How cool is that?  Another science teacher has completed many self-directed units, but is currently having students record films about their use of technology in the classroom.  This teacher has truly lived the vision of a flexible learning space allowing his students to create in all parts of the building.  When I see the smile and excitement on students' faces when they run into my room to show me their creation out of cardboard for their video, I know this teacher has hit a gold mine with his project design.  I am waiting anxiously to see their outcomes.  

Building "Wheel of Tech" for Science Project

Lastly, we have English.  My niche.  I could not be prouder of my PLC for the work we have accomplished this year.  We have implemented differentiated choice boards with the use of digital content, tiered Google Forms, QR codes galore, and the use of many creation apps.  We have also implemented "blended learning centers" where we can easily track students with the use of reflection rubrics to identify who needs to be pulled for small group instruction.  We are in the works of bringing in the app Vine to our narrative writing unit.  We also have attempted Genius Hour on every Monday (a version of Google 20 time) since the start of the school year.  

Blended Learning Centers

Even as we hit obstacles in the second half of the year, be proud of the progress you all have made.  It makes me feel grateful to be at a work place with supportive, creative, and innovative educators.  And I feel a "Cheers" in order for each and every one of you.  And when you are feeling as things aren't going as planned, just remember this:

To Whom it May Concern

This past Friday was the day teachers have come to dread.  The day that makes good teachers second guess their instructional practices, and even their career choice.  Teacher value-added ratings were posted.

Talking with my colleagues, I have again come to the realization that the education system is going about this whole education thing all wrong.  As I sort my thoughts, I figure the best way to express them is in an open letter to the Ohio Department of Education and all others who feel these reports will improve the quality of education in our state.  As well as some other amazing educators who need a little confidence boost right about now. Here it goes...

To Whom it May Concern:

I am currently in my 4th year teaching at the middle school level.  My dream as a little girl was always to be a teacher.  I never even thought of any other career option.  In my early stages of my career, I fear it is not the career I imagined due to the expectations and assessment styles put on teachers and students alike.  I am lucky enough to be in a district where we are on the cutting edge of innovative, authentic, and technology-integrated instructional practices; however, I am afraid that even though this is what we want in our schools, this is not the way we are assessing our schools and/or students.

To me, there is a very clear irony in the current educational system.  We are increasingly told that best practice includes ongoing feedback, authentic/alternative assessments, opportunities to allow for problem solving, implementation of stations and ePortfolios, use of 21st century skills, and tracking student growth.  I am no expert at all of these, but I can honestly say I put an earnest effort forth to attempt to be the best teacher I can be and address all my students' needs, even those non-academic ones that we all know have a huge impact on their education.  However, these very best practices are not used when assessing our schools, teachers, and students.

We are told to rely on many formative and summative assessments to track progress; however, the state uses one assessment to track progress.

We are told to offer creative, unique, and alternative assessments to allow for students to show what they know; however we assess our students using a 3 hour, paper and pencil, bubble in the circle, "google-able" question test.

We are told to assess using written feedback on each standard, yet the state assesses our schools using the traditional A, B, C, D grading system.

We are told to reach students on their level, meet their needs, and create relationships, but none of that comes into play when they are tested on a day when they just weren't themselves.

And what human being would be okay with their child's teacher choosing ONE test and weighting their grade book where that child's learning for the whole year was based 50% on that ONE test?  I am not a parent yet, but I know I would not agree with that methodology.  

I have a hard time understanding this paradox.  I also have a hard time understanding how some teachers can go from most effective to least effective to approaching average all while only improving their instructional practices.  Why such the large discrepancy?  Perhaps, we are still failing to acknowledge the human factor that largely comes into play.

I am in no way trying to come off as a whiny teacher who does not want to be held accountable.  PLEASE hold me accountable.  Please.  I want that ongoing feedback that is considered best practice.  That's what I rely on to improve my instructional practices.  And I will accept any rating thrown at me.  But I still do not feel this is the best assessment style.  Sure, we need some sort of quantitative data, but why weight that ONE source of data as 50% of our evaluation? We need to be breeding learners who think critically, who solve problems, who come up with creative and innovative ideas.  That theory is largely supported in the educational realm, yet we still spend large amounts of money on creating an assessment that goes against every grain of the 21st century learner theory.

My fear is that teachers will understandably become nervous and anxious about their potentially public value-added rating, that they will abandon all "best practices" and adhere to the test-taking instructional methods.  I am a teacher with a household to support, and I fear this is what the educational assessment system is forcing us to do.

My final plea.  Please rethink your methods.  I work with amazing educators, who on Friday were all feeling completely and utterly defeated.  Please think about the students with open, bright futures.  Please let us give them the educational experience they deserve.  The one that will make a difference in this world.  Otherwise, don't expect anything to change.

Sincerely,
A concerned educator

Stop, Reflect, and Continue Forward

Going into this school year, I knew I would be experimenting with new teaching strategies.  With the ultimate goal of creating a more student-centered classroom with real world learning experiences.  Being a perfectionist by nature, I wanted it all to happen perfectly from day one.  With much reflection in PLC, GLM, and nights with my fellow teacher husband, I have learned that it is important to stop, reflect, continue forward.  Before I continue forward, I wanted to stop (and breathe) and offer a reflection on the year on some of my experiments' successes and failures.

Genius Hour
I find such value in the theory behind Genius Hour that no matter how many obstacles I am faced with, I will never give up on the idea of giving 20% of my instructional time to let their students explore their passions and curiosities.  I am by no means an expert on implementing Genius Hour.  This year I find myself wading the waters and seeing what will happen.  With just one grading quarter under our belts, I have students starting campaigns for clean water in Africa, as well as fundraising for childhood cancer.  These are the moments that make me feel connected and proud of my students.  These ideas sprouted from their minds with no prompting of mine.  How can one ever turn away the idea of Genius Hour when the products make such an impact on our world.  On an even smaller scale, I had a student already make connections with beauticians she found on YouTube via Twitter.  She did this all on her own...at home.  Real life learning and self-motivation.  Again, how can you say no?  As their facilitator to Genius Hour, I need to work to expose them to more readings and technology tools relevant to their projects.  I also need to work with some students on honing in on their passions, but I truly feel the students who struggle are not used to an educational system that lets THEM choose versus the teacher.  I see great things coming from all of the students once they jump over that hurdle.

Donate to Colin's Clean Water Fund for Africa

Blended Learning Centers in Middle School 
My 7th graders and I are going on a journey this year of a new learning experience with the implementation of technology, mobile furniture, and a flexible learning space.  One of my goals has always been to implement elementary type learning centers into a middle school classroom, but I have always found the scheduling to be a hinderance.  I am happy to say that my PLC partner and I have made great strides in planning student-directed learning stations in the form of choice boards, and now we are attempting actual physical learning spaces in our rooms that the students will rotate through each day for a period of 5 weeks or so (with the hopes of making it a more permanent classroom structure).  Students will be utilizing their iPads to supplement the learning process, as well as provide clear-cut assessment data each day so I am able to plan my small group instruction accordingly.  Creating learning centers has provided some obstacles as well, but we are working on cleaning up the management of the centers with the use of Google Forms and rubrics for students to self-assess each day.  We will also post unit checkpoints in the form of "I can" statements around the room for students to track their progress. I have also found the Google Script titled "Doctopus" to be extremely beneficial in giving immediate feedback for writing assignments.  Again, I feel it is a transition for students who are used to a traditional type classroom setting, so as we continue with this structure, we will continue to see growth in the student work and progress.  One main thing to remember, obstacles are NO reason to give up, just reasons to grow.

Bringing Social Studies Alive
Ask any student (or even adult) what their most boring class was in school.  Social studies.  My goal as a social studies teacher is to bring the content alive.  Even though adults say social studies was a boring class, they always say it would be their favorite subject as an adult.  I would like to change this culture of a social studies classroom.  No more simply reading from textbooks.  Through the use of simulations, gamification, and role-playing, I have had some great feedback from my students on social studies class.  Instead of reading about government types, we brought them alive by treating class as different forms of governments.  My next step is to "gamify" our economics unit.  Why not turn the classroom into different nations dealing with trade?  Or how about a marketplace battling supply and demand?  I have made some great connections with experts in this field, and I am excited to see where it goes.  MinecraftEDU is also on my agenda for 2nd semester to supplement ancient civilization units.

Phew.  This is why reflection is a good thing.  Sometimes educators are so entranced in the day to day that they forget to look at the big picture.  Success to me is hearing kids say "See.. this is why social studies is my favorite class".  Or reading a blog about students enjoying a unit because "they could work at their own pace".  And even better, working with a student today on setting up a campaign to bring clean water to Africa.  That's what it's about.

Stop and reflect.  Then continue forward.  Because odds are, you ARE doing amazing things.

Little Successes

Wow.  First quarter has come and gone.  As I have sat through many PLCs, GLMs, and impromptu after school conversations and reflected with my colleagues, I have come to the realization that although not everything has gone exactly how it played out in our minds, we have found success with some instructional tools that should not go unnoticed.  As teachers, we overly reflect.  We are perfectionists.  It is our nature.  We never want to take ownership of our successes, yet we are quick to point out our failures.

We all knew this year would present many learning opportunities as well as more problems to be solved.  However, it must not stop us.  The goal is to change the way students view school.  This does not necessarily mean we have to uproot everything we have had success with in the past, but it does mean we should start taking baby steps into the right direction.  Then one day, everything we plan in our minds, will play out exactly how we plan it.... kidding.  It never will, but isn't that part of the fun of it?

So now it's time to reflect on the successes.  Below is a list of some of the tools I found to be extremely helpful, beneficial, and fun for students as we start this shift in our instructional methods.

Socrative - I am a big fan of quick checks.  Last year, my PLC partner and I wrote grants for SMART Response PE system.  I am still a big fan of that response system for my 6th graders without iPads, but Socrative has proved to be a lifesaver, and excellent tool for my 7th graders with iPads.  The app is super easy to use for both teachers and students.  It also sends you an immediate report with student data to easily group students.  I have used this as a daily warm-up, then I check the results right away and am able to build my groups right there.  It also has a built-in exit ticket which I have not used yet, but I think it offers great value.

Schoology - Schoology is an excellent learning management system for teachers.  Our team has really taken on a liking to using Schoology as a "one stop shop" for students.  It offers many valuable functions, but my favorite is the ability to build assessments right into the program.  I also am excited to work with the discussion boards, as I think that can be a valuable tool in the E/LA classroom (or any subject matter really!).  My colleagues have delved even further into the capabilities of Schoology, and I am excited to see how this LMS can streamline school for middle school students traveling from class to class.

EduCreations - There are many apps similar to EduCreations such as "Explain Everything" and "Show Me".  I have really only tried out EduCreations, but I know the others offer very similar options as EduCreations.  Recently, my students were actively engaged in a choice board of ways to show their understanding of our first unit concepts.  I found EduCreations really allowed students to show what they know by creating "lessons".  With the ease of inputting pictures, voice recordings, and fun colors, students were able to put their own style into showing mastery of the standards.  This is also a great app for teachers to record lessons if you are trying to "flip" your classroom, but I have not yet attempted the teacher use function of the app yet.

QR Codes - We used QR codes to direct students to instructions for their choice board activities.  The QR codes linked to Google Drive documents where my PLC partner and I wrote up instructions.  These help with the "paperless" movement, but they are more so an easy way for teachers not to feel they are constantly repeating instructions.  There are many other tools for QR codes, but so far, this is the one way I have implemented them in the classroom.  Super easy to create and interactive for students to get up and move.  Even without iPads, many students have their own devices with cameras that they could bring to class.

Story Me - This iPad app engaged my students more than any other app I have introduced.  I have 50 page comic strips re-writing stories from a different character's POV just by introducing the Story Me app.  These same students would not have even written a page if I gave them a paper and pencil.  The app allows for comic book photo effects and captions to write in content.  It links to photos, so students would save images from the internet then add them into their comic strips.

We have experimented with other apps, programs, etc.  These are the ones that have gone pretty smoothly.  I am hoping to find success with Google Blogger next to create ePortfolios.  As for now, we can't beat ourselves up if every single attempt at change does not bring about success.  All we can do is celebrate what WORKS and keep trying at others.  The one thing we cannot do is give up.  I still truly believe education needs to start changing, and we cannot get comfortable when we throw out the occasional worksheet.  With a little trial and error, and a lot of support, I still believe this is possible.

Buzz Words

There are a lot of buzz words in education.  We are inundated with buzz words.  We also become experts at explaining our classrooms using these buzz words, but in reality, all we are really doing is saying the buzz word and not applying the buzz words.

This happens a lot.  However, I don't blame educators.  We are thrown new theories every day, and it's hard to keep up, so instead, we just increase our "teacher" lexicon.

One buzz word in particular that has been thrown around a lot is "stations" or "learning centers".  I've sat in countless inservices explaining and creating different stations that get thrown out in the garbage by the end.  However, it's time to start applying some of these theories.

Through true collaboration, my 7th grade English counterpart and I have developed, designed, and constructed a differentiated, data-driven, intervention friendly, technology applied unit.  Phew.  That's some buzz-words for you!  We are anxious to get this unit into play as we have often talked about how this actually LOOKS in a classroom as opposed to simply discussing the theory.

As an educator, all I hope to see is theories in action.  It is our hope we can bring this one buzz word to life in the middle school English classroom.  Stay tuned for progress...

On the Eve of Genius Hour

We are about to take the leap of a genius.  Tomorrow, my students will be introduced to an opportunity that can change how education is perceived in their young minds.  I will be introducing the concept of Genius Hour after reading many positive articles, real life stories, and Twitter accounts about the never-ending positive effects of the implementation of Genius Hour or 20% Time in the classroom.  I am excited to start this journey.  This is why I became a teacher.  To see kids learn, and to see kids get EXCITED about their own learning.  Genius Hour will present them with this opportunity.

I was away at sixth grade camp last week.  Being outdoorsy has never been one of my strengths, but as I was standing on the edge of the stream watching students get excited about racing their own engineered boats out of Tinker Toys, I was again reminded of the innate curiosity of human beings.

Listening to conversations, I heard the 6th graders problem solve, collaborate, creative think.  Everything we hope for in our children.  They were curious and imaginative.  Yet, they generated hypotheses and tested, then modified.  Sounds like great educational jargon, right?  This is what it looked like:

How come when we educators are posed with tasks such as "have students generate and test hypotheses" we immediately feel bogged down with more content to cover?  We pull out our latest curriculum textbook that sings praises of its activities.  When in reality, our classroom still has rows of desks with freshly copied worksheets placed on each one.  It's time to spice things up.

I have been seeing the light more and more.  These sparks of light have inspired me and brought me back to life.  It doesn't have to be stressful.  Genius Hour provides this opportunity.  Letting students control their own learning.  Letting go of the reins for a little bit to see where they want to go with their learning. There is much I want to learn too.  I can't wait to go on this journey too (graphic design or sewing??  Or both??).

I'm going to end on a quick story.  Today I was with my husband's family for a baby shower.  My husband and I were playing on an old train set with his 4 year old cousin.  As I sat back and watched, I saw the young boy curiously follow my husband around while he was trying to figure out how to get it to work again.  I was given another spark of light.  The 4 year old boy who has only one day of preschool under his belt said the following while observing the non-working trains and trying to figure out which ones worked the last time he was over:

"This train has webs on it, so it can't be this one that works".

Problem solving.  At four years old.  We CAN bring it back to the classroom.  For me, Genius Hour is the answer.