Miniota Grade 3/4 Minecraft Communities Project

 I was excited when Miss. Emily Hunter invited me to co-plan a Minecraft EDU project for her Grade 3/4 class! She was working with the social studies theme of communities and the science unit focused on structures and materials, so we decided to focus on an interdisciplinary project that would target the outcomes from these units.   Together, we planned a “build challenge” project that allowed her students to showcase their knowledge in both topics.  Students worked individually or with a partner to create a community in Minecraft.  

To show their understanding of curricular outcomes, students made plans for which biome they’d build in and how that environment would affect their community, students identified how their community would ensure residents basic human rights were met and constructed appropriate amenties based on this planning.  Students also came up with laws/rules to be posted in their Minecraft communities and they determined which materials would be most effective for building their community structures (a link to their science outcomes).  The Grade 3 and 4 students also demonstrated social studies skills from their curriculum through effective communication and collaboration, managing information and using critical and creative thinking skills.   

Here is a snapshot of some of the planning students did before beginning their build challenges in Minecraft. 

Once students had a plan, they were given time to build their communities in Minecraft.  Students used the camera and portfolio to take some screenshots of what they had built and they've agreed to share them here so you can see some of what they've created! 

Hack the Classroom: Microsoft headquarters & Rehearsal

 I was fortunate to have some time to explore before heading to the Microsoft headquarters on Friday morning.  It was green and rainy and beautiful as I strolled around Redmond.   Near the end of my walk, I discovered the nearby Sammamish River trail. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of it as I had to get ready for my day at the Microsoft headquarters.  

The Microsoft “campus” is like a small city.  Along with the many offices and work areas, there are shops, services and restaurants.  The place is so vast that they run a company shuttle service for on-demand transportation.   Our shuttle got Jeff and I to our first stop very efficiently and we began our tour shortly after.  It was exciting to meet people from a variety of the Microsoft teams.  There seemed to be a really positive energy in each building we toured and it was fascinating to see the variety of workspaces and amenities available for employees.  We visited the Commons Mixer to eat some lunch before meeting with a member of the OneNote team. 

Next, we rehearsed in the studio so we knew where to sit, when to move and how the event would run.  It was pretty neat to see all of the people contributing to this webcast.  It was interesting to witness all of the details involved in a rehearsal for an event like this – I’m not even sure I can explain the process.  Speakers and production team members went over order of events, movements on and off the stage, polling questions, panel questions, microphone levels, camera angles, media to share and so much more.

 After rehearsal, I had enough daylight time left to further explore the river trail I discovered this morning.  The sunshine had even appeared, which made my evening hike even more beautiful! Hiking trail adventures plus walking all over Microsoft headquarters made for a big step day (yes, I’m a FitBit fanatic)… 22,000 steps wasn’t quite enough to win my workweek step challenge, but I suppose it was good for me anyways… 

Celebrations and Traditions

We have been learning about celebrations and traditions. Here is our Sway which shows our celebrations and traditions. Scroll down to see all of our ideas.  We would still like more ideas if you want to answer the question "What are your celebrations and traditions?"

Microsoft Partners in Learning: Hot Topics Blog

I'm very excited to have been asked to post as a guest blogger on the Microsoft Partners in Learning Hot Topics blog.  Educators can join the PiL network for free at www.pil-network.com to have access to blogs, lesson ideas and online professional development.  Microsoft is currently looking for more teachers to join their Expert Educator program as well.  Be sure to apply by September 30th!

You can read my full post about project based learning by clicking here.  The post summarizes the projects that classes have done in previous years and provides links to additional details for each project.  We're just getting started with ideas for this year's collaborative projects, so stay tuned for more updates as our projects develop!

Microsoft Virtual University: Understanding the Learning Strategies of the 21st Century Learner

Today's Microsoft Virtual University with Richard Olsen focused on what we know about good learning and teaching. 

Big Ideas:

• How has learning and teaching changed?  

• More student-directed, authentic, collaborative, interdisciplinary, differentiated learning.  Less teacher-directed.

• We now have fast access to high-quality materials and resources online, which can help teachers and students.  How does access to high quality content change what schools and teachers need to provide?

• Students need critical thinking skills to determine what information is relevant, factual, useful to their purpose

• There is less need to provide "textbooks" or other learning materials in the traditional form and more need to provide a device that allows students access to the huge amount of information online. 

• We have changed what we publish and publishing can be free.  

• We no longer share only the "finished product"

• We share our location, our thoughts, our intentions, short notes, works in progress using tools like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, blogs, websites etc. 

• This sharing provides opportunities for intervention at various stages.  Students and teachers can get suggestions and feedback all the time!

• Online publishing allows students to reach a wider audience, to collaboratively publish and to have a real impact in the world

• Online publishing helps us share student work with families. 

• Ease of collaboration provides opportunities for collective knowledge building 

Connections to our classroom:

•  We have undertaken a number of collaborative projects with students in our classroom working together and working with other classrooms near and far.  Social media, video conferencing and online publishing have allowed us to collaborate and to reach a wider audience.  Our projects have included:

• Environmental Awareness Campaign:Students encouraged people to care for the environment through their poster and video campaign.  Topics they addressed included tree planting and litter reduction. 

• Reusable Bag Reminder Campaign: After researching reusable bag use, students learned that many people were forgetting their reusable bags.  Students came up with the solution of reusable bag reminders and then designed, created and distributed their reminders.   

• Litterless Lunch Competition: students participated in an inter-classroom competition to have the most reusable containers in their lunch each day, thus reducing litter and helping the environment! 

• Animal Rescue:In partnership with Alyssa’s Ark Small Animal Rescue, students learned about rescue animals and found ways to help local animals in need.  Students collected used blankets, towels and clothing to be reused as animal bedding at the rescue.  Students in Kindergarten made homemade dog biscuits and delivered them to the Humane Society just before Christmas. Students in Grade 1 traveled to Alyssa's Ark to volunteer and to deliver some homemade animal treats! 

• Species Preservation: Polar Bear Adoption:Students decided they wanted to help animals this year.  They chose to adopt polar bears because of the threats they are facing, so they developed an action plan to fundraise and adopt bears through the World Wildlife Fund Symbolic Adoption Program.  Students successfully held a cookie sale fundraiser and adopted SEVEN polar bears!

• Recycle for Good Garage Sale: Students held a garage sale, selling unwanted toys, clothes, books and household items from many generous donors.  This student-run event raised $464 to help people and animals.

• Schools Around the World Blog - We took part in a collaborative project that sharing information about our school and school life with other schools through a collaboratively-authored wiki. 

Microsoft Virtual University: Building Educator Capacity for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

Tonight's Virtual University with Tracy Immel (Imagine Education) focused on effective professional development for educators. 


Key Points

• The most effective teacher PD includes active learning such as action research, working with a coach/mentor & actually practicing skills
• Educators are expected to adapt/customize learning for students.  Similarly, teachers need customized professional development opportunities that address their needs!
• "Informal" PD is important too.   I find some of my best ideas, growth and development come from informal conversations with colleagues, my social media networks & other informal channels
• Some schools are are offering competency based courses.  Students select from a wide variety of learning resources, set their own pace and take (and retake) assessments when they are ready.  Effective PD for teachers follows this model: set competency standards for teachers and let them choose resources and pace that helps them improve!
• Microsoft Certified Educator designation will be coming soon: a competency-based assessment for educators

Resources:
Microsoft Digital Literacy Course
Microsoft Teaching with Technology Curriculum
Partners in Learning Network

Microsoft Professional Development: Teaching with Technology

As a part of the Microsoft Expert Educator program, we are encouraged to try out the free Teaching with Technology professional development modules available at the Partners in Learning network. (Educators can join the PiL network to access professional development, learning activities and the hot topics blog).  In this post, I am sharing key points and reflections from the course Why does the UNESCO ICT-CFT promote technology literacy?

About the training

• Personalized Learning: I like how the Microsoft PD model "practices what it preaches".  We know that different students need to learn different things and that each student may need a different learning path to meet their goals, but often when it comes to teacher education we don't apply that principle.  Microsoft has made personalized learning available and effective with this training.  Start with a pre-assessment to identify areas of strength and gaps in your knowledge about teaching with technology.  The pre-assessment will award you completion for the courses in which you already have proficiency and suggest modules that focus on your areas for improvement.  Why relearn what you already know?  

 Big Ideas

• The Future is Unknown: This video from Beyond Current Horizons reminds us that we are preparing for a largely unknown future.  How does that affect education?  How SHOULD that affect education?  What can we do to ensure a good/positive future?
• Teachers Must be Learners: Part of why I chose to become a teacher was my love of learning and it's also part of why I love my job!  Our students need us to continue learning in order to provide them with the best education possible.  
• Technology Literacy: As the training states, "technology literacy is being able to use technology to solve problems".

Resources

• Innovative Teaching and Learning Research (ITL)
• Dvolver Movie Maker

Favorite Quotes

• "ICT expands horizons by shrinking worlds." - David Brown

David Brown's quote makes me think of the collaborative opportunities I have had because of ICT "shrinking the world".  My students and I work with classrooms in other locations, I connect with other educators from around the world and we have access to so much information because of ICT. 

•  "People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking they can do things.  When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success." -  Dr. Norman Vincent Peal

Dr. Norman Vincent Peal's quote applies to both teachers and learners in my opinion.  We want to feel like we CAN and we especially want to teach in a way that helps our students realize they CAN. 

• "The best way to learn is to teach" - Frank Oppenheimer

Again, learning is one of the things I love most about teaching, so this quote really resonated with me.  It also serves as a good reminder of the value of peer to peer teaching (which I think I could encourage more of in my classroom). 

I encourage fellow educators to check out these PD opportunities, my experience has been positive so far!