Minecraft Comes to ISPP Secondary
We are introducing Minecraft Club in ISPP Secondary as a tool for developing collaboration, creativity, problem solving, and making a difference. We hope to bring Minecraft to the Elementary in the near future.
In most schools, you will find a history of debate about whether students should or should not be allowed to play games (computer games, that is). Conversations will include passionate perspectives on the dangers (violence, addiction, inactivity) and benefits (collaboration, creativity, problem solving) of gaming. Our Minecraft Club will focus on both the dangers and the benefits to help our students develop healthy habits and discover the potential of this learning tool.
Onviolence collaboration
This is a topic that falls close to our hearts because we want a peaceful world for our children, and we worry that if our children play games that include violence, they will exhibit violent behaviors. While Minecraft does allow survival game modes in which players can fight on teams or individually, it does not promote violence. We provide guidance for our students on developing peaceful solutions and strategies for managing conflict throughout our curriculum, and Minecraft provides an additional environment for developing collaborative relationships and problem solving skills so that our students can grow as responsible global citizens.
Onaddiction balanced self-management
Our children need support to develop balanced self-management. Whether they love studying, gaming, social networking, reading, sports, YouTube, 'hanging out,' or something else, the role of parent and teacher is sometimes to re-direct attention from personal interests to academics, sleep, or some other balance-creating focus. Our intent as parents and educators is to educate our children so that they will be able to find their passions, and make balanced self-management choices now, at university, and beyond.
Minecraft Club is a way to help students who have a passion for playing Minecraft to develop appropriate self-management skills so that they can balance academics, activity, and play. Just like with a good book, a tricky puzzle, a game of tennis, a gathering of friends, or a research project, it can be hard to walk away from an exciting mission in Minecraft. What does balance look like? How do we know? As parents and teachers, sometimes we need to draw the line as we help our learners grow.
Oninactivity being physically active
Physical activity is an important factor in personal and academic development. For some of our learners, a passion for sport or active play makes physical activity a regular part of their day. For others, support is needed to find physical activities that provide the benefits of being active and the engagement needed to get the learner to engage in the activity. While playing Minecraft, students are not being physically active (unless they have desks like these!). They are, however, being mentally active, and Minecraft can be considered a worthwhile activity along the lines of reading, studying, art, music, science, and mathematics.
On creativity and problem solving
Playing Minecraft requires creativity, research, and problem solving. When you ask people what they do in Minecraft, they will often give you a perplexed look. It's not because they don't do things. It's because it's difficult to know where to begin. It's because there is too much to explain, and you might not get it anyway. Minecrafters use code, plugins, mods, command blocks and more to change the nature of their environments and control their worlds. On our Minecraft server, we are running a plugin called Multiverse, which allows us to have multiple worlds, each with different settings and permissions. We can watch our worlds evolve over time, and consider the impact of world settings and permissions on how our worlds develop.
Parent of a Minecrafter? Before you judge it, play it. Really. Sit down with your Minecrafter and make a world, build a crafting table, survive the night, learn to use red-stone, dig for gold (or, even better, diamonds!). Ask for a world tour. Prepare to be amazed at what your child can do and create. Be amazed at what YOU can create!
Minecraft Club will meet on Tuesdays at lunch. I will email parents of students who join.
Want to learn more about Minecraft at ISPP? We have started a blog which you can follow, and you can also contact me through school email. I'd love to hear from you!
Chelsea Woods
Technology Director
In most schools, you will find a history of debate about whether students should or should not be allowed to play games (computer games, that is). Conversations will include passionate perspectives on the dangers (violence, addiction, inactivity) and benefits (collaboration, creativity, problem solving) of gaming. Our Minecraft Club will focus on both the dangers and the benefits to help our students develop healthy habits and discover the potential of this learning tool.
On
This is a topic that falls close to our hearts because we want a peaceful world for our children, and we worry that if our children play games that include violence, they will exhibit violent behaviors. While Minecraft does allow survival game modes in which players can fight on teams or individually, it does not promote violence. We provide guidance for our students on developing peaceful solutions and strategies for managing conflict throughout our curriculum, and Minecraft provides an additional environment for developing collaborative relationships and problem solving skills so that our students can grow as responsible global citizens.
On
Our children need support to develop balanced self-management. Whether they love studying, gaming, social networking, reading, sports, YouTube, 'hanging out,' or something else, the role of parent and teacher is sometimes to re-direct attention from personal interests to academics, sleep, or some other balance-creating focus. Our intent as parents and educators is to educate our children so that they will be able to find their passions, and make balanced self-management choices now, at university, and beyond.
Minecraft Club is a way to help students who have a passion for playing Minecraft to develop appropriate self-management skills so that they can balance academics, activity, and play. Just like with a good book, a tricky puzzle, a game of tennis, a gathering of friends, or a research project, it can be hard to walk away from an exciting mission in Minecraft. What does balance look like? How do we know? As parents and teachers, sometimes we need to draw the line as we help our learners grow.
On
Physical activity is an important factor in personal and academic development. For some of our learners, a passion for sport or active play makes physical activity a regular part of their day. For others, support is needed to find physical activities that provide the benefits of being active and the engagement needed to get the learner to engage in the activity. While playing Minecraft, students are not being physically active (unless they have desks like these!). They are, however, being mentally active, and Minecraft can be considered a worthwhile activity along the lines of reading, studying, art, music, science, and mathematics.
On creativity and problem solving
Playing Minecraft requires creativity, research, and problem solving. When you ask people what they do in Minecraft, they will often give you a perplexed look. It's not because they don't do things. It's because it's difficult to know where to begin. It's because there is too much to explain, and you might not get it anyway. Minecrafters use code, plugins, mods, command blocks and more to change the nature of their environments and control their worlds. On our Minecraft server, we are running a plugin called Multiverse, which allows us to have multiple worlds, each with different settings and permissions. We can watch our worlds evolve over time, and consider the impact of world settings and permissions on how our worlds develop.
Parent of a Minecrafter? Before you judge it, play it. Really. Sit down with your Minecrafter and make a world, build a crafting table, survive the night, learn to use red-stone, dig for gold (or, even better, diamonds!). Ask for a world tour. Prepare to be amazed at what your child can do and create. Be amazed at what YOU can create!
Minecraft Club will meet on Tuesdays at lunch. I will email parents of students who join.
Want to learn more about Minecraft at ISPP? We have started a blog which you can follow, and you can also contact me through school email. I'd love to hear from you!
Chelsea Woods
Technology Director
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