For this week’s blog, Gracen and I were inspired by our weekly tec class. We delved into the world of Minecraft and learned how to use the application to encourage a variety of learners. We decided it would be a good idea to focus this week’s blog on Math and Minecraft, constructing lessons with the use of gaming. Minecraft Edu is changing the game for learners as it offers great support and resources to teachers. Each subject has its own tab on Minecraft Edu with example lessons for each grade level starting with grade threes. Each lesson highlights which core competency it covers throughout the gaming process. Each new concept has a different world the students can enter setup to help even the most stubborn of learners fall in love with the idea of math again. Students can even access these lessons on their own and practice math skills they are struggling with. When browsing the preset lesson plans they touch on a variety of topics. Each lesson plan has learning objectives, teacher guidelines, and student outcomes and assessment. These pre-set lessons allow even the most technology hesitant teacher to be able to incorporate Minecraft in their math lessons. Minecraft to improve math literacy is huge because the application is already so engaging for kids and they play on their own time. Using it in the math classroom creates a more inclusive math classroom for all learners because it allows self-exploration of the concepts and works at your own pace.
If a pre-set lesson isn’t something you want to bring into the classroom, there are lots of other options with Minecraft. You could give the students an instruction sheet with specific measurements and ask them to build a house. Use teakwood blocks and make a square 10 by 10 feet. The students then have to build the house step by step following the instructions with different measurements. This is one self-made lesson I created but the possibilities are endless. Creating an engaging math classroom is hard and pulling math concepts out of students who are hesitant is a challenge all teachers face. Using technology that students are already interested in to teach math, is a great way to get engagement and encourage further concept retention. When students are not only learning but creating something and having fun they are more likely to internalize the concepts.
