Sts Peter and Paul's School, Bulimba's inaugural Minecraft Day was a hit with Years 5/6 students according to eLearning coordinators Angela Barton and Leesa Henriksen. The Year 5/6 teachers introduced the collaborative day to encourage student engagement in STEM learning, while gaining 21st century skills. Here is their story:
THE countdown was on! Our inaugural Minecraft Day was, for our creative minds, a highlight of the school year. The corridor was buzzing leading up to the big day, as students communicated at Minecraft Club and in their Teams channels, making plans for attending workshops and adding their final touches to their worlds.
It began with our Year 6 leaders as coaches at an early morning staff gathering. Students showcased their worlds for the Minecraft Education Competition and shared their thoughts how the app has not only increased their engagement in lessons but allowed them to work collaboratively with across Year levels. They are passionate advocates for using the Minecraft Education app to show design thinking across all areas of their learning.
Year 6 student William Toomey said he felt proud to be mentoring teachers on Minecraft use.
“I have learnt so much about Minecraft this year." I thought I knew it all. It has been great to work with the Year 5s and sharing design and building ideas." William said he also loved teaching the teachers new things and loved how they admitted they are not experts.
Our first official Sts Peter and Paul's Minecraft Day was launched with a Teams meeting to Seattle, USA, to Microsoft Education. We engaged with a group of vibrant educators who work with helping educators bring Minecraft Education: Edition to their classrooms to encourage student engagement, STEM learning, and 21st century skills. The students asked some though provoking questions and added computer science to their list of future goals.
Murphy's Law then kicked in... yes - after months of planning - the Internet decided to not behave for the day. In fact, it did not kick in until after lunch. But in true Sts Peter and Paul's spirit, we found other ways to be creative and engaged in Minecraft 'craft', building 3D Minecraft blocks, Steve model and pin the tail on the Minecraft pig. Our students were very resilient!
With the Domino's pizza lunch came the Internet. We finally could work on our worlds. Students used every minute and showed determination and collaboration all the way. We are very proud of their designs and the way they just rolled with the challenges and were grateful for having the opportunity to participate in the day. A big thank you to BCE's Robert Burke for his continued support and enthusiasm. We are so excited to see the final submissions and proud of everything we have all achieved.
Year 5 student Abigail Simpson said she too looked forward to putting it all together after a lot of hard work and determination. “So many times, things went wrong, or it was challenging to work together. I loved the mantra 'meet and greet before you complete'. “We soon found out a plan before each session, with a checklist, was the way to go," she said.