Nov 20
My 5th and 6th grade students are participating in this year’s Minecraft Education Edition and UNESCO Sustainability Development Global Build Challenge: Peace with Nature. When using Minecraft Education Edition, or Minecraft:EE or just M:EE, in the classroom teachers have access to ready-made worlds for all subjects and different grade levels. It’s amazing how much is …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2021/11/20/building-for-hours/
Aug 22
On July 29, 2021, PocketLab hosted the ScIC6 Science is Cool Unconference that focused on esports and game-based learning (GBL)! On Dec 31, 2020 I wrote about a contest for teachers to submit lessons incorporating Fortnite Creative hosted by Epic Games and about the lesson plan that I submitted that got second place! Because of …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2021/08/22/fortnite-in-science-class/
Feb 20
In my last post, I reflected on my course gamification efforts so far this year. In this post, I will share my game-based learning (GBL) plans. Ever Since I started gamifying my classes I knew that the real power of engagement wasn’t in making my normal course more game-like only, but in having kids play …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2020/02/20/game-based-learning-planning-gbl/
Sep 09
Struggling with Reading Back in May of 2012, I wrote a blog post sharing my struggles with reading. Although I read and read well and always did well in school, I don’t read much. Reading is often very tedious for me so it’s easier to read snippets or short passages, which is why I start …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2019/09/09/gaming-vs-reading/
Mar 26
The above video shows an example of how my 6th graders are playing World of Warcraft during the WoWinSchools course I am teaching this year. Slowly, especially in light of much research being done on the subject, people are starting to see that video games are not bad. They do not make kids violent and …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2015/03/26/game-based-learning/
Feb 24
This all started as a 6th grade Exploratory class offered to all 6th graders for one quarter at a time. Students got off to a great start last quarter, the first time this class was offered to 6th grade students. As students began the class they agreed to our class charter, thought and wrote about …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2015/02/24/1st-quarter-wow-complete/
Feb 23
The above brief snippet is very representative of a typical day in the computer lab last quarter (technically the 2nd quarter of the school year but the 1st quarter for our WoWinSchools class). I had 27 sixth graders in that class, the students from my 1st period Science class. Using parts of the WoWinSchools curriculum, modified …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2015/02/23/1st-quarter-wow/
Oct 14
The 2013 Reform Symposium free, international e-conference weekend has come to an end. If you missed any of the wonderful presentations they are recorded here! Connected educators month is still going on, October, so hopefully some of the great presentations or keynotes got you excited about connecting with others to learn and grow. I shared …
Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2013/10/14/gamification-resources/
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I've presented at NCCE
2016, 2017, 2019, 2022,
2023, 2024, and 2025!
I presented at WSTA 2015!
