Week 4 #evomc16

Week 4  #evomc16

Last week’s unexpected six-day winter vacation completely derailed my schedule and plans for work and study.  Who wants to work when there’s a blizzard and homemade chili in the kitchen?  Not me.  So, I was not as efficient as I could have been, but I did drink a cup of tea for three hours Monday morning, caught up on sleep and thought about homework and reports.  Most of which I got done in an exhausting 48-hour marathon on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday was an interesting day; I woke up to read that the White House had announced a $4 billion computer science initiative for K-12 students.  Computer literacy is now a basic skill.  We’ll see how it plays out.

Later in the morning, I went to Microsoft’s  #HacktheClassroom , which I feared would be a two-hour advertisement, but it was not.  There was, as usual, a lot of data, but I took away two new things that I want to use in a future classroom:  Code.org and OneNote.  Code.org has online computer science fundamentals and an “hour of code” with Minecraft https://code.org/mc.  I have always ignored OneNote on my computer, but it apparently can be extremely valuable in a classroom (with computers), and I would like to explore how to use it.

This morning, I took a tour of Thorsten Groß and his students’ Minecraft Ricarda-Huch-Schule.  Impressive but very intimidating.  However, I did learn how to jump, which I did not even know was possible because I always fly.  I want to add a basketball court to my ranch before we go into survival mode.

Later, I spent hours in survival mode alone.  My first try was ended by a zombie on the first night.  Oh well.  In my second try, I lasted for five days and five and a half nights and then was killed by a zombie.  I could not find coal for fire, only diorite, and the nights were spent huddled in a hollow with a sword.  And I didn’t eat at all because there were only rabbits which refused to be food.  They just got mad and jumped away.

On the last night, with only half a heart, I knew it was over.  A zombie was jumping up and down on the ledge in front of me, and then a second one came at me from the right.  All I had was a stone sword, and it didn’t work to my advantage this time.  I learned a lot about gathering and crafting, and realized I am at a real disadvantage without a mouse.  I am really clumsy right clicking with my touch-pad mouse while crafting, and I need to practice before going into multiplayer survivor.

Listening to Rafranz Davis talk about using Minecraft in K12 classrooms--very inspiring. #HacktheClassroom