[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Orla,

This is really clever. Flipping the catch/collect game into an avoid game is a lovely twist, but building the Maths directly into the scoring is the part I love most. Starting at 50 and losing 2 points for every car hit means the children can work backwards from their final score to calculate how many cars they collided with. The multiplication and division practice comes directly from playing the game which is lovely.

Your explanation of the algorithm design fits really well too. Adjusting how quickly the cars appear so that achieving a perfect score is difficult ensures that the children have something to calculate at the end. You have clearly been thinking about the learning and the code at the same time.

I would really encourage others to play Drive Safe and have a look at your code. You have taken the ideas demonstrated in the module tutorials and made your own small changes to create a game with a different challenge and a clear Maths link. That is exactly the kind of adapting and experimenting we like to see. 😊

One small thought. Since the calculation is central to the activity, you could ask children to estimate how many cars they think they hit before working it out from their score, then check whether their prediction was correct.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Eadaoin,

This was lovely to read. You have clearly engaged with what Fantastic Fairgrounds is teaching and that comes through in your reflection.

Your plan to slow the pace and prepare higher-order questions for a whole-class discussion afterwards is really well judged. The world moves through some big AI ideas quite quickly, including data analysis, ethics and how AI can be used to solve real problems. Giving pupils time to talk through these ideas is where the understanding will really settle.

One thought to build on this would be to choose one of the core AI ideas, such as ethical decision-making, and use it to focus your closing discussion. You could ask pupils where they encountered it in the game and what decision they had to make. This would give the conversation a clear focus and provide lovely evidence of their AI literacy.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Sinéad,

Apologies, you seem to have shared a link to a game with no code.

Please watch the MakeCode Arcade website tour video in the module or follow the steps below to share your MakeCode Arcade project link:

1. Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
2. Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
3. Add a title for your project.
4. You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
5. Select Share Project.
6. Copy the link that appears and paste it into your forum post.

Please note that this link is anonymous and is not connected to your MakeCode account. Make sure to copy or save the link, as it cannot be recovered if it is lost.

The link is also a snapshot of your project at the time you share it. If you make any changes afterwards, you will need to create and share a new link with the updated version.

Anonymous share links cannot normally be deleted or unpublished.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 17 hours ago by Neeve Hyland.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Sinead,

This was a lovely reflection to read. A real strength is how naturally computational thinking already runs through your STEM lessons. Watching children break problems into smaller steps, spot patterns and improve their designs through the Dream Space activities shows that they are developing these skills without it ever feeling forced. The engagement you describe is exactly what keeps the learning meaningful.

Your area for development is fantastic. Spreading computational thinking across Maths, Gaeilge, English and SESE is where children really begin to see it as a way of thinking rather than a separate subject.

Your plan to teach one cross-curricular CT lesson every fortnight feels realistic. It is regular enough to build the habit but well-paced so that it fits alongside everything else. Pairing this with a monthly reflection using the framework also means you will be able to see the impact over time.

One question to help you focus. When reflecting on a lesson each month, would it help to track one CT process at a time, such as pattern recognition or decomposition? This would allow you to see how it develops across the term and give you clearer evidence for SSE.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the rest of the course. 🙂

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Fiona,

This is incredible!!!

I love how carefully you have thought through the Maths. Scoring in fives means the children are practising repeated addition without even realising it which is really clever. Taking the highest scores from five pupils, graphing them and comparing the highest and lowest also turns the game into a proper Data and Chance lesson. The data comes from something they actually care about which makes interpreting it far more meaningful than working with numbers from a worksheet.

Your explanation of the debugging process was really clear too. Checking that the score increased in fives, that Tina lost a life after each attack and that the game ended when her lives reached zero shows that you were testing each rule in turn.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Nicola,

Princess Donut is a fun idea and I like how simply it links to counting and number. Your adaptations are lovely too, such as collecting letters to spell words in Literacy or healthy foods in Science. That shows you are already thinking about how one game structure can support lots of different learning.

I had a look at your code and there are a few small things stopping the game from playing as you have described. There is no countdown timer yet, so the game does not actually end. The donut also moves to the same fixed position each time rather than a random one which means the player is not really chasing it around the screen. There is also a change score by 1 block in the on start section, so the score begins at 1 instead of 0.

At the moment, the game plays more like a chaser than a timed catch and collect game.

My best suggestion would be to watch the timed catch/collect or chaser video tutorial from the module again and build alongside it, pausing as you go. This will walk you through setting the countdown timer, moving the food to a random position and getting the scoring set up correctly. You will then have a game that matches the lovely plan you have written.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Fiona,

I love this. The Dice tutorial is such a good choice because it takes something children already use in Maths and shows them the code behind it.

I really like that you added a sound to play when the dice rolls. That is a lovely touch and not something the tutorial asks for.

Your idea of pupils designing and coding their own board game around it is amazing. It gives the dice a genuine purpose while building the boards brings in engineering naturally. The probability investigation is my favourite part though because recording lots of rolls and comparing experimental and theoretical probability turns a fun activity into real data work.

I also like your point about using it as a fast finisher activity. Coding does not always need a full lesson slot and having something like this ready to go is a practical way to keep it ticking over.

If you try this board game activity out in school, we would love to hear how it goes 🙂

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi G,

This is a lovely practical plan. The AI-generated wildlife poster is a really clever hook because building the errors into something visual gives pupils something concrete.

Asking them to spot the incorrect habitat or diet, check it against a trusted source and then create a corrected version is especially strong. They are not simply being told that AI can make mistakes. They are proving it for themselves and then fixing the information.

Your critical questions are really well pitched too. That is exactly the kind of transferable skill you want to build at this age.

I also like that you included the responsible use message by reminding pupils not to upload personal information or photographs of themselves. This keeps privacy alongside accuracy which is really important.

One small idea to build on your exit ticket would be to ask pupils how confident they now feel spotting mistakes made by AI. This could give you a simple before and after picture across the class.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Christine,

There are some lovely ideas in this reflection. Pairing your Senior Infants with their 5th class buddies to design a garden is a gorgeous fit. It gives the older children a real purpose, keeps the younger children engaged and creates a lovely opportunity for collaboration. Following the digital activity with some actual planting also brings the learning to life.

I think simplifying the task to focus on what plants need to grow and designing a sensory or wildlife garden is pitched really well for Senior Infants too.

One thing worth knowing is that the system requirements for Minecraft Education are quite low, so it can run on most devices. You can find the full requirements here: https://edusupport.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/360047556591-System-Requirements

If there was not enough space on your usual device, it might be worth trying another laptop, tablet or mobile device so that you can open one of the worlds and explore it for yourself. The experience is quite different from reading through the lesson page and the activity really comes to life once you are in the world. It would be well worth giving it another go before you complete the course.

I would love to hear what you think once you have had a chance to explore one of the demo worlds available in the Minecraft Education demo library. The video on slide 22 shows you how to access the demo library.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Christine,

Zazzlers Memory Sequencing is a lovely example to have found and I really like the curriculum thinking behind your post. Linking visual memory, sequencing and observation to early mathematical learning is a great fit for Senior Infants. Gradually increasing the length of the sequence is also a lovely way to build in challenge at an appropriate pace.

One thing I wanted to check with you is the game link. This particular link opens a ready-made example game in MakeCode Arcade. It is a memory game rather than a timed catch or collect, chaser or invader game, so it looks like it may be a game you explored rather than one you created yourself.

For this assignment, you are being asked to build a game from scratch using one of the three set styles: a timed catch or collect game, a chaser game or an invader game.

Would you be able to share a link to a catch or collect game that you coded yourself? Even a very simple version is absolutely fine. The important part is building the game yourself, as this will give you a much clearer understanding of how the different blocks work together.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Michaela,

Please watch the MakeCode Arcade website tour video in the module or follow the steps below to share your MakeCode Arcade project link:

1. Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
2. Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
3. Add a title for your project.
4. You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
5. Select Share Project.
6. Copy the link that appears and paste it into your forum post.

Please note that this link is anonymous and is not connected to your MakeCode account. Make sure to copy or save the link, as it cannot be recovered if it is lost.

The link is also a snapshot of your project at the time you share it. If you make any changes afterwards, you will need to create and share a new link with the updated version.

Anonymous share links cannot normally be deleted or unpublished.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Michelle,

Please watch the MakeCode Arcade website tour video in the module or follow the steps below to share your MakeCode Arcade project link:

1. Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
2. Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
3. Add a title for your project.
4. You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
5. Select Share Project.
6. Copy the link that appears and paste it into your forum post.

Please note that this link is anonymous and is not connected to your MakeCode account. Make sure to copy or save the link, as it cannot be recovered if it is lost.

The link is also a snapshot of your project at the time you share it. If you make any changes afterwards, you will need to create and share a new link with the updated version.

Anonymous share links cannot normally be deleted or unpublished.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Jane,

This was a lovely reflection to read. A real strength here is the range of ways you already bring digital technology in, from virtual tours before a trip to BeeBots for directions and children recording their own reading. That variety shows you are choosing tools to suit the learning.

Your area to develop is a really honest and useful one. Lots of us gather great information as children work and then move straight on without using it, so turning that into something that feeds your planning is exactly the right thing to focus on.

Your action to bring in specific digital assessment tools as part of your regular rotation feels realistic because you are building on habits you already have rather than starting from scratch. Pairing that with sharing experiences with colleagues is a lovely way to keep it going too.

One question to help you focus. When you gather information from a digital task, would it help to decide in advance one thing you are looking for, for example, who found a concept tricky, so the data points you straight to your next planning step? That closes the loop from assessment to action and those decisions make lovely evidence for SSE.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the rest of the course. 🙂

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Jane,

Please watch the MakeCode Arcade website tour video in the module or follow the steps below to share your MakeCode Arcade project link:

1. Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
2. Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
3. Add a title for your project.
4. You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
5. Select Share Project.
6. Copy the link that appears and paste it into your forum post.

Please note that this link is anonymous and is not connected to your MakeCode account. Make sure to copy or save the link, as it cannot be recovered if it is lost.

The link is also a snapshot of your project at the time you share it. If you make any changes afterwards, you will need to create and share a new link with the updated version.

Anonymous share links cannot normally be deleted or unpublished.

[Neeve Hyland]

Hi Meabh,

I love this. A digital fortune teller crossed with a Magic 8-Ball is such a nostalgic, playful idea and it is lovely to see two tutorials spark this.

The computational thinking here is strong too. The random number generator is the heart of it and pairing each possible value with its own fortune on the list is a lovely, concrete way to show how a single random input can map to a set range of outcomes. Children love that they can never predict what they will get.

Your links are well thought out and the probability angle is my favourite. Getting pupils to press A over and over and tally which answers come up opens up lovely talk about whether every fortune is equally likely which quietly turns a bit of fun into real data work.

One thought to build on it. Once they have made this, challenging them to recreate another classic game, a dice, a coin toss, a spinner, would be a brilliant next step and really cement the random logic.

[Author]

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