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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.
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.
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:
- Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
- Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
- Add a title for your project.
- You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
- Select Share Project.
- 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.
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:
- Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
- Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
- Add a title for your project.
- You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
- Select Share Project.
- 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.
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. 🙂
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:
- Open your project in MakeCode Arcade.
- Select the Share icon in the top-right corner.
- Add a title for your project.
- You can also add a thumbnail image or animated GIF, but this is optional.
- Select Share Project.
- 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.
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.
Hi Niamh,
I had a proper look at your code and wanted to come back with one tweak that would a difference.
At the moment the flower only moves every 5 seconds on the game update, so once the bee lands on it the score keeps climbing while they sit there together. That is why the points shoot up so quickly.
The fix is when the bee overlaps the flower, change the score by 1 and then set the flower to a new random position straight away. That way the bee actually has to fly off and chase the next one which makes the game far more challenging and a lot more fun to play.
Hi Ciara,
Chase the Pizza tutorial on the MakeCode Arcade website is a fun one and I like the Pac Pizza twist on the name. Tying it to counting, comparing and recording values up to 10 and beyond gives the game a clear Maths purpose.
Your algorithm design account was clear too. Setting out the sequence of what happens when the player catches the pizza, score up, timer reset, pizza moves to a random spot, is a good way to describe how the pieces work together. One small thing worth knowing. The overlap block you used is an event, not a conditional. It fires automatically whenever the two sprites touch. Conditional logic in MakeCode is the if and then block from the Logic category, where the code checks a condition and only runs if it is true. The two feel similar but they work differently and it is a useful distinction for the children to grasp.
Two small things I noticed in your code as well. Your countdown is set to 3 seconds rather than the 10 you described and because the countdown block only sits inside the overlap event, the timer does not start until the player catches the first pizza. Adding a start countdown block to the on start section would fix that.
One thought for your next one. It would be worth building a game from scratch in one of the three set styles we worked through in this module, a timed catch or collect, a chaser or an invader.
Hi Helen,
This is one of my favourite worlds so I was delighted to see you pick it. Home Sweet Hmm gets the balance just right because the situations feel real to children, the friend request from someone they do not know, the offer of cheat codes in exchange for a password, the dodgy email about an order. That makes the safety message land far harder than any list of rules ever would.
Your plan to pause at different points is also well judged. The learning in this world really sits in the talk between the activities, so giving pupils space to share what they would do and why is where it comes alive.
I love your poster idea for the follow-up too. Getting pupils to discuss their own top online safety tips shows you exactly what stuck with them and it gives the learning a life beyond the game.
Hi Sarah,
This is a lovely, practical choice. The dice tutorial can be a nice fit for infants because it takes something they already know and use and shows them the code behind it. The shake function is perfect at that age too since the action is physical and instant and they get a real feel for an input triggering an output without needing any reading.
Your STEM links are strong and the graphing idea is my favourite. Rolling the micro:bit dice repeatedly and recording which number comes up gives infants real data of their own to look at and it opens up lovely talk about whether every number turns up the same amount.
Hi Ann Marie,
Great to read this. Hour of Code: Generation AI is a great choice and I love that you took the time to watch the Dream Space video lesson too. It is really encouraging to see you drawing on more than one resource to build your understanding and the fact you spotted how well it breaks the bigger AI ideas into child-friendly language shows you were watching it with your own pupils in mind.
Your plan to pause at different points and check understanding is well judged. That is where the real AI learning can land, in the talk between the challenges, and mixed-ability pairs will keep that talk going.
One suggestion to build on it. The world is built around the responsible AI principles, so you could pick one, example fairness, and come back to it in your closing discussion by asking where they saw it in the game. That gives the conversation an anchor.
Looking forward to hearing how this works in your classroom. 😊
Hi Susan,
I had a proper look at your code and wanted to come back with two small suggestions.
At the moment your stars spawn from the same position each time, so the dog can just sit in one spot and rack up points. If you set the star to spawn at a random x position along the top, the player has to actually chase it around which makes the game much more challenging and a lot more fun.
The other one is adding a countdown timer, so it becomes how many stars can you catch in twenty seconds. That gives the game a clear end point and a score to beat and it turns your catching into something children will want to try again and again.
Both are small changes but they will make a real difference to your game. 😊
Hi Susan,
This is a lovely choice. Empathy Village is one of those worlds where the Minecraft part is really just the vehicle and the real learning sits in the conversations it opens up.
Your instinct not to use it exactly as it is feels well judged. Introducing the questions gradually, pre-teaching the emotional vocabulary and building in pause points for paired talk will make it far more accessible. That focus on pupil voice and wellbeing ties in neatly with SSE too.
One practical heads up. When I went looking at this one on the Minecraft Education website, the world file itself no longer seems to be available to download, so it is worth checking you can actually get the world before you plan around it. If it turns out you cannot, the questions and structure would still work beautifully in another world or even unplugged.
Hi Paddy,
Really enjoyed reading this. A clear strength here is how embedded the digital learning already is in your school. Having the Dream Space Ambassador Programme running gives your pupils a real structure to work within and pairing it with Teams, OneNote and MakeCode means the technology is woven through the learning.
Your action to run a micro:bit lesson every fortnight feels realistic. It is regular enough for the children to build fluency but paced so it fits alongside everything else you are doing.
I especially like your second action about peer and self-assessment in every coding lesson. Getting pupils to debug, improve and reflect on their own programs is where some of the deepest computational thinking can happen and it takes some of the load off you as the only source of feedback in the room.
One question to help you focus. Would it help to give pupils a simple shared language for that reflection, say what went wrong, what they tried and what they changed? That makes their thinking visible and easy to capture for SSE.
Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the rest of the course. 😊