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Minecraft Architecture

When looking at Minecraft Education I found a lesson plan I really enjoyed. I have done something incredibly similar myself in the past and wanted to walk you through the lesson using it.

Step one is choosing your architecture style, and finding reference images. I went with a rustic-style cottage. I originally made this for my dnd group and wanted to create the feeling of an isolated cabin in the woods.

AI image created by Freepik

Secondly, you start to do up some sketches of what exactly you want to build and build a floor plan. This is also a good time to pick out what blocks you will want to use for the build. Having groups work on this seems like a great opportunity for team building and expanding ideas.

Next, its time to sit down and create! Working with your partner(s) its time to build a prototype of the architecture you chose. Minecraft is a game with a very low skill floor, anyone can get going pretty much right away and make something interesting.

Finally, it’s time for feedback. The different groups can fly around and check out what everyone else has built, leaving messages on what they think looks good and what can be improved. Following this period, students can do a bit more work on their build with the newfound feedback.
At the end, take some screenshots for assessment and you are done!

Minecraft is a game I played in my childhood and still do today. It shows no signs of slowing down or dying out. Being able to bring it into my classroom would be an amazing experience and having lesson plans like this freely available online makes that seem more and more possible. For students just dipping into architecture this lesson is a great way to ideate and actually get started working in a 3D space. For students uninterested, it’s a fun group activity in one of the most popular games of all time. I can’t wait to incorporate stuff like this into my classroom.

Mentimeter Tutorial

The mentimeter crash course was surprisingly fun and engaging. It represents the methodology mentimeter supports in terms of modernizing parts of education. Having completed the course I now have a solid tool in my arsenal for student engagement and input.

Having spent a good amount of time in art classrooms thanks to L2P I can say that taking phones away is not something that happens often, nor should it. (check out my blog post on the subject for more)
Allowing students to use their phones in meaningful ways is a strategy that serves art well. Bringing that idea into my presentations adds another layer of justification.

Using mentimeter for something like my intro unit would be super valuable in terms of gathering information on my students. It’s also a solid tool for building community.
Asking questions like “what is your favorite kind of art” or “who is your favorite artist” allow me to see what students are already interested in and tells them what others are into.
I believe relevance to students is one of the most important things in art education and any steps I can take towards it are vital.

Overall, mentimeter is an incredibly useful and easy-to-learn tool that will greatly help me in the future. I look forward to being able to use it in my practicums.

Procreate Tutorial

Procreate is an ultra-versatile art app that allows for all sorts of image creation and editing. With digital art becoming more and more prevalent, having tools like this as an option for students is increasingly important. I have used procreate for a long time, but I have not looked at it through the lense of an educator. I have gone through a few artworks I’ve created using the app and would like to talk about how the methods used for making them can be applied in the classroom.

Seen above is a small logo I made for a friend, it was the first time I had worked with creating text. Procreate provided a means for me to take what I had drawn on paper, move it to digital, and edit/tweak it within a system that supports technical detail. Normally working with perfect lines and edges is challenging and with little room for error. Procreate allows you to individually edit angles and lines degree by degree allowing for a much more streamlined and much less frustrating workflow. For students wanting to delve deeper into things like logo making and graphic design procreate can be an easy step in the middle that doesn’t require learning a complex new program

Above is an album cover I made for a friend. Procreate can provide an easier approach to image editing than photoshop with most of the key features intact. Things like autoselect, applying filters, and creating layers you can spin an image any way you like. The process of drawing on top of images is much easier in Procreate. Rather than needing a drawing pad and an insane amount of hotkeys, you can get started with minimal prior knowledge. My main issue with photoshop has always been that it is difficult to figure out without extensive guides. Procreate is a much easier program to get started on in my experience.

The built-in and downloadable brush libraries for Procreate allow you to create nearly any texture or linework within one program. Experimentation is the name of the game. There is also no punishment for failure as you can undo what you have done with the touch of two fingers. Being able to play with new ideas without fear of ruining an art piece has let me work in ways I never would have otherwise.

Finally, Procreate is just an interesting tool for making drawings or digital paintings. I do not have a steady hand, I tend to work too quickly at times and screw up a piece. For people like me Procreate is a godsend, allowing me to work with detail I would never be comfortable doing on paper. The skills you develop on the screen or paper carry over more often than not, so providing alternate ways of working that may be more comfortable for certain students comes at no cost to their learning. Obviously some projects will have to be done physically, but there is a clear opportunity for things like procreate to gain even more traction in coming years.

Digital Inclusion in Education – Accessible Technology, Design, and Practices

Inclusion comes in many forms, from technologies to practices. My main focus will be what we can do as teachers without relying on the budget, but I will also delve into technologies. I’ll be talking primarily about the arts for this post, as that is my area of expertise, but some of these technologies and strategies can apply to multiple areas.

One of the key strategies I have found for inclusivity/accessibility within the arts is low skill floor activities. I had the opportunity to speak with a number of teachers during link to practice and this was a concept they kept bringing up with regards to engagement. However, it works as an engagement tool due to being inherently inclusive. The first example of a low skill floor activity I’ll bring to the table is blind contour. Blind contour is performed via attempting to draw something without being able to see your paper. My favourite form of this exercise has you drawing a classmate over a short period of time (around 60 seconds). Students of any skill can take part in this and won’t be expected to create anything that’s even intelligible. It’s a study of how broad strokes can help define. Some examples shown below.

Image credits: Liv and Connor (blind contour)

The way we interact with assessment also highly shapes inclusivity in the art room. The way we look at how a student is doing can’t be from how technically good at art they are. Otherwise, anyone without art experience will have a much more difficult time and those who are already experienced will have no reason to grow. The amount a student can progress within their practice is one of the main deciding factors to me.

In terms of technology, there are many useful examples. Two core ones that were spoken on were Zoom for distance learning and generative captions. Both of which apply in broad strokes to many areas of study. Some other worthy examples would be the ever-useful doc cam and digital art tools that allow for mistakes to be easily undone. I think the ability for art to be created using any physical method also adds to the level of accessibility. I personally didn’t use brushes for a large portion of one of my classes in university, working with my hands and broad-stroke textures instead. 

Overall, art has many opportunities for inclusion and accessibility, it just takes the teacher incorporating it in the right way

[Connor O’Toole] Gov.bc.ca

Did you hear that phones are banned in the classroom?

Big Idea: Digital Distractions – Social Media and Device Management

Alright, let’s talk about the phone ban. I was in high school just before the peak of social media and phones being problematic (graduated 2019) and can say it was damaging for a lot of classes. However, there were far more students who would be productive despite the phone being accessible than students who would be off-kilter as a result. Social media has taken a further grip on the classroom in years since and I cannot speak entirely to it, but I can’t see things changing that much compared to how it was a few years back. So what is the cellphone ban really doing? 

The cellphone ban seems to target students who would otherwise be unengaged in class. This does make it valuable, as it cuts these students off from distracting friends and themselves through social media and online content. However, it feels like more of a patchwork fix due to a problem spiralling out of control. People have slacked off in class since time immemorial. Taking phones away can help with the issue, as social media is designed to be addictive, but the core of the issue is engagement.

Cellphones are now one of the most vital parts of civilization; they are a monument of connection for students and can become something they rely on for safety and comfort (outside of delivery of social media). Just because we grew up without the need for constant connection to parents, loved ones, and friends is it right to strip that away? Or is it just a repeating symptom of the times when the older generation sees the younger as soft in some way?

What I’m trying to say is that the act of taking away phones outright is a bit overkill in my opinion, thus the ability for teachers to choose if it is necessary is much appreciated. All of the art classes I have attended in our link to practice have not required the removal of cell phones outright. Perhaps a phone has been confiscated after repeated offences but overall it is no different from how it was when I was in high school. The phone is an incredible tool for learning and in the art classroom, it is practically required at times. If I want to show students something and don’t have computer access, or if students want to show me something it is always going to be the best option. No classroom can have an infinite amount of reference books. So many students work from images on their phones or want to listen to their music while working. Taking away the phone in the art classroom detracts from the learning as a whole. Art is self-expression. How are you supposed to express yourself if you have no way to access the things you want to reference and show? 

Modern culture is not being put into reference books, it is within memes, album covers, comics, photos and so much more. Taking the sources of inspiration from the students will not necessarily lead to more creative and interesting pieces. It will just conform them to the resources of the classroom.

Another Brick in the Wall

Big Idea: Supporting Innovation and Inquiry in Education

Inquiry in some ways questions the current status quo when it comes to our education system. As much as we can strive to create unique learning experiences there is always a seed within my mind that says “Is this really what the students want to do?” 

I spoke with one of my professors about the purpose of the school system. We agreed on the fact that in theory, the education system is meant to lift people up to higher knowledge and social classes. However, in practice, there is still a lower class and a large lack of education within our country. So obviously there are a great number of students who slip through the cracks within our system. Our current education system is not the end-all-be-all, if we thought that then society would cease to progress. Thus schools like PSII are of great value and studying the methods they use can help us progress within the public school system.

Image Credits: B A Y S A L (all rights reserved). This image has been appropriated extensively in memes, thus I am not sure if the artist is only intent on people not making money off the image or that it is shared so extensively online with minor edits that he has merely given up on striking all unauthorized uses down. If requested I will take down this image.

Inquiry will not suit every student, but for those it does, it can do amazing things. Due to the nature of public school, we cannot have classes on every possible subject. My high school didn’t even have textiles or ceramics. We are inherently limited by the fact that we must teach a large class on a subject. This is why inquiry is so important. For those who have interests outside of the basic curriculum, and the drive to follow through, the ability to pursue these interests may shape the rest of their lives. 

For all students, choice is valuable. It increases engagement (as mentioned in my previous blog post) and gives a sense of control within a system where you have someone overlooking you all the time. Therefore incorporating aspects of inquiry into the curriculum can be a net boon for the system, particularly within the arts. The question becomes “how much can I trust my students to pursue their own education” as there will always be those who excel in environments and those who struggle.

Students go to institutes like PSII with the expectation of inquiry being the forefront and focus of their education. Is it right to try and push students who may have no interest in Inquiry towards it in the public school system? I believe it is right to push, as inquiry connects greatly to the skillsets required to navigate the adult world. If people do not think for themselves and dive into their topics of interest we end up with an apathetic populace, and apathy is the true opposite of love, not hate.

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