During class time on Monday, I decided to mess around on the Rodocodo, a game on Hour of Code. This is a self-led, computer science/math activity for students up to the grade 5 level. In the first couple levels that I completed, the goal was to program a cat to move around an area, collect coins, and then bring the coins to the finish line. It was honestly really fun. I was never taught any sort of coding in school (this was partly my fault because technology makes me frustrated so I avoided taking tech classes) so this game was a good level for me and so, I assumed it would also be a good level for the students in my Link2Practice class. And oh boy, did that ever come in handy…
In my Link2Practice class this week, I was suppose to teach a math lesson. I had planned to try using Minecraft as a way to get students to demonstrate different word problems and collaborate with each other. I had never played Minecraft before so I spent many hours on Tuesday night downloading the game (Education Edition of course), figuring out how to play, and building a world where I could host the students. I was feeling pretty proud of my lesson when I walked into class this morning… And then I had a teaching moment. My mentor teacher’s laptop was not compatible with the Minecraft Education Edition file so I had to scrap my whole plan and scramble to find a 45 minute math lesson in the ten minutes before the bell rang. And that’s where Rodocodo comes in.
I am so grateful I thought of Hour of Code as my back up plan because it did not require me to know much about it. First, I posted the link to the website in Google Classroom, then we went through the instructions together as a class. The students were better than me after the first round so I got them to help their peers when someone got confused. They were all disappointed to put the game away when math was over. 🙂
All a round, it ended up being a super successful lesson despite being last minute. I am of course disappointed that my Minecraft idea didn’t work out but at least I have that world made and ready to go for the next opportunity I get to use it!
