Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wes Fryer

Tag: minecraftedu

  • Minecraft MakeCode Javascript Workaround

    Minecraft MakeCode Javascript Workaround

    We’re wrapping up our Coding Mars / Minecraft Mars unit in my middle school computer programming class. It’s one of my favorite units. Students have been programming “agents” (which function like “robots” in Minecraft Education) to mine resources, farm, and build structures in a Mars-themed world. It’s hands-on, it’s creative, and it’s been particularly exciting…

  • Coding Mars

    Coding Mars

    This is an audio recording and the presentation slides from “Coding Mars with Minecraft Makecode and Scratch,” my presentation on March 25, 2025 at the NCMLE ‘Middle School Matters’ Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The session description was: Build a Mars Colony In Minecraft with Robots and Code? YES! In our middle school computer programming class,…

  • Quickly Convert Minecraft EE Portfolio PDFs into JPG Images

    The past two weeks I have led and taught “virtual Minecraft summer camps” for elementary and middle school students, with the help of a fantastic team of high school volunteers who have earned service hours as virtual camp counselors / moderators. I’m in the process of writing down many of my lessons learned from this…

  • Virtual Minecraft Camps for Elementary and Middle School Students: June 2020

    Update June 2, 2020: mdtech.casady.org/minecraft has updated information about both these upcoming virtual Minecraft camps for students. Five years ago, our youngest daughter (then age 11) participated in a virtual, summer Minecraft camp through “Connected Camps,” an outstanding organization based in California. She had a great experience, and we recorded a 20 minute podcast reflection…

  • Deep Work and the Race to Minecraft

    Last Thursday was the last day of our second trimester at school, and therefore the end of my second opportunity in 2019-20 to teach Digital and Media Literacy to 5th and 6th Graders. As classroom teachers, one of the things we quickly learn is how different the dynamics of separate classes can be based on…

  • Minecraft Halloween Challenge: Lessons Learned

    Yesterday Dr. Glen Emerson (@emerson_glen) and I, along with four other teachers and my Minecraft-guru daughter, Rachel, facilitated an evening “Minecraft Halloween Challenge” for students at our school. We had 61 students sign up and 59 participated, in two different sessions from 4 – 6 pm and 7 – 9 pm. The kids had a…

  • How Microsoft is Poised to Destroy MinecraftEDU

    As an elementary STEM teacher turned technology director, I’m extremely enthusiastic about the positive potential for students and teachers to use MinecraftEDU software to create powerful learning experiences. I’m extremely disappointed and sad, however, to learn about the changes and price structure which Microsoft is making to the “MinecraftEDU School Edition” set for official release on…

  • MinecraftEDU House Spanish Labeling Challenge

    Today I co-taught a lesson with one of our middle school Spanish teachers called the “MinecraftEDU House Spanish Labeling Challenge.” Students worked with a partner to build a house in MinecraftEDU, and then labeled items in Spanish using Minecraft signs. To keep the focus on building and labeling items in Spanish, students worked in a pre-configured MinecraftEDU world which…

  • Podcast 434: Discovering Useful New Ideas as a Connected Educator (October 2015)

    This podcast primarily features a recording from the October 22, 2015, OACTE, OEQA, OATE Fall Conference in Edmond, Oklahoma, held at the University of Central Oklahoma. The recorded session was my breakout presentation titled, “Discovering Useful New Ideas as a Connected Educator: Tips for Using Flipboard, Pocket, Twitter and Nuzzel.” Check out the podcast shownotes…

  • Learn About Coding & Minecraft: Saturday April 18 at PLAYDATE OKC (free!)

    Would you like to learn more about free apps students can use at school and at home to learn basic computer programming? (These include HopScotch and Scratch Jr.) Would you like to learn more about Minecraft and MinecraftEDU, including ways these programs can be used by students to create simulations, learn problem solving, and practice…