ACADEMY LESSONS AND RECAPS

WEEK 3 RECAP

In class:

Highlights of the Giza week

Covered The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

See homework sheet in their packet they received in class.

Note to parents and kids:

Kids must do their build for week 1 before they can have free play time. (Hanging Garden Week)

Since we have two weeks off, beginning Monday, September 1st (Labor Day), they need to build their Week 2 build assignments (Ishtar’s gate) before having free play time.

Behavior Reminders:

Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[a] This is the first commandment.[b] 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Here is our verse again! In Minecraft we have the opportunity to practice this a whole bunch!

If you didn’t build it, don’t break it! If it isn’t your stuff, don’t take it!

Blessings,

Staci Hutchison (a.k.a. HutchisonBuilder)

WEEK 2 RECAP

In class:

We covered a lot of material in class on Monday. They have a packet of information to review. I was startled to see how much they know about the Ancient Egyptians! They had so much to contribute!!! The class was lively and full of energy. I need to work on getting them to speak one at a time, though. Class control is not my strong suit. J God will help me with this area of my growth. But overall, I am encouraged to see how excited these kids are about the class topics and the build assignments.

Note to parents:

I gave the kids LOTS of homework this week. If you do not want your child on Minecraft doing all of this work, that is fine. You can monitor the amount of assignments they do and I will agree with what you decide. The reason, though, that I gave so much homework is because these kids are really creative and very good at playing this game. I realized very quickly that I needed to challenge them in the game to keep them from just slapping together the assignment real quick and then spending the other 99% of the time on the server in “free play.”

Don’t get me wrong. I think the free play aspect is great, but we need to balance that with what we are learning in class and applying our new knowledge in the Minecraft world. I have given them three personal builds that I will grade. I will place their grades on Engrade this week. I will have Godspeed44 (a.k.a. Adam Wilson) help me grade these. He knows if they have applied themselves or not because he knows what these kids are capable of.

Once they have completed the homework, they can have “free play.”

Behavior Reminders:

Please talk to your kids about not breaking things in the game. The basic idea is: if they didn’t build it, then don’t break it. The Minecraft Academy Team has spent a considerable amount of time creating this environment for our kids to play in. We don’t want to destroy their hard work for our own selfish gain.

Treat others with kindness in the game. Do not unnecessarily aggravate your classmates in the game. For example, don’t keep doing something when they are asking you to stop, like repeatedly teleporting people around the worlds when they don’t want to be teleported at all. Just love your neighbor as yourself.

And finally, keep being kind. I have caught a lot of kids being very nice in the game. They are working together and encouraging one another in the game. They are sharing supplies and food and even helping each other build.

Last note to parents: I would recommend you get on the game yourself and just build a tiny, little hut. Just by doing this simple task, you will understand more about why the kids enjoy this game so much. I never thought I would enjoy Minecraft myself, but I do!!! It’s crazy, but I am truly a Minecraft Mama. Now when I hear them explain all the stories they have in Minecraft, my eyes don’t glaze over so much. J

Blessings,

Staci Hutchison

WEEK 2

Homework

PERSONAL BUILDS

1. Interior of The Great Pyramid

When you enter the game, go find Godspeed44 and he will direct you to your pyramid. You will follow his instructions on placing a land claim there. Do not go on to do anything on this pyramid until you have placed your land claim. (This will be graded )

2. The Great Sphinx

Somewhere in the Giza area, make your own sphinx and place a marker on it. (This will be graded.)

3. Wall of Fame - go make a really cool wall. Decorate it. Place on the wall your user name and then place 7 signs that show what your personal Seven Wonders list would be. (This will be graded)

GROUP BUILDS

1. Roads – make roads between all the structures in Giza. Everybody needs to help do this. Work together!!!! If you get to an area that is land claimed and you need the road to go there, the person that has the land claim needs to finish the road in that spot.

2. Research structures that would have been standing and used in the ancient Egyptian times. Go make one. Label what it is and put your name or names on it. For instance: “Bakery” by “Runitstheteacher and Godspeed44.” Doing this extra work will earn you extra credit in game.

Once these are completed, they can have “free play.”

Also, we may have a couple of new players join us this week. Please welcome them by helping them get started and working with them as much or as little as they would like.

RULES AND ETIQUETTE

Griefing and Trolling Information and The Rules!

Proverbs 25:28 “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”

Proverbs 21:23 “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

What is griefing?

Griefing is the act of irritating and chronically causing consternation to other players and/or classmates through the use of destruction, construction, or stealing.

What is trolling?

Trolling is Internet slang. A troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as Minecraft Academy, with the deliberate intent of provoking another into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Minecraft Academy Rules:

Minecraft Academy strives to create an environment conducive to learning and having fun while doing it! When you sign up to be a Minecraft Academy student, you are expected to be a part of a team. The Minecraft Academy student is to be Christ-like online as well as offline.

No griefing or trolling. This includes, but is not limited to, hurting or injuring a classmate, stealing from a classmate, and destroying another classmate’s work. The consequences for these type of acts will be a ban from the Minecraft Academy server, either temporarily or permanently. Parents will be immediately notified.
No cussing or poor language. The Bible has much to say about our speech, and the same applies in the virtual world. What you type and say to your classmates can either build them up or tear them down. We want to conduct ourselves in a thoughtful and respectful manner. The consequences for poor language will be a ban from the Minecraft Academy server, either temporarily or permanently. Parents will be immediately notified.
No manipulation of a “bug” or a weakness in the server. The Minecraft Academy team has spent countless hours creating an environment for you to apply what you are learning in class. The server has many added features to enhance your class experience. As we are striving to improve the server for you, there will be some glitches and flaws that you could potentially stumble across. You must not take advantage of this in any way. Instead, we ask that you let us know immediately of any “bugs” in the server. Your faithfulness will be acknowledged! In the event you decide to take advantage of a “bug” in the server, you will be banned from the server and your parents will be notified immediately.
No handing out server information to other people. Only students who are enrolled in class are allowed to have the server information. If you share your information with others, you will be removed from the class and your parents will be notified immediately.
As this server is used for educational purposes, the student will make the class assignments a priority. This is not a free-play server. If a student refuses to build the weekly assigned task(s) and only uses the server for their own projects, the student will be banned, either temporarily or permanently, from the server.
The server administrator and/or the class teacher reserves the right to issue a warning to a student or ban a student from the server, either temporarily or permanently, at any time. Parents will be notified via email concerning any such issue.

Go and sin no more….

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MINECRAFT ACADEMY

PC or Mac - capable of running current Minecraft version https://help.mojang.com/customer/portal/articles/325948-minecraft-system-requirements

Latest release of Java from java.com

Minecraft Academy Membership/Registration

Internet - Some of the class curriculum, information and materials are available via the internet at “theminecraftacademy.com”. The Minecraft Academy server, where students build and play, can only be accessed through a registered copy of the Minecraft software which will be routed via the internet to our server. Speed of internet can affect the gameplay performance during online game play. Consider running a few tests prior to the class to ensure that your internet speeds are sufficient to run the game. Broadband is ideal for online play, however even a strong 4g data connection through your cell phone provider may work.

RULES AND REGULATIONS – A complete understanding of what is permissible on Minecraft Academy is important. The server is regulated to a very high standard regarding behavior and etiquette with appropriate consequences for any students not observing the rules. Please visit our section on "RULES AND ETIQUETTE" for more information.

Minecraft Membership - Every student must have a separate/unique Minecraft membership through Mojang. https://help.mojang.com/customer/portal/articles/325960-how-do-i-run-minecraft-

PICTURE GALLERY

TUTORIAL VIDEOS

INSTRUCTION MANUAL AND SERVER COMMANDS

Minecraft Academy Commands:

/spawn - used to teleport to the Terminal

/tp <player> - used to teleport to another player

/tpahere <player> - allows players to ask another player to teleport to them. It sends a request after which the teleport only takes place if the player on the other end accepts by typing /tpaccept. Teleport requests can be rejected by using /tpdeny.

/tpa <player> - allows players to teleport to other players. It sends a request after which the teleport only takes place if the player on the other end accepts by typing /tpaccept. Teleport requests can be rejected by using /tpdeny.

/sethome - allows the player to create a location to teleport back to.

/home - used to teleport to the the players "/sethome" location

/balance - used to find the amount of money that you currently possess.

/ps visualize - while standing in your landclaim a temporary glass grid will appear to identify the boundaries of the claim.

/ps disable - while standing in your claim, this command will turn off the protection and allow others to build in your area.

/ps enable - while standing in your claim, this command will turn on the protection thus restricting other players from building in your area.

Minecraft Academy Instructions:

LAND CLAIMS can be made by using a "Diamond Ore Block".

Place the diamond ore block in the ground at the center of the space you wish to build in.
An invisible 30 block by 30 block protective barrier will be placed around the area that no one but the owner may build in.
type "/ps visualize" (while inside your claim) to see a temporary visible grid that will show you the boundaries of your claim.
To delete or move your claim, simply break the block.
Claim blocks can be placed near each other to create a larger claim area.
Claim blocks can not be overlapped with another players claim. First come first claimed!
To temporarily remove protection without losing your claim, (if you want another CADET to help with a build) right click the claim block with any tool to turn off and on. If the block is buried or not accessible use command "/ps disable" while in the claim to turn off protection and type"/ps enable" wile in the claim to turn on protection.

OPTIFINE - Minecraft Technical Enhancement

OptiFine is a Minecraft optimization mod that allows Minecraft to run faster and look better with full support for HD textures and many configuration options.

Disclaimer: Optifine is NOT required to join Minecraft Academy and is completely optional. Optifine is a widely used mod in the Minecraft community and is currently being used by the Minecraft Academy designers. So far, we have not found any drawbacks to this mod including malware, viruses, or computer damaging operations. Minecraft Academy will not be held responsible for any damage or complications from the use of this program and recommend the you use Optifine with caution and at your own risk. If you have any concerns or questions please contact our technical support team through our "Contact Us" page.

The following is a step by step instruction to download and install Optifine.

1. Through your web browser (Google Chrome, Explorer, etc.) navigate to the Optifine download page using the following link. http://optifine.net/downloads Note: You may need to open a second browser window in order to toggle between the following instructions and the download of the software.

6. Click "Keep"

Depending on the version of Windows you are using, you should get a message similar to the image above. This is a default message that Windows displays when the file being downloaded is unfamiliar to Microsoft's list of safe software designers. Understand that a lot of smaller software designers are not in Microsoft's list of trusted software designers and is left for you to determine whether or not you will trust. (Once again, this software is optional and is widely used by the Minecraft community as well as the Minecraft Academy design team. If you would like to research a little bit more before downloading, user testimonies are available online.)