A Brief Guide to the "Minecraft Generation"

My nerdy past has proven its worth in my professional life. Well, sort of...

Being a young first year teacher has plenty of perks, one being that I have some of the same interests and hobbies as my students. An interesting connection I have with a lot of the kids is the fact that I thoroughly enjoy video games. Who knew it would bode well for me in my career.

One example of this is whenever a student brings up a video game reference during one of their mid-class "tangents", they are often left wide-eyed and speechless when I'm able to spew it right back at them. It makes for a great transition back into the lesson when I can get on their level, surprise them enough to be quiet, then brush it off as if it never happened. Example:

Mr. E: "Who can clap this rhythm for me?"

*Hand raises*

Student: "Last night in Minecraft, I built a castle around a zombie and called him King Zombie II."

*Everyone laughs*

Mr. E: "That's pretty cool, but you have to watch out for those Creepers. They'll blow up your castle in a heartbeat, unless of course you're on peaceful mode."

Student: "...You... You've played Minecraft before?"

Mr. E: "(Student's name), I've been playing video games since before you were born. You think you can out game me?"

*Silence*

Mr. E: "Now, who can clap this rhythm for me?"

It absolutely pays to know your audience.

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To understand the "Minecraft Generation", first you must know what Minecraft is...

 In my college days, my roommates and I found this game online where you could build anything you wanted using blocks and tools. You run around a huge world of dirt, water, rock, and sand to create whatever your heart desires, whether it be a small hole in the ground or a magnificent stone and steel metropolis.  We had many late nights of digging huge tunnels and building massive fortresses, all only for the mere pleasure of saying we made it. It seems like such a basic level of entertainment, but man was it addicting. We eventually moved on to bigger and better things, such as homework and social interaction with real people, but we were definitely happy with the experience.

Now try to picture finding a game like this when you were 6 years old.

Your life has been all sunshine and lollipops since the day you were born; waking up, playing with toys, eating, and sleeping. Then, the ever-restricting world begins to bear down on you. All of the sudden, you have to go to school, do work, pay attention, sit criss-cross applesauce, come home, deal with siblings, go to bed, and repeat. Real life is setting in, and it won't be long until you're sitting in office cubical, coffee mug in hand, doing insurance reports for Nationwide.

But not in Minecraft.

In this block-ridden world, there are no rules. There is no annoying little sister who wants to join you on the playground. There's no one to tell you what to do or to sit up straight. You can do anything. You can be anything. You can BUILD anything. It's a universe of unlimited possibility, and it's all yours (at least until bedtime).

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It's really interesting to be on this side of the conversations. Being the one that should be "too old to understand the references" isn't what I'm used to. However, that just makes it all the more surprising to them when I DO understand the references. Something that has been astounding to me has been its play in building some of these relationships with my kids, especially ones that I've had trouble connecting with in the conventional ways.

One student in particular sticks out.

Ever since the first week of school, this kid had been a bit of a troublesome student. Speaking out in class, not staying in his spot, wandering around, and distracting others were his talents. He always managed to steal the lesson and pull all the attention onto him. I was so confused as to why he was doing it at first, let alone how to stop it from happening.

After one particularly rough day, I asked him to stay after class so we could talk.

We had the basic "What were you doing, how can you do it better next time" reflection, which he met with his typical eye-rolling response. I offered to walk him back down to class because I had to get ready for my next set of lessons. He hesitantly nodded and slowly drudged behind me.

Trying to make some friendly conversation on the somewhat awkward walk down the stairs, I asked...

Mr. E:"So, are you doing anything fun after school?"

Student:"Probably just playing Minecraft."
  
Mr. E:"Cool man! I've played Minecraft before. Pretty awesome game."

Student:"...You... You've played Minecraft before?"

Bingo.

The rest of the walk down was a nonstop discussion about his latest adventure. I don't even think I heard a breath between his bouts of excited explanations. Surprised by his instant change in personality, I smiled and and nodded politely all the way back to class. When we got to the room, I talked to him once again about sitting quiet in the room and not distracting others. He held out his hand to shake mine, surprising me once again with his sudden shift. I extended my hand and sealed the deal.

I didn't fully understand the significance of this short conversation until I saw him again the next day in class. Not only was he sitting in his spot, but when everyone else was going crazy in his class, he was one of the only ones that was cool, calm, and collected. When their teacher came to pick them up, he came up to me, extended his hand to me and asked, "can you walk me down again today?" I was speechless, but managed to smile and take his hand.

This has now been going on for a few weeks, and only seems to be getting better.

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It's really amazing to see what actually motivates people, especially kids. Whether it be with prizes, lots and lots of candy, recognition, or just a little one-on-one attention. Over the course of the school year so far, I've gotten to know a lot of my 800 kids, but it's experiences like this that tell me learning about them will never be finished. They grow and change a little bit more every time I see them.

We as teachers may not get a lot of money. We may not always get a lot of thank you's. But something we do get is the pleasure to witness change in these kids, and maybe, just maybe, be the reason they grow up a little more.


Let that be my paycheck.


♩♩for now,

Mr. E