Thinking out loud

I really think this is the best part of being a minecraft teacher, hearing my student's thoughts as they are thinking them. In a traditional classroom, the emphasis is on quiet listening, answering specific questions, quiet work, or sometimes group work, but all the thinking is teacher directed. Very little is open ended, and even less often do teachers encourage every student to talk about their thinking at once.

I can't take credit for this, actually, in the beginning, I tried to limit talking and encouraged using the in-game chat feature because the room was just too loud. But, two things happened.

One- They just didn't follow my directions! Yes they use in-game chat, but not to collaborate in real time. It's more general questions- does anyone know how to make something, or craft something, or have anything to trade, funny comments, inside jokes, and friendly banter.

The second thing that happened is that I realized just how valuable it is to me as a teacher to hear everything they are saying. It's fascinating to hear their thinking as they work through problems, collaborate with others, evaluate decisions they have made, and analyze their progress. As educators, we talk about higher thinking skills all the time, how crucial they are to student success, how to develop them, and how to get students to demonstrate that they have been engaged in them, but it is a completely different experience being inside their heads and witnessing their thinking as it's happening in real time and real life.

I'm not an English teacher, (and my students can attest to the fact that I'm not a math teacher), so I find it hard sometimes to capture my experiences in words. Here is a transcript of three students working together that will hopefully illustrate what I'm trying to communicate:

We are starting mid-conversation....
Student 1- I know I'm trying to do this, making it look right
Student 2- actually I kinda like that
Student 3- I'm not sure
Student 3- do we have the spacing the right way
Student 1- yea its gonna be looking....
Student 2- this direction (points to screen)
Student 3- thats gonna be awesome
Student 2- yea its kinda fun
Student 2- why are you breaking that up?
Student 1- you're breaking the toes
Student 3- their separate toes
Student 2-  yea but the feet are together
Student 1-  actually in the picture their are but we're modifying it
Student 1- hey we made progress!! We made the entire pedestal!!
Student 2- that's good right there
Student 1- what we should do maybe....
Student 3-well the feet aren't one thing so we should break one block
Student 3- do you like that?
Student 1- It's good

And, for the most part, the entire room is like that. I can hear problem solving happening, I can hear analyzing happening, I can hear collaboration happening, and I can hear evaluation happening.

I can hear real, authentic learning happening