Minecraft Club applications open twice per year and will be announced on PNN News.  Here is the link to apply once the application is announced

If you are accepted into the club you will see the Minecraft Team on your Teams home screen in a few days. Please wait 3 weeks after that then check your Microsoft Store for Minecraft.

Minecraft Club parent information: 

We are excited to announce that this year your student will have the opportunity to learn using Minecraft Education Edition with Mrs. Dennis and fellow students.  Students will often join worlds together after school hours, and will be reminded to ask parent permission before doing so.

What is Minecraft: Education Edition? 
The Minecraft Education Edition is a version of Minecraft designed by teachers to be used in the classroom.  Minecraft EDU is a game-based learning platform that offers educators a transformative way to engage students and ignite their passion for learning. Minecraft includes standards aligned content across K12 subjects.  

What will students learn with Minecraft: Education Edition? 
Minecraft helps prepare students for the future workplace building skills like: 

• Creativity 
• Collaboration 
• Engineering and Virtual Building 
• Communication 
• Storytelling 
• Problem-solving  
• Systems thinking 

How is Minecraft: Education Edition different than the game, Minecraft? 

Minecraft: Education Edition is a special version of the game developed specifically for educational use. This version adds features and controls for classrooms, specialty blocks and communication tools, and a tutorial for first-time educator use.  

Minecraft is uniquely suited to develop both the noncognitive skills, such as patience and discipline, as well as allowing for teacher-generated worlds and environments that can be specifically tailored to teach specific educational and curricular outcomes. 

How will students access Minecraft: Education Edition? 
Students will access the Microsoft Store using their Fulton login to install the app on the device they will be using in the classroom. When students visit the store, they will only have access to Microsoft apps that the Fulton County IT Department has enabled for them.  

Students will only be permitted to use Minecraft during Brain Building time in the Media Center to work on specific assignments given by Mrs. Dennis.  If students are found to be using Minecraft during other times that they have not been given permission to do so or working in Minecraft on projects other than Mrs. Dennis’ assignments, the consequence will be an alternate assignment that does not include Minecraft.  

Thank you and we look forward to this exciting opportunity provided by Fulton County Schools. 

Sandi H. Dennis, Ed.S.  Media and Instructional Technology Instructor 

PNN is our daily morning news show… the Panther News Network! Selected students in grades 4 & 5 plan, write, and produce segments for the show and work with Mrs. Dennis,
our school media/tech specialist.
PNN is a year-long commitment!

The application is only available in the Spring for the following school year. 
How do students apply? 

Applicants have TWO tasks (a form and a video) to complete!  Please do not apply until the announcement is made that the application is "open".  This announcement will be made on PNN for several days in the Spring and students will have ample tiem to apply.

1. Students fill out an online form. 
2. Students submit a video to our Flipgrid that is no longer than 5 minutes. You may create the video elsewhere and upload, or record directly into Flipgrid.  https://flipgrid.com/826ec58b Topic: Things I love about New Prospect Elementary School. 

PNN Parent Q & A:

What grade levels may apply for PNN?

Students in grades 3 AND 4 may apply.  All students must apply, even those who were in the PNN Crew  previously. Teachers will also give feedback to me and will let me know if PNN would be a good fit for each student. Some assignments take extra time so please consider your child’s overall schedule and whether PNN would be fun for him/her.

How will I know if my student is selected?

We will announce the selected students on PNN in the Spring. 

How many students will be selected and what if my student is not selected?

All NPE students are able to have videos on the news show during the year, even if they are not selected to work on PNN. We have limited accounts in our editing software, so we cannot add more than 25 student crew members.

When will my student work on the show? Students will work daily inside Microsoft Teams. This work can be done independently on a computer before the morning bell rings, during breaks, weekends, or after school. The work can be completed at home or at school.

Do I need to drop my student off early? No, please do not drop students off at school early- just follow your regular morning routine and students may choose to work from home or the classroom, or come into the Media Center and work on projects after they arrive. 

What will my student do when working on the show? Students will work independently or in groups to produce videos using WeVideo software accounts that will be provided to them. Students will learn a LOT of valuable skills such as teamwork, editing, revision, video production, writing, storyboarding, speaking, and listening!  The students will work on projects and turn them in using WeVideo and Teams.  I produce the news shows daily and fit projects in as I can, trying to keep each show under 5 minutes.  Sample show from 2020 https://www.wevideo.com/view/2101572116 

Is there a fee? There is no cost to participate in PNN... only an enthusiasm for video production, learning new things, working as a team, and growing as a person!  We will sell PNN Crew T-shirts but they are optional. 

Mrs. Sandi Dennis, Ed.S.

New Prospect Elementary - Media and Educational Technology Instructor

Questions? denniss3@fultonschools.org @NPEmediacenter

Mini METIs are students who assist in the Media Center and classrooms with technology and media.  Students will have the opportunity to be selected by teachers will be notified in the Fall if they are the Mini METI.  Classrooms also have additional Mini METIs and library helpers- as many as the teacher decides are needed per room!