It's time to meet your MSAs!
The fun is about to begin! You're ready to meet with your Minecraft Student Ambassadors!
Whether the meeting is face to face or virtual, your Minecraft Student Ambassador program meeting allows students to explore their passion for Minecraft, connect with others who have similar interests, and most importantly, have fun. They'll also develop leadership and interpersonal skills as they learn how to support teachers and fellow students with Minecraft Education.
The organization of your Minecraft Student Ambassador program meetings depends on many factors, including:
- Age of students
- Size of the group
- Type of meeting [face to face, hybrid, or virtual]
It's important that you plan your meeting with those parameters in mind.
Agenda
The best way to start your program meeting on the right foot is with a well-planned agenda. It will serve as a roadmap for the discussions and activities. A good agenda should be short and sweet, but still manage to cover all your important topics.
One goal of your Minecraft Student Ambassador program should be to create community and build relationships among your program members. In addition to providing necessary information, it's important to consider including a variety of activities where each student has a chance to participate and feel included.
Things to consider as you create the agendas for your Minecraft Student Ambassador meetings:
- How long will the meeting last?
- How will you build community?
- What activities do you want your Minecraft Student Ambassadors to do?
Make sure to choose at least one fun Minecraft activity students can do in the same world during each meeting, for example, a build challenge. - Will the students have any activities between meetings?
Other important considerations for your MSA meetings:
- Do any of your students need accommodations?
- How will you collect student and parent information?
- Will you provide devices, or will students bring their own?
- Will you provide any food or snacks?
- Will you give out Minecraft SWAG kits (special events like kick-off meeting or graduation)?
If you have middle school and/or high school students, encourage leadership by letting students assist with some of the logistics like organizing the agenda, choosing Minecraft activities, and facilitating discussions during the meeting. Helping with meetings allows students to gain experience in important 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, while strengthening and building your MSA community.
See below for an example Orientation Agenda. You can use this MSA Orientation Agenda Template and modify to meet your needs.
Initial meeting: Orientation/bootcamp
Your first meeting with your MSAs is important. It will set the tone for the rest of the year. There are several things that you need to include or consider:
- Agenda: What activities will you include?
- Establishing norms
- Do any of your students need accommodations?
- Introductions of sponsors and MSAs
- Fun activity in Minecraft (same world)
- Collecting parent information
- Provide a space for students to share their Minecraft Education experiences and ideas
- Explain/discuss projected MSA activities for the year
- Get feedback for how the students would like to support teachers and students in your school/district
- Student name badges
- Will you decorate? Minecraft-themed or green and black decor
- Minecraft swag kit