First week of Minecraft

My genius hour project is twofold. One of my goals is o learn how to "play", and I use that term loosely, Minecraft, my second goal is to create a class focused on using Minecraft to explore core curriculum concepts in Social Studies, Math, and Science.

Goal 1 update-
The playing of the Minecraft is tougher then I thought. It's very helpful that I am doing this project in conjunction with my 7th grade class, because they are helping me figure things out. So far my accomplishments have been-

• Building a house, but I accidentally created a pig inside it and I can't figure out how to get it to leave.
• Creating many fenced in areas with animals, but I tried to create a small pond for my cows to drink from and ended up flooding the entire pasture.....
• I, and by "I" I actually mean one of my students, planted some wheat, but I don't know how to harvest it.

Goal 2 update-

I'm focusing on researching the rational behind using video games in the classroom and specifically Minecraft. I'm also looking at other people's lesson plans to get an idea of some of the possibilities. I've asked the Social Studies teacher to share his curriculum with me, so I can start figuring out what I can incorporate into my class design.