Video Game Design/Developers

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design and Computer Science teacher within Riverside, CA.  I have been teaching for 14 years and Game Design for the last 2 years.  I hope to build stronger connections and develop a solid community of practice for us!

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Awesome! Always glad to meet a new one, what site are you at?

I am a Game Design and Computer Science teacher within Riverside, CA.  I have been teaching for 14 years and Game Design for the last 2 years.  I hope to build stronger connections and develop a solid community of practice for us!

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Your pathway sounds like my dream. I would love to get a Math, Science and Social Science teacher on board. I was a student in a program like that and it was amazing.

I have used create with code for my capstone course (I make everyone take an analog design course and a graphics/digital art course before taking it). It is the closest thing to what I want a tutorial set to be, but it just isn't quite what I want. I was working on making my own and was a little ways in when they first released it. I kinda wish I just kept working on it.

I have kicked the tires on Godot, but I really want the flexibility for my students do do 3d stuff. Unity 2d used to be a disaster, it is still not perfect for 2d though.

I have never put a ton of stock into the certifications. I get the pull of them, but a lot of the stuff the it covers is pretty far out of scope for my program and I really don't want to have to add a bunch of content to cover. I have used it in the past as an optional thing that students can do if they want, but they have to do the prep on their time.

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

You can totally do 3d in Godot, and in fact with Godot 4's recent release, there are tons of improvements for 3d. You can even develop in VR with Godot. I expect that way more of my students will be able to install Godot next year on devices they have at home and be able to do more work outside of class. With Unity there were hardware specs that were too high for most of my kids home computers and then they had to apply for a student license, learn how to install it etc. Unity had just enough barriers to students getting setup at home, that I have only a handful of students who installed it on computers at home. Godot is much more lightweight and can be run on computers with integrated graphics, there is even a version for tablets and even Chromebooks, the Chromebook one isn't web based but it's a super small client that can be installed in that Apps area of Chromebooks, I think it's under 100mb.

I think I'll be focusing more on the process of developing a game and less on the game engine. I was at the AME Pop Up conference in Oakland in March and in an Unreal session I asked if they thought it was important that students learn specific game engines, rather than skills or processes, and of course they said yes, having "Unreal Skills" on your resume was important. 

BUT, Pixar closed out the conference with a talk, there was a QA session, and the Unreal person who answered my question, asked the same question to Pixar. I think they thought Pixar would confirm what they said, however Pixar said the opposite. Pixar said that many of the AAA game companies have their own proprietary engines that no one but employees has access to so they don't expect you already know how to use the engine. Getting skill and experience using ANY game engine was good and would transfer over to whatever engine your work eventually used.

That was when I decided I would make the move to Godot for next year. Also there are no licenses, no grant license application, no burdensome installation process, and no external editors to manage. I spent so much time last year and this year troubleshooting to make Unity work in our network, and that time took away from time I had to review student work and provide feedback.

Your pathway sounds like my dream. I would love to get a Math, Science and Social Science teacher on board. I was a student in a program like that and it was amazing.

I have used create with code for my capstone course (I make everyone take an analog design course and a graphics/digital art course before taking it). It is the closest thing to what I want a tutorial set to be, but it just isn't quite what I want. I was working on making my own and was a little ways in when they first released it. I kinda wish I just kept working on it.

I have kicked the tires on Godot, but I really want the flexibility for my students do do 3d stuff. Unity 2d used to be a disaster, it is still not perfect for 2d though.

I have never put a ton of stock into the certifications. I get the pull of them, but a lot of the stuff the it covers is pretty far out of scope for my program and I really don't want to have to add a bunch of content to cover. I have used it in the past as an optional thing that students can do if they want, but they have to do the prep on their time.

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Wow, thank you for the introduction and the start of a new thread of discussion. Welcome!

I did review GoDot andYahaha at GDC23 and was blown away by the ease of both. I am using Yahaha with my very low SpEd kids and they are still completing assignments for class just with a system that is more accessible for their ability. Yahaha is also asking frequently for Admin login for updates but these cannot be bypassed like in Unity.

Seems GoGuardian (used by our district to monitor and ensure safe access to internet activity) completely blocks everything "GAME" related. So of course I am daily asking for sites to be Whitelisted and teachers are not a priority for this effort. I am daily working on accessing material through back doors, firewalls, and personal accounts.

I have begun to gamify my curriculum (not just my content) for next year. Adding in "level-up" for Unit titles, badges, and short competitions (gams) in daily routines.

Programming is hard, and the kids don't love it, I agree Unity Junior Programming Pathway is not the best curriculum for teaching programming for all of our kids and it is very heavy on the reading end of things. Even worse is tracking everyone's efforts in Unity's Learn system. I have the kids show on their screen for progress checks or submit a screen shot to Google Classroom assignments. I typically look for 100Xp every 2 weeks for learning/progress checks. But I wish there was a way for teachers or others to see a person's Unity Learn Profile.

Thanks for starting this discussion!

 

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Wow, thank you for the introduction and the start of a new thread of discussion. Welcome!

I did review GoDot andYahaha at GDC23 and was blown away by the ease of both. I am using Yahaha with my very low SpEd kids and they are still completing assignments for class just with a system that is more accessible for their ability. Yahaha is also asking frequently for Admin login for updates but these cannot be bypassed like in Unity.

Seems GoGuardian (used by our district to monitor and ensure safe access to internet activity) completely blocks everything "GAME" related. So of course I am daily asking for sites to be Whitelisted and teachers are not a priority for this effort. I am daily working on accessing material through back doors, firewalls, and personal accounts.

I have begun to gamify my curriculum (not just my content) for next year. Adding in "level-up" for Unit titles, badges, and short competitions (gams) in daily routines.

Programming is hard, and the kids don't love it, I agree Unity Junior Programming Pathway is not the best curriculum for teaching programming for all of our kids and it is very heavy on the reading end of things. Even worse is tracking everyone's efforts in Unity's Learn system. I have the kids show on their screen for progress checks or submit a screen shot to Google Classroom assignments. I typically look for 100Xp every 2 weeks for learning/progress checks. But I wish there was a way for teachers or others to see a person's Unity Learn Profile.

Thanks for starting this discussion!

 

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hi Everyone,
I teach Game Design 1 and Game Design 2 at Balboa High School in San Francisco Unified School District. It's my 2nd year teaching these classes and leading the Game Design Academy, a CTE Pathway. It's my 19th year as a teacher, and I've spent most of those years teaching technology applications and CS at various levels.

Last year both my GD1 AND GD2 students did Unity's Create with Code course, because prior to that everyone was virtual, and no one used Unity. This year, my GD2 students tried out Unity's Create with VR course as I got a grant for a class set of Quest 2 headsets.

I'd say using Unity has been very mixed. It violates many of my district's network rules and prompts for an admin username and password way too often. I think the curriculum is OK but not comprehensive enough for my students. My school doesn't have any CS, nor any AP CS classes, so the vast majority of my students have no programming experience. They can follow along to the videos and COPY the code, but it doesn't really cover the foundations so they don't really understand it well. It becomes evident when they work on their end of the year team game projects. Some cannot start from a blank slate because without the video support, they are lost.

My Pathway has an English teacher for grade 11 and a History teacher for grade 11, as well as both for grade 12. We are supposed to do integrated projects, but that hasn't happened yet. When I scrath the surface and dig deeper, it hasn't ever happened, so while we call it a Pathway, it really functions like I'm teaching an elective class.

That said, I am enjoying it. Game Development really touches on the things I am most interested in, programming, sound effects and design, digital art.

I am considering moving to Godot as an engine next year. I think my students need to start at 2d games, maybe even stay with 2d for both years in the Pathway. Godot is a true 2d game engine. It's open source and light weight so most of my students will be able to install it on their computers at home and not be limited to only working while at school. Most of my students don't have a computer that will run Unity so they can only work on their projects in my lab.

I've found a curriculum developed by a company called GDQuest which has great courses, tutorials, and an online programming practice site which feels more comprehensive than what Unity offers. I'm working with GDQuest this summer as they update their Learning to COde Games from Zero course for the latest release of Godot.

Sure the language used in Godot is GD Script, not well known, but it's written just like Python. You can also use C# if you install the Mono version of Godot. The interface is more simplified than Unity, but it's just a game engine and doesn't have the bloat that Unreal or Unity have, esp if you just want to make 2d games.

I had this chat with the CTE department too, Unity has 2 certification exams which are seen positively in the industry. THis is mostly why teachers used Unity in my Pathway in the past. Data shows NOT A SINGLE STUDENT has ever taken the certification exams who was in this pathway. While exams lend credibility, if no one is taking them, I can't say I think it's wise to continue using a tool that is far more complex than my students are able to manage right now. Godot also does 3d btw, but I could also bring back Unity if we leveled up in the future.

GIven that there are no CS classes in my school at all, I can't expect I'll have students come in as juniors with much experience, so I think Godot is the right move. If anyone wants to learn more about Godot, let's chat.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a first year CTE teacher at River Valley High in Yuba City, CA. I have over 20 years of experience in the IT sector with the last 5 in my districts IT department. I am working on clearing my Information and Communication Technologies credential in CTE. I teach a new pathway that was created for me this year, which was salvaged from Brian Bautista's pathway from years past. I had never considered teaching, but the CTE director reached out to me when it became apparent no one could fill Brians shoes, and here I am. Currently this and next year the pathway is 1. Computer Science Essentials 2. Digital Game Development. 

I am using the Unity Junior Programmer course in my Digital Game Development class. It is new to me and the students, and we are having a lot of fun working through it. I would like to make Digital Game Development my concentrator and move into the VR and AR pathways as a capstone course for the 24 - 25 school year possibly. I plan to work through those on the learn.unity site over the summer.

I also started an Esports Club here at RVHS. My AD and Admins plan to make it an official sport at the school next year. 

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hello everyone! So glad to find a group of secondary game development educators. It's been difficult to find opportunities to collaborate, share ideas and resources. My name is Anthony White. I teach at Kodiak High School in Kodiak, Alaska and was a former vice-president for our state CSTA Chapter, Top of the World. This is my 3rd year teaching a Game Development course. It has morphed and evolved over those years and has finally taken shape as a CTE pathway for our district. We were required to add a certification, so I chose the Unity Programmer. Not sure how many are actually going to take said certification, but it's there. 

My experience in education is wide ranging, mostly spanning creative technology applications in graphic design, video production, music, 3D modeling and other various media arts. I created the Game Development class because I knew students would be highly interested, and we lacked any sort of official CS class at our high school. Mind you, programming is not my forté, so I'm really learning alongside the students. This year I have had the honor of teaching Game Development, Web Development and 3D Modeling/Animation. 

We've tested a wide variety of engines for creating games, which I will gladly share with all of you. Unity has been fairly successful. We were also granted enough Oculus VR headsets for each student in the class. At the beginning of this semester we all started with the Create with VR curriculum, but many lost interest or just couldn't really wrap their heads around the curriculum. Out of 20 students, only 5 are still working on their own custom project. Same with the programming, I'm learning right alongside them. Everyone currently has their own individual project their working on spanning a wide range of engines: MakeCode, Unreal Engine, Unity, RenPy, Twine, and some students learning to use Blender to create game assets. It's a beautiful thing to witness, but can also be a bit of a pain to juggle so many different projects, especially with platforms I am not familiar with in any way shape or form. 

I've always felt like I'm the only educator in this entire state who is teaching game development. We're so separated by distance it's hard to find ways to collaborate or even get to know other educators. That being said, I am grateful to connect with you all. I'll put a link to our showcase website below. This website is currently being updated using the Bootstrap framework, but there's lots of great student-created content in the current iteration. 

KHS Interactive Media

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hey guys,

Went on a bit of a hunt/invite spree today tracking down more people.

Don't forget to add your site to the pinmap 

Hope to hear from you all soon. I will come up with something for the check in thread Monday.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hello all! My name is Jacob Jarecki.

I am a teacher in my first year who took over midyear for the retiring teacher at San Diego High School (San Diego Unified School District).

Our class progression is CS Discoveries (Code.org) -> Game Design 1 (Construct) -> Game Design 2 (Unity)

I am trying to decide what tech to use next year as well and just in general how to structure these courses (teacher I took over for didn't leave much and tended to do a variety of digital art projects, which was cool, but I would like to give a more structured sense of progression learning about Game Design).

I am trying out Create with Code in Game Design 2 right now and finding it pretty rough for a lot of students (they can follow along, but they aren't really learning how the engine functions or how the scripts really work so they hit snags A LOT and I can't blame em too much)

Hey guys,

Went on a bit of a hunt/invite spree today tracking down more people.

Don't forget to add your site to the pinmap 

Hope to hear from you all soon. I will come up with something for the check in thread Monday.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hello everybody!

I'm in my 21st year of teaching, but my first year of teaching CS.  (I previously taught AG Ed). I am really loving the change in my career and looking for opportunities to expand CS education at my school.  Nebraska is pretty far behind in CS education, so I am definitely still learning and trying to find the best opportunities for my students.  After seeing some posts on this website and talking with some very helpful teachers from the east coast, I proposed a Game Design class for my school next year and it got approved by my admin.  Hopefully its going to take off as I do have a good number of students signed up to take it next year.
I'm planning on Unity's Create with Code course and if time, the VR unit for kids in the first semester.  Second semester kids will either choose to build a new unique game or they will be able to experiment with UnReal's engine.   I'm glad to have some other teachers to bounce ideas off of and to have some resources when questions arise.  I've really appreciated all of the teacher to teacher help that I've gotten so far in my year in CS.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hey everyone!
I'm Judson Birkel, Computer Science teacher @ South Salem High School. Started teaching here in 2015. Prior to that I worked as on online computer teacher through Oregon Virtual Academy (ORVA), graduated from BYU with a Bachelors in Technology and Engineering Education and a minor in CS Education. Got a passion for computer science in high school, thought I wanted to be a computer scientist, but found in college that I preferred being a TA and teaching the material myself, so switched majors 1/2 way through. Began teaching computer science part time in 2011 and full time in 2012.

My focus is teaching computer science and the introductory class I use to try and hook students is a Game Development class using Gamemaker. I love Gamemaker for the coding side of things (I know many platforms focus on the art, the gameplay, no-coding-needed, etc.). Unlike some engines I've tested which leave me feeling like there's either a steep learning curve, no real coding focus, or too much time focusing on non-coding aspects of the game, Gamemaker makes the creation of assets and room design easy which allows me to focus on the coding aspects of the game in class.

Sadly, I only offer 1 game development class, and since the focus is learning to program (not making your own games), most of the things we do in class are far less focused on the game design side of things and really limit student creativity. I'd love to expand my program in the near future to include a game design class that allows students more creative expression.

The courses I teach are:
* Intro to Programming (Gamemaker)
* Web 1 (HTML/CSS/Design)
* Web 2 (Javascript/DOM focus on single purpose web app rather than web pages)
* Robotics Programming (VEX)
* CS 1 (Java variables, conditions, loops, functions)
* CS 2 (Java file reading, arrays, objects, ArrayLists)
* CS 3 (AP CS A Prep)
* Advanced Projects (3 different versions of this course exist - CS, Web, and Robotics)

I'm putting together a Google Site with all the content I teach in hopes that my resources will be easier to manage and maintain this way. Here's my GameDev class (a.k.a CSIntro or Intro to Programming). It's a work in progress, but it's coming together.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I have been teaching for about 40 years.  I teach at a small (180 students) Catholic high school in Missoula MT.  I teach Game Design (Unity), Python, Stats, Computer Apps, and whatever else wanders by.  To my knowledge I may be the only gaming teacher in Montana.  The number of schools teaching CS in Montana is a bit on the short side too.  I started out as a math and science teacher before going to the CS dark side.  I have been teaching Unity for about 7 years.  I started with a "roll your own curriculum".  There was not much in the way of curriculum then.  I now use parts of Create with Code and Create with VR.  I find the CwC is OK for the average students but is not really good enough for my more advanced and excited students, and a bit much for those that are not crazy about computers.  So I still build a lot of my own stuff.  I am very active on the Facebook Unity Teach Community.  I am not dedicated to teaching game making with Unity, I have dabbled in Unreal, Gamemaker and Godot.  Unity just has by far the largest YouTube tutorials and assets for building games.  Unreal is a big beast.  Godot is starting to develop a solid library so I need to take another look at it.  Unity has a lot of issues with assets working across versions that cause a lot of pain.

Right now my game design/making curriculum Intro to Game Making with Unity, a second semester of Unity for those kids that get into it, a VR with Unity, Movie Production with Unity and whatever I can find kids to take or what they are interested in.  This is the advantage of a small private school.  Find 4 or 5 kids interested and there is a class.  No board or committee approval.  I am also the school IT department so everything I want to work, works.

Something I really like about teaching game design is there is no curriculum or defined goals like teaching math or science.  Game design is an open book and I get to fill out the pages with what I think is cool.  Build a character in Blender or ZBrushCoreMini, import it into Unity and have it run around.  Just so cool.

Montana just started a CSTA chapter.  We must be up to at least 10 active members.  Still more cows than people.

Garth Flint
Loyola Sacred Heart High School

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hey all!

I am at New Tech HS in Dallas, TX and I am getting ready to launch our video game development elective pathway. I have taught math for four years and AP CSP for one. I'm also one of our esports coaches. Next year, I will have courses for AP CSP, Video Game Design, and Video Game Programming. In the 2024-2025 school year, I will also offer Advanced Video Game Programming as a capstone class for the pathway.

The mandate I was given was to get students prepared for the Unity Certified User: Programmer exam (the district will pay for them to take it once), so I plan on using the Create With Code coursework as my guideline for the Video Game Programming class. In the advanced capstone class, I'll let them branch into whatever they want to practice or whatever projects they want to work on. My admin team is pushing for us to get some student VR developers, so I know I have a few going that way.

I'm pretty new to Unity, so I plan on going through the Create With Code online course on my own through the summer to get prepared. In the past, I've made a handful of game prototypes and applications using Godot.

I hope to learn from you all and be part of this community however I can!

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

Hey all!

I am at New Tech HS in Dallas, TX and I am getting ready to launch our video game development elective pathway. I have taught math for four years and AP CSP for one. I'm also one of our esports coaches. Next year, I will have courses for AP CSP, Video Game Design, and Video Game Programming. In the 2024-2025 school year, I will also offer Advanced Video Game Programming as a capstone class for the pathway.

The mandate I was given was to get students prepared for the Unity Certified User: Programmer exam (the district will pay for them to take it once), so I plan on using the Create With Code coursework as my guideline for the Video Game Programming class. In the advanced capstone class, I'll let them branch into whatever they want to practice or whatever projects they want to work on. My admin team is pushing for us to get some student VR developers, so I know I have a few going that way.

I'm pretty new to Unity, so I plan on going through the Create With Code online course on my own through the summer to get prepared. In the past, I've made a handful of game prototypes and applications using Godot.

I hope to learn from you all and be part of this community however I can!

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.

I am a Game Design Teacher who had to create all my own/on my own. I know how difficult this can be. I am proud of my program, my progress and my students. It's not much but we created it from scratch and it is what it is.

Please use/see my website and all my materials. Feel free to ask me questions and request access if wanted. 

Mrs. Honeycutt's Website
I happy accept any and all forms of (kind) constructive criticism, it is the best way to learn and make changes for the kids.