G4ME - Respawn

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FULL - Keynote - Board Games and Mental Health: Fostering Connection and Positivity

Carlo Sobral & Dylann Bobei of board game YouTube channel All You Can Board discuss the positive effect board games can have on mental health and why this hobby has something for everyone. Other talking points include ideas to incorporate games into the classroom, careers in gaming, and content creation.

Presenters: Carlo Sobral & Dylann Bobei

Carlo Sobral

Until I was 18, most of the board games I had played were the common classics like Monopoly, Scrabble, Guess Who and Battleship. One day, my brother introduced me to the Xbox online version of Carcasonne. I had no idea at the time how monumental that introduction to Carcassonne would be, but as soon as I played it, I was hooked. I immediately bought the tabletop version and taught it to all my friends. Soon after, I got Agricola, then Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Pandemic… and it all took off from there.

Even though I love to revisit old favourites, these days I try to diversify and play more games. After all, I played Agricola 100+ times in my first few years in the hobby, and while it’s likely my favourite game of all-time, I can’t help but wonder what else is out there. I definitely gravitate toward Euro-style games that aren’t too luck-dependent, but I also love small box card games that offer a lot with a simple ruleset. Most of my favourite games fall under the following categories/mechanics: tableau building, hand management, worker placement, and tile placement.

I have yet to play an 18xx game. The genre is a little terrifying, but it’s something I’d love to try one day. I don’t play a lot of area control or war-style games, or even heavy economic games, but those are all areas I’d like to eventually explore more.
Years ago, after finishing University with a degree in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communication, I entered the freelance world. It wasn’t easy, especially being unable to find consistent work I truly enjoyed. I always knew I wanted to pursue a bigger writing/multimedia project of some sort, and as my love of board games developed, I thought about a way to mesh those passions together. It wasn’t long until I thought of Dylann, knowing what our combined skill set and obsession for board games could do.

Dylann Bobei

I wasn’t always an avid tabletop gamer. I had dipped my toe into the world of Dungeons & Dragons in my youth briefly, but it didn’t last. Back in the 90’s, I was a gamer of the video variety, always parked in front of the TV whenever I had the opportunity, playing Super Nintendo and PlayStation almost religiously. It wasn’t until I bought Pandemic on a whim one afternoon almost 10 years ago that an itch started to develop that no amount of board game purchases could ever properly scratch. Fast-forward to now and I have a collection that never stops growing and an overwhelming love and appreciation for the medium. I don’t just love playing board games, I love talking about them, writing about them, making content for them and connecting with its community to see what gets people excited and what brings them and their groups to the table.

With a passion for video production and writing and a love for tabletop games, naturally the idea of starting some sort of hub for consistent board gaming content began to circulate in my head. It wasn’t until Carlo approached me, sharing the same sentiments and feelings, that it clicked for me: We should do this. We can do this. And it’ll be awesome.

All You Can Board is a passion project. I want to take a hobby that I love so much and turn it into something more, but never lose that passion or that appreciation. I want to help people make decisions on which game to buy next. I want to help teach them how to play the games they’re most excited for or thinking of buying. I want to engage in discussions, debates, comparisons and everything in between with the people of this wonderful community. Hopefully you’ll find something here or on any of our channels that you like, connect with or find useful. And if you do, I hope you’ll keep coming back to check out our new content, or comment on one of my opinion pieces, or even just shoot me an email and tell me about a game you’re really excited about or think we should have on our radar. If there’s one thing I’m always willing, available and excited to do, it’s talk about and play board games.

Location: Glenlawn Collegiate, 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 9:00 am - 10:00 pm

Suitable for: Grades K-12

FULL - A01 - Creating YouTube Content from a Gaming Perspective

Have you ever wondered how YouTube videos are made, or about the inner workings of running a YouTube channel? Have you ever thought about getting into content creation yourself? Looking for advice on reviewing games? If you're looking to get started, how to improve, or you're just plain curious, you're bound to learn something new about content creation.

Presenters: Carlo Sobral and Dylann Bobei

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 5-12

FULL - A02 - Game Master your Lessons with the Classroom Story

Guided by principles of gamification, constructivism, and deeper learning, a Classroom Story is a shared narrative experience that combines imagination, cooperation, game elements, curricular outcomes, and instruction into one engaging package. Think campfire stories mashed up with a roleplaying game and a notebook. In this hands-on session, attendees will all be thrown into a “Classroom Story” where they will have to think quickly, work together, and write things down. A Classroom Story is not a silver bullet or the solution to education. It is also not an acronym or list of "how-to's". It is an empowering approach that encourages and challenges teachers to build on their strengths, get creative, and engage students in ways only limited by your classes’ collective imagination.

The teacher acts as storyteller and moderator; preparing the setting, inciting event, general plot, curricular outcomes, and any game elements. Students engage with the story by becoming characters, authors, collaborators, and actors. By responding to shared events in the story, students are stimulated, challenged, and encouraged to interact and cooperate. There are opportunities to create, mess-up, move around, talk, draw, write, act, code, or whatever! A Classroom Story becomes something unique that teachers and students experience and create together. The end result will be a shared experience that you could never totally plan out and will produce work you could never have expected.

Presenter: Brent Schmidt

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Middle Years, Senior Years

FULL - A03 - Ideas for Getting Board Games in the Classroom

Over the past several years I have worked to integrate board games into my teaching. For the first six years of my career this was at the Grade 4 - 6 level where I regularly used board games in math class and in starting up a board game club. More recently as I have moved into a high school position which has involved using board games in English classes as texts to understand and engage with. In this session I will share how I have used board games in Elementary Math classes and how I am beginning to integrate and use them in high school. Come prepared to learn and play some new games - and please feel free to bring your own to share as well!

Presenter: Ryan Malech

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:45 am - 3:30 pm

Suitable for: All Educators

FULL - A04 - App-Smashing Glide and Genially to Gamify your Class

Utilizing two different (and free) online tech tools, you too could create a gamified experience with a 'Sheika Slate'-like second-screen and a map with locked regions to help immerse your students in your content.

Presenter: Ryan Blight

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: All Educators but most beneficial to middle and senior years

FULL - A05 - Games and Project-Based Learning in an Indisciplinary High School Classroom

This session will detail my experiences bringing in games based pedagogy into a brand new project based grade 9 classroom at the "Met Centre for Arts and Technology" which follows the Big Picture Learning Model. This will cover potential projects, using games to build community, and bringing games in for cross-curricular teaching with areas including Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Science, and Information and Communication Technology. Participants will have the opportunity to play and discuss recommended games.

Presenter: Niall McFadyen

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades K-12

FULL - A06 - Examining Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Through Games

This session looks at how the use of games in the classroom can build the fundamental skills of critical thinking & problem solving. This is done through play, cooperation, competitiveness and analysis.

Presenter: Dean Olfert

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 7-12

FULL - A07 - Board Games that Promote Oral French Speaking in the Classroom

In this session you will learn about and get a chance to play several board games which promote oral French use in the classroom. Nicole is a French Immersion classroom teacher so the session will largely focus on using the games in that setting, but these games could be useful in a Communication and Culture classroom as well.

Presenter: Nicole Bureau

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Any, but most applicable to 4-6

FULL - A08 - CSI Manitoba: Manitoba Resistance or Rebellion? A Murder Investigation

Students will learn to use historical and critical thinking skills to investigate the events of Manitoba entering Confederation roleplaying as a Police Detective. Students learn to record important information, organize data, and make decisions to answer the long argued historical debate - was Louis Riel guilty of a crime or was he an activist protecting the rights of the Metis Nation?

Presenters: Scott Van Caeseele & Laurie Bouchard

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 6-12 (designed for 6 but can be modified for 11)

FULL - A09 - Game Design 101 - How to Make and Publish Professional-Grade Board Games

Barrette is an avid game-player and has designed several award-winning* games for his students to play. In this session, Barrette will show you how to use the very user-friendly Canva (although you're welcome to use Adobe Illustrator or other design software) to create game components, and how to upload these components to The Game Crafter to be printed/published professionally (and relatively inexpensively). Barrette will have samples of several of the games he's made so that participants can see actual products produced by The Game Crafter. The presentation portion of the workshop will be kept as brief as possible to allow participants time to play/design in Canva and Game Crafter.

Prior to attending, it will be very helpful for participants to have already configured their free educational accounts through Canva (proof of working as an educator is required by Canva) and Game Crafter accounts. Participants should have tablets, Chromebooks, or whatever digital tools they need for digital game design.

*Well, technically, Barrette hasn't won any actual awards, but sometimes when the students are told they can play his games they say, "Well, at least that's better than having to do work."

Presenter: Barrette Plett

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades K--12

FULL - A10 - Life Lessons through Dungeons and Dragons

Role-playing games offer us the unique opportunity to challenge misconceptions and prejudices in a safe and fun filled environment. As the teachers of fledgling members of society, we have the daunting task of preparing our students for entering into the world as caring individuals who respect those around them.

Whether you are trying to start a club, mentoring your student dungeon masters, or simply have a passing interest in the game, this session can provide you with:
1. Ideas on how to engage those from all walks of life on a deeper level, be they nerds, jocks, or anything in between.
2. Strategies for story development and mentoring student led games.
3. Continuity within different grade levels.

There has never been a better time to jump on the D&D bandwagon and use it as a tool to inspire your players to become better people without them even realizing it!

Presenter: Jonah Simmonds

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 6-12

FULL - A11 - Minecraft in the Classroom

An introduction into how to use Minecraft Education in the classroom to enrich curriculum in a variety of ways. Participants will discover how Minecraft can enhance student learning and will learn the basic operations of the game, so that novices and experienced teachers can feel comfortable using Minecraft Education in the classroom.

Presenters: Mark Lesiuk and Christopher Heidebrecht

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 4-8

FULL - A12 - Fortnite Creative in the Classroom

Fortnite Creative is a sandbox environment included as part of Fortnite. Fortnite Creative can be used to develop a variety of immersive interactive experiences. This includes games and educational and historical experiences such as the TIME Studios March Through Time experience.

On the underlying foundation of Unreal Engine, students can take advantage of thousands of beautiful Fortnite assets to build experiences for areas and ideas that interest them. Studies show the educational value of games in learning and engagement, and Fortnite Creative in the classroom is no exception. In this breakout session, we will look at how to use Fortnite Creative in the classroom, including:
• What Fortnite Creative is and how it is similar and different to other games.
• What you need to set up the application and get students (and their devices) connected online.
• How to navigate Creative Mode and create an Island individually or working in a group.
• What kinds of lessons can be taught in Fortnite Creative, including official lesson plans from Epic Games.

Presenters: Kay Wojnarski and Alison Adachi

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 7-12

FULL - A13 - Intro to eSports and how to get Involved!

eSports experts and leaders Melissa Burns and Tyler Muntain will discuss several different options and how the Manitoba School eSports Association (MSEA) is trying to change the of esports in Manitoba, and get students involved.

They will discuss benefits of esports in schools, how to start an eSports club/team at your school, how to help an inclusive environment, what MSEA offers, and some of the possible career choices for students connected to eSports.

We are teachers who are volunteering to offer the best esports experience that we can offer.
We can’t wait to see you.

Presenters: Melissa Burns and Tyler Muntain

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 5-12+, Student Services, EAL

FULL - A14 - Coaching/Managing esports - Next Steps

Attention!: If you're brand new to esports and you're looking for information regarding how to start a program, get admin on board, and the basic tech requirements for your school; I strongly recommend you attend session A13 - Intro to esports and how to get involved!

You've taken the first steps to forming your gaming club / esports team, but now you want to get a little deeper into coaching and gain a stronger understanding of the games the kids are playing. This is the session for you!

In this session we will cover the fundamental features of the games currently supported by the Manitoba School Esports Association. You'll walk away with a better understanding of Smash Ultimate, Rocket League, League of Legends, Minecraft, Brawlhalla, and Pokemon Unite. There will be a short presentation and then play time built into the session.

This session is designed with Senior Years teachers in mind; however Middle Years teachers are welcome to sign up as all games except League of Legends and Smash Bros. Ultimate are also played at the Middle Years level!

Presenter: James Young

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 9-12

FULL - A15 - The Roman Senate Simulation Game

This game simulation divides the group into numerous powerful patrician families in the Roman Senate. Their goal is to be on the winning side of the senatorial votes. How do they do that? Come in, join a Family and watch the intrigue and betrayal unfold.

The game brings to life what the Senate in ancient times would have felt like. All participants have a role to play so it will work with any class size.

Presenters: Norm Froemel, Ephraim De Guzman, and Paul Connor

Location: 770 St. Mary's Road, Winnipeg, MB

Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am

Suitable for: Grades 7-8 Social Studies Greek and Roman outcomes