Speak about an A for effort.
A middle school teacher is being praised online for using a widely popular historical-fiction video game to show ancient Greek history in an attractive and immersive way.
Educator and TikTok sensation Mr. Mahathey, who has shared many tween-friendly videos on his feed, posted a clip of himself playing “Assassin’s Creed: Oddessey” in front of his students.
The aim was to interrupt down the battle of Thermopylae, a key conflict of the Grecco-Persian War in 480 BC which was made re-famous by Gerard Butler, a.k.a. King Leonidas, and his band of bloodthirsty Spartans within the film “300.”
Showing a bird’s eye view of the battlefield in his video seen greater than 2 million times, Mr. Mahathey explained where the Greek forces were stationed and the way they planned to stifle King Xerxes’ massive Persian army.
The Greek leader planned to have interaction in fighting at a rugged and narrow pass of sulfur springs referred to as “hot gates” to chop off their overwhelming numbers.
It’s something a gaggle of seventh- and eighth-grade social studies students now know higher than most adults, because of the stimulating lesson.
Within the comments of Mr. Mahathey’s video, he was lauded for an approach that quite literally brought history back to life.
“I’d one hundred pc pay far more attention if my teacher did this,” one user commented.
“That is how teaching must be done,” one other added. “Making a teaching style that students can relate to, and have interaction with.”
“Using a game to make history more [tangible] to your class is sensible and fun,” added one other.
“Gotta keep them engaged in some way!” the teacher replied.
Another person commented that the lesson was a ruse for Mr. Mahathey to only play video games at school, to which he replied, “It was a win-win situation.”
Others said that the games — which have spanned historical periods just like the Renaissance, Ottoman Empire, and each the American and French Revolutions, together with many more eras — helped boost their grades, knowledge and worldliness as well.
“I remember I passed a history test in regards to the Boston Tea Party in middle school after playing AC3,” one viewer recalled of the 2012 title.
Another person said they got homework to play “Assassin’s Creed: Unity” to raised understand the French Revolution as an unorthodox educational resource.
One other TikToker commented that they’d have loved history rather more had it been approached with video games and excitement in class.
Mr. Mahathey wrote back, “History is only one big story — need to treat it like one!”
Perhaps he was simply following the namesake’s “creed” of the sport:
“All the pieces is permitted.”
