Most of the time getting caught playing a video game in class will get a student scolded. Many Millenials can wistfully recall surreptitiously passing around and playing games like Puzzpack and Drug Wars during high school math class… and today’s generation of students carry around phones powerful enough to play high-octane games once reserved only for the likes of the most powerful desktop computers. Most of the time that leaves teachers with nothing but headaches and hoarse vocal chords. But what happens when that propensity to play gets invited into the classroom? As The New York Times reports, many classrooms have begun integrating the game Minecraft — a mostly non-violent, creative and collaborative “sandbox” — into lessons. The game is flexible enough to allow the teaching of everything from English, to city planning to physics — while allowing students to explore how those things may unfold outside of the classroom. So do you think this makes for a valid teaching tool? Let us know in the comments.