Code.org

I finished the accelerated  Code.org course this week and I am so glad this was a part of the course requirements.  I learned a lot about the language of programming and became so much more familiar with the learning behind the different Code.org  activities.  This organization offers so many different avenues for learning about code for students and teachers. I am definitely going to use this site for introducing code to students.

I think the unplugged activities are important in teaching and reinforcing the different programming concepts and the videos help illustrate and demonstrate a concept before setting students off to do it on their own.
I would want students working in pairs to promote the collaborative and connected idea of coding and to provide support and motivation when trying to debug or figure out the code for each coding challenge.

I really learned a lot about functions, if else statements and parameters.  I liked troubleshooting and figuring out the bugs in my code.  For me, going through the coding challenges required me to break down the challenge into steps, which for me, a big picture thinker is sometimes challenging. It also reminded me that most problems can be approached from a "debugging" perspective and by doing so it forces you to examine your steps and process more closely to figure out what is not working.  I will definitely recommend this site to teachers looking to incorporate coding with their students and plan to include it as a resource in my vision of coding for my school.

Week Seven-Dash and Dot arrive!

I am excited to unpack Dash and Dot and begin familiarizing myself with these two cute as can be programmable robots. I am hoping to gain confidence with codable objects by starting with an easier platform like Dash and Dot and the Apps available to use with them.  I immediately loved how quick and simple it was to get Dash and Dot up and running.  Basically turn on the switch and let the bluetooth on the iPad find them, and voila, they are ready for action!

The Apps (Wonder, Tickle, and Blockly) are easy to use, and with prior experience with Code.org the drag and drop blocks were familiar to me.

I practiced before introducing these quirky robots to my mentee one Friday afternoon.  Together we explored the Apps, worked together on several of the puzzles available through the Wonder Apps and Tickle and then just did some free play, using the iPad to move Dash around the library.  At one point, I hid in the library and my mentee programmed Dash to find me.  I'd give verbal hints about my location ( I am straight ahead and to the left). We discussed turns, angles and distance. My mentee's prior experience using blocks for coding helped him to quickly grasp how to program Dash and Dot. We did a lot of debugging trying to solve a couple of the challenges. I noticed how patient and willing this 4th grade boy was to go back and try to identify where the bugs in his code were.  He worked through several attempts without losing patience or interest.  I wondered if his ability to persevere had to do with his being in charge of his own learning and his own plan for Dash. This would confirm what I have been reading about in  Mindstorms, by Seymour Papert. I love this quote from his book because it captures the essence of what I observed in this boy.

"when a child learns to program, the process of learning is transformed. it becomes more active and self-directed. In particular, the knowledge is acquired for a recognizable personal purpose. The child does something with it. The new knowledge is a source of power and is experienced as such from the moment it begins to form in the child’s mind."

Learning to program Dash and Dot empowered and engaged this boy in a way not much else in school, except books, seems to do.


Here are some insights I gained with my mentee as I prepare to introduce Dash and Dot to a second grade enrichment group.
 :

1) I think it is important to allow for some free play with Dash and Dot before introducing puzzles and challenges to students.

2) I think a combination of showing and discovering might work best to introduce students to the features available on the different Apps.

3) Because this is a new thing for me to be teaching and learning with students I am not really sure what to anticipate. I want to observe what they do with Dash and Dot and what their questions are so I can prepare the next lesson with these questions and observations in mind.

4) It is okay to stop the process along the way and ask students to notice what they are learning from programming and from the errors they are making programming.

5) Leave time to reflect on what was learned and to think about what programming has to do with learning, problem solving, teamwork and math.

I am excited to bring Dash and Dot to more groups of students.  I'll be learning and posting more as this happens.

Inspiration

My learning curve with programming tools like Makey Makey and Arduino is high and my learning style is such that I appreciate face to face learning in collaboration with others especially when it comes to learning hands on sorts of thing. Additionally, as I think about my vision for coding in my school and my project for this class it helps me to observe coding in the classroom in action. Fortunately Lucie our instructor connected me with the amazing Erica Bertucci, a technology teacher at St Albans City School.  I had a short but fruitful visit. I picked up the Lilypad Arduino, talked through some of my questions and challenges with Scratch, and observed her second grade technology class which gave me so many ideas for ways to structure coding opportunities for students.

In addition to know her stuff when it comes to technology and coding Erica modeled great teaching practices too!  Before the second grade class entered the room Erica explained the goals for class, the different stations and learning awaiting students in the classroom and the expectations for working together and asking for help.

Offering different coding activities at different stations promoted self direction, engaged students the entire time and showed great attention to differentiated learning options for students.

I witnessed students debugging, collaborating and solving real world problems in an energized and focused way.  I talked with the students programming Dash and they explained their task and what they believed was not working in the code to keep Dash on the course.  Other stations including Ozobots and students working through lessons on Code.org

Erica circulated to each station and did more listening and coaching rather than directing the learning or fixing the problems.

The  visit helped to ease some of my stress and feelings of being way out of my league with this class.  I still feel I have so much to learn and get more comfortable with but I feel confident that I could start introducing coding at my school with stations similar to the ones I observed at Erica's school. And, as I gain confidence in using the Arduino and Makey and Makey I can introduce them and broaden the coding opportunities for all.