Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Thing 17: Coding

I did the Hour of Code and was able to get the bird to the pig and the zombie to the sunflower :) 
I assisted in a summer tech camp last year and was introduced to MIT Scratch.  The other instructor and I introduced the simple commands, but after going through the Hour of Code I have a much better understanding of how it works.  This year my school has Club Fridays a few times a month and I run the tech camp and I am going to have the next camp session use this hour of code.  I thought animating their name would also be a fun project, but it requires you to login.  The club is 3-5 graders, so this will not work. 
The students can take what they learn in Hour of Code and apply it to Scratch.

Thing 16: You Pick!

I looked at a few of the topics on the Teacher's Guide to Technology and Learning.

Flipped classrooms was an intriguing title, I had never heard of it and had no idea what it was.  I think it is a great idea, especially for middle schoolers.  That age always has to be "doing" and not just sitting and listening.  Concerns I had reading would be what about kids who don't have access outside of school to watch the videos, and what about accountability - what if they don't watch before class.  Recording using the Smart Board is probably a great tool to use in Flipped classrooms.  I'm going to share this with my 5th and 6th grade teachers as I think the students may really enjoy it. 

Badges - a great idea.  They do motivate kids.  I watch students getting excited about earning points and badges using First-In-Math.  I might try it for a grade and encourage them to earn badges for different genre's of books read.  It might be especially helpful for 3-6 boys who tend to get focused on non-fiction and sports books.

LOC - We have a book of the month that all students in the school read.  This month it is Robert Burleigh's Home Run - about Babe Ruth.  I found many pics of Babe Ruth and will plan a lesson about introducing the LOC and using the site.  I was hoping to find a recording of his voice or  digitized film there - still looking.