Our second day - Wrapping up loose ends

After our first lesson and confusion in logging in, Mr. Dawson set to work putting in a request to the IT dept. to have passwords reset for his forgetful students. Few students had gotten the chance to complete the Analysis activity for Task 1, so we wen over it as a class. I like to start every lesson off with a puzzle,  so I provided them with this "buggy" program. We discussed the difference between a computer virus and a bug in a program, which I was surprised to discover not one student knew previously.

After discussing the program and fixing the bug we worked through the analysis activity:






We discussed how the numbers in the blue move blocks are always ADDED to the current x value in the coordinates. Moving right you are adding a positive number and moving left you are adding a negative number. It was great to see every student in the class grasping the concept (though some required a little extra discussion).








With a beginning understanding of  coordinates and integers I set them loose on their next task. I'll be posting some images of their work once their release forms are in, hopefully early next week.

Introducing the Project

Last week we introduced the Coding Project and gave the grade 7 students their first task. Our SET-BC computers were not ready for us yet so we booked the schools computer lab. We showed them the demo game and explained the project. 

They were very eager to get to the computers but had to create their coding plan before starting. The first task is relatively simple but is designed to get the students to immediately attend to the concept of opposite integers.

We decided to do the first few learning activities individually rather than in pairs. Unfortunately, being the the first time many of the students were accessing school computers this year, most of the student had forgotten their passwords and were unable to log on so only a few were able to finish the activity.

Some students ended doubling up and most were able to complete the task on the computers but then we ran into another issue. The Students were unable to download and save thier projects due to a hiccup in our lab set up. Frustrating but not a gigantic problem since right now the goal is to learn basic programming and math concepts rather than begin the actual game.

We are looking forward to having our own computers in the classroom (thanks to SET-BC). Hopefully they will be ready soon.

Collaborative Coders Project with SET-BC

It has been quite a while since I last posted to this blog, but a new project has given me an excellent reason to start up again. In the spring I applied through SET-BC to participate in a Classroom Based Coding Inquiry. The purpose of the inquiry is to to pilot the use of ‘Coding’ as a vehicle for blending the new BC curriculum with strategies that support all student’s learning.  Planning, training and technology support is being generously offered by SET-BC who are interested in building  the conditions necessary for building capacity in the use of ‘Coding’ within an existing classroom setting.

Our Inquiry Questions:

Language Arts: Will developing a video game for younger (Grade 3 ) students (using authentic tasks to communicate with others, both orally and in writing) give grade 7 students who struggle to complete tasks in Language Arts the motivation to find success?

Math: Will authentic tasks in coding (creating a plaform-style video game) give students an opportunity and motivation to aply math skills key to the new grade 7 math curriculum in BC (adding and subtracting integers and plotting coordinates on a cartesian grid).

Focus on the Core Competencies: 

Communication: Students will work in partners (a stronger student with a struggling student) taking turns “driving” the mouse and keyboard to avoid the stronger student taking control and to encourage verbal communication. Communication with their younger “clients” both face to face verbally and in writing will also be key component of the project.

Thinking: Creating a full game is very complex and because this may be the first encounter for many students to programming (coding) the game creation will be broken down into manageable tasks for the students. Each programming task will be presented to the grade 7 students as a logic puzzle to solve within a single period.Students will learn how to problem solve by coming up with a plan to complete their desired goal as well as fixing any mistakes (debugging). Procedural thinking and problem solving skills will be honed during the task.

Personal and Social: This game will be developed FOR the younger students and therefore their needs will need to be considered. A large goal of this project is for the grade 7 students to gain empathy for the younger students as well as gain the joy giving their time and talents to create something real and wonderful for someone else. 

A Slight Change in Plans: When I originally applied to participate in the program I was teaching in a grade 7 classroom, but since I have now moved into a district position (Math and LUCID Helping Teacher) the project will now be taking place in my colleague, Mr D’s classroom instead. We make a good team, I have agreed to lend him my experience and expertise in teaching  programming  or “coding” with Scratch and showing how it links to the Math curriculum in exchange for Mr. D’s  passion and expertise in teaching Language Arts.