All 9 Tasks!

We are entering that super busy time of the school year and it's been a while since my last post. We have completed all of the tasks and many of the students have working games. Here is a link to a PDF of all of the Tasks:

make your own game

Great Place where you can make your own professional looking Board game!

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/

Using Scratch to make an image with a transparent background

One of the things I love about Scratch is the built in image editing abilities. I find that for many simple tasks Scratch works just as well as more sophisticated programs like Photoshop. One use that I find I often use it for is for deleting the background from an image so that it has a transparent background. Here is how it is done:

 

   Click on the File folder in the sprite area to upload the file you want to edit.

 

Choose the costumes tab in the work area to Edit the image.

Select the paint bucket tool  and the slash (nothingness) colour

 

Click 3 or 4 times quickly in the exact same spot somewhere in the background. Everything that is the same colour (or close to the same colour) will be deleted. You may need to touch up with the eraser tool.

 

To Save the file right click on the costume icon an chose “save to local file”. You can now use the image in any other program you wish!

 

 

 

Lesson Task Files

A number of people have requested that I share the "Tasks" for each lesson, so here they are!

Task 1: Moving Left right (simple)
Task 2: All directions
Task 3: Conditions
Task 4: Smooth Move (Moving Left right with Conditions)
Task 5: Gravity and Velocity
Task 6: Jumping and Barriers
Task 7: Levels

Tech Woes

The grade sevens had a bit of a bumpy start in the new year. A large number of them forgot their passwords over the holidays so they were unable to log in. We have discovered a bit of a hick-up with the password reset process. It seems that the verification emails and password reset emails are not making it to the student emails. I wonder if the issue is with some kind of blocking through the district. The teacher account sound like it could be a good solution but three teachers in the district have tried signing up, both with school district emails and with gmail accounts and none of us have received a verification email yet. My guess is that you need to use a school district email in order to verify that you are a teacher, but that the district is somehow blocking emails from scratch.

In the meantime, students are going to use the offline editor or use the online one without logging in by uploading and downloading files. This will work with the SetBC laptops, but not with the Ncomputing lab because it will not let you download files from the web (so frustrating!) It's a bit cumbersome and time consuming but it's the only option we have for the moment. The inability to verify emails is also making it not possible for students to "share" their project online, even if they did remember their passwords.

Assessment?

The grades sevens meet their grade three clients

Much has happened in the weeks since our last post. Last week we were finally able to connect with the Grade 3 students who had chosen favorite books. After the grade threes were shown a demo of a game, they were asked to think about their books that they had chosen and what a game might look like if it was about their book.



Each grade 3 student was partnered with a grade 7 student and they spent the first 20 - 30 minutes reading and sharing their books.

Next the grade 7 students interviewed the grade threes and helped them put together a plan for their game including the artwork for their sprites. Some of the artwork was drawn completely by the grade  three students, while in other cases, the grade 7 students took on the role of artist, guided by suggestions given by the grade three clients.



It was really interesting to see the discussion taking place in the classroom. Everyone was on task and engaged.

Both classroom teachers noticed the depth of engagement with students who typically struggled with focus. I had originally feared that the the discussion would be somewhat scripted and based on the interview worksheet that the sevens had prepared, but instead I noticed a lot of authentic discussion regarding game development.


 I noticed in some discussions the very nuanced ability to steer the discussion in very productive ways. Because the grade 7 students had already spent some time coding, they knew the limits of their abilities and were able to steer and re shape grandiose plans into goals that were reachable.
Below is one such discussion.It is a little hard to hear due to all of the talk occurring in the classroom at the time, but their body language shows the dept of their engagement.

More Photos:

 

Colaboration, the pros and cons of working in partners

Task 4:

In our original plan we had envisioned the students working together in partners to plan and develop their programs. Because the first few lessons were done individually it wasn't until task 4 that students were actually placed in partnerships. We found we had mixed results. Most pairs worked well together and I saw some good discussion occurring as they were planning. Unfortunately most got camera shy as soon as I pulled out the camera. There was only one pair that was not working together well and as a result the student who was removed from the activity and the remaining student was paired with another student from a pair who had already completed the activity. During the programming phase, I noticed that there was a lot of off task behavior by students who were not operating the computer at the time, especially with the students who struggled with attention issues.. We decided to try giving all students computers  after the paired planning phase during the next task to see if on task behavior improved.

Below are some short videos of the Task 2 planning and programming:

Planning Together:

We have a plan:

After students were finished with their task, they were encouraged to try to figure out an extra challenge:

Time for a Challenge - a good idea:

Task 2 Student Work samples

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.

File Types and Extensions

I've been teaching my students about different file types and extensions in class which has proven to be more time consuming that I thought it would be. It is astonishing how few students have ever noticed that different file types have different extensions. I blame this on the fact that so often extensions are hidden from file names. I think this is a bad idea. I found this handy list covering common file types: http://www.fileinfo.com/filetypes/common

What is the Best Way to Project my iPad or ipod touch?

I have had a few teachers ask recently how to project their ipods and ipads. There are a few ways to do it, including purchasing a projector specially designed for your iDevice, but assuming you already have a general purpose projector, here are 2 ways to “get'er done”.

 

Wireless projection:

You can use a 3^rd party application called AirServer (http://www.airserver.com/) which enables you to use Airplay on your computer. This is the best way to wirelessly project the ipad (works only with iPad 2 and above). You can also use Airplay to project newer ipod touches and ipods (4S and above for iPhones, and 5 and above for iPods) If the computer is connected to a projector then you can see it on the Projector. The computer and the iDevice need to be on the same wireless network in order to work.

 

Wired Connection:

To project without a computer you can only do it wired with an adapter and the cord that comes with the iPAd. This will mirror the newer ipods, and IPad 2 and above, but will only play videos or images (not mirroring of the full screen) for older iPod touches (ipod 4 and below or ipad 1). You can purchase a VGA adapter or a HDMI adapter from the apple store.

 

HDMI:

For newer devices with Lightning port:  http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MD826ZM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter?fnode=3a

For older devices with 30 pin port: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MD098ZM/A/apple-digital-av-adapter?fnode=3a

 

 

VGA:

For newer devices with Lightning port: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MD825ZM/A/lightning-to-vga-adapter?fnode=3a   

For older devices with 30 pin port: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MC552ZM/B/apple-vga-adapter?fnode=3a

 

Fun with Hippo, the HTL5 Animator

I downloaded the free 30  day trial of Hippo Animator and tested it out. It was very easy to use and I was able to put together a rather nifty looking animation in a relatively short time. Down with Flash, hurray for HTML 5! Click on the link below to check it out:

 

Click here to see my animation.

Creating a Typing game from Scratch!

I just finished putting together what will be my first programming assignment for my grade eights this year. Now that they have a bit of programming experience behind them it will be fun to take a look at more sophisticated programs. I had fun putting together a typing game focussing on the home row keys that is easily adaptable. After putting it all together I scaled it back to the bare bones and put together a "kit" for the students so that they can adapt it and make it their own. It should be a good review for the students but also have enough support to help out any newbies who may be new to the class. the only totally new concept will be lists, but I'm hoping that their extensive use of variables last year in grade seven will have paved the way and it won't cause them too much trouble. I'm looking forward to seeing what they put together.

Here is a snapshot of my game. Click on the link to play the game online.

Play the Game!

If you are interested in trying out the kit I created for the students your self, send me an email and I'll send it your way!

Bully Proof

Here is another excellent full length documentary (45 min) produced by CBC looking at bullying in schools. In today's technological world a lot of our social interaction takes place digitally through social media. unfortunalty this also includes the darker side of social interaction - bullying.

Harmless Joke or Cyber-Bullying?

The Cyber Bullying Virus

Facebook Follies

CBC's Doc Zone has a wonderful movie about stupid mistakes on Facebook. You can watch the 45 minute video here:

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/facebook-follies.html#