Itching to Scratch: 5 things kids will learn before they realise they can code...

I've only recently been run over by the 'learn to code' bandwagon, and I can safely say, if your kids aren't "learning to code" then they probably should be.

The reason? Because learning to code is the last thing that children are actually learning when they are "learning to code". It's a little bit like The Karate Kid, with a little less creosoting and polishing. Our Y5 students have started learning to use Scratch; the simple programming language developed at MIT and they are loving it... and learning!

Confidence
The first thing they are learning is that they are in charge of the computer and can make it do whatever they(this is the main objective of the codeclub.org.uk). want; rather than the other way around. For the app generation, where creativity is downloaded from an online store, this is a huge shift. With Scratch, children learn to move a cat across the screen, but after a quick internet search for "Scratch Pac Man" you can load up a fully functional game written in the same language; and then 'open up the hood' to look at the code underneath. Their response? Wow!

Problem Solving
It takes a while to go from making Felix the cat slide across the screen, to making your own game... sometimes it takes a while to make Felix walk across the screen... but it is possible. And it demands problem solving. Ken Watanabe (2009) argues that problem solving "isn't just an ability; it's a whole mind-set, one that drives people to bring out the best in themselves and to shape the world in a positive way." Watanabe goes on to say that "The experience kids get from having an idea, taking initiative, and learning from both their successes and their failures is invaluable." Programming with Scratch is all about problem solving; being methodical and organised and checking the script blocks to make sure everything is in the right place. 

And when the problem is solved? Listen out for the "Yesssss!" from the children.

Teamwork

If you want to see teamwork in action, ask children to help you solve a problem. People work in teams to solve problems quicker, but if the teacher already knows the answer then it's not an authentic problem... I asked for genuine help from a Year 5 class to enable me to program a second script to run after the first had finished. Before long I had three students up at the whiteboard with me. We haven't solved the problem yet, but we worked as a team... and with a different kind of energy. In the classroom too, children are working out problems between themselves. Asking others for help and volunteering their help.

Persistence

When the answer isn't with the teacher at the front (or at the back of the book) children will have to be more persistent if they want to solve the problem. If the problem is authentic, and they have the support of a team they are going to be more persistent. Of course, the cycle can't go on for ever, but that's where the next attitude comes in...

Creativity
There are plenty of step-by-step activities already written for Scratch, but after that quick look at Pac Man, or Space Invaders you can see that there is a lot more that can be done with a little imagination and creativity. Creativity doesn't have to be difficult either. The code for these games is shared, and can be modified easily. There are many starter projects to open and build upon too! One tip, however: don't try replacing the 'Pac Man' sprite with your own photograph and expect the reaction to be quiet and measured...


Write an adventure story? Make a game? Animation? Children can program pretty much anything to do anything with Scratch, but learning to code is much more than learning to write applications for iPads. It is about learning to work in a team, to solve problems with creativity and persistence. It's about building confidence and thinking skills... that's a lot of desirable attributes - it just so happens that computer programming can help.


Reference:
Watanabe, K. (2009) The Importance of Problem-Solving Available Online at: http://goo.gl/9YGAja Accessed: 6 March 2014.

Try teaching something you don't understand...

The best part of being a non-class based eLearning Coach is getting to work with lots of different children and lots of different teachers. Most of the time I support teachers to teach things they are not quite sure about... and this is where the magic happens!

Lev Vygotsky introduced this idea as the 'Zone of Proximal Development'. You probably remember it from teacher training; you might even bear it in mind when planning learning activities for your students. It's the space between what a learner can do unaided and what a learner can't do. The part where an adult can help a child to do something... I've heard "the children probably know more than I do" many times, and teachers are often nervous because of this. Turning the ZPD around and using it to your advantage is powerful and empowering.

Being a great teacher is not about knowing everything, but to quote Ben Johnson (2013);

"great teachers don't teach, great teachers engineer learning experiences that maneuver the students into the driver's seat and then the teachers get out of the way."

Technology allows teachers to engage learners then get out of the way, sneaking back to get a look of what they are doing! Last week our Year 4 teachers wanted to make movies, so, we bought iMovie for the iPads and despite none of the teachers (me included) having used the app before, we were off with the children as they formed groups and set off around school to make movies about following the school rules. That night, one of the teachers had gone home, downloaded the app and made movies with her family. 

In the zone, and out the other side...

References:
Johnson, B. (2013) Great Teachers Don't Teach. Available online at: http://goo.gl/Ok302 Accessed: 2 February 2014

Content Creation & ePortfolios

I'll be sharing some of my student's work at the Hong Kong Learning & Teaching Expo on December 14th. The title of the presentation is "Content Creation & ePortfolios", and the following resources support the presentation:

Copy of slides: http://goo.gl/5ccVzK
ePortfolio Template: https://sites.google.com/site/cwbshkportfolio/home
ePortfolio Movie: http://youtu.be/qcqOPoArw5E

Creativity is still the future of eLearning

Earlier this week I had the privilege of listening to a couple of keynotes from Lee Crockett  @leecrockett of the 21st Century Fluency Project http://fluency21.com/.

The five fluencies; information fluency, solution fluency, media fluency, collaboration fluency and creativity fluency are the skills that members of the 21st Century digital world need to possess in order to be successful digital citizens.

Listening to Lee wasn't so much of a revelation, but rather a realization that someone, somewhere might just be on my wavelength. More importantly, he might just be saying it better than me. "He reminds me of you a bit", said a colleague during the break between keynotes. And I take that as a compliment. You see, when some guy called Prensky (Mark, I think it was) started talking about "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants", not only did he get my goat, but he also built up a little hostility and a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy... pretty much everywhere. I just about scrape into the age range of digital natives (maybe), but the colleague who compared me to Lee was firmly of the digital immigrant variety. As she's pulling out her iWhatever, tweeting, taking notes and making sure her teenage son is doing his homework, it's pretty clear that our world is a 'digital' world. I caught a quote from the keynotes about kids not "going online" because they are online, and that is perfect. My colleague was using the technology to create things - a connection with her son, collaboration with colleagues through Twitter, knowledge through notes. Technology was able to facilitate these, but the skills came from elsewhere.

Children might be in the driving seat when it comes to picking up a new device and making it work, but the real skills that need to be taught with technology have nothing to do with the actual device. Showing children the possibilities of using technology to create, communicate and collaborate are absolutely fundamental, as well as appropriate behaviour and potential dangers. Lee Crockett describes the 21st Century Fluencies as being about "headware rather than hardware" and schools already have amazing hardware - internet connected devices. We've just got to start working on the headware!

5 years ago, when I wrote my Masters dissertation, I argued of the importance of creativity and digital constructionism in the use of technology? As technological development continues to gather pace, it is even more important that we understand that I keeping up with technology is not about what is used, but rather how it is used...

Matt

Another blog...

I've always wanted to be a 'blogger' but never really found a time to commit myself to regularly writing one. As a classroom teacher, and an inquiry maths specialist I've been able to write the occasional blog post,  but never been able to find time to consistently write updates. 

Blogging is the ultimate in narcissism. Not only beleiving you have something worth saying, but taking steps to say it, and encourage people to listen. It's a big leap of faith... 

So, now, I believe I have something worth saying... Taking on the new role of eLearning coach seems a perfect opportunity to share the issues, challenges and successes of the role. I'm making a commitment to my professional development and I've copied across some previous blog posts from my days as a classroom teacher to get me going... Let's hope I keep it up!

Student Feedback: Reporting on the teacher using Google Forms...

I'm watching the results of my annual teacher report flow into the Google Form.

My appraisal is being conducted by the 30 Year 3 students I have spent the year with... Of course, they are eager to tell me that they like me (most of the time), and that I am good at teaching them ICT. But they are brutally honest too.

This is my second year of asking the students to report on me... last year I completed the exercise with my Y2 students. I created a simple Google Form with the following multiple choice & written questions:

Do you think Mr Hayes is a good teacher?
What do you think Mr Hayes is best at teaching?
Do you think Mr Hayes is a friendly teacher?
Do you like coming to school?
Do you like being in Mr Hayes's class?
Do you think Mr Hayes gives you enough help to do your work?
Do you think Mr Hayes says nice things to you when you do a good job?
Do you think Mr Hayes is scary?
Do you think Mr Hayes is friendly?
Do you think Mr Hayes is funny?
Does being in 3H make you happy?
What could Mr Hayes do to become a better teacher?
What did you enjoy most about Year 3?

Of course, looking at the results I am pleased to pick out the nice bits. But, I'm also pleased to find those little informative bits. It seems, to become a better teacher, a few children think I should be meaner and shout at people more!

I'm taking a lot away from this quick little exercise... I asked the children for their feedback on the process and they'd like to do it more often. Next year, I think I will...
Let's just hope I get a nice class!

5 Ways Google Docs made me a better teacher... (And my life easier...)

Despite being a reformed ICT Co-ordinator, I’m not the kind of person who uses technology because I can... because it’s available... or because it is ‘the future’. I’m the kind of person who uses technology if it makes my life easier. 

With Google Docs...
My daily timetable is easier... My planning is easier... It’s easier to get parents involved... My admin work is easier... and that gives me more time to reflect, prepare and actually teach!

1. DAILY TIMETABLE

My timetable is on Google Docs. It used to be in my diary, it used to be printed on my desk. It was ideal for making notes on, jotting down ideas for the next lesson or perhaps notes on children’s attainment. My heavy diary made a few trips home with me, but ended up being left at school... my ‘hard copy’ occasionally got lost, and certainly never made it home with me.

Google Docs puts my timetable on my classroom computer (minimised during the day), it’s on my phone, it’s on my tablet, it’s waiting for me on my laptop at home, it’s also there when I need it in a planning meeting, or when I have non-contact time. I can save it, I can share it, I can jot down any ideas I have... and I haven’t lost it.

2. PLANNING

When the IB launched the Google Docs version of the ‘Bubble’ PYP planner I was sold. All the team can work on the planner at the same time. We can all reflect at the same time. We can all ‘tidy up’ sections at the same time. We can see what each other is doing. We can discuss and question points by making electronic ‘notes’ in the margin. We all take ownership of the planner and should you have a colleague who, like me, is Mr Persnickety when it comes to alignment, font and aesthetics... they can scoot around easily!
Accidentally delete it? Want to see what it looked like last year? Easy! Just check the document history...

But the best part? There aren’t multiple copies of a slightly-different planner hanging around on different drives and different computers. Its always there... always up to date... anywhere I have an internet connection. 


3. GETTING PARENTS INVOLVED

Parental support plays a key part in developing a successful classroom and particularly with younger children - parents love to be involved! By adapting my weekly planner/timetable I was able to offer parents an online “sign up to help in class sheet”. 

Some teachers shudder at the thought of parent helpers - but there’s always something for a willing pair of hands to do in my classroom... and seeing their child in the classroom environment is often just what a parent needs! With Google Docs, I can offer ‘slots’ of the day, see when parents have signed up and never have to write notes to parents letting them know when they can come in. Saves me time. And the paint pallets get washed properly.


4. SHARING DOCUMENTS

We share lots of documents with children and parents... From a fortnightly ‘Home Learning’ grid, to spelling practice sheers and newsletters.

These used to be created by one - maybe two members of the team using Microsoft Word. Then converted to PDF format and uploaded onto the school’s VLE for parents to access. With Google Docs I can get the team to collaborate to write newsletters, home learning grids, letters and spelling practice sheets. A quick copy/paste of the link into our school’s VLE enables parents to access (but not edit) the Google Docs version. 
Less work. Less time!


5. ‘CROWDSOURCING’

For each unit of inquiry, we have ‘key vocabulary’. As an international school, we have many mother-tongue languages represented and through posting our ‘key vocabulary’ online parents (and even domestic helpers) can help us to translate vocabulary into common and not so common languages!


So, How are you using Google Docs to make you a better teacher, and more importantly, how is it making your life easier?