So I have been recently charged with developing a new integration plan to infuse more technology into my classes. I am a technology integration coach full-time so I am always promoting technology integration but I do not have my own classes. I will need to get creative with the challenge I was presented. A main focus by choice and promoted by my administration is the push for computer programming or as we like to call it for short… “Coding”. To learn a little more about Coding check out this short video to help you better understand computer programming and where it is used in our everyday life.
I find the elementary to be much more receptive to newer concepts as a whole so I think I would like to work with 3rd graders to introduce or expand on their exposure and understanding of computer programming. I also know that I will have much more success with my efforts to support this in our district if we involve the community as well. I would like to charge 3rd grade students to find some way to explain what computer programing to their parents and community members and why it’s an important part of our everyday. I would like students to find or design an activity that their parents can do to experience "coding" themselves.
The idea of exposing students and families to coding is also opening the door to helping develop skills in computational thinking. Developing this skills help us to be more effective and efficient problem solvers. Whether that problem is how to safely get to that cookie jar on the counter undetected or how to get water to a village in a third world country, computational thinking skills are needed to be successful in both. This New York Times article sheds more light on why computational thinking is so important and how schools are embracing it. In the article, Laura Pappano references computational thinking as being essential in it "can aid a basic task like planning a trip — breaking it into booking flights, hotels, car rental — or be used “for something as complicated as health care or policy decision-making.” And I can't agree more. So in essence, I will be helping to hone life essential skills through a trade skill where the instruction can be gamified to help engage the youngest (biologically or at heart) to learn something new that will help them to be a more productive citizen.
With this population of students we would assess on and teach the ISTE Standard for Students - 5d Computational Thinking. I feel this specific standard would be a good place to start with the 3rd grade population and would translate nicely to adults as learners as well.
How does that look for a third grader you may ask? I would consider using a combination of plugged and unplugged activities (with technology and without technology) to expose them to computational thinking activities to participate in and further discuss what they are doing and how it can be useful in other areas of our lives.
Taking into consideration the current standing of our 3rd grade student population. Some have been exposed to “coding” since Kindergarten, by individual teachers’ choice in our district and some due to parental exposure outside of school (coding camps, etc…). Reality is some will have no prior experience with coding. This has lead me to approach the instruction in a way to customize student instruction so that I can meet students “where they are at”. Pre-testing students to determine what they already know in an effort to offer a variety of activities that will differentiate to meet students needs and allow them to move at their own pace. I will have built in progress monitoring to help me gauge student progress to help students maintain engagement and progress through the concepts we need to cover in their effort to better understand coding through using the strategies of computational thinking.
I believe that taking this approach will help me to teach students the way they learn best by customizing learning using a tool like Edmodo as well as allowing the rate at which they learn to be determined by the student. Also by allowing various instructional modes for students to gain the knowledge they need and interaction with the content, I feel this will help to keep engagement high and assist students in obtaining a better grasp and understanding of the concept. This is all in an effort to educate them to a point that they will be knowledgeable and comfortable enough to share it with others, specifically their parents. I feel this would be a great opportunity to bring students and their parents together for a common goal that will ultimately help students sa they progress through their education and life with a better understanding of how computational thinking will continue to assist them through life and is an essential skill to being successful in just about everything. Wish me luck!
With this population of students we would assess on and teach the ISTE Standard for Students - 5d Computational Thinking. I feel this specific standard would be a good place to start with the 3rd grade population and would translate nicely to adults as learners as well.
How does that look for a third grader you may ask? I would consider using a combination of plugged and unplugged activities (with technology and without technology) to expose them to computational thinking activities to participate in and further discuss what they are doing and how it can be useful in other areas of our lives.
Taking into consideration the current standing of our 3rd grade student population. Some have been exposed to “coding” since Kindergarten, by individual teachers’ choice in our district and some due to parental exposure outside of school (coding camps, etc…). Reality is some will have no prior experience with coding. This has lead me to approach the instruction in a way to customize student instruction so that I can meet students “where they are at”. Pre-testing students to determine what they already know in an effort to offer a variety of activities that will differentiate to meet students needs and allow them to move at their own pace. I will have built in progress monitoring to help me gauge student progress to help students maintain engagement and progress through the concepts we need to cover in their effort to better understand coding through using the strategies of computational thinking.
I believe that taking this approach will help me to teach students the way they learn best by customizing learning using a tool like Edmodo as well as allowing the rate at which they learn to be determined by the student. Also by allowing various instructional modes for students to gain the knowledge they need and interaction with the content, I feel this will help to keep engagement high and assist students in obtaining a better grasp and understanding of the concept. This is all in an effort to educate them to a point that they will be knowledgeable and comfortable enough to share it with others, specifically their parents. I feel this would be a great opportunity to bring students and their parents together for a common goal that will ultimately help students sa they progress through their education and life with a better understanding of how computational thinking will continue to assist them through life and is an essential skill to being successful in just about everything. Wish me luck!
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