Are you looking to add Computer Science into your school?
I can help! I would love to come help your school dive into these uncharted waters of Computer Science. I have worked with numerous school districts throughout Wyoming to bring Computer Science to their students. I enjoy guiding teachers through the unpacking process of the Wyoming Computer Science Standards to provide clarity and focus for curriculum creation. I believe integration is the most efficient way to bring Computer Science into the core curriculum especially at the elementary level.
Creation Based Coding
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When most people think about coding. They imagine students noses buried in their computers and no peer interaction. When they think about elementary coding, they may imagine games or mazes that students direct a character through to make it to the next level. This type of coding can be very effective in teaching the concepts of coding. However it is very challenging to integrate into the elementary classroom. Instead of teaching students how to code in isolation, with the use of creation based coding, we can integrate computer science standards into our core curriculum.
Coding at its very core is creation based. It is taking nothing and turning it into something amazing, funny, or helpful. This is why I think coding even its most elementary form should remain creation based. Two of the resources I like to use for creation based coding are Scratch and Scratch Jr. Both of these tools start each project off with one cute orange cat and zero coding. Students can use this blank canvas to express their thoughts and ideas, share what they have learned, create a quiz or game, or even a fun dress up or maze game. The point is this- your options in Scratch and Scratch Jr are endless this is what Mitchel Resnick refers to as wide walls. |
WIDE WALLS
Creator of Scratch Mitchel Resnick says it best, make sure each coding project has low floors, high ceilings, and wide walls. |
CS Integration
As the Computer Science Youth Outreach Coordinator for NWCC in Sheridan, Wyoming. I have the best job in the world because I get to help elementary teachers and students learn Computer Science. This past year I helped bring coding into over 40 K-5 classrooms in SCSD2 district. We have almost 1,000 students learning how to code each week. I conduct trainings, create resources, and make lessons that are seamlessly integrated into the normal K-5 curriculum. See below for sample projects from our students and example lessons.
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Clicking the link above will take you to a Scratch coding project where a 4th grade student shares facts he has learned about life on the Oregon Trail. This project was created in the middle of their Oregon Trail study and after just one lesson on coding.
To the left you will see the final product of a 2nd grader's coding/writing project. This first began with students researching spiders, so that they could write an informational paragraph about them. After many revisions, students were able to publish their writing using Scratch Jr to code their learning. |
Not just coding... but Computer Science Unplugged!
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We know that Computer Science is much more than just coding. Lessons such as the one shown below are great for teaching students about how computers work. This is a hands on lesson that demonstrates how computers organize data. I have integrated it to also allow students practice in comparing numbers. This lesson was originally from csunplugged.org.
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Getting families on board...
Here is a simple slideshow I have created to share with parents to communicate why Computer Science and coding are important for their children to learn, and illustrate what programs we currently use to teach students how to code at various grade levels.
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