I utilized the general methodology of Design Thinking protocol to introduce the practice of rapid prototyping. I found this activity to be very successful and motivating for students. We followed with gallery walk and quick presentation of concept sketches with collaboration is groups of 3-4. After we created code studio accounts and had an orientation to my class website.
I have a very small class, with maybe four students if I am lucky. I am having them work through the innovations worksheet separately and present to one another then work on a constructive criticism dynamic to provide positive and warm feedback to one another about their ideas.
In implementing this activity what I really liked doing was having the presentor be a student that learned about the interest. It really demonstrated that they learned about something they might not have known about from someone in their group.
I explained to the students the idea of rapid prototype and had students share and teach an interest of theirs to the rest of the group (3-4 students per group). Then they made the posters about one of the ideas and presented them to the class.
I plan on adding a name game to the beginning of class as well â with all the collaboration that the class uses, I figure being on a first name basis with one another would be great.
This is probably going to be the hardest start possible. My room was used during summer by remedial students. Firefox access damaged, computers damaged. Instead of only accepting 10th and 11th graders for this course. I am now in week 2 and have a flow of newly arriving 9th graders still entering my class (week 2). As of now 33 computers are working, with 43 students on the roster. Oh well⌠On the other hand my lessons so far worked well and I am sure to be able to catch up. I am going to love this course ⌠if it wouldnât be for having students⌠just kidding ⌠I have not lost my sense of humor.
Love the lesson plans, the parts with the self built communications tools worked well and students got into it.
On to the nextâŚ
I did this lesson before starting the online PD. My plan was to follow the lesson plan as it was. With the script and the indicated materials. What I found instead was that I âforgotâ what I supposed to do or better yet went on a tangent with my students (not completely off topic) and thus did not cover exactly what I was suppose to cover. From then on I have decided to make power points for all lessons. The power points are mostly so that I can stay on task and know exactly where I need to be at during each lesson.
This lesson went very well as is. The students were engaged and were activly discussing each others innovations. In my opinion there is no reason to modify this lesson plan.
I plan to use my new Amazon Echo âAexiaâ to demo use of new tech in the classroom. I also canât wait to see what students come up with in their innovative brain storm sessions. Will keep you posted how it went. School does not start until Monday, Sept 14th for our Alternative school program.
I was planning on adding an ice breaker, but I feel that the activity takes care of that for me. I like the idea of having the students use prior knowledge to complete the activity which will make it an easier transition to collaborate in a group dynamic.
I really like the idea of starting out a course with asking students to uncover the strengths that they themselves bring to the course. It is a great plan to start kids off with their interests/strengths!
I showed the video and then we discussed how technology impacts our everyday life. We examined what is a computer, how computers have evolved and were we see them going in the near future. We then explored their own ideas of what is computer science.
My students liked the idea of exploring and discussing innovations in small groups to start off the school year. They even wanted to have a class definition of âinnovationâ before we jumped into the lesson.
The Technology Innovation project was such a great idea I used it with my middle school technology class. I had students print off the first slide with the title, inventor, date, and image so that I can put them in a timeline.
I apparently missed the post about how to keep students from progressing ahead once they have their code studio account. Please advise.
Thanks.
Hi mchiles
There is currently no way in code studio to lock levels from students. It is a future improvement we are working on. In the mean time it would be good to point out to students that major parts of the lessons will be presented in class and they will be missing material for the online components if they skip ahead.
Dani
I like your lesson this is very similar to my lesson in which I have the students create an artifact showing how life has changed since the advent of the technological revolution. I also used the video and activity guide. However, I think we can modify the lesson only slightly, which is what I plan to do in the CSP class. I like that we are connecting studentsâ prior knowledge.
I found the same problem with students going ahead, so I asked if they want to look forward to only click the stages and not click âContinueâ or âSubmitâ causing the levels to be green when we have not reached that part of the curriculum. I see no evidence they completed or studied the stages during the activities in class.
I like the way that the lesson is designed. There is a connection made with each member of the class. Student are to share something that they do well. This validates their ability to be in the class. Starting with this allows students to openly share. I also think that it is very important to find out the students prior knowledge. Students then are working collaboratively to solve a problem. The teaching materials and Prep resources are well developed and will really help to present the lesson.
Hey!
This is Sun Summoner,
Iâm new to this website and I was wondering if someone would be able to help me.
Honestly Iâm not a teacher and I know very little about coding. But I decided not to give and post a comment here. Please help Iâm lost!
All the Best,
SS