Computer Science in Science PD: Dispositions and Classroom Culture - Discussion

I agree – I want to create a classroom culture where mistakes are okay too. I know that it’s something that my students struggle with. Any tips?

Persistence, persistence, persistence. I want my students to keep struggling with their problems until they are able to solve them. With all the talk of grit as the determining factor in success in general, I think that it is something we need to start thinking about teaching. I am not sure how to teach this other than to encourage, create a safe space and make my mistakes and struggles public. Any tips?

Hello,

Thank you for engaging me in your learning. I would approach this by modeling a problem that I am still trying to figure out and solve. I also would reward the students who persist the longest in your exercising of persistence. You will find that a student will arise to the challenge and you will have an opportunity to showcase the student for learning beyond others because the persisted. I hope this helps.

Mateo

My classroom already promotes collaboration and hands-on activities but is lacking computer science. The only barriers I can see are having access to computers. This seems like a long process and making time can also be a barrier.

I want to continue promoting collaboration with hands-on activities. With the computer science, in science I hope to have students see the “big” picture. The barrier will be the computers and having access.

I would like to promote a classroom of learning. I want my students to feel comfortable making mistakes and utilizing proven strategies to correct those mistakes. I anticipate students feeling hesitance because of the judgement from their peers.

An environment where students feel safe to tinker and learn from their failures. Some students have trouble overcoming frustrations.

I know that my students will grasp CS at different rates, I foresee some of them completing tasks and assignments quickly and others reaching frustration level just as quickly. I will need to change up the pairs for Pair Programming in light of their skills. We will also have “Stay in the Growth Mindset” as one of our classroom norms in order to foster an atmosphere of perseverence.

I strive to create a classroom where all students feel respected and safe to try new things. Students use scientific methods, the computational modeling cycle, and other tools. Students can work together or alone, and share their learning with each other and the larger school community (teachers, administrators, parents, etc) in a variety of ways. Students know what tools they can use if they get stuck, such as finding examples online, asking another student if they had a similar experience, or taking a break. The teacher is available to model my own thinking, scaffold student’s thinking, and offer feedback and encouragement.

One problem I have is in acknowledging all my students. This is compounded because I am a Technology Teacher who sees 700 students in mostly large classes, working with each class for 1 hour per week. While I am trying to make students teachers and learners, they still almost all want input and acknowledgement from the teacher. Perhaps I’ll get better at the juggling act!

I strive for my classroom to be a place where the teacher doesn’t answer questions, but rather ask questions and provides opportunities for students to answer their own questions.

One of the biggest challenges is to have students figure out their own errors on their own. They often depend on me for the solution but I am trying to wean them off of it with examples and websites they can explore.

Some barriers I anticipate running into is persistance. Many of my students have been given answers in the past instead of having to work through a problem. Another problem is students being willing to work with others/ask for help (they think they have to do everything on their own and if they can’t that they are failures). I would like to promote learning from other peoples codes, and a practice of experimenting with the code (reordering, reading through, being curious about what changes you can make).

I love being a learning coach or facilitator in my classroom and I know that the students prefer it too!