Phase 3 Implementation Planning

CS in Science
62

It is great to use the project Guts resources for those modules. They have sample projects and you can review the code to get ideas of what to expect with your students.

63

Still not that confident with curriculum
Could use videos or more visuals for help with lesson plans
Was unable to get to the implementation document

64

I am definitely confident in my abilities to begin teaching the beginner portions of slnova and code.org. I would like more time in the advanced areas as I am unsure of my abilities in creating my own programs for my classroom in different areas. I am much better prepared to teach this during the next schoolyear than I was at this time last year. This time last year I felt overwhelmed with the amount of information, but now that I have had time to read the lessons and experiment with my students a bit, I feel that I will be able to implement more coding in my class.

65

I got the implementation document, but I know what you mean about videos and visuals. As a visual learner myself, it is difficult to understand how things are going to work when I change something in my programs. Sometimes I mess everything up so bad I have to start all over again. It would be nice to be able to have a live chat or something where someone could check our code and tell us what we clicked that messed it all up.

66

I feel somewhat confident in my coding abilities. I am capable of problem solving and the trial and error piece and I am into the coding piece so Iā€™m willing to work. However, my laptop keeps getting stuck running the code so itā€™s making the code difficult to check. At this point I donā€™t think that I need extra help other than practice. Itā€™s been a while since I dug into the curriculum so it was a little more difficult.

67

This is after the fact as I taught CS twice, one group each semester last year. Some things I felt very confident about, but it was often simple coding issues that tripped me up at times. I know that I feel much more confident about the process after having gone through the instruction process twice, and I know that the more I work with the modeling the more effective I will be. The most frustrating thing for me this last year was the unreliability of our division internet connection and the need for greater bandwidth. At times we lost a whole week of moving forward, which cost our momentum a great deal.

68

I agree. I often found that my students were able to find solutions for coding issues much faster than I was able to, and this increased their confidence and engagement.

69

I agree that I would like to have a structured environment to work with extending programs and creating new ones once the basic programs were completed. I agree that having taught the CS this past year, the information that once seemed overwhelming is finally making sense. I am certainly able to problem solve more quickly.

70

Iā€™ve been overwhelmed with my preps this year and will be busy next year with a new curriculum and 2 different grade levels of science. I realized while planning that I need a lot more time to be comfortable with coding myself before I introduce the lessons to my students. I have no problem introducing them to code.org and letting them work at their own pace there, but using the modules is a bit different. I like to be prepared and confident in my content and Iā€™m not there yet. Since coding is not a part of my regular curriculum, I just donā€™t know how Iā€™m going to squeeze it in this next school year.

71

I agree with your comments. I ā€œsqueezedā€ in a hybrid coding unit with the goal of introducing coding and making it fun. The more we did, the more the class solved issues and the more I learned.

72

[quote=ā€œkiki, post:1, topic:2132ā€]
What did you realize while you were completing your implementation document?

Are there any areas where you feel completely ready and confident? I feel completely confident and ready to teach module #1.
Are there any areas where you could use more time and experience? I could use more help and practice on the remaining modules.
Is there anywhere that you could use extra help from Code.org? Also I could use a little extra help programming and filling out the forms:
Model Observation Form
Model Design Form
Scientific Practices with Computer Modeling & Simulation
Experimental Design Form
Project Design Form
How did this time feel compared to the last time that you worked with the implementation document?
It felt a tiny bit better as I am getting more used to working with the CS module Lesson Plans in code.org

73

  1. I feel somewhat confident moving forward. Itā€™s just the connection with science is the learning curve.

  2. I could use more time in every area honestly just to get comfortable.
    3.curriculum

  3. I feel more comfortable but still need more time

74

I do not feel completely ready and confident. I could use more time and experience with debugging. I donā€™t need any assistance from code.org at this present time. I do have a bit more experience under my belt this time as opposed to the last time. So I am progressing in my learning. I do some activities with one student who has a greater skill set than mine and I learn things as we go along.

75

I do not feel as though I am completely ready and confident. I think that will come with time and more practice. I truly need more experience with debugging. At the current time I do not need any assistance from code.org. This time around I do feel a bit more confident as I am practicing my skills with someone who is a bit better than me and my skill set.

76

  • Preparation and Administration Support is an area where my school is ready and confident at this point. We have buy-in an support from the principal and a diverse team of teachers. We also have several new Chromebook carts and new microcomputers in the Tech Lab, so tech resources are available.

  • An area I want to put more time is in Differentiated learning. As a Tech Teacher, I only work with each class for 1 hour per week. Advanced, middle, and low students are want teacher attention, even thought they help each other. I plan to experiment with students selecting if they want to work with their partner, or work in a group that I can scaffold with the projector and discussions. This way I could scaffold more students at once.

  • I feel I get good support from Code.org. I need to connect with SL Nova, because we have glitches in setting up accounts for some students, etc.

  • I feel much further on the learning curve compared to last summer! Itā€™s been good to have this follow-up training, to reflect on using CS Science and to deepen my skills.

77

I am not confident in successfully teaching all middle school students with coding. The students who have a understanding of coding and the logic behind it is fine. Itā€™s my tier 2 & 3 students who have difficulty learning the necessary concepts.

78

I do not feel completely ready and confident in teaching SLNova.
I could use more time and experience actually coding and knowing how the different tabs interact with each other.
I could use extra help from Code.org with knowing which prior coding could be done before getting into SLNova with the students as it still seems way over their heads.
This time compared to the last time that I worked with the implementation document felt a little more smooth, but I am still do not feel proficient enough in SLNova to answer some of the questions that may come up during a lesson.

79 
Are there any areas where you feel completely ready and confident?

Not really. Still very ā€œrough around the edgesā€ and not sure I could completely teach this to students yet.

Are there any areas where you could use more time and experience?

YES!!! More time learning Star Logo Nova!!!

Is there anywhere that you could use extra help from Code.org?

It would be nice to have a better explanation of the commands in Star Logo Nova so you know what they do.

How did this time feel compared to the last time that you worked with the implementation document?

It was easier to fill out, but itā€™s really long and would be too time consuming to do for every module.

80

I am having a hard time deciding when I can do an hour of code. I am receiving a lot of pressure from my school to teach what the other teachers are teaching, and I have to teach it both in English and Spanish in the same time frame. I would like next year to teach it as my elective class instead of keyboarding. What I may do is implement it after the kids take their SBAC.

81

I feel ready and confident in the content and the general approach to the subject. I wish there was more support/interest from other teachers and administration (who are glad Iā€™m taking this on but donā€™t wish to be involved or hear about it). I feel frustrated by all the StarLogo Nova problems weā€™ve had while implementing CS in Science last semester. Perhaps Code.org could help with them. StarLogo Nova technical issues were sufficiently severe that we are not teaching CS in Science this semester.