Think back to your in-person PD experience. What do you remember? Which of these modules did you feel like you had the best experience with? What was it that made that module feel special?
Take a moment to add to our discussion area and discuss these answers and more with your fellow teachers.
I remember after our first few discussions with StarLogo Nova I really wanted time to just go and explore. I felt like having time to really investigate helped me figure out where certain commands were and different functions. I definitely felt comfortable with Module 1. I wasn’t able to do the last day because of the Algebra PD but of the other 3 modules I felt most comfortable with Module 3. To me it really aligned with what we did in class with the plague/spread of disease scenarios.
I enjoyed the summer PD in Columbus, OH, but had problems with my laptop.
I felt Day 1 was informative, Day 2 was my most productive day, and Day 3 left me feeling inadequate because of browser (Safari & Firefox) inefficiencies.
After reading your post, Kfloyd, I’m wondering if you are enrolled in both the Math & Science professional development?
I’m curious because I thought about enrolling in both, but then choose Computer Science in Science as my training base.
My favorite Module was Module 2. I think my students will be most interested in setting up a World with grass, rabbits, and predators. I’m sure they will create zombies and super heroes as their agents. It will be interesting to see what 7th graders create.
I enjoyed the summer workshop. I love learning new things. I can not wait to implement code.org into my Physical Science lessons. I favorite model was the Chemical reaction simulations. I just love the fact that I can create models and collect data.
I enjoyed the three day summer training. I was able to be in the session with another 6th grade science teacher at my school so we were able to talk through using it with out kids. I liked module 1 because it let us explore. Module 2 is the one that I would use with my kids because it relates the most to my curriculum. I haven’t explored the others too in depth yet so I’m hoping to do that soon.
I enjoyed the 3 day training. It was nice to have so many instructors. They were able to give one on one instruction if needed. I needed a lot. We only explored and manipulated one Module. I chose the Chemical reaction module because it fits my 8th grade curriculum. The simulation was great because my students can see what happens in the reaction when budget cuts prohibit my department from purchasing multiple chemicals.
I worked with all of the modules except the chemical reaction module. Through trial and error I had success with all of the models I worked with. The beginning modules were very helpful in getting me comfortable using StarLogo Nova. I think that it will be helpful for me to spend time with the early modules with my students in order for them to experience success with the curriculum based models.
I worked with Modules 1 and 2 (Water as a Resource). I enjoyed being able to explore the program and its many possibilities. It was helpful to do this with a partner, frequently changing who was in control. Module 2 helped relate the program to actual curriculum. Again, there was plenty of time to be able to explore the options and run experiments.
Module 1 really helped me to wrap my mind around the basics. I enjoyed having time to play with the program in order to create new things. Once we started digging in to Module 2, I liked having the opportunity to modify the environment to represent new ideas. I especially liked that there was a direct connection to scientific thinking - ask a question, create a model to help explore the question, run the simulation as many times as needed, then make changes to the model as needed, then discuss the outcomes & their impact on the answer to the original question. It just has so many applications that are not bound by environmental science (which is the focus of the module 2).
I really enjoyed the summer workshop and love learning new things. I still feel that I need to practice more so I can become familiar and comfortable enough to teach my students. We covered 2 modules and will be using them with my Physical Science classes.
At my training, i only did the water module so far. I am liking this refresher so far because it allows me to practice at my own pace and to become more comfortable.
I really enjoyed the training. The facilitators were knowledgeable and helpful. I feel as though I learned the most during module 1. It gave me the tools that I needed to work on module 2. That was the module that most relevant to my curriculum. I attended the training with another teacher from my school and it was nice to work together and discuss some of the problems our students may face. We came up with an idea to modify module 3 and use that in our Earth Science class to explore heat transfer…can’t wait to try!
I explored module 2. It was challenging to balance all of the elements and their properties so that the world would last a longer time. When I created a predator, at first, I just had it bump in to rabbits but then I had them face the rabbit when they got close enough. I found that this helped to keep the rabbits from getting out of control.
I remember being frustrated during the first Module with the in-person PD experience, even after trying out the online PD with starlogo nova tutorials. The drawers and what it does did not make sense to me because I could not see the logic to all of its components. However, after being there and fiddling around with loads of trial and errors… more so errors! I was able to figure out that the actions for the turtles belong in the turtle page, and creating the terrain and turtles belonged in the world page. After that, it was more down hill, PHEW! Since I only worked on the water resource module during the in-person PD, I found this to be the most memorable in many ways. First, I found many errors the hard way 
My pumps were in mid air, and v shaped to start out with! I am certainly spending more time with this throughout the summer so I can see how to present this to the students without so much frustration!!! I want them to be exploring and designing with better understanding of what is happening so they can go deeper.
My third day I was able to focus on Module 2, Water as a shared Resource. Since I teach earth science it was great to work with a module that was directed to my area. With the other teachers in the class we brainstormed ways we could have the students add other agents into the simulation.
I would of preferred an extra day, or a half a day, to collaborate with other teachers. Possibly working on a weeks structured lesson plan, at least the first weeks intro to StarLogo.
The Mod we worked on was the chemical reaction module.
I don’t know that any of the the modules felt special. I feel the most useful is being able to show a change over time that we did during a partner simulation.
I enjoyed learning more about how to use StarLogo Nova in Module 1 and getting a better idea of how computer science ideas of coding and simulations could be used to conduct scientific investigations. I wasn’t sure how well CS could be incorporated into science, bit I was pleasantly surprised. I did leave feeling like there was still an overwhelming amount more to learn before I felt comfortable teaching this to my students.
I was especially impressed with the chemistry module. Chemistry can be so hard for students to visualize, and written expressions can be overwhelming. The model was so clear, and also the code breaks down the rules for chemical interactions. I was breath taking and made me want to try it.