I’m feeling really good about implementing this. I cant wait!! I am really hoping that I can pilot the lessons with my enrichment students and then move into on level and inclusion.
I am completely confident in module one but when I start getting into the other modules I find myself a little less confident. The directions are great though but I worry when I start making my own lessons.
As I put this together I realize that I am nervous about parent and administration buy in. I will have to prepare them for what to expect and explain the importance of this program. I like the program and I am hoping that my students feel the same. I am a little worried about making accommodations for my struggling students and I really have to think about what I want them to get out of this. I really look forward to buy-in by the students and what they, with their endless creativity, will be able to make with this program.
I feel that I can manage working through the 2 modules I will teach this year. I find the book with the directions very awkward and think the hardest part will be reading the teaching edition. I know the students will take on the challenge and rally to help each other and thus I do not need to be an expert. I will practice more and look over the curriculum in much more detail a few weeks before beginning. My biggest concern is time and figuring out how to assess the students.
I definitely agree you need to practice the projects, however, as I learned while teaching a similar course this summer, you can have a very successful class without being a perfect programmer. You will quickly realize, the students in class are more than ok with figuring some challenges out on their own.
After reading some other people’s posts I feel so much better. I thought I was alone in feeling a lack of confidence. I think the first time teaching this in the fall will be challenging. But we will take it one day at a time and learn as we go.
I too want to practice more on my own, but I think that I am just going to go with it in my classroom. I teach 6-8 so I am going to start with my 8th graders and see how they do because I know that there are some of them that will take off and love it. Once I get some students excited, I hope to have them help me build my skills and come into the other grade’s classes so that I have more hands to help students that are struggling.
I really like the portion of the implementation planning that has us think about celebrating the student work and sharing the work. I’ve got to think about how to build this into our activity. My class can find many ways to celebrate and share physical projects and work that you can pick up, move around, etc. We have had more difficulty in sharing our work that is done on computer. I will think about inviting an administrator in to see the student learning.
My main challenge/concern is slightly different given that I do not have a classroom of my own. My main concern is finding someone who is willing to let me come in and teach/co-teach the unit. Any FCPS science (preferably HAL) teacher out there willing to let me come in and teach with them?
In addition to this I am also concern about time and my ability to help debug problems when a student gets stuck.
Due to the new SBA testing, I believe logistically we are ready to implement. We already have Chromebooks, and we’ve tested the bandwidth on them, so I’m fairly confident with that. The question is, do we have access to the website and videos. That will be something worth checking out because I know the Chromebooks have limitations and the district also imposes access on certain things. I do need to learn more about Google Classrooms and how to set those up. I think that would be a good resource for my students to share work as well as other non CS items. I agree with everyone, practice practice practice. As with anything new, it is very scary, but sometimes all that is left is to dive in and hope for the best.
I agree Nicole! I feel like, “Ok, so I can implement these modules, but where do I go from there? How do I make it my own?” Maybe it is a matter of checking out other projects out there and seeing how we can tweak it to fit our own needs.
I am excited to implement in my classroom. I am going to learn along with my students.
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I agree with many of the comments. I feel confident with some of the basics but I feel that I need more time and practice with the more advanced commands before I bring it to my students. I think with time and more refresh it will come back to me.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EC58825TQ0dsh0zCcOlhB1XMBQpclaTOWTvUOW8Jeo4/edit
I feel very comfortable implementing the epidemic modules. however, I do not feel comfortable about the prescribed lesson plans and activities. I will create my own activities and lessons that will lead to the modeling the spread of an epidemic disease.
I feel very comfortable implementing the epidemic modules. however, I do not feel comfortable about the prescribed lesson plans and activities. I will create my own activities and lessons that will lead to the modeling the spread of an epidemic disease.
Code.org could have two more extra days (workshop ) for practice
I think this will be a good co-learning experience for me and my 6th grades. I have the confidence and now some reasonable skill at this block programming to facilitate their learning. Then we can problem solve issues together as we explore how to modify and improve our models.
After filling in the implementation document there are still a lot of areas that I won’t know the answer to until I start the activity with my classes. I know it will be trial and error the first time I begin Module 1.
I’m not exactly sure how things will go, but I’m excited to try things out.
The biggest things are the time it will take to implement and feeling comfortable enough with it to be able to help the kids out on it. The last thing I want is a classroom full of frustrated kids.
I am pretty confident in my implementation of Module 1. I think just becoming more familiar with the lessons will be the biggest challenge. I also think guiding student thinking without actually giving them the answers will be challenging. Students want answers right away and do not want to struggle for answers.