For me it is in all areas and it ais all about taking the time to practice this repeatedly. I don’t have to be an expert to teach this class but I do need to stay at least one day ahead of my student that gets this stuff the quickest.
What did you realize while you were completing your implementation document?
Are there any areas where you feel completely ready and confident?
The early areas of the program I feel confident. The more advanced I am not confident. I believe when I have to implement I will master it as my student and I learn together.
Are there any areas where you could use more time and experience?
Collisons, creating random acts, and more than one turtle.
Is there anywhere that you could use extra help from Code.org? The last phase 2 of creating was difficult for me,
I feel very confident in my classes and my management of the lessons. I do need to work on practicing the coding. This is my weak area, and I want to be the expert who can help troubleshoot. However, the Project Guts leaders emphasized that we should let students struggle through challenges. So maybe my lack of proficiency will be to an advantage, and we can work through things together! I know my colleagues and principal will be really proud that students at my school are coding. I’d love to invite them to see the finished projects. I worry about having enough time for even basic instruction on this. I doubt if I can devote enough time for the first or second modules.
I know that this is the initial implementation stage. It won’t be perfect, but I am excited to have the first lesson completed with students.
While filling out this plan I realized how complex the planning for this will be. I don’t feel confident enough yet to implement all this.
I need to practice with the models to gain confidence. I think once I present this students will teach me. I worry about the ones that get lost because they are slower to understand the programming and I don’t know enough to help.
I agree with many of the posts regarding confidence. Teaching is all about taking risks and adapting on the fly! I may not dive into a content heavy lesson on CODE, but tip-toe into the world of CODE by discussing how it relates to all aspects of Earth Science. If I come across a group of interested students, we can dig deeper and learn together!
I am not entirely comfortable with coding yet. But I do believe we will get through the first module and then the kids will probably teach me a few things with the second. Taking it slow and practicing a lot will be key.
I was unable to make a copy of the Google doc from the computer I am currently working on. I did read through it and take notes. I feel relatively confident with the 1st module but not at all with the module I would use to model the chemical reactions. I would need more time to work through the module myself and take the time to explore. My main concern is finding the time to do that. I am also concerned about the amount of curriculum I already have to implement in addition to this. Although, I do find value in using these programs for students to create and adjust their models to learn science.
I think I feel pretty comfortable with module 1 but not so comfortable with module 3. I’m nervous to teach the actual coding. I don’t feel like I know the information well enough. I think that the time between phase 2a and phase 2b was too wide spread. I think I’ll be even more nervous when the time comes to teach it, because there will have been even more time. I am going to experiment more with running code, so I will feel more comfortable. I think that I just need to practice more on my own and I will feel more confident. I’ve been able to go back into the book and that seems to help a lot.
I agree. I think that if I were to take the time and practice more, I would feel more confident. I too am going to be learning with my students.
I’m grateful to Project GUTS for providing the template. Unfortunately, I have no idea of my schedule for next week or my student makeup. I left some of the fields blank in the template. But just having the template was a huge help in carving out the big picture for the year.
I will need to play with with program some more. I lack a bit of self-confidence in the programming department.
I am not sure if I’m 100% ready to implement, there are still a lot of areas of coding I don’t feel competent and able to translate into a successful lesson. I will have to spend a lot more time fine tuning the module that I want to implement in the classroom. I’m sure the more I work with it and use it, the more confident I will feel. It’s just finding the time to do it all is difficult.
One thing that I would really like (which would also support teachers that need more practice) is a guided online course that will teach star logo nova to the students. This could help learners of all ages!
My students thoroughly enjoyed learning module one and seemed to grasp that we will be able to model real world situations. I am still trying to remember some of the coding we did for module 3. However, the students went beyond my capabilities in module 1 and showed me new stuff. I think the biggest challenge will be leading them to model realistic scenarios to collect data.
I feel confident with the set-up in the beginning with covering Module 1. I am concerned about some of my larger class sizes, and how the management piece will work with only one teacher in the room and up to 36 students in three of my classes. I think having alternate unplugged activities readily available will aid in the beginning as I work out the kinks of me learning and teaching a new curriculum to my students.
For me it is an issue of having the time to play around with the Star Logo Nova software and programs. At the moment, in honestly, I have little confidence in running this. With the start of the school year and the countless things that entails, I have slacked off dramatically with playing with the software since the summer. Fortunately, I have a little time to continue practicing before I implement the module in the classroom. I have the benefit of having two of the science teachers in my building also participating in this program, so that will be helpful, too.
I feel ready and confident implementing the 20 hr precursor course and Module 1. While I feel fairly comfortable modifying the Base model for Module 3 myself, I am apprehensive about troubleshooting for the kids and getting them to understand what is going on with Module 3. There is a jump in complexity between Module 1 and 3 when you look at how the coding is supposed to illustrate the energy flow.
I completely agree with your point! My students seem very excited to get started…I am the one who is a bit apprehensive! I keep reminding myself that I knew nothing when I began the summer program, and I was able to learn. I know my students will learn and be successful as well!