My main goal for the classroom is to get my students to connect their love of technology to the important skill of problem-solving and perseverance. I also want to get my students to know how to use technology in effective ways and to be great digital citizens. CS or code.org helps me meet these goals by providing me with lesson plans and an excellent platform for students to work on
I’m most excited about the fun I know the students will have. I also am excited about the different ideas that show me that one doesn’t necessarily need computers to learn valuable computer science skills
The challenges I foresee in trying to meet my goals are challenges most teachers face in the classroom daily. Challenges like burnout, lack of funding, and simple things like a bad internet connection can make a great platform like code.org frustrating.
I am curious about student input in the curriculum. Can any lessons be modified to fit individual student interests? Is there any part of the forums were I can see how different types of students feel using this platform? Are there any ideas for special education?
Thank you for all your help, I look forward to participating.
My goal next year is to help classroom teachers of grades K-2 use Bee Bots to practice basic programming. We will put mats on the floor with pictures or use blocks to build a maze. I will introduce coding using the Pre-Reader Express. I hope that the first lesson “unspotted bugs” will not confuse them when they go to use a bee to program, since a bee is an insect. That’s a challenge that I forsee. I am most excited that first grade teachers can use the bee bot to program a robot to follow a path around a map. Map skills are taught most directly in first grade, I believe. I think getting first graders logged in to Code.org will be challenging, even though you are helping us out with a secret picture being used as a password.
I’m excited to have my students think about their games and apps through a different lens. The unplugged lessons are a perfect way to introduce computer science at the beginning of the year when students haven’t learned how to “use” a laptop, computer, or iPad yet. I also don’t have to worry about having a device for all students since it is encouraged for students to work together on one device under both of their names.
My only concern is weather my school district has certain games blocked and/or if they need to be downloaded as an app in order to use them. For a few hour of code games it was necessary to download in order to actually use the game but my school district has a block on downloading apps. Other than that, I am very excited to begin!
I’m definitely looking forward to bringing some of the unplugged activities into my classroom, especially at the beginning of the year. The concrete practice is a great way to set the foundation for future activities.
I found myself struggling with some of the puzzles and hope that with continued practice, I’ll gain the confidence I need to help - and teach - others!
Honestly,
at this point of the year I don’t have a plan yet.
The plan is to implement the ISTE standard “computational thinking”. Since ISTE partnered up with code.org I was looking in detail at the resources. They would help the teachers to structure their lessons.
The challenge will be to make it a priority, to convince leadership, then to get involved with the curriculum leaders. If it isn’t the priority of the school with all needed professional development and support, teachers won’t be convinced and won’t make any time for it. I’m still wondering how the communication to the teachers will look like. Another question is how can we integrate it to our curriculum and make it meaningful for student’s learning.
I am hoping to improve my CS unit fir my 6th grade science classroom at Coyote Springs Elementary School in Prescott Valley AZ,
This year was my first attempt teaching CS as part of my science curriculum. We used Google’s CS First and Scratch. It was a fun little story telling activity, but I am excited at how the Code.org curriculum has fun puzzles and activities to help get students to think about more complex programming ideas.
Hola,
- Mi meta, que mis alumnos puedan comprender el sentido de hacer código y ayudar en la solución de problemas.
- Me entusiasma saber que estos recursos nos ayudaran a que los niños entiendan mejor y cada vez mas codificar.
- Que mis alumnos me puedan entender lo que les puedo transmitir a través de estos curso.
My goal is to expose my students to to the programs and foster a positive learning environment. I know the kids will love the activities and see progrmming as a puzzle. I am eager to discuss the resources wit other teachers at my school and see if we can develop a vertical format so all students can benefit. Our school had an after school coding club. I would like to take it into the instructional day at every grade level. I know there is always a time constraint as there isn’t enough time to get through the curriculum as it is.
I am thrilled to start the new innovative school year with the coding for grade 4 compacted mathematics. My goal is to expose all my students to the coding and all the resources during the math block. Getting time out of the math block would be challenging but not impossible. I can foresee students trying to skip the directions which I think are critical to learning. I have a question on how the teachers are utilizing this site to teach programming. How often?
My goals are for the second graders that I teach to hone their thinking skills code.org will help them with this because it challenges them to think logically.
I am most excited about the puzzles, because unlike other online resources, code.org shows them how to solve a problem instead of focusing only on the result.
One challenge I foresee in trying to meet my goals is the level of language fluency and in some cases the intellectual development of some of my students.
Are there any proven ways to differentiate the instruction or assessments?
I see lots of possibilities to use the code.org lessons and coding concepts to link to other subjects that we are already learning. We teach lots of how to solve word problems, and the problem solving steps would work the same way for a word problem and for a coding problem. The same is true of functions, if you understand how they work, then the same concept can be applied in math. Sequences are big in reading, and there is possibilities of connecting those principles too. So everything I was learning, I see the connections to things we already do in the classroom that these lessons would help strengthen that learning.
Challenges are finding things that are relatable for students, or students who still think this is too hard because they didn’t learn problem solving techniques and so have no idea how to persevere when things get tricky. I see the community being able to answer questions about how to use the classroom feature with my class and suggestions for how to get kids unstuck and help them keep trying until they get it.
I see connections to math problem solving that can be helpful. One opportunity is analyzing multi-step word problems, which is a similar to creating a code with multiple actions. These skills may be able to transfer and help students give close attention to the clues in the word problem.
As a library media specialist, I am hoping to integrate coding along with childrens literature. If anyone out there has any ideas and wants to pass them along I am open to all suggestions 
- What are your goals for your classroom? How will CS or code.org resources help you meet those goals?
I would like to start a coding afterschool club for students in grades 3-5 to promote CS and build community amongst learners.
- What are you most excited about when it comes to implementing some of these resources?
I am excited to try the unplugged resources to help students understand concepts. I am also looking forward to the creativity that will emerge.
- What challenges do you foresee in trying to meet your goals?
I foresee finding a time to implement this will be an issue. I will be seeking help from administration.
- What questions do you have that this community might help you answer?
None at this time.
My goal is to find ways for my special ed students to participate in meaningful ways. I am excited about getting students motivated and engaged. I think it will be challenging to find the time to fit everything in.
- What are your goals for your classroom? How will CS or Code.org resources help you meet those goals?
My goal for my classroom this year is to plan out my plugged and unplugged lessons together rather than only focusing on one and then the other. I want to be more mindful of using the Code.org curriculum guide and resources.
- What are you most excited about when it comes to implementing some of these resources?
I am most excited to see how my students collaborate and share their learning with the unplugged lessons. By being more consistent with these lessons I think they will have greater success on the plugged lessons.
- What challenges do you forsee in trying to meet your goals?
One main challenge for meeting this goal will be to teach Code.org while also teaching/learning a new Science curriculum this year.
- What questions do you have that this community might help you answer?
At the moment, my only question would be how do other 1st grade teachers plan out teaching Code.org? Do you suggest doing lessons each day or block scheduling lessons?
- What are your goals for your classroom? How will CS or code.org resources help you meet those goals?
I teach 1st-8th grade computer science, with every grade level using some part of code.org! One of my goals this year is to teach CS Discoveries with maximum fidelity! I took the week-long professional development last month, and I can’t wait to get started!
- What are you most excited about when it comes to implementing some of these resources?
I’ve never done any of the unplugged activities–looking forward to doing ALL of them in CSD and as many as possible with my other classes, to maximize student learning.
- What challenges do you foresee in trying to meet your goals?
Time is my biggest challenge–I see my elem classes once a week for 40 minutes!
- What questions do you have that this community might help you answer?
None right now–I look forward to coming back to this community and being an active participant!
I would like to introduce this as an after school activity or club. The students will need to use their own devices so I feel I would need to be capable on a few devices. As this is the first time teaching it I will have to have few practice sessions with friends and family to work out any kinks that might arise from a teaching perspective.
- My goal is for my students to make progress in computer science, enjoy the course, and meet the goals set by the district.
- I feel more confident this year than last in helping my students.
- Sometimes students come to me needing help at a very specific skill/ lesson that I am not sure about it. I rely on other students to help out, so that can be a challenge.
Hello! everybody, my name is Afram Gabriel and I am from Ghana. I am a CS teacher at Sunyani Senior High School. I discovered code.org this school year and it has been my companion ever since. I started teaching my students with accelerated Introduction to Computer Science since they are High Scool students who are already taking lessons in Elective ICT. I saw the code.org curriculum as superb. Even though we use a common curriculum from the Ghana Education Service(GES), I decided to blend both curricula together. The GES curriculum is more theoretical as compared to the code.org curriculum, so I use the code.org curriculum for my lab activities. After I completed the Accelerated to Cs, I moved my students to the Intro to App Lab and then to CS Discoveries. We are currently in the last month of our school year for the 2018/2019 academic year. We are done with Unit 1 of the CS Discoveries, my students are currently working on their end of Unit projects. I must say code.org has helped me a lot and my students are always yearning to come to my lab to work on their activities. Even though our major problem here is slow internet connectivity and lack of computers. I employ pair programming at times to go around this problem. During blackout (no internet connectivity), I guide my students to work on their activities. Next academic year, I plan to move to Unit 2 of the CS Discoveries. Apart from my Elective ICT students, I have also started a CS club at my school. The students love the code.org curriculum, so I hope to continue with them in the coming school year. To solve the problem of inadequate computers in my lab, I have asked my students to bring either their tablets or laptops to school in the next academic year so I can keep them at the lab for their usage during CS lessons because my school rules do not allow students to use Tablets and laptops in School.
I am also a part-time lecturer at Valley View University where I teach courses in Programming. Many of the students I teach here are teachers offering a sandwich program in Information Technology. I have introduced the code.org curriculum to them and have tasked them to do the same in their individual schools. I think they are loving it because I get good feedback from them. In summary, your curriculum is second to none, Bravo!.