Digital Doors was created as a place for me to blog and share resources that I think would be helpful for teachers integrating technology in meaningful ways in their classroom. My goal would be to write a blog post a week, but with my busy schedule, that doesn't happen. I write when I can and rely on nifty tools to help me share what I am finding when I don't have time to write.
Lincoln is celebrating students' success in making great choices.
This morning I had the opportunity to go visit my old stomping grounds of Lincoln Elementary. My goal was to check in with teachers to see how things are going and see how I could support them. My first stop was Gracie Johnston's 5th grade class. Gracie attended my trainings this summer and when I walked in the room, she excitedly told me about how she had just shared a Google Doc with her students. She also showed me a great Google Presentation A-Z Science Book her students had created. We looked a little at how she can use the comment tools to help her student's edit their writing. Her students are practicing their keyboarding and composing skills by reading and writing about current events using Google Docs. Very exciting! Kylie, one of Gracie's students (and her daughter) was busy creating on the computer while waiting for class to start. She had found the app "Floor Planner" in Google Drive (under Create - Connect More Apps). Kylie had created a whole estate with each room planned out with furniture, carpets, etc. She had cars in the driveway and a forest to play in. Amazing creativity and skill. What a great tool that could be used to explain the scene in a story or plan and measure materials in math. (Or just practice creativity and problem solving while having fun.)
Thanks Kylie for teaching me something new! I also visited with Susan Kruckenberg. She mentioned that the students were learning about Magnets and Electricity in Science. I shared with her how I am learning about electrical circuits and computer coding. We cooked up a plan for me to come in and share my Makey Makey with her students and talk about conductivity. I can't wait!
In the Library, Rocio Bradley excitedly told me how she is connecting Common Core activities with Technology in the lab and library. This is a new position for her so she is learning lots. She was tying different media together to help students have a purpose with their keyboarding and composing on the computer skills.
After school got going, I enjoyed popping into several classes to see their morning routines. Tammy Moehl's Class sang a great song about Causes and Effects to the tune of the Adams family and Liz Johnson's 3rd graders showed me their problem solving skills as they worked on their morning starting activities using Unifix cubes for manipulatives.
I always come away from visits with teachers and students energized and full of ideas. Thanks Lincoln for a great visit. Looking forward to my next visit and exploring electrical circuits and computer science with Mrs. Kruckenberg's class.
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Today I created a drum set with a potted plant, some Scratch code and a Makey Makey. As I worked through the process, I felt like I was learning a whole other language and indeed I was. I was learning to code. I have to say, when I look at circuit boards, resistors, diodes, etc., I feel way out of my league of nerdiness. But let me turn my potted plant into a drum set and you have me hooked.
We have several teachers who are very excited about the power of teaching coding, and physical computing to students. Not only do students who know how to code have great career opportunities in their future, but it also helps them to understand algebraic concepts, sequencing, logic, problem solving and to develop their creativity.
I decided that this is the year that I am going to get beyond my fear of coding, circuits and such and learn how to use these tools so that I can help champion these ideas in our district. I have purchased an Arduino Kit, a Makey Makey and am going through tutorials for Scratch on Code.org. For most of us, this is a very foreign world. But we are teachers, we love learning and trying new things.
With this in mind, I have scheduled a time for teachers wanting to learn more about coding and physical computing to come together about once a month to play and learn together. Fortunately, we have some really knowledgeable people in this field right here in our district who are excited about sharing their knowledge with us. But for the most part, we are all newbies at this and we will be learning together.
I hope that you will take on this challenge and join us in learning at our Geeky Teachers Club: Coding in the Classroom. Our first session will be at the District Office Tech Lab on Wednesday, October 1. The lab will be open from 3:00 - 5:00 with the idea that the first hour is more suitable schedule wise for secondary teachers and the second hour are more suitable for elementary teachers but please feel free to come to whichever session fits your needs most. I plan to bring my potted plant and play the drums. You can play too. These sessions and the content are appropriate for all grade levels. Kindergarteners can learn to code!
I plan to share my progress in this blog throughout the year, so stay tuned and watch as I learn and I hope that you will jump in and learn with me. Plan to come have some geeky fun at our first Geeky Teachers Club next week.
