My students are very interested in coding and have coding apps that they are allowed to utilize when they have finished their work or when we are having a maker space with whole class involvement.

My class uses the coding app “Kodable”.  It is a fun way to get the students involved in computer science. The app uses fun characters and gets the students excited about trying something new. The website that accompanies ‘Kodable’ includes a teacher’s learning guide, which I find to be very helpful.  While coding is growing and becoming a part of our everyday lives, we were not not taught how to code.  By having a guide for teachers, Kodable enables teachers to familiarize themselves with what they are asking their students to do. It also provides lesson plans, unplugged activities, and specific coding vocabulary.

I questioned how to assess students progress with Kodable.  I was surprised to find out that each student can create an account and as the teacher, you are able to see students progress as well as who has been working on ‘coding’ more than others.  Coding can be used as an extension activity for students who finish early.  With that though, there could be students who always finish early and are therefore at a higher level than other or they have completed all of the stages. Conversely, there will be students who never finish early and do not have a chance to work on coding. So while I would like to include coding and computer science in my classroom, I find that I am not yet fully prepared and will continue to explore ways in which I may include it in other subject areas.

Link to Kodable Resource

What do you do when is a Thursday afternoon and your students just won’t listen? Why you bring out robots, of course!
Technology is a resources that we sometimes take for granted. It is used almost everyday in the classroom, but we sometimes forget to think outside the box as to how we can incorporate it in new and exciting ways. Why not put it in the hands of the students and let them facilitate their learning?
My classroom is fortunate to have a collection of ‘robots’ and technology tools at their disposal. On Thursday, we set up stations and let the students ‘have fun’. There were stations where students could work with Ozobots, Sphero, create their own stop motion movies, works with circuits, develop mazes, and use the iPad’s to work on coding. It was student directed learning.
My inquiry project is focusing on using technology in the classroom for personalizing learning. This afternoon activity used technology while allowing students to experiment and create. I had the opportunity to work with the students who were experimenting with circuits. I observed students who are normally reserved and do not take chances in the classroom jump in. They were eager to try something new and were quick to start experimenting. It gave the students the opportunity to self direct their learning. All they were given was the package of circuits and the booklet that was included. These students started with trial and error before realizing that they needed to follow the directions. Once they were able to make their first few complete circuits, they were excited to experiment and see what they could come up with. It was interesting to see this process and to see them work together to figure out how to solve their problems.
After observing this, I started to think of the ways that I would be able to incorporate this type of learning into my practicum – letting students experiment while using trial and error. The students were able to choose which station they wanted to work at and were not given more direction then what each ‘robot’ was able to do. The students were self directed. I am looking forward to utilizing technology more in the classroom and allowing students to self direct their learning while learning from their experiments.