Skip to main content

Itch that Scratch!

I spent quite a bit of time this week working with fifth graders using Scratch. I had a great time, and so, it seems, did they. Ms. Arvig's class decided to blog about it in fact. Their comments are overwhelmingly positive. The amazing thing to me is that while they clearly had fun, they also learned some important skills like logical reasoning, problem solving, and creative thinking. As they get better at using Scratch, it can be a tool for math (program your sprite to create a shape or to follow a pattern), language arts (recreate a scene from a story, write your own story), social studies (create a scene from history), art, music, technology, and more. I hope to continue working with classes on this, and I hope teachers will continue to bring their students to the lab to work on projects like this.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On the Cusp of Something Big!

I can feel it. There's a change. The conversations are different. People are excited. Rooms are transforming. On a Friday before school starts, I have now spent two weeks talking to teachers, teaching classes, visiting classrooms. This year feels different. Of course, the new hardware helps. Projectors, SmartBoards, soundfields mean that the technology is in the classrooms now. Teachers sound excited. I have been so impressed by the turn out at the summer trainings. In my conversations, I hear teachers asking great questions and wanting to try new things. The stereotype of teachers who won't change, who are stuck in the dark ages. That isn't true here. These teachers are doing great things already. I can't wait for the kids to arrive. This will be a whole new world for them. All day, everyday, connected to the world, interactive classrooms, multisensory lessons. This is going to be great!!
1 comment
Read more

Teaching for Tomorrow Part 1

A group of teachers are reading Teaching for Tomorrow by Ted McCain as a summer book group. As we read we will be sharing (I hope!) our ideas about the book. If you are not part of our summer book group, feel free to join in the discussion. All ideas are welcome! If you have any thoughts about Section 1: What Skills Will Students Need for the 21st Century?, please leave a comment on this post. Hopefully this will lead to a discussion on this topic. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
3 comments
Read more