CSEdWeek is an annual program to inspire K-12 students to take interest in computer science. Code.org organizes CSEdWeek as an "Hour of Code" campaign to encourage every student to code for at least one hour (but I say they can code for MORE!) Every year I host a school-wide Hour of Code celebration complete with tracking cards, raffle tickets, prizes and more! This year Hour of Code/CSEdWeek is December 6th-12th and I highly encourage you to join the movement (sign up here). Marla Rosenthal and I designed this Computer Science Choice Board to make it easy for teachers and fun for students to learn about computer science while exploring the many coding platforms. Click here to watch a tutorial on the many ways you can use this choice board with your students. I plan on launching this for CSEdWeek then students can use all year long! Check it out and feel free to make a copy and modify for your own computer scientists. Let me know how it goes! Happy Coding! ~Christine TK-8 Version (entire choice board) TK-2 Version (modified from choice board for our youngest coders)
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I have always been an advocate for giving students a choice in how they present their knowledge. Whether it is showing what they learned from a math lesson, a book they've read, or their cumulative understanding of an ELA unit of study, giving students the freedom in choosing the "how" to present the "what" is so crucial.
I've made many versions of "Show What You Know" choice boards throughout my journey as Innovation Coordinator for TK-8. I so enjoy teaching students ed-tech tools in the Innovation Lab and Makerspace and then seeing them use their tools in their toolbelts all year in their classrooms. It also honors the unique personalities and strengths of our diverse students as well as the different ways they learn. If students all learn differently, shouldn't we give them a choice in how they represent this learning? So as I try to plan for this next school year, I knew I needed to create a choice board that would continue to build and evolve no matter where we are on the distance learning journey. Below are two versions of my "Show What You Know" choice board you can make a copy of for your own teaching. Notice the Choice Board has a LOT of choices. You definitely do NOT want to give all of these choices at the start. It also depends on the age and grade-level of your students. Most importantly, it depends on your lesson and what knowledge you want students to show. The idea is for the teacher to use the lock at the bottom left of the board to cover up those options that are not appropriate to the task or grade level. I believe students will enjoy this gaming aspect and will also enable them to continually learn new tech tools throughout the year. Show What You Know Choice Boards (click on the links for your copy) Version #1 (without student tutorials): This was my 1st version and wanted to leave it without tutorials in case teachers, TOSAs or coaches wanted to modify for their own users Version #2 (with student tutorials): This version is a prototype, meaning it will continue to grow and evolve throughout the year as I work with my students. I have many more tutorials I need to create so check back often if you are interested. Lastly, I'd like to thank all of you for your overwhelming response to this labor of love! I am blown away with how many educators have reached out to me and are excited to use this with their students and schools. It makes me so happy to know that so many students may benefit from this choice board. My Twitter and Instagram post responses are a testimony to my strong belief that we, as educators, are all in this together! The collaboration & sharing is crucial and even more important right now with distance learning. Thank you for being a part of my PLN! Better Together, Christine
I truly enjoy our after school Lego Robotics Club! The collaboration, across-age friendships, the critical thinking, and hands-on practice in computer science and engineering...it's so impressive and I wish it could be done during the school day. However, due to the amount of time to build and our Innovation schedule, it works best as an after school club. Historically, I have had more girls involved and it made me so sad we just had a handful this Spring. My plan was to market it and showcase to future students (girls and boys) but we were cut short due to COVID19. So these are the few highlights of my rad little innovators who quickly surpassed my computer science/robotics knowledge and impressed me beyond words!
What do you do when your local Girl Scouts troop reaches out for help in earning their 3 Robotics Badges!? You can NOT say no to Girl Scouts (I mean....come on) so you whip up a super fun 2 Day after school class!
These Innovative girls learned about robot parts, how robots can help us solve problems then launched them into a quick rapid prototyping DesignThinking Challenge in our Makerspace! Next, they collaborated with a Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge to teach Dash to be a very good robot and eat his dinner :) Click on the links below to modify for your own Girl Scouts and/or students!
Stepping up from the Makey Makey Interactive Posters and moving from the Innovation Lab to the Makerspace are the Interactive Museums and Prototypes lessons. These focus on making prototypes interactive, engaging and teachable. Most importantly, this can be used with ANY subject and content area. Read more below and check out the resource links to try for yourself. SUCH a fun Makerspace lesson!
I don't know about you but we go BIG during Computer Science/ Hour of Code Week! It is usually the 2nd week of December and we begin prepping for it a month before. Read below to see how we celebrate and feel free to modify the resources linked below for your own classroom, school and/or district.
A huge part of my job is teaching teachers & students how innovation (tech, coding, robotics, making, design thinking ,etc) doesnât have to stand alone.
In fact, I'm kind of passionate about proving how curriculum and content can be incorporated so easily in all innovation & vice versa! :) Click on the links for resources and read below to see some of the many ways we weave innovation through the curriculum!
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