CODING AT HALFMOON BAY

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

A YEAR END REFLECTION

GUIDING QUESTION

• Can coding develop skills and attitudes that will support students’ progress in all areas of the curriculum?

• Problem solving• Perseverance• Collaboration

WHO WAS INVOLVED

• My name is Raun Desharnais. For the past 8 years, I have taught at Halfmoon Bay Elementary Community School (on The Sunshine Coast). This is my 22nd year as a teacher, all at the intermediate grade level. Currently I am teaching a 5/6 class of students. I have always had an interest in new technologies, especially ones that can enhance the learning experiences for my students. From dial-up modems to iPads, I have seen much through my years as a teacher to get excited about. The challenge has been to utilize these emerging opportunities as means to ‘best practise’ my teaching, rather than merely be attracted to the “shiny new toy.” Along my journey, I have been utilizing the advice and expertise of our school district’s Assistive Technologies Coordinator Sandy Magnussen. I have also had the support of our school’s Special Education teacher Michelle Crosby.

GOALS AND ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES OF THIS PROJECT

• With the use of SETBC’s 11 laptops, I saw an opportunity to bring coding into my classroom. My ultimate goal was not to prepare all of my students for careers as programmers. Rather, there are skills and attitudes practiced during coding that are necessary for success in any career path a student should choose to follow.

CURRICULAR THEMES/ACTIVITIES, AND TECHNOLOGY USED

• My hope was, through coding, to provide opportunities for critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and perseverance – tools that I hoped would immediately serve them in all other areas of the curriculum. In addition to these skills and attitudes, I was also aiming to provide opportunities for experiencing some “big ideas” as prescribed in our Applied Design, Skills and Technologies curriculum-specifically: “Designs can be improved with prototyping and testing,” and “Skills are developed through practice, effort and action.”

• We began our journey with computer-less coding. Using only pencil and paper, the students practiced creating and following instructions (later revealed as “algorithms”) to accomplish specific goals such as: constructing a paper airplane, designing art work or performing dance steps.

• Next, the students worked through the step-by-step lessons in Code.org’s site. These lessons were a great foundation for learning the basics of computational thinking. Moreover, the students were able to progress at their own pace. I loved the developed feedback the site provided, allowing me to gage the competency of both individual students and the class as a whole. In addition to introducing us to block coding, the lessons provided many opportunities for perseverance. Fortunately, because the challenges were fun and engaging, the students were usually willing to stick with a problem until successful. The students also learned how to break large tasks into smaller steps, as time and time again they needed to assemble individual “parts” to accomplish a “whole.”

• Once the kids were familiar with sequential / task orientated thinking, we moved on to using Edison robots. My school purchased ten of these units as an alternative application for the programming we were doing on the lap tops. Like Code.org, the provided software used individual commands, placed in a sequence, to program for a desired result. During these sessions, the children had ample opportunities to practice and develop the skills for cooperation and collaboration. Working in teams of three, the students planned, coded and programed their little robots to do a variety of increasingly complex tasks. At first there were many arguments and off-task behaviours. Working with others, with respect and responsibility, takes practice and although there were definite improvements the sharing of ideas and jobs was not always smooth sailing.

• Finally, the students have been flexing their coding skills with Scratch. Similar to Code.org, this on-line environment has many excellent resources for the teacher. Not only is there a plethora of lesson ideas, but there is an extensive community of educators who share numerous lessons and tips for Scratch. Additionally, the site allows the teacher to manage his/her students, to view their accomplishments, and create “studios” to organize specific coding challenges.

HOW THE PROJECT PROCEEDED

TRAINING• To get ideas (and motivation) for the up-coming year I attended a two-day tech-infused conference at

the end of August. The workshops, put on by the Richmond School District, helped me realize the importance, possibilities and (most importantly) the ease at which I could start a coding program with my students. Since then I have taken part in a “Maker” workshop and a couple in-district coding sessions. These workshops and tutorial have, and continue to be, and important part of my ability to effectively use emerging technologies in my classroom.

HOW THE TECHNOLOGY WAS INTRODUCED TO THE STUDENTS

• Not having our laptops arrive until our second month was a blessing in disguise. I’m sure I would have gone straight to the computers, if I’d had them. As it turned out, I feel the students gained a more authentic understanding of computational thinking through our “computer-less” coding activities. We practiced designing and following explicit instructions for the purposes of creating artwork, dance moves and paper airplanes. We learned the pitfalls of implicit instructions, as assumptions usually lead to missed steps and/or confusion.

HOW IT WAS USED DURING THE PROJECT (BY STUDENTS AND TEACHER)

• By the time the students had the laptops in their hands they were thinking like coders. They had a sense of what it was like to break a large goal into smaller steps. Initially, with each new piece of technology or software, I just let the students play. Allowing the kids to explore and discover their own strategies is a large part of coding. I felt it important to encourage the children to ‘get their hands dirty’ with the tools, before requiring specific outcomes from them. Whether it was block coding, Edison robots or Scratch I always made time for “free play.”

HOW THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES WERE COMPLETED• Some of the projects were individual, others were with

partners. Initially, the students worked, at their own paces through Code.org lessons. The web site has a teacher’s tool for observing student progress. Each lesson was scaffolded on previous skills and progressed through tasks such as sequencing, iterations and de-bugging. These lessons laid the foundation for our next unit, programming robots. With the “Edisons,” students worked in teams of three to problem solve solutions for moving their robots in specific ways. The roles included: designer (the person who would sketch, on paper, the route the Edison would take), keyboardist (the student who inputted the commands) and mechanic (the person responsible for handling the robot). All students were expected to contribute ideas. Our final unit in coding has focused on Scratch. Using their new teacher environment, the students are presented with a “studio” each week. Here I would outline challenges for students to tackle. I used rubrics to help assess the accomplishments of the students.

MAIN CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED

• A major challenge was “expectations.” Often the students expected that things would simply “work,” the first time. In a world of instant gratification, children have learned to expect immediate results. It took many encounters before the students started realizing that part of coding is failing, that valuable learning opportunities arise when one has to return to a task and re-think the solution. Another challenge was group work. Either the individuals didn’t get along and argued or got along too well and began socializing. Once students realized they were accountable for their successes, and failures (because of project grading and presentations) they were more disciplined, but still required constant re-direction from the teacher.

MAIN SUCCESSES

• Interestingly, some of the biggest challenges ended up being our largest successes. Working through problems, then re-working them (“debugging”) developed a critical eye and perseverance that translated into other subject areas. I am noticing a more comfortable use of planning and willingness to revise initial efforts to refine and improve an intended goal. Whether it’s writing an essay or performing a science experiment, I have noticed a transfer of attitude from coding that accepts mistakes as steps to success. Group work in other areas of the curriculum has also been better because of the practice students have gained through our coding challenges. The children seem more focused on the tasks and more comfortable accepting or assigning appropriate tasks for a goal. Finally, the open-endedness of coding that scared me initially has fostered a willingness to try different approaches, to explore creative alternatives to seemingly linear tasks (such as math problem or Social Studies perspectives).

RECOMMENDATIONS/ADVICE FOR OTHERS

• My advice for others is to “just do it!” Yes, there is preparation and training required to be effective as a teacher of coding, but there is for anysubject area taught effectively. I encourage teachers to abandon their fear of “not knowing all the answers.” Allow student to see your vulnerability, so they can feel comfortable with trying new things too. When I ran into trouble, as you will too, it was important modeling for the students to see me not give up and look for alternatives and/or outside help. Above all, have fun! If the kids see you enjoying the lessons, they will be inclined to also.

WHAT I MIGHT DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME

• Next time I would come with a more open mind. I have often commented to colleagues that coding with children is much like herding cats. They will head off in their own directions, exploring their own interests and taking tangents into areas you might not have expertise in. The next time I do coding with students I will try and be less controlling, celebrating the process rather than try and micro-manage an end result. I will enjoy the journey and be more open to the wonderful opportunities that “controlled chaos” can allow. Because, ultimately, it is the love of exploration, the benefits of collaborating with others and the strengthening of perseverance that will support these students’ futures. It’s not just about learning to code.