Year end report on Ms. Haughton’s grade 5/6 raspberry pi project, Huband Park Elementary, SD71 Comox, June 2017

By Abby Waite, Grade 5

What worked well:

Scratch seemed to be really fun, but easy for the class to understand. The class did not need much help from teachers, and figured it out really fast. The class practically taught themselves how to do sonic pi, but after Mackenzie and I showed them demos on how to do it.

What didn't work:

What I noticed, is that some of the class did not understand the way coding worked, and how to do it. Most people understood how to use Scratch, but they did not understand how to type the code, or the connection between the code, and what the code meant. The Minecraft that came with the raspberry pi distracted most of the class. At first, we could code on the pi after we were done a math worksheet or something like that. Some people coded on scratch, but others would go onto Minecraft. People made too much noise, and distracted people still working. So, Mrs. Haughton banned the raspberry pi for people who were done their work. That solved the Minecraft problem. In sonic pi, not everyone understood what numbers made

each note. After a while of experimenting, they got the hang of the code, and made very nice music.

For next year:

For next year, I would like to learn more Python. I started to learn Python at the beginning of the year, but I got even more interested in Sonic pi. I forgot about Python for a while, but next year I think I will enjoy it much more.

What I think:

For next year, I think that teachers should teach Python to the class. I read that Disney studios used Python for some animation, same with other movie studios. I think the students should research an interesting coding app on the raspberry pi, and do a report on how it's done, and what they found interesting about it. I think the class could do more challenging things on Scratch.

Q and A of some of my classmates:

Q : what was your favorite project on the raspberry pi? A: Sonic pi -Maggie Sonic pi -Thomas Sonic pi -Talon Q: what else would you like to learn? A: How to add sounds on sonic pi -Maggie I would like to learn more on scratch -Thomas How to loop on sonic pi -Talon Q: what was your least favorite thing on the raspberry pi? A: Nothing -Maggie Nothing -Thomas Raspberry pi not working -Talon

Teacher’s comments, from Ms. Haughton and Ms. MacDonald:

We joined this adventure thinking that it would help some of our more challenged learners really be leaders in the class. This happened (for example, Kyren was a tech wizard with any hardware issues) but we weren’t expecting Abby, Mackenzie, Lexi (and others) to really rise to a leadership role. The project inspired Abby to apply and be accepted to the ENTER robotics program at Navigate, and a field trip to the robotics program at our local high school encouraged some of our students to think about engineering as a career.

We wish we had spent more time learning how to program ourselves before we started. There was really no one local we could depend on to help us when we had questions, so we struggled at times. We did not get the weather station up and running, and we love the idea of an automated gardening system, but that too will have to wait until next year. And, that’s okay. From a growth mindset perspective, we’re not there…. Yet. Another unexpected was how collaborative the students were when they were working. Because we had 10 pis, they worked in groups of 2 or 3 to code, as well as moving from group to group to trouble shoot and learn new skills. This spirit of sharing spilled in to other projects: when it came time to do some photo editing in Gimp, it was this class that learned while working in the program and then stepped forward to help even older students. In short, the risk-taking that plunging in to the coding allowed and encouraged felt safe. Students also spent time coding,

especially at first, in the computer lab, but with 4 more divisions at our school next year this is going to be a luxury! There were able to share their scratch games with their little buddies. In retrospect, both of us needed to be better prepared to actually teach coding, and in future, we hope to host a “teachers can code” support group in our district to support others! We’ve been doing this with thinking classroom math and it’s a great venue to debrief and share. SET BC is forward thinking to offer this kind of technology in a more UDL way…. It floats all boats to have adaptations and enrichment at everyone’s fingertips.