On Friday I was preparing to teach the second coding lesson of the year to my third graders. The first lesson had just been an introduction and the students were able to interact with the Tynker app for most of the period. The first few levels got the students familiar with the mechanics of the blockly-style interface and the concept of conditionals (A conditional is a command like "If the path is clear ahead then walk, if not jump.")
The students took to it quickly. My goals for the first class were just to get them comfortable with the commands and helping each other when they got stuck. As I got ready for the second coding lesson I wanted to formalize the communication and problem solving aspect of the lesson. I asked them when they got stuck to check in with the students at their table group before raising their hand. To support this we learned some helpful sentences. I asked the students to use this language it request help from their peers while their peers are working.
3 ways to ask your neighbor for help
NAME when you finish that level, could you look at this with me?
I can't figure this out, NAME could you give me a hand?
I really think I have this right, but it isn't working NAME, could you help me out?
The very really an constantly escalating challenge of thee coding puzzles is compounded by the fact that the iPads do occasionally freeze up, or the app stops responding. When this happens we quit the app and relaunch. Once or twice we had to restart the iPad completely. Having the students help each other made it so I was dealing with mostly these system failure issues. I think our luck would have been better if I had done a hard restart on the iPads in the cart before class. If you know an easy way to tel 26 iPads to restart themselves, please let me know.
If I had limited what I was adding to the lesson to the communication scaffolding I am sure I would have ended class on time, but I didn't. Reflection is a very important part of the learning process and I have been struggling to get my tech students reflecting in a meaningful way that I could easily access. I wanted to know what the students were thinking about coding and how they were doing. I can get some of this information by keeping a tally of fist pumps and tears, but these are extremes. So I asked the students to take screen shots as they worked, specifically when they got stuck or they figured out something really great.
In the last 15 minutes of class I asked them to use their screenshot and sonic pics to create a short reflection (actually a vlog, but I did not call it that). I have to remember this was the first time they used Sonic Pics or Drive, but this took longer than I guessed it would. By the time I got all the iPads back I was 7 minutes overtime and late to the other 3rd grade class, where I also ran over and they got a shorter recess because of it. The challenge is that reflection happens after the learning and with only a 45 minute class period, the time to learn quickly evaporates if you schedule 20 minutes for reflection and 5 for an introduction.
It turns out that when I talk about supporting reading skills through coding, I was missing the front line of reading in the classroom: directions. When it came time to create the video I wrote the steps, click by click, on the board. Truth be told I like to write directions based on desired outcome, not every button to press. After the first class I realized they needed click-by-click directions and even once i wrote those on the board I had to work hard to have the students read the directions. The hardest work was NOT ANSWERING THEIR QUESTIONS. Yes, I am a mean teacher. When they asked me what to do next I would look at their screen and tell them which step they were on.
I was surprised by how much support the students needed, and when they needed it. There were some who needed affirmation before they commit to each click in the process. I mentally set a long term goal of fostering more tech independence in this group. I want them to find through discovery instead of wait for directions, but that is another topic entirely.
So the workflow I asked 3rd grade to follow was this (rendered in outcome-based directions, not click-by-click).
1. At the beginning of class sign in to Drive app.
2. Launch Tynker app and continue where you left off last time.
3. Take screenshots as you work, either when you get stuck or when you figure out something great.
4. When the teacher calls for reflection time, launch Sonic Pics (iMovie, Explain Everything, 30 Hands, ShowMe -any of these will work).
5. Import one of the screen shots you created while working.
6. Record a short voice over (30 seconds to 1 minute) consider the following questions Why did you get stuck? How did you get unstuck? What did you learn?
7. Share to the Camera Roll on the iPad.
8. Launch the Drive app.
9. Upload the video to your Drive.
10. Share the video to Sam and your classroom teacher.
When I converted this to click-by-click instructions there were over 20 steps, and it was the first time I asked 3rd grade to use Sonic Pics. They have used iMovie before, but I avoided it because there is a large potential for distraction as they can see all the movies other users of the shared iPads have made. So for using a new app and a new workflow we were very successful. There were only a couple of students who were not able to share their video with me in class.
So while I was frustrated by running overtime, for the first time I finished an in-app programming class with real evidence of progress and what the challenges are for individual students. As I watched their videos this weekend I got a great sense of what we need to focus the next mini-lesson on and which students already understand those concepts, so they will be the voice of authority in those mini lessons.
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