What a remarkable year! Despite COVID, hybrid teaching/learning and all the ups and downs surrounding the pandemic, my AP Computer Science Principles class did very well this year and recently took the exam. Congratulations to these wonderful students who diligently put forth their best effort in achieving their goals. Truly a job well done and a rewarding experience for all!
After my students have a good understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and how to produce a flowchart, my favorite project to introduce to my Intro to Programming class is the Escape Room Game. Students are asked to design, create and code their own game idea working in groups or on their own. They begin with a flowchart to organize their thoughts and end with a reflection about the process to identify their learning and issues encountered, but watching their growth in between is quite rewarding.
The excitement that they share with their creativity, design, troubleshooting and collaboration is always something special to observe. Giving them a blank slate and allowing them to each incorporate their own ideas is a key element of the project. Every game's goal and coded example is different and every student is given the opportunity to use their voice and ideas in various ways. The students are excited to learn, eager to demonstrate and in the end learned much more than how to code. They learned how to work together to solve problems and think outside the box to come up with a product that they can call their own. This is what teaching and learning is all about.
Fall 2020...off to a great start! In these unsettling times for educators, it is reassuring to know that there are technology tools to assist us with all of the important aspects of our curriculums. In addition to teaching and learning, we need to get to know our students through a different lens.
Online communications and interactions are essential to the educational system now more than ever. There are various forms of ice-breaker and "getting to know you" collaborative activities, but wanted to share this recent exercise that I used with my students. It was a great opportunity to hear their voices, see their faces and get a glimpse into their lives. I found this example activity online from @Caitlin_Tucker. She created several tech integration type templates and this one was a winner! Thank you, Caitlin! Simply create a Padlet, post an example, and have students answer some simple questions about themselves or create their own. A fun and rewarding activity!
