Course Syllabus
Week 15: Celebration - Sit where you like and enjoy some pizza!
- Advice to future CS 402 students; randomize and read outloud
- Course feedback : Fill out anonymous survey and then we will discuss
- Final Portfolio: Due by next Wednesday
Week 14: CS Standards - Sit with whomever you like, filling each table
- Ice breaker: Describing your club experience on your resume
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CS Standards - (slides)
- Part A: Discuss in group of 3 which standards you cover in your club and respond in survey individually
- Part B: Develop one new lesson plan with your group; add yourself to correct "Group" for "Week 14: Standards" and then complete as a group assignment and share with another small group
- Last homework: Create a certificate to give to each of your students during your last club meeting (and final portfolio)
- Next week: Pizza celebration and your feedback to me about class organization
Week 13: Executive Function - Sit with "Executive Function" group
- Ice breaker: Visual learning. Draw a picture that represents the activity in your previous club meeting or what you anticipate for your next club meeting. Share with the others at your table. Pick one to share with the class.
- Executive Function, with your table AS A GROUP:
- Categorize subset of examples of working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility that could be seen in your clubs.
- Pick best 2 or 3 examples of age appropriate and age inappropriate (total of 4 or 6) for EITHER working memory, inhibitory control, OR cognitive flexibility (category depends on your table) and enter. Read aloud best ONE of each to rest of class.
- Last homework: Create a certificate to give to each of your students during your last club meeting (and final portfolio)
- Worktime: Prepare for your club or complete any late work you haven't completed...
Week 12: Happy Thanksgiving!!
- No lecture on Wednesday, November 22 (and no clubs on Wed, Thu, or Sun).
- Homework: Due by 4:30pm Wed after Thanksgiving, reading 'quiz' on Executive Function
Week 11: Showing Off Final Projects - Can sit with team
- Find your random group (named Random Groups of 4)
- Each person should demo their Final Scratch Project to the other 3 people in your group (20 minutes total)
- Each person should individually write up a quick summary of each of the 3 demos (5 minutes total)
- Name of person who created the Scratch project
- What did the Scratch project look like?
- What characteristics of a good Scratch project did it contain?
- What range of blocks or concepts did it use?
- On a scale of 1 (low) - 5 (high), how likely would you use this as a demo for the students in your club?
- Executive Function: Working Memory, Inhibitory Control, Cognitive Flexibility
- Work Time: Prepare for clubs...
- Homework: Will be after Thanksgiving, related to Executive Function; will send email announcement
Week 10: Preparing for Final Projects
- Ice breaker: Sit at a table with people who are not from your site; try to have an even number of people at your table
- Discuss with person A and Write-up: What are you struggling with most at your club -- with your students, with your team, or with your own mindset or situation? What suggestions does the other person have for addressing these challenges? (One write-up per person; include your partner's name.)
- Discuss with person B and Write-up: What would you like to do in the final 4 Wednesday evening CS 402 lectures and why? For example, use almost all of the 90 minutes for unstructured free club prep time? Have mostly club prep time but with some structure (e.g., expected responses)? Read/discuss more papers about CS Education in general? Read/discussion more papers about other CS clubs or projects for kids? Read/discuss more about teaching tips? Anything else you would like to discuss that we haven't so far? Some combination of those activities? This response should be set up as a graded, anonymous survey, so both of you should submit something.
- Discuss with half table: What are the characteristics of a good final project for the kids at your club? What will a good final project look like? What range of blocks or concepts will it use? How complex will it be (e.g, how many sprites, costumes, scripts)? Put thoughts on shared whiteboard.
- Work Time
- What would you create for a final project in Scratch? Give yourselves about 45 minutes to create something in Scratch (45 minutes might be equivalent to what your students could complete in 3 hours -- I'm guessing).
Create a new Scratch project that you could use to motivate the final project for your kids in your club or something to teach your "advanced/returning" kids.
The Scratch project should be something more advanced than the basic 9 Scratch lessons you implemented at the beginning of the semester, and different than any of the lessons you taught the kids or will teach the kids.
Just implement something interesting that gives you more time to explore what can be done in Scratch. Feel free to talk about your Scratch project with your neighbors...
Do not remix any existing projects!
To submit (before class next week):
1) Share it on your Scratch homepage
2) Place it in this studio: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/4434034/
3) Submit in Canvas the Scratch website URL for your project. - As a group when your site is called, go through your mid-semester portfolio with the instructor to make sure you met expectations for the portfolio.
- Meet with your team to prepare for your next club...
- What would you create for a final project in Scratch? Give yourselves about 45 minutes to create something in Scratch (45 minutes might be equivalent to what your students could complete in 3 hours -- I'm guessing).
Week 9: Cyber-Bullying
- Ice breaker: With 1 other person in your pod, try to get back in the mindset of a 4th/5th grader
- What were your favorite activities as a 4th/5th grader? For example: What were your favorite classes? Books? Movies? Games? Sports?
- What was your personality like as a 4th/5th grader? What was your school like? Do you have a memory of any particularly good or favorite event?
- Would you have joined the Scratch club if it had been a choice? Why or why not? What would have been the best way to motivate you in the club? What would your final project have been?
- Whole Class
- Cyber Bullying: Scratch
- Identifying and Avoiding Micro-aggressions:Examples of Microaggressions
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Group Time
- Mid-Point Semester Portfolio (Group)
- Free Club Prep Time
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Homework
- Mid-Point Semester Portfolio
- Weekly reflections and Lesson Plans
Week 8: Sharing Work and Giving Feedback to Your Teammates
- Sit at pod with no one else from your club site; try to have an even number of people at your table.
- Ice breaker: Who has had similar experiences in club as you?
- Whole class time: (until 6:00)
- Share good teaching videos
- Work time with someone not from your site:
- Until 6:10 -- Partner A: Share how you organize your club, prepare, and divide work across your teammates; write up what they do at their club.
- Until 6:25 -- Partner B: Find something in Scratch that one of you didn't know about (a block, a shortcut, an interesting project, anything); find something for other person; write up the new Scratch feature you've now seen.
- Partner C: Role play any lesson (5-10 minutes) suitable for club: any past or future plans; other person gives feedback; swap roles...
- Any remaining time: Work time with your site
- Prepare for your club...
- Homework:
- Group Feedback: Send email to your group members with constructive feedback (cc instructor)
- Continue weekly reflections and lesson plans; remember to think about formative assessment during your clubs
Week 7: CS Unplugged Activities
- Ice breaker: Find your group of Scratch blocks
- Whole class time (until 6:10)
- Any non-Scratch activities you've done that have worked well?
- Demo Parity Magic Trick
- Post-its to track behavior
- Growth Mindset for kids who are getting frustrated...
- Work time with randomized group: Discuss Behavioral Scenarios (until 6:35)
- For 6 of the scenarios: rotate who starts discussing and post a response in the corresponding Discussion (be sure to use Work Time discussions)
- person 1: reads scenario out loud
- person 2: I think a good response to this would be <insert idea x here> and elaborate on why.
- person 3:
- option 1: I agree that it would be a good idea to try <insert idea x here>. I also think we could try <insert idea y here> and elaborate on why.
- option 2: I think <insert idea x here> is interesting, but I would modify it a little by <adjustment x'>.
- person 4: build from persons 2 and 3 by adding new ideas or making adjustments.
- person 5: summarizes what has been said (not *who* said what, just the ideas).
- person 6: writes down in Discussion the summary of what you agreed on
- For 6 of the scenarios: rotate who starts discussing and post a response in the corresponding Discussion (be sure to use Work Time discussions)
- Work time with your club site
- Try the Stroop effect experiment; role play it as if you were doing this in your club OR
- http://www.psytoolkit.org/lessons/stroop.html
- To record work, enter your Stroop differential when you tried this with your group
- Prepare for your club and do the Stroop effect experiment as homework before next week
- Try the Stroop effect experiment; role play it as if you were doing this in your club OR
- Homework:
- Continue weekly reflections and lesson plans; remember to think about formative assessment during your clubs
- Find and watch a short teaching video that you found worthwhile enough to share with the class
- If did not do in work time, do Stroop effect experiment before next week
Week 6: Assessment Techniques
- Ice breaker: Speed sharing - Two concentric circles; 3 rounds: what was your lesson plan last week? what are you struggling with? a tip or a suggestion for something you've found works well.
- Whole class time:
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Work Time:
- Plan for next club
- Role Play (will swap with this site next week) - start by 6:35
- Presenter -> Audience of Kids
- Lowell -> Van Hise
- Crestwood -> Olson
- Midvale -> MCM
- Randall -> Emerson
- Thoreau -> Marquette
- Stephens -> Shorewood
- Muir -> 1 Shorewood, 1 Marquette, 1 Emerson person
- Write up your feedback or your objectives: Week 6 Work Time
- Presenter -> Audience of Kids
- Homework:
- Continue weekly reflections and lesson plans (updated with per-site due dates)
- Start doing formative assessment in your club
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Read CS Unplugged and take quiz
Week 5 : Beginner-Appropriate Lessons
- Congrats on first clubs! Pizza!
- Discuss with other site at your table (sit alternating):
- Something that went surprisingly well and you would recommend
- Something that you could use suggestions to improve
- Updates: Something positive you would recommend doing at other clubs (e.g., teaching style or substance, classroom management, Scratch tip)
- Discuss with other site at your table (sit alternating):
- Homework due today:
- Individual Club Reflections for each week and Group Lesson Plans starting with Week 2
- Due TWO days after your club
- Challenge Sheets for Week 3 from Muir and Marquette
- Reading on New Frameworks with quiz
- Individual Club Reflections for each week and Group Lesson Plans starting with Week 2
- Whole Class:
- Checkin: Get Materials for Unplugged Lessons
- Work Time:
- Plan for next club
- Role Play (will swap with this site next week) - start by 6:35
- Presenter -> Audience of Kids
- Van Hise -> Lowell
- Olson -> Crestwood
- MCM -> Midvale
- Emerson -> Randall
- Marquette -> Thoreau
- Shorewood -> Stephens and Muir
- Write up your feedback or your objectives
- Presenter -> Audience of Kids
- Homework:
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- Continue with weekly lesson plans and reflections
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Read "Motivate Students to Succeed" (Section 8, pp 221-226, in The First-Year Teacher's Survivial Guide by Julia Thompson) and take "quiz"
Week 4: Club Content
- Ice breaker: What Scratch block am I? (5:30 - 5:45)
- Talk with people outside your club and ask them what went well and what didn't on their first day
- Whole class: (5:45 - 6:00)
- First day experiences -- anything particularly well? any catastrophes? do you need to do anything differently next club?
- Pick representative from your team different from last week
- Connect to previous club: either "Similar to the previous club, we also had problems with X..." or "Unlike the previous club that experienced X, we had experience Y..."
- Attention getting techniques
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/silent-attention-getting-technique
- First day experiences -- anything particularly well? any catastrophes? do you need to do anything differently next club?
- Homework Due at Start of Class:
- Work time
- Figure out how to display pod laptop on pod display
- Sign up to create standard challenge handout for one week
- Read these tips and pick one you like (Finish by 6:15)
- http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip54.html
- Go to another table and use your technique with them
- Prepare for next club (Finish by 6:40)
- Look through 12-week club plan overview and Week 2 handout
- Look at Advanced Lessons if needed
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Role play lesson OR discuss Club Tips (6:40 until end)
- If role play: Practice giving lesson out-loud to others in your team
- Use projector; make lesson as interactive and real as possible; teammates should ask/answer questions as if they are in your club
- In Canvas: State which week's lesson you role played and give brief feedback to presenter or things your group will do differently
- If Discuss Club Tips
- Structured discussion to encourage everyone to talk:
- For each subtopic (e.g., Overall Tone and Goals):
- spend about 1 minute independently reading suggestions and picking 2 suggestions that you either:
- agree strongly with and plan to follow in your club
- disagree with
- have some question about
- Each person in your group shares 1 of the suggestions (try to not repeat what others said) for about 30 seconds
- spend about 1 minute independently reading suggestions and picking 2 suggestions that you either:
- In Canvas: Record how far your group got through the Club Tips list; summarize something that you all agreed with.
- If role play: Practice giving lesson out-loud to others in your team
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Homework:
- Continue personal weekly reflections
- Record weekly lesson plan (per group)
- Read http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/resources/new-frameworks-studying-and-assessing-development-computational-thinking and take "quiz"
- Look through Harvard Curriculum
Week 3 : Prepare for first Club
- Ice breaker - Read back advice from previous CS 402 students
- Site visit surprises? Future transportation? How many kids?
- Site demographics
- Homework Due at Start of class: Read past portfolios
- Work time:
- Prepare for First Club! Who will do what? Go through every detail! Role play using laptops and whiteboards!
- Suggested Lesson Plan here
- Finish intro letter from your group; distribute to kids at end of 1st club
- Finish site demographics "quiz"
- Peer review of any Scratch Motivational Projects or Scratch Lessons that are done, but you didn't review yet
- Extra Time? Start homework for coming week; think about Week 2; discuss Club Tips
- Prepare for First Club! Who will do what? Go through every detail! Role play using laptops and whiteboards!
- Checkin: Return site contract (if you did site visit), get nametags, get t-shirts, get posterboard
- Homework
- Week 1 Club Reflection: due 2 days after your club
- Becoming Established with Student Groups (quiz)
- PB and J (quiz)
Week 2 : Get to know your site
- Ice breaker - Rock/paper/scissors within site and then group
- Discuss site visits (Bring background check to site, checklist, and fill in contracts)
- Role Play: What should you do for first club meeting?
- https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/setting-classroom-tone
- 12-week club plan overview
- Algorithm Handouts (in Canvas Files)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc
- Your motivational projects: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/4261460/
- Week 1 Handout in Google Drive
- Work time for each Team:
- Use laptops for Canvas Peer Review of Scratch Motivational and Learn Scratch Homework
- Finalize transportation for site visit, discuss Club Tips
- Checkin: Completed background check form, any remaining club matches
- Homework: Site visits, intro letter, read portfolios, site demographics ("quiz")
- Week 1: Introduction to Course
- Ice breaker - Continuum
- Intro to course expectations, sites, and Scratch
- Work time for each Team: Discuss personal goals
- Checkin: Finalize UW student matches to sites
- Homework: Background checks, 3 motivational projects, setup transportation for site visit, learn Scratch
- This 2-credit service-learning course helps UW students lead afterschool and weekend clubs focusing on CS Fundamentals and Scratch programming.
Computer science (CS) is revolutionizing all of our lives. Innovations in computation drive our economy and underlie almost all our advances in science and engineering. To flourish in today's world, everyone needs to understand not only how to effectively use computers and technology, but also computational thinking. Computational thinking is a way of solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science; computational thinking enables individuals to specify solutions so precisely that even computers can follow the directions. Although computational thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists, most individuals are not exposed to it
The primary objective of our clubs is to introduce the benefits of computation to the next generation. Our next generation’s scientists, engineers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and artists must all be able to innovate using computation. Therefore, we propose to introduce elementary and middle school students to computational thinking. We believe this is the ideal age because the students are mature enough to understand key mathematical concepts and have acquired basic computer-usage skills, yet are young enough to have few misconceptions about computer science. Our secondary objective is for students to obtain experience with the creative aspects of computation. One of the empowering aspects of computation is that individuals are not limited to being passive users of technology; instead, even novices can create their own original games, stories, art, music, and more.
In this course, each UW student is part of a small team (2-4 UW students) responsible for leading an afterschool (or Sunday) club. The clubs are held weekly and involve the same group of kids each week. Each UW student is expected to be a club setting for at least 10 hours over the semester; the afterschool clubs are all 1 hour (or 1.5 hours) each and run for 10-12 weeks. UW students are expected to spend time preparing content for each club meeting; most of the content is centered around programming in Scratch (see http://scratch.mit.edu).
Tentative Future Weeks
Week 14
- Ice Breaker: Describing your club experience on your resume
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CSTA Standards: (Links to an external site.)How will future clubs need to change? (slides) (Links to an external site.)
- Split into groups of 5-6
- For your assigned page and each standard:
- Do we cover this standard currently in our clubs? If so, how? If not, should we?
- Will we need to do something different in our clubs if this standard is covered in schools?
- Pick one standard on your page: elaborate on how this could be covered in the current clubs (in way we are not currently)
- Pick a different standard on your page: elaborate on what advanced topic to continue in club if this is covered in schools
- Last Homework other than Portfolio: Make Certificates
- Role Playing: What next?
Week 13
- Last Homework other than Portfolio: Make Certificates
Course Summary:
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