Today we learned about Scratch Jr. and it was an interesting step forward in learning about programming. I had been exposed to Scratch in computing when I was at secondary school and using it as a learner was engaging, fun, and I’ve got to say, slightly addictive! I was reminded of this when we began using it today. To me, the idea that I can create anything is really exciting and this programme provides all of the tools to make a game just as fun as the apps and games we play so often. Scratch Jr. is the version for beginners, meaning that it is easier to use but is slightly more restrictive with less options.
Nonetheless, for learners who are in primary school, this programme is perfect! It could be used throughout the school with all levels of learners. I have become interested to read more about Scratch and to gain in
spiration by looking at how other people use it for cross curricular lessons. When exploring the app I noticed that it had the option to have grid lines over the top of my chosen background. This would be perfect for maths lessons if the class was learning about coordinates, as it would provide a fun way to test pupils by asking them to move their character to certain coordinates on the grid.
The versatility of this programme means that it could be used for various types of lessons accross the curriculum and the only limit is your imagination; meaning that for most young children, this programme could be considered as limitless!
As we have now recognised that there are various different types of learners, I would fully agree with Sophie Curtis in her writing in the Telegraph titled “Teaching our children to code – a quiet revolution”, when she discusses the number of different skills that digital technology of this form can develop. She discusses the uses of coding throughout the stages of learning and goes on to discuss the fact that one of the main reasons coding is so important is because it allows children who feel they are at the bottom of the class, to express themselves in a different way. Giving credit to pupils for creating things and making sure that it is viewed as related to mathematic and literacy skills, making it go equal importance, will hopefully help more pupils to feel a sense of accomplishment and engagement with maths and literacy and eliminate the fear our old fashioned methods have installed.
So, last week in Digital Technologies we looked at various social media based sites for professionals and learners to communicate through. My time in school allowed me to come into contact with Glow at the very beginning of its rise in power within the primary school classroom. My primary seven teacher was very involved with Glow so I was lucky enough to use most of its features from time to time. As a class we did live video chats with authors of books we had been reading and with judges of competitions we had entered. I always thought of this as an extremely exciting way to connect and learn with others.
We decided on a first level lesson based on a book about a picnic which we would read to our classes and then use the foods from the book on the board. We would use this as a follow up lesson to data collection in which the pupils in the class would use the data collected about the favourite foods of the class. The aim of the game would be for the pupils to navigate the Bee Bot around the board, picking up all of the healthy foods and finally taking them all to the picnic basket. As the pupils picked up the healthy foods I would ask them why these foods contribute to a healthy diet and why the foods which they had not picked up do not.
This week in Spanish my lecturer provided me with numerous resources for teaching, when I am on placement and for when I have my own class. She suggested that we all begin to create files with different topics and online resources for that topic. I made folders for first level Spanish such as colours and days of the week which include worksheets which can be printed and links to online games and videos. This advice made me realise that four years is not as long as I first thought and being prepared with resources early on gives me more time and choice to be selective with and to make sure that I am using the best resources possible and getting the most out of them.
