Karen Polstra
Design Notebook
Creative Computing Class 6/13
Week 1 - About me
What was surprising activity?
I have taught the old version of Scratch and I have played with the new version, but I was surprised at all the features that I haven't used yet. I am looking forward to this class.
How might you adapt it for the learners that you support?
I think this is a great activity. All kids love to talk about themselves. After we do an introduction to programming and then introduce Scratch, say though the Scratch cards, then I could use this activiy without any adaptation at all.
Debug It Activity
My debug strategy was to look for a similar element to the one that was used that might fix the problem. It was really somewhat guess and check.
For my students I explain to them how to have the program step through the code so that they can see where it is going and when it stops.
Pass it on ...
This was a fun activity. I liked the idea that I was only beginning the story and that someone else would finish it.
Remixing someone else's code was harder at first because you had to figure out what they wrote before you could add to it.
This would be a great activity for my kids because to tell a story you have to get good at broadcasting and receiving broadcasts and coordinating multiple sprite's movements.
Characters/Create a Block
Make a block is simply a way to group code that you think you will be using repeatedly. It is a function.
One of my characters is the running man. The other one is actually the grass.
Changing scenes
I didn't create a new project for this one because I had already worked with backgrounds. But I did look at some of the others work and I even helped one student debug he or her project (as requested). I was proud of myself!
Debug it week 2
I fully learned the difference between "broadcast" and "broadcast and wait". Also I practiced using the backpack to share scripts with other sprites. Very useful!
Week 3 - Games
Hit the arrows with the button to score 10 points before 15 seconds. I wanted to play with cloning so I didn't plan very well and my objective is kind of backwards, but I had fun creating it. So I learned to plan better. My favorite games are the ones with gravity. I haven't done one of those in the new version of Scratch yet.
Interactions - week 3
I have completed several of these tasks before but the "make the flower appear" at a mouse click sounded interesting.
Here is my version. I checked out several examples to make sure I was doing it the best way.
I also looked at several of the other puzzle solutions.
Scoring and Levels
I have previously written games that include scoring and levels. They are on the old version which I have not converted yet.
Debug it week 3
I think the debug its are my favorite thing because this really helps when you are trying to debug what the kids are doing. I debugged them all. The only one I saved was the Guess the Number game. I think the best debugging strategy is to practice debugging. For example, having to add a wait time after an event is so common, like in the one that was scoring wrong.
Week 4 - Workshop project
Problem - I am going to greatly expand my computer science curriculum and to teach more Scratch to 7th and 8th graders this fall.
Format - I am already well into writing a curriculum outline largely based on the "Exploring Computer Science" curriculum that I found sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
Week 4 - Workshop proj. cont.
Needs - I need more time. I am off to a great start but it is going to take time to finish with all the details.
Plan - Finish the outline and then start creating the materials that I need. Some of it I am just taking directly from the ECS course.
Keywords - computer science curriculum Scratch exploring
Week 4 - Educational Programs
I am spending a hugh amount of time going through the Exploring Computer Science curriculum that was included. I have gotten tons of ideas and am well on my way to writing my own curriculum. Thanks!
I don't think I have been surprised by anything. Overwhelmed maybe. The ECS class is really very close to the experience that I want to offer my students.
Week 4 Activity Exploration
Still overwhelmed!
So much stuff to sift through.
I have previously used the Scratch Getting started handout and the Scratch cards.
I downloaded all the stuff from the Royal Academy of Edinburgh. It looked helpful, although it is the old release. I think I am going to continue looking carefully at the Exploring Computer Science curriculum.
Week 4 Activity Exploration
It was interesting to look at all of the ready made options that I have as I teach Scratch.
They were similar in that they started with the basics and expanded from there. They were different in the method of presentation. They supported various learning styles in that some were printed, others were videos. Students can learn at their own pace.
Week 5 - Hardware and Extensions
I watched at least part of every single video because I was very interested in this subject. This year I am going to stick with Scratch, but next year I want to extend the project to include external hardware to give the kids something to put their hands on. My question is going to be which hardware will be the best for 8th graders.
Week 6 - Project Progress
My project was to write a Scratch curriculum to teach to my students. Actually it just greatly expands upon what I was already doing. I am probably about half way finished. It is nothing to write home about yet. I need to finish writing the outline and then actually the short handout that I am probably going to create. I might do this in Google docs and share with students.