MaKey MaKey...What problem do you want to solve?

This has been a fantastic year of thinking, learning, growth and development amongst many of the teachers and students across the districts that I have been working.  From learning and integrating Google Drive, Google Classroom, Flipped lessons, Coding, and finally STEAM integration.  The most important item in the classroom is that students are learning, growing, stretching and reaching their fullest potential.

As this year has come to a close, one class at W.E. Cottle received a grant from Donors Choose for 5 MaKey MaKey's .  Now the name, MaKey MaKey, may sound funny but a "MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It's a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything in between".  Class 5B at W.E. Cottle had already experienced coding through the Hour of Code and through two projects in CS-First.  These students also had the opportunity to freely create their own projects in Scratch (Tardis Pi  and Google Thank You's) and had the opportunity to present these to Googler's in NYC (Cottle 5B Goes to Google).

Students were required to use their knowledge and understanding of problem solving as well as computational thinking, as well as learning a few lessons in conductivity to create musical instruments in groups of 4.  Each group had a:

• Recorder -the note taker; responsible for recording the happenings of the day
• Musician -in charge of creating the music/coding
• Artist -in charge of creating the design of the project
• Leader -in charge of keeping the group together and on track; in charge of keeping all the parts together, making sure all the parts were taken out and put away at the beginning and end of class, etc.

MaKey MaKey Photos and Videos 

The students were required to use their knowledge of:

• Science -to understand and apply how conductivity works 
• Technology -to code and synthesize how the MaKey MaKey's  
• Engineering -to create their instruments in a manner that would make them play
• Art -to design an instrument out of whatever materials they deemed fit
• Music -to create music and a musical instrument while making the computer "play" the music how they want
• Math -to create their design and code their instrument
• ELA- to record their progress as each day passed and predict what would occur on the next day

This was just one of the many innovative projects that has been completed across the many districts this year! 

So as we come to this year's close and next year's opening, let us reflect and think...

WHAT PROBLEM DO YOU WANT TO SOLVE?

Cottle 5B Gets Googly

Cottle 5B Goes to Google 

Today, Cottle's 5B class had the opportunity to tour Google NYC, showcase their CS-First projects, and visit the YouTube Studio.  This experience allowed the students into the daily lives of a Googler.

While showcasing projects, Kevin Fields (our Google Liaison), said that the students' projects were good enough to even be in the Google Play Store.  The students were so proud and through the tour and Q+A session, they really started to understand what it meant to be "Googly".

 Remixed CS-First Projects

Thank Yous

TEDX "Lucky is a Lie", Problem Solving and CS-First

This year, W.E.Cottle Elementary School and Ramapo School District embraced the idea of computational thinking and problem solving as a core concept and began implementing Google's CS-First Coding program. What first started in one class, has now grown to two districts, multiple classes and hundreds of students in only a matter of months.  

The CS-First program is not only about teaching students about coding but predominantly about how to PROBLEM SOLVE while promoting self confidence and pride in the ability to create and succeed at a difficult task. In the next 2-5 years the job market will be flooded with over 2 million unfillable jobs and through teaching students how to PROBLEM SOLVE, these students will be able to accomplish anything. 

JaimeSue Goodman, in her opening two minutes of her TEDX, "Lucky is a Lie", references one of the students in W.E. Cottle Elementary School.  She speaks of the pride the student has when sitting at her seat, the prior knowledge the student uses when coding her "game" and opportunities the student realizes that has been opened up to her, through programming.  

Below is the TEDX Talk "Lucky is a Lie" presented by JaimeSue Goodman and the Playlist of CS-First Videos from W.E. Cottle Elementary School.  It is always wonderful to see student and teacher work recognized on a larger scale.  

LHRIC TECH EXPO 2015

LHRIC TECH EXPO 2015

The LHRIC TECH EXPO is a great time to learn and explore some of the new tools as well as what other teachers and districts are creating and exploring with their students.  This year TECH EXPO 2015 centered around the Makerspace movement

Thank you to Jennifer Cronk, Jesse Lubinsky, and Sabrina Rich from NYTECHED for creating this collaborative note taking space.

http://bit.ly/lhrictechexpo2015

There were a great number of presenters including our very own Dr. Merrily Besvinick from Tuckahoe's W.E. Cottle Elementary presenting on:

There IS Time for Coding in the Common Core Curriculum!

The majority of the conference was focused around: 

• Makerspace
• Coding (CS-First and Scratch) 
• AND
• The incorporation of the two (Makey Makey and LittleBits) 

The incorporation of collaborative thinking and computational thinking was also infused throughout all of these topics. Google has a great resource page on many topics: 

Google Resources

• Computational Thinking
• Computation Thinking Lesson Plan Resources
• Computational Thinking Resources 
• Summer of Code 2015
• CS-First
• Google.org
• Code Jam 2015
• Maker Camp 2015

Tuckahoe Goes Google --- NO --- Tuckahoe's GOING TO Google!!

​I am VERY excited to announce that Merrily Besvinick's 5th grade class has been chosen to visit Google in NYC as part of the work they have been doing with CS-First.  Dr. Besvinick's class became very excited about coding after they participated in the Hour of Code. Merrily and I sat and tried to think of a way we could incorporate Coding into a weekly part of the students' day. (In the January 16 post entitled "CS-First, Scratch, Fifth Grade and Coordinate Geometry", you can read more about what we created and the work the students, Dr. Besvinick and I were doing with the students.)

On May 1, Dr. Besvinick's students will spend the entire morning at Google in NYC. The day will include:

• A tour of the Google office
• A panel of speakers who talk about what it's like to work at Google
• The opportunity for some students to showcase their project to a larger audience

This will be an opportunity of a lifetime for some of these students and true authentic learning and instruction. I have started a YouTube Playlist taking short video clips of student's asking them just three questions (sometimes more probing questions once I am with each individual student):

• What did you do?
• Why did you do it?
• Do you like Coding?

The level of detail in response to some of these questions are fantastic! Also in the YouTube Videos I have linked the "Games" the students have created in the description below the video (you will have to open the videos below in YouTube' to access the students' games).  

Congratulations Tuckahoe Students, Dr. Besvinick, and Tuckahoe Administration for assisting in making this all happen.  I look forward to seeing the look on the eyes of these students as they walk in to the building and they see the big GOOGLE sign and realize they are standing in GOOGLE NYC Headquarters!!

Cs-First, Scratch, Fifth Grade, and Coordinate Geometry

Over the past two weeks, I began taking Merrily Besvinick's Fifth grade class through CS-first.com's "Game Design" Club.  Some of you may first be wondering, "What is CS-first"?

"CS-first is a free program that increases student access and exposure to computer science (CS) education through after-school, in-school, and summer programs. All clubs are run by teachers and/or community volunteers." http://www.cs-first.com/overview 

This program has been created in order to, "Increase confidence, instill courage, grow perseverance, provide a sense of belonging, and demonstrate the impact computer science will have in the future." http://www.cs-first.com/overview 

In the Dr. Besvinick's class we have noticed a multitude of outcomes in the two weeks that we began implementing the program.  

During the time that I am working with the students, the class productivity has risen astronomically. I typically work with groups of 4-5 students for approximately 30-40 minutes each.  During the time that I am working with one small group, Dr. Besvinick is either working one-on-one with students or students will have a variety of assignments to complete (from ELA to Math, Geography to Reading and Writing, etc.).  Classwork and motivation has increased dramatically.  Students are more productive (and effective NOT JUST EFFICIENT!)  Although these student's just believe that they are "just making a game" they are learning in the process.  Last session, I was teaching the students coordinate geometry as students needed to understand the x and y axis of a plane to understand how different sprites moved across a screen and from what position they started, ended and then returned to.

Overall, Dr. Besvinick and I have seen growth in just the few sessions that we have been working with the students.  I am excited to see where these students will go in the future with this program.