constructionism Category
Scratch vs. Swift Playgrounds
Posted on May 29, 2018 8 Comments
Ultimately, for me, it comes down to a single key issue: In the limited time we have with children each day in school, what is the best use of that time for learning? How are we designing and/or supporting powerful and empowering learning experiences for our students? I suppose you could think of it as a […]
Play and Learning (Part I)
Posted on March 4, 2018 Leave a Comment
Why is it that the older children get, the less play seems to be connected with learning? Personally, I think the two concepts are nearly synonymous. Sometimes I read things that imply that play is great for young children but not so great for older, more serious students. Often, the notion is that all children […]
How to learn?
Posted on January 19, 2018 3 Comments
Give it a try. Google “how to learn.” I was expecting to see various learning theories from psychology or philosophical discussions of ways that knowledge forms and develops in the mind. Surely something like assimilation or accommodation would be somewhere in the list…? Google provided me with various links to online courses or articles promising […]
5 ways to turn the ‘hour of code’ into the ‘year of learning’
Posted on November 26, 2017 8 Comments
Last year I posted an article called Turn the Hour of Code into the Year of Learning. This year, I wanted to share a few ideas about how you might do that. After checking out some hour of code activities with your students (this year, officially, December 4 – 10), take a look at the […]
2D mapping project in Scratch
Posted on November 19, 2017 Leave a Comment
This blog is a reflection on a Scratch project I have been working on. I wanted to capture, at an overview level, my thinking and progression through this project. The purpose of this post is exploratory and preliminary. I’ve started a collaborative inquiry with one of the teachers I am working with this year, and […]
Learning Design by Making Games (in Scratch)
Posted on October 21, 2017 2 Comments
During the summer of 2016, I read this book (left) edited by Yasmin Kafai and Mitch Resnick. I was inspired by Chapter 4 (called Learning Design by Making Games). In it, Kafai described her study in which a group of 4th grade students spent one hour per day (over a six-month period) writing, designing and […]
Show me the math!
Posted on September 7, 2017 1 Comment
Where is the math in coding? As much as I think that the connections between coding and mathematics are obvious, I think that there is a process involved in noticing and noting when mathematical concepts are demonstrated–some are clearly in use in students’ code and are easy to notice; other concepts are also in use […]
5 realizations that defined me as a teacher
Posted on August 24, 2017 2 Comments
Thanks to Jonathan So for the provocation: Top 5 Defining Teaching Moments https://t.co/QJHONWHIIh — Jonathan So (@MrSoclassroom) August 24, 2017 In my own mind, I prefer to think of my list as realizations that defined me as a teacher. Teaching grade one made me (professionally speaking) I have spent a total of six years of my […]
Star Wars and the micro:bit
Posted on June 22, 2017 Leave a Comment
“I wanted to make it play the theme from Star Wars.” So began a Grade 5 student’s response this week when I asked her what she was working on with her micro:bit program. It was her very first session with it but she, and the rest of class, did have several other experiences in recent […]
“Coding to Learn” Outcomes
Posted on June 15, 2017 3 Comments
[Updated July 2017] I want to share my set of “coding to learn” outcomes. These are the things that I am looking for in children who are coding in educational contexts. These are the targets in my mind. To me, these represent the powerful learning potential in coding to learn. “Coding to Learn” Outcomes Students […]
