What
happens when a group of K-Lo students take over a large classroom at
Lesley University? The students become the teachers! On Friday, March
28, 2014, twenty JK-5th graders joined the Lesley Community of Scholar's Day.
Seven technology stations were set up, each with unique tools to
related to computer programming. Last year, a group of KLO students
presented their Scratch projects in front of a packed auditorium. This
year, the idea was to engage the Lesley Community with hands-on
tutorials and let them try their hand at coding. Coding is writing the
computer language that makes up software, controls the computer, or
designs things like video games…just about everything on the computer!
The seven stations offered were: Scratch programming, MaKey MaKey, Lego
WeDo robotics kits, littleBits circuit kits, BeeBot robots, Python
programming/Minecraft and the iPad apps Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable .
Again the room was packed, but this time both students and
community members were abuzz with energetic laughter and curiosity. KLO
principal, Mrs. Gerber, made a littleBits "tickle machine", while the
CPS Superintendent, Dr. Jeffrey Young, controlled a shark "sprite" in
Scratch using a Leap Motion hand controller. Junior K students led
participants how to program the BeeBot robots to move in sequences while
practicing number and letter recognition. At the MaKey MaKey table, a
5th grade student challenged folks to figure out what materials were
conductive, with the end result being controlling a character's key
moves in Scratch with tin foil, water, and even through another person!
A
second grade student exclaimed, "This one person said they were trying
to learn Scratch for two years, and then she was able to figure it out
because of the way I explained it to her today!" The event really
exemplified the idea of learning through teaching. The students had to
communicate with a diverse range of learners and participants and it was
amazing to see their explanations develop and sharpen over the course
of the hour. Thank you to the Lesley and CPS communities for stopping in
to learn coding from these exceptional young teachers.
Photography by: Mark Teiwes