(The image above is of an anchor chart explaining the steps in the Black Screen Challenge.)
When you hear "Black Screen Challenge!" follow these steps, as fast a possible!
1. Tap the power button to put your iPad to sleep.
2. Turn your iPad over so the screen is facing down.
3. Look at the person who said "Black Screen Challenge!"
(The images above are from a slide in the webinar I did for Wonder Workshop hosted by edWeb showing classroom managment strategies.)
I am working on a series for the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) blog on Positive Technological Development (PTD) and learning in a hybrid environment with Amanda Strawhacker. Our current post is on Choices of Conduct and I want to share the Black Screen Challenge. The Black Screen Challenge is a classroom managment strategy that I have been using for years. I can't remember who shared it with me. If you are reading this and it was you, please reach out and let me know so that I can give you credit!
I would introduce the Black Screen Challenge when first using iPads with my students, typically in the primary grades. We would talk about the challenge and practice doing it before going off and working on their own.
A few of the questions I would ask as I introduced it include:
Why do you think we want the screens to be shut off?
Why do you think we turn the iPads over?
Why do you think we do it quick?
Why do you think a teacher would need everyone to give their attention at the same time?
What do you think should happen if someone doesn't follow the steps in the challenge?
(The image above shows a classroom of young students using iPads in pairs sitting on the classroom carpet.)
If everything would go as planned, the Black Screen Challenge allowed me to get the attention of a the class in a matter of seconds!
I hope this helps! Let me know what other strategies you have!
A topic that I am incredibly intersted in learning more about and the impact it has on education is Artificial Intelligence (AI). You can find some of my work regarding AI at the following places:
I created a unit on chatbots. Chatbots and ELA: 5th grade students create a chatbot that will chat from the mindset of a character in the book, The Vanishing Coin, after understanding how chatbots are created and what purpose they serve. They will also learn about a lead developer who works on chatbots.
"The Hands-On AI Projects for the Classroom guides from ISTE and GM provide elementary, secondary, elective and computer science teachers with innovative curricular resources about AI across various grade levels and subject areas. Each guide includes background information and four student-driven projects that directly relate to subject area standards, while providing foundational learning on what AI is, how it works and how it impacts society."
Over the past few months I have been working with my friend Becky and her 6th grade Computer Science (CS) class. Her current learning situation is set at hybrid. Half of her class is in person with her in her classroom and the other half joins via Google Meet from their homes. We decided to see how we could support students in learning more about a CS topic of their choice through inquiry based research.
You can learn more about our project at http://bit.ly/InquiryBasedResearch . We share resources for each step in the process as well as presentations we have created for online conferences.
In response to distance learning due to COVID-19, we wanted to create a series of webinars to support educators and caregivers around the topic of Early Childhood Technology. I hosted the following webinars:
ScratchJR at Home
ABC's of STEAM
KIBO at HOme
How to Talk to Your Kids Without Giving Them the Answer
I've engaged in many conversations over the past few months with adults who are helping learners at home during distance learning due to COVID-19. A topic that often comes up is around the difficulty of the work and not knowing the answer or how to support their learner.
My first year not taking a "first day of school" picture for as long as I can remember so instead I took a "first product launch as a product manager" picture!
As a teacher, I would research and implement ways to use technology to help my students. This led me to my next position as a Technology Integrationist where I would often reach out to EdTech companies and researchers to share my thoughts and provide feedback for the tools I was using in hopes to make them better. Which led me to my next position as a Program Manager at a University where I was able to teach educators about early childhood technology and work with a research group focused in this area. This led me to my current position where I get to create the EdTech tools that are used in classrooms by students and teachers.
It has been an amazing adventure and I look forward to continuing to learn, share, and create!
Amanda Strawhacker and I are excited to share our thoughts around the Positive Technological Decelopment (PTD) framework and hybrid learning in a series of blog posts with Computer Science Teachers Association while keeping playground learning in mind.
I am trying to gauge interest in free Code.org Computer Science (CS) Fundamentals workshops for elementary teachers if I would offer them virtually in MN.
Could you complete this form and share with friends?
I am thrilled to share that I have joined Capstone as the Product Manager for Curriculum and Instruction and have moved back to Minnesota. I look forward to sharing the wonderful learning resources that Capstone has created to make fun learning experiences to support literacy through digital, print, and blended media formats for school libraries, classrooms, and homes. I love that I get to work at a company that values curiosity and let's it lead the way!
I greatly enjoyed my time at Tufts with the Early Childhood Technology Graduate Certificate. It was a dream come true for me to work with the people I did over the past year in the early childhood technology world of education and research. I am honored to have worked at Tufts. If you are interested in learning more, I am happy to tell you about the program and connect you with the new program manager. I will continue to be the biggest evangelist for the program and am so proud to have worked at Tufts University.
My first post letting you know more about my new position, how exciting! Below is information I have been trying to share with people I think would be intersted in learning more. Please help me! Let me know if you think there is a place I should post or send anyone my way with questions!
The ECT Program:
Are you interested in learning about using new technologies with young children in playful ways? Consider joining the Tufts Early Childhood Technology (ECT) certificate program, directed by Prof. Marina Umaschi Bers!
The Tufts Early Childhood Technology (ECT) certificate program is designed for educators and practitioners working with young children in pre-kindergarten through second grade in diverse educational settings such as schools, museums, libraries, and daycares. The program will develop students' knowledge and skills in technology and engineering with a focus on early childhood. Our online classes make learning flexible for busy professionals and parents. To join ECT this September, apply by August, 1st, 2019.All students receive a KIBO robotics kit!
Early Application Promotion: Submit your completed application for ECT by July 26th and receive a FREE copyof Dr. Amanda Sullivan's new book Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Reaching Girls in Early Childhood. In the book, you'll learn how to boost girls confidence & interest in STEM with hands-on activities and developmentally appropriate technologies.
Too many quotes to pick just one so why not share them all!
I am excited to share that I have started a new position at Tufts University as a Program Manager for the Early Childhood Technology (ECT) Certificate Program. I have learned a lot over the past 10 years at an educator in the St.Cloud Area School District 742 and am grateful for the opportunity to continue learning while at Tufts!
I have been following the work of the DevTech Research group for years. The research that has come out of the lab has changed the way I think about learning and teaching. I found the ECT program a year ago and would have applied to the program had I not been offered this position! I have been thinking a lot about Positive Technological Development (PTD) which provides children with the idea that technology can be used to make a better world, learning by doing, and powerful ideas. All of these are included in the certificate and I look forward to connecting with others looking to dig deeper.
Dr. Amanda Sullivan worked hard to create the ECT program and I am honored to take on the role of the program manager. I have followed Amanda's work with her focus on girls in STEM and I am looking forward to her book coming out this fall Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Reaching Girls in Early Childhood.
Interested in learning more about what I will be doing? Keep reading!
See a more detailed history of my work experience on LinkedIn
What will you be doing?:
My new position is the Program Manager for the Early Childhood Technology (ECT) Graduate Certificate Program in the Eliot- Pearson Dept. of Child Study & Human Development at Tufts University
ECT is a blended-learning (online and in-person) program that introduces students to best practices teaching with technology in early childhood in a developmentally appropriate way that focuses on playful learning. Additionally, this program develops students’ pedagogical approaches and their understanding of student learning through integrated curricula that includes the arts and literacy as well as STEM.
See what it looks like by following theECT Twitter account. Prof. Marina Umaschi Bers, is my boss. You may know her work, here are a few things we have probably talked about in the past:
Where will you be working?:
The Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development is one of the country's leading departments serving children, youth, and families. E-P faculty and students use a strengths-based approach in their research, practice and teaching. We value diversity and are committed to building equity, inclusivity and pursuing justice in schools, services, communities and the world.
Tufts, isn't that in Boston?:
Yes, it is in Boston! Are you planning a trip to the area or do you know someone who lives there? I am new to the area and living about a mile from campus. I don't know a lot of people and would love to meet you or your friends! Whose up for lunch today?! Dinner tomorrow?
I am excited for this next chapter of life! If you have any advice for me, I am all ears! I will continue to share projects I work on through this blog, my personal Twitter and the ECT Twitter account!
Instead of singing "you put your right hand in..." we sang "you put your Kibo in.."
Check out a few of our attempts at singing the song while our robots preformed our code.
Kindergartners got to experiment with different blocks and changing up their song.
This is how we pair program with Kibo. On partner scans the barcodes with Kibo and the other covers the barcodes near the one we are scanning to help the order in which the blocks are scanned.
The more research I have dug into and the classroom experience I have had with teaching Computer Science in elementary classrooms, I am learning how to introduce concepts through hands on work. Students are learning by doing. A concept which Seymour Papert, Marina Umaschi Bers, Mitchel Resnick, and many other CS education researchers share when writing about Constructionism.
Here is a lesson I did today in conjunction with a 3rd grade teacher to introduce ScratchJR. This 3rd grade class has expierenced programming Dash robots from Wonder Workshop and Ozobots. While this was their first time using ScratchJR it wasn't their first time programming.
At the end of this month I will go back into the classroom and coteach a lesson where 3rd graders will take a piece of writing they are proud of and animate it through ScratchJR. Using the screen record feature on the iPad, we will be able to share ScratchJR projects as a video in Seesaw.
As always, this is a lesson plan in development. Due to NUMEROUS snow/cold days this year, my schedule for teaching this lesson is off track. I am only on day two. I will share reflections and edit my document as needed. Please reach out with suggestions or additions. One area that I have been thinking about, a lot, is assessment. What would assessment look like in this lesson? Currently, I am thinking about growth mindset, creating a product, attitude when debugging, ability to collaborate, and connections with the voice of a character from the book we are reading.
As a final project, we are required to create a lesson plan to implement new learning. My lesson plan will teach a group of fifth graders about chatbots and then they will create one. This will take place over five days and I will do my best to share what happens as I reflect after each lesson!
Day 1 - Chatbot Introduction
We welcomed students, handled house keeping information, and I introduced myself as a guest teacher. We started with a Stand and Talk. Students broke into small groups and we handed them a paper. Their directions were to look over the paper as a group and for the next three minutes they would need to start every sentence with the words:
I wonder...
I see...
This activity is one that I learned at the last CSTA MN meeting I went to.
Let me tell you actually how I came across it. In 2016 I attended the Code.org Computer Science Facilitators Summit in New Orleans. I met Kaitie O'Bryan at the summit. She is a fellow teacher in MN but she teaches at the high school level. We connected while at the summit and have stayed in touch over Twitter since then. Fast forward to fall of 2018. We were electing new officials for our CSTA chapter and both Kaitie and I are now in leadership roles. She is our President and I am the Vice President. At our meeting in November, we partnered with CodeSavvy. At the beginning of the meeting we participated in two activities that could be used in classrooms. One was on computational thinking that Andrea led. The other was a Stand and Talk that Kaitie shared. She had first learned about it through this math webinar.
As an elementary technology integrationist, with a interest in learning more about computer science and teaching it every chance possible, I typically find myself feeling intimidated. I feel like I won't know as much as other people in the room and unsure if I will be able to complete the task. Even though I know this feeling well, I keep putting myself into situations where I am able to take on the task.
I loved this activity!
As I work to teach my students a growth mindset and that there is a lot of value in learning by doing, it is hard for me to remember at times. This activity put everyone at a level playing field. We were all wondering and talking about what we saw.
Now, back to the lesson.
Here is a glimpse into the classroom.
This is what they had to look at and talk about as a group:
Here are a few of the conversations that I was able to capture:
In the future I will incorporate more Stand and Talks into the beginning of lessons. While the videos above are only small clips of what happened in the classroom, I saw all students sharing what they saw and wondered, I heard them talking about the possibility of it being code and a conversation. I didn't enforce the "stand" part of the activity. This was at the beginning of class and I felt like it was okay for them to choose. If we had done this activity after they had been sitting for a while, I may have enforced the stand part of the activity.
Stay tuned for part two of the lesson when we get hands on with JavaScript and BitsBox!
Year 2 of the Student Powered Conference was amazing!
Logan kicked off our morning with his keynote. He is a student in Little Falls, MN. His message was about connection. He shared is journey and how a powerful connection with a teacher in his school has changed his life. Get a peek into his keynote here. "Wow Logan, that is awesome. How did you do that?"
With a generous donation from Kwik Trip and a local school district, we were able to share donuts and fruit with students at the conference. Have you ever seen 230 donuts? I am not sure I had until today!
Are you wondering with 4th-12th graders are passionate about? The sessions above were our breakout sessions but there were even more as poster sessions in the gym.
The team from my school district shared their robotics journey as an elementary team.
Watch for more information, videos, and photos from the day!
