My Thoughts on Robotics and Coding with Edison

Edison 2.0
via Edison

What are the 1-2 most important things you learned in this course?  How will these things be part of your future work as a teacher or librarian?

One important thing I learned in EDU772 is the role robotics will have in our future and how important it is for our students to be given an opportunity to work with robotics.  The Automation video was eye-opening, discussing how all jobs may one day be performed by a robot.  As teachers, it is our responsibility to expose our students to coding and robotics in order to prepare them for the future.  My district follows a strict curriculum, so in my ELA class it might be hard to expose my students to robots.  Some things I can do is provide them with articles that they can read on their own, or try to tie in robotics to my reading unit that talks about technology.

Another way I've exposed my students to coding and robotics, is by sharing my work in these classes with them.  I shared my homework assignments from EDU774 with them and they were intrigued.  I told them I was taking EDU772 and had to purchase a robot.  I was so excited to bring it in to class to show them, but unfortunately, we were quarantined.

I will continue to facilitate the WozEd coding club and plan on showing them Edison and the different programs he can run.  I also recently purchased something called a Juku Coding Kit.  I'm going to 'play' with it over the summer in hopes of sharing it with my students next year. 

 Juku Light Game Kit

via Juku Coding

What are 1-2 things you need to learn next to build upon what you learned in this course?  How will you learn these things?

To build on what I learned in this course, I would like to become more proficient in both Scratch and Python.  By becoming proficient in these two languages, I will be able to better teach my students in my coding club and maybe even expand my coding club to include these languages and robotics.  

To learn more about Scratch and Python, I will look for a websites, videos, and books.  The Scratch website tutorials and projects to review.  The Hour of Code website offers Professional Learning Programs.  There are also a lot of YouTube videos teaching different projects.  I really want to make that Raspberry Pi personal assistant!

via Raspberry Pi

I would also like to learn more about Raspberry Pi.  Because the price is so reasonable, it would a small investment to start a Raspberry PI club at school and I think the students would love to work with it.  I will need to explain why the school should make the small investment and I will need to be design a curriculum for the club.  Fortunately, the Raspberry Pi site offers free online training and a free two-day, face-to-face training program at the Picademy.  By participating in this training, you can become a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator.  This is definitely something to look into!   

Coding for Educators

via codingdojo.com

For the last 7 weeks, I have been taking a class, Coding for Educators.  I have little, if any programming experience, but I do like working with computers and new technology and was excited to learn this aspect of it.  We focused on Scratch, block coding and Python, a 'friendly' coding language.

One of the important things I learned in this class was how to use Scratch.  I feel pretty confident using Scratch and teaching it to my students.  I got some good ideas from others in the class on different ways to incorporate Scratch into my ELA lessons.  For fiction text, the students can create stories based on our weekly reading passages or they can create scenes based on their own original works.  For non-fiction works and biographies, they can create timelines or presentations depicting historical figures or events.  It is a great way for students to express their creativity.

Another important thing I learned was that I can teach programming to my students.  I do not have to wait for the computer teacher to teach my students a specific program or app.  I can teach my students the basics and have them experiment and troubleshoot.  I can be there to assist and help them.  Per the articles we read and the videos we viewed, it is recommended that students be encouraged to code and problem-solve; and, it's okay not to always have the answer.  I was surprised when I was looking for help with my assignments to find videos created by kids.  When working with Python, I found videos recorded by elementary age children explaining how they created their video game or project.  It is impressive!

My next step is to learn more about Python.  I was not familiar with it at all and don't feel as confident to use it with my students.  I have shown them what I learned and shared my projects with them, so that they have been exposed, but I would like to become more knowledgeable in it.  Some ways I can become more familiar with Python is by jumping in and trying to build on what I have learned.  I can find a learning community on Twitter or a Python coding blog to follow.  I can take a workshop on Python or maybe another class.

I enjoyed the class and appreciate all I learned and can't wait to see what my students create with Scratch!

Coding with SCRATCH - My Virtual Pet

This is my second week in EDU774.  This weeks assignment was quite challenging and it's only week 2!!  I used SCRATCH to create a virtual pet.  My virtual pet is Penny the Penguin.  When the green flag is clicked, Penny will say something and you will need to respond.  For example, if Penny says that she is thirsty, then click on the glass and Penny will drink.  Try it out below!

For my first week's assignment we had to try out some features.  I coded a scene utilizing the glide and animation features.  Click on the green flag and check it out!

Reflections

As my class comes to an end, I thought of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, The Places You'll Go.  This how I feel after completing this class.  I am surprised at all I have accomplished!  I created a blog.  I have more Twitter followers than I ever expected.  I created my own website.  I have a video on YouTube!  I participated  in FlipGrid videos!  Prior to this class, I never even accessed the webcam on my laptop!  With all this new found knowledge, I can't wait to see where this new path will lead!

via GIPHY

When I started, as I was reading the syllabus, I was very apprehensive about all of this!  I am a private person and would never consider sharing my thoughts online.   However, when I started completing some of the assignments and I reviewed my classmates' work, I thought this is a great way to share information. 

My Twitter experience was reading political tweets and the comments.  I thought of it as a waste of time.  I never realized the large educational professional learning network available on Twitter.  I found some great twitter feeds to follow and some interesting chats.

I believe that as an educator, I need to have an online presence to show that I am a digital citizen.  As education changes and moves to utilizing more technology, I need to show that I am capable and willing to use it.

via GIPHY

I plan on keeping my website active and updated, as well as my teacher page on the district website.  It is a great way to keep people aware of the amazing things that are happening in my classroom and school.

I am embracing the technological advancements I have learned about and will use them to meet the needs of my students and improve my instruction.

What a wild ride it's been...

The Power of Storytelling - Article Review

I read the article, The Power of Storytelling by Joe Saneflippo. I choose the article because I thought it was going to be about teaching students to be storytellers.  I was completely wrong!  The article was about the power of teachers telling stories about what is going on in "our classrooms, hallways, gyms and auditoriums". 

via GIPHY

The author explains how storytelling is a part of our culture from when we are children, listening to bedtime stories, to adults, meeting with friends and sharing what's been going on in our lives.  He explains how unique our jobs are, educating and interacting with a group of students everyday, and all the wonderful things that are happening.  As educators, it is our responsibility to be the storyteller.  Through storytelling, we need to share all the wonderful things we are doing at school, in our classrooms, hallways, gyms, and auditoriums.

via GIPHY

Today, we are fortunate to be able to tell our story through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or a blog!  We are able to reach a multitude of people this way and share our stories.  Through these different vehicles, we need to be able to capture the attention of the public so they can hear our stories.  We need to learn how to use these technologies to the best of our abilities so that we can inform the world of the magic we're creating with our students!  Not only will our stories get told, but I think, as a teacher we will get affirmation for the work we are doing.  I know, I only share stories with coworkers and my family.  I think I need to share some of my stories online, through my Twitter account and website.  I think my school website is the perfect spot to share some stories, so parents can see what is happening in my classroom!  When a parent asks their child about their day, instead of answering, 'nothing', the child can answer, "Check Ms. Bartuch's website!" 

It is an inspiring article!  I am reaching 16 more people than I was 8 weeks ago, thanks to my new Twitter friends!  I have a lot more to do and a lot more to share!

 via GIPHY

RESOURCES:

The Power of Storytelling by Joe Saneflippo

4 Inspiring Stories of How Great Teachers Changed Someone's Life

Inspired Every Day by Our Schools: 9 Amazing Stories about Students and Teachers that had Us Cheering in 2018

Digital Tattoos

This week I did a data mine on my self to take a look at my digital tattoo.  A digital tattoo is someone's online actions that are PERMANENTLY online, floating in the web.  The information posted online is much like a skin tattoo, as it cannot be easily removed from the site.  It is the same as a digital footprint, but tattoo sounds so much more severe.  It is because of this digital tattoo that I try not to use my full name or I drop a few letters off of it.  I don't like having all of my information so easily accessed.  I know, because of public record, there is a lot out there that I cannot control.  It is scary!

I first went to Google, which I've done in the past.  I expected to see the same things I've seen in the past, my name associated with my high school and some miscellaneous people search sites.  I was surprised to see someone with my name and a very busy online presence.  This Geri Bartuch has an Instagram account (@madetosharetocare.  I logged onto a site called Pikdo, which came up under Google.  This site shows her tweets and photos.  She describes herself as a Professional Lifestyles Blogger. I looked myself up under Pikdo, with my Instagram name, geribrtch, as well.  I am definitely not a Professional Lifestyles Blogger!  We are complete opposites. Take a look at the number of followers!

via Pikdo

What did surprise me on the Google search was finding my teacher web site.  I thought this could only be accessed through our school web site.  Stranger still, my teacher website is under Geraldine Bartuch, as is everything associated with school, not Geri.  I found my students' pictures that were posted on my teacher site under Google images!  We have permission to use student pictures on our web sites and the school's website, but again, I thought it was private.

from my website

I found a site called Raingrande.com, which is the similar to Pikdo.  It shows how many followers and posts you have on Twitter and Instagram.  There was not much about me on that site.  I wouldn't access it because it kept causing my virus scan to block malicious threats. 

I logged onto Nuwber, PeopleFinders, and Truthfinder and found basically the same information, name, both Geri and Geraldine, my age, home address, two old work addresses and old home telephone number and old work numbers.  Fast People Search was the most accurate and thorough for free.  It had my name and home address and work addresses.  It also included my home number work numbers and cell phone number.  I was surprised to see my cell phone number listed.  What was really scary was that it had aliases, every possible combination of my name, including misspellings!  It showed my current address and Google Earth images of my house.

I also went to the Better Government Association, and found my salary,and my co-workers', under the Data and Tools tab.  Interesting!

Facebook showed an old account under my name that I got locked out of and haven't been able to access for years.  My current account uses the same name as my Instagram and Twitter accounts, so nothing came up because I don't use the correct spelling of my name.

However, in this day and age it is important to have an online presence.  Employers do look for you online and it is important that they see that you are up on technology.  It's important to make our students aware of this, even at this young age!  They are constantly adding to their digital tattoo!  I am going to work on having more of a professional presence online, where I will use the correct spelling of my name!  I will still keep it separate from my personal online presence.  

Resources:  

What is a Digital Tattoo?

If You Don't Care About Online Privacy, You Should Read This

Social Networking & Computer Privacy

Professional Learning Networks and Twitter

Hi!     

I experienced my first live chat on twitter!  What an experience it was!  I have not participated in a  professional learning network outside of school.  I also did not know there were so many accessible through Twitter.  With the limited number of characters or words, I didn't think it was possible.  I was wrong.  There is so much available on Twitter, so many ideas and resources available, I was impressed!

via GIPHY

But, let me share my whole experience.  I usually just read tweets on Twitter, I never really participate.  I may send a 'like' here or there, but that's about it.  I reviewed the Twitter resources provided, but was still a little unclear as to how to participate in a live chat.  I tracked down a young teacher at school and asked what all those #s and @s mean when tweeting!

After she explained what I need to do when tweeting, I look at the calendar that was provided for a couple of chats that I might be interested in and search them out.  I learned that you need to make sure you have the right time zone!  I adjusted the time zone on the calendar.

I found a chat that looked interesting.  I logged on and this Tweet is there, with a link, "The 10 Best Novels Every Student Should Read".  I'm waiting but no questions were presented like I've seen in the chats I showed up late to, and nobody is responding.  I check out the link and make a comment, but no response.  Another person commented, but that was it.  I guess this was not a popular Twitter account.  I logged onto another live Tweet, #ECET2.  Tweets were moving back and forth, so fast I couldn't join in.

Finally, I found a chat out of Texas, @TXed, that was occurring the next day (and since they're the same time zone, I shouldn't miss it).  I Tweeted to see if I could join although I was not from Texas.  The moderator responded that all are welcome.

I joined the chat the next day and it was just what I expected!  The moderator remembered me!  The chat was basically how teachers were using Twitter and different accounts they like. I actually think it was perfect for a first live chat.  I have some new followers!  The most difficult thing for me when live chatting is remembering to add the hashtag at the end of my tweet.

I recommend TweetDeck highly.  It was great to log on to different chats.  It made it a little easier, because I logged on to two different accounts in case #TXed didn't work.  I definitely will do this again.  I am interested in joining a Teach Like a Pirate live chat, #TLAP.  That was one I missed because of timing.  Also, #TeachWriting2,  a chat that discusses writing instruction.  If you get a chance, check out #TXed.  They are a great group of teachers.

Resources

How to Participate on a Twitter Chat

How to use TweetDeck

40 Education Twitter Chats Worth Your Time