Year Three

YEAR THREE

I am now midway through my third year as the Technology Teacher. I am still enjoying it and still struggling to put together a strong scope and sequence. But I know I am heading in the correct direction.

The new Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Standards for Digital Literacy and Computer Science Curriculum 2016 was released and became the basis on which to guide a strong technology program. A few items that need more focus... coding... robotics... typing... terminology... while keeping the students learning the Google Apps.

So far this year...and the plan forward...

Kindergarten- Students begin the year with mouse practice skills. I understand a lot of devices are touch screen and many mouse pads are on our devices. I feel that using a mouse allows for students to better understand why I am explaining commands such as right-left click. I also feel that the mouse is a better tool to help students with their dexterity. The students must think about the eye to hand connections. They must learn left from right. They also learn to scroll, click, drag, and click and drag. It helps them to better form their written letters and numbers. We use simple games that I put on my in-house website. I have found ABCYA to be a great source. I examine which games are age appropriate and allow the students to practice these skills. The most important objectives with mouse practice skills are the how to leave a game, and at the end of class, close the browser. We stress the TAB, little X, and the larger red X a lot. Pictures, screen shots, and posters are created as reminders. This concept takes a while but it is so important.  Mouse practice takes about 2 months to master, to a level where I feel they can move on. (School schedule-- 1 class every 6 days for 40 minutes). The students explore typing using the BBC Dance Mat programs and levels. They also learn basics such as drawing and printing with various online programs.

First Grade- This group really comes in as older kindergartners. It is not until about mid October that they begin to shed their "toddler-like" shells. I begin the year with their first class as a review on mouse practice. We move on to keyboarding. I use Typing.com with all of the grades 1-5 students. It is free (You can buy away the ads). It also allows me to have all of the students involve. Student with developmental disabilities use it. I can rearrange the students each year from classroom to classroom. My rule is you must complete all of the beginner levels before you may play the games. The site also has a typing test section, pretesting, midway testing, and post testing is possible. 

Moving on to other objectives, I have added Google Drawing to the mix and am exploring Google Slides- since the students have Google accounts, though the technology admin. has not given out the log-in information... I find that I have to create 140+ drawing or slides and share them with the kids via my in-house site and sort by teacher then student. Tedious to set up, but I can still access their work to help them. Next year, I will have Chromebooks and their usernames will not require the student address to log in, I hope to have the first graders on task as well.

Second Grade- Typing continues...and the second graders are truly introduced to the basics of the Google Apps. Logging in correctly can take a few months (and there are some students who still struggle). Once we get that established we re-explore Google Drawing- taking the basics to the next level. Google Documents is added as well as Google Slides. The students begin trying their hand at animations and transitions. I also try to tie the activities to real school situations, such as typing a document, adding illustrations, and using a social studies or science theme to drive the task. I always give the student the "researched" information to use (this would include vocabulary and explanations). It helps when differentiating work. Students with difficulties in reading and spelling do not have to struggle to come up with the information. The images and creative designs are purely from the students.

Third Grade- Third Grade students spend a little more time exploring what Google Classroom is all about. They used it in second grade, but just began understanding the basics of how to work within the platform. Now they begin to understand more parts and how to use it to make classwork more manageable. Third graders expand on Google Docs, Drawings, and Slides, explore Gmail, and try their hand at Sheets. They create simple tables and then choose different charts to display the information.

Fourth Grade- Fourth Grade work looks similar to Third Grade. Their activities include more application of the tools available within each Google App. They also continue with the Typing.com- hopefully moving into the intermediate sector.

Fifth Grade- Fifth Grade takes everything we focused on in grades 2-4 and looks at how students can use these apps to fulfill academic requirements (not only in 5th grade but as they move to the middle-high school). Examples such as, "if a teacher assigns a project you can use 'Google....' to show how you processed the academic information", are applied. Students get more "what-if" scenarios for problem solving situations that can occur when using the apps. When students need to rely on the technology to complete the work, we want to avoid having to lose learning time trying to solve a technicality. We also use Google Calendar, Keep, and Explore, to help students have more workflow tool options.

The curriculum also includes for ALL STUDENTS:

1. All do Typing.com (the Commonwealth has suggested benchmarks for each grade level on WPM). 
2. All do the Hour of Code- in one form or another.
3. K-2 use Code & Go Mice to learn basic coding with robots.
4. 3-5 use Ozobot Bit to learn basic coding with robots.
5. 1-5 will begin using Lego WeDo 2.0 robots this spring and throughout the 2018-2019 year. I will be exploring how to make them usable for Kindergartners. I may have to find a grant to add the Simple Machines to their curriculum.
6. 1-5 Students are using the Code.org curriculum to practice coding. The developers have updated the curriculum so that it fits each grade level and builds as the students progress. I have been through their training (free), in the past, and have signed up to attend a newer training session this spring. 
7. Digital Citizenship- AUPs, email etiquette, and over all smart technology use.