Why Code?

Initially, when I chose coding as an area to explore further I thought I would find many articles, resources and materials.  From my previous post, you will have noticed that I found many websites that promote coding in the classroom and provide resources for teachers such as Canada Learning Code, CS Unplugged and Code.Org.  There seems to be a large percentage of non-profit and for profit organizations promoting coding in the classroom. However, I do find this very challenging as an educator with not knowing which ones are the best.  It is difficult to know if they have been vetted, or meet curricular standards. The vast array of websites available for teachers as well as the abundance of technology surrounding coding actually became overwhelming.  It seems like every week there is a new website, or technology tool/toy being released focusing on coding. I can see why this is causing some anxiety and discomfort for the teachers in my school.

With the abundance of websites and technology tools available on coding, I thought for this week’s post, I would try to dig a little deeper into just the literature available for teachers which could be shared so they understood the importance of coding. Unfortunately, since coding in the elementary classrooms is just beginning to see a surge, I found an absence in the literature directly related to the why for coding in elementary schools.  I was disappointed as I thought this would beneficial to share with teachers. I have shared a summary of the article which I found from last week, but since I was not satisfied with the links I found last week, I continued to search for additional articles.

Mak, J. (2014). Coding in the elementary school classroom. Learning & Leading with

Technology, 41(6), 26.

This article is a reflective piece where a teacher shares her experiences with coding in a grade three/four classroom.  She shares how she is integrating coding into her classroom lessons using Scratch, teaching about binary numbers and using robotics.  Mak shares her thoughts on the benefits of coding to meet the ISTE standards of creativity, innovation, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.  From this article, we are able to see how coding can address many different standards.

Lafee, S. (2017). CODING: The New 21st-Century Literacy? Education Digest, 83(2),

25–30. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/loginurl=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=aph&AN=124788424&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This article initially focuses on the need for computer science courses due to the shortage of individuals to meet the demands in the workforce.  It addresses the idea of coding being considered the new 21st century literacy and the need for our students to become literate in the language so they are able to meet the needs of the shortage. The article also mentions the minimal research available on computer science in classrooms.  As well as the concern for qualified educators, funding and adequate access are also noted as barriers for the lack of computing science in schools. This article also provides 3 different case studies of how coding is being used in the classroom. In all three case studies, each school paired with an specific organization such as Code.Org and MobileMakersEdu.

PRATO, S. C. (2017). Beyond the Computer Age. Children & Libraries: The Journal of

the Association for Library Service to Children, 15(1), 19–21. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx

direct=true&db=aph&AN=121641136&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The title of this article caught my attention.  My hope was it would share some of the why to coding.  The article is a public library sharing their best practices and tools they have used in the library.  This included sharing a list of Free Resources/Websites. In addition to technology tools to help facilitate coding, the article mentions coding with robots such as Dot and Dash & Ozobots which I mentioned in my previous post as well as coding with computers using programs such as Scratch.  

My key learnings and takeaways from this deeper exploration is we are still in the beginning stages of learning about coding in the elementary classroom.  We know coding skills are in high demand in the workforce however we are still learning the best practices on how to prepare our students for this workforce.  We are also still in the beginning stages of learning the best ways to help our students progress in coding. There is very little evidence on what areas of coding we should be teaching our children at such a young age. The draft of the Alberta Education new curriculum which was shared in my previous post has decided that the beginning stages will be on understanding directions, repetitions and ordering of steps. On the other hand, it needs to be noted that this curriculum has yet to be approved and has also been changed already due to teacher and parental feedback.

I am very interested to see how coding will continue to progress in classrooms in the years to come.  I am also very interested in the continued research regarding coding in the elementary classroom as it becomes available.  

Alberta Education.  (2018, July 19). Draft K-4 math curriculum - April 2018. Retrieved from

https://education.alberta.ca/media/3772067/math-april2018.pdf

Canada Learning Code. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.canadalearningcode.ca/

Code.org: Anybody can Learn. (2018). Retrieved from https://code.org/

CS Unplugged. (2018). Retrieved from https://csunplugged.org/en/

Huerta, M. (2018). Coding in the Classroom: A Long-Overdue Inclusion | Edutopia. Retrieved from

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/coding-classroom-long-overdue-inclusion-merle-huerta

Lafee, S. (2017). CODING: The New 21st-Century Literacy? Education Digest, 83(2), 25–30. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx

direct=true&db=aph&AN=124788424&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Mak, J. (2014). Coding in the elementary school classroom. Learning & Leading with Technology, 41(6), 26.

PRATO, S. C. (2017). Beyond the Computer Age. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for

Library Service to Children, 15(1), 19–21. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login

url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=121641136&site=ehost-

live&scope=site

Coding in the Classroom

Although only one week has passed since my last blog post, many things have happened during the week which has helped me narrow down my key words.  I have chosen to focus on coding as a keyword.   There are three specific reasons for this decision. First, I had a teacher approach me in the Library Learning Commons and say, “I don’t really get coding.”  As I asked her to clarify, she was honest with me and said she just doesn’t understand it and why it is important to teach our students at such a young age.  Second, last year as a school we purchased many pieces of technology which require an element of coding such as Ozobots, and Dot and Dash. However, with these acquisitions last year they were not really used and I am wondering if this is due to lack of knowledge on how to use or even how using these in the classroom can be beneficial. Third, this week I confirmed the Code Mobile from Canada Learning Code to come to our school. I want to make the Code Mobile visit a success so I feel I need to provide more information and research about coding to support the teachers and students in our building.


From my previous blog post, I mentioned Alberta is currently going through a curriculum re-write.  In this re-write there was a lot of discussion regarding coding being added to the curriculum. At previous working groups, the word coding was used throughout.  Now with the most released document, the word ‘coding’ has been removed but the skills needed for coding are still present.

Essential Understanding : Developing logical thought through reasoning enables us to achieve outcomes and solve problems with more specific learning outcomes related to directions, repetitions, and ordering of steps.

Through searches using the UBC Library, I came across a Coding in the Elementary Classroom (2014) article. This article shares some personal experiences of a teacher in a grade three/four classroom. She shares her students’ experiences as well as some suggestions on how to start including coding along with unplugged coding.  This article also lead me to another website called CS Unplugged  which provides lessons to teach Computer Science through games and puzzles.

The Canada Learning Code website where I booked the Code Mobile from also has many different lesson plans for teachers at various grade levels which are a great introduction for teachers wanting to try coding in the classroom.

I came across this great video about coding which was embedded in an Edutopia blog post about the reasons for integrating coding in the classroom.  The video is actually from a website that I am familiar with called Code.org. This website has many different areas to explore including lessons on how to learn coding as well as great tutorials that are popular for Hour of Code which takes place every December.

I also took time to explore the Code.org YouTube Chanel.  They have many videos and playlists curated which could be beneficial for teachers and students.

Another resource I have came across is Brain Aspinall’s website.  He also has a book called Code Breaker, which I have not read but looks very interesting. His website includes blog posts about coding, TEDx Talks, links to his YouTube videos but I particularly liked his 10 Reasons to Teach Coding blog post in collaboration with Sylvia Duckworth’s sketchnote.  This is a simple representation of the benefits of teaching coding to students.  

There are still many other areas I would like to explore further with regards to coding, including looking further into Non-Fiction and Fiction Books which could be added to our collection about Coding.  I would also like to explore the area of Computational Thinking since this key word emerged in many of the resources I located.

Alberta Education. (2018, July 19). Draft K-4 math curriculum - April 2018. Retrieved from

https://education.alberta.ca/media/3772067/math-april2018.pdf

Aspinall, B. (2015, May 26). 10 Reasons to teach coding. Retrieved from

http://brianaspinall.com/10-reasons-to-teach-coding-sketchnote-by-sylviaduckworth/

Mak, J. (2014). Coding in the elementary school classroom. Learning & Leading with Technology, 41(6), 26.

Moving our Library Learning Commons FORWARD in the 21st Century

I would like to provide a little bit of background information about my school environment so you understand the variety of issues, interests and opportunities present in my school context.

My school is currently going through a few transitions.  We are getting a brand new replacement school in the next year. Our school will move from a more rural location to an urban location with a much larger student population. Through the planning phases, all stakeholders including teachers have been an integral part in thinking about classroom layouts and best practices. This included thinking about technology philosophy, technology placement and equipment acquisition as well as adequate and equal access for all students. The other exciting aspect of my school context is I am the Teacher Librarian in our Library Learning Commons. I am new to this position for the 2018-2019 school year. Our library has always been facilitated by a library technician.  Within my district, elementary schools do not have Teacher Librarians so this new role is unfamiliar territory. With these two major opportunities in my school context there are many issues and interests to consider.   

In the past, our Learning Commons was just a place to take out books and with these two new opportunities the use of digital technologies can become more of a focus in the Library Learning Commons.  Our current facility space is very small with no windows but our new space is a focal point of the school. It is very spacious with many windows, moveable walls which open to a common area as well as moveable walls which open to another breakout room for additional space which my principal would like to be seen used as a Makerspace.  The addition of a Teacher Librarian also adds in more opportunities for technology integrations as I am aware of curricular expectations and how to use technology as a tool to facilitate learning.

The other interesting context to consider is my province is also going through changes with regards to curriculum.  In 2019, my province will implement a revised Teaching Quality Standard (TQS). This new Teaching Quality Standard addresses competencies teachers have to fulfill to hold and maintain their teaching certificate.  One of the revised competencies in the TQS is Engaging in Career-Long Learning which asks teachers to maintain an awareness of emerging technologies to enhance knowledge and inform practice (Alberta Education, 2018).  The addition of this TQS component asks teachers to look at current research, review their pedagogy to foster, engage, enrich, and enhance learning. This new competency, the new facility space, as well as my role as a Teacher Librarian will be to provide an environment in which this type of learning philosophy can take place and become a reality in our school.  

I feel the list of possible keywords to explore is actually overwhelming since there is so many different avenues for the Library Learning Commons to explore in this new adventure.  Many of the keywords are inter-connected. I am sure as I dig deeper into a few keywords many of them will address other keywords as well.

Here is my list of keywords displayed in a word cloud. These are words I would possibly like to explore further in moving our Library Learning Commons forward in the 21st century.  

Alberta Government.  (2018). Alberta Education teaching quality standard.  Retrieved from Alberta Education website: https://education.alberta.ca/professional-practice-standards/teaching-quality-standard/everyone/overview-of-revised-teaching-quality-standard/

Values, Beliefs and Assumptions of Teacher Leaders

Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly 

that they come to see it in themselves.    - Stephen Covey

A teacher leader is a vital member of a school community.  Teacher leaders help a school community grow and make the necessary changes to maximize the learning of students.   Below I will share my own values, beliefs and assumptions to be an effective teacher leader.

Upon reflection I have nine core values, I feel these values are not only essential to the teaching profession and education but also values a teacher leader should possess.  These values are respect, honesty, compassion, commitment, learning, enthusiasm, teamwork, leadership and trustworthiness.

As a teacher leader there must be mutual respect between me and any other stakeholder.  I need to respect the viewpoints and value the contributions of all stakeholder groups.  Professionalism and politeness are key to ensure a positive working relationship is established and maintained at all times.  

I must ensure honesty is maintained in all aspects of my relationships.  If I am to develop effective relationships I must be honest in all my interactions.  This will also help me to develop the value of trustworthiness. As a teacher leader I must earn trust through all of my interactions.  If I am untrustworthy in any situation I can easily jeopardize my effectiveness as a teacher leader.  It is important to take the time to develop the trust and relationships with others.  My honesty will hopefully show I have integrity and others will be able to trust and believe in me. 

Being a teacher leader does require you to value leadership.  From my perspective, I value transformational leadership.  I try hard to motivate the teachers and staff I work with.  I also try to show them different ways they can implement strategies, methods, etc.  I try to be a consistent role model in my classroom of how to execute new initiatives.  With the value of leadership, I also value teamwork.  Teacher leadership is about developing a team environment where collaboration of ideas and the sharing of resources is not only encouraged but also expected and rewarded.  By continuing to collaborate and share ideas we will also build capacity within our school as well as student success.  

I value enthusiasm and I think it has been a tremendous benefit for me as a teacher leader.  Throughout my teaching career I have had many individuals comment my enthusiasm is contagious.  I have been told this not only motivates them but also inspires them to try new things.  I feel a positive attitude has the power to change any situation.   However, with enthusiasm I also value compassion.  It is very easy to have your enthusiasm become annoying or overwhelming for some individuals.  I value compassion because as a teacher leader you need to understand where each stakeholder is coming from, their past histories, their apprehensions, and their burning questions.  Your compassion as a teacher leader will help stakeholders open up and share this information. 

Finally, my values of commitment and learning are essential for any teacher leader.  Teacher leaders are life-long learners.  They are always looking for new ways to improve their craft.  Myself, as a teacher leader, I hope I am showing others I value learning by attending professional development opportunities, continuing to take university courses such as this one as well as reading professional articles and books.  In turn, I hope this also shows how much I value and am committed to the teaching profession.  This commitment is giving your all to teaching and to kids.  Being accountable to standards, curriculum outcomes, but most of all committed to the success of students is truly what I value.  

I hold many beliefs as a teacher leader.  Below are just a few beliefs I feel are essential to be an effective teacher leader. 

I believe a teacher leader needs to be a strong communicator.  They need to be able to communicate effectively with all stakeholders to build strong cohesive relationships. As a strong and effective communicator, the teacher leader will make connections with others to finds ways to improve teaching methods, practices and question pedagogy.  As a strong communicator the teacher leader is always looking for new ideas for the betterment of the school community and ultimately for students.

I believe teacher leaders need to be well-organized; they need to be able to manage documents and find information easily.  They must be able to itemize and prioritize and have a systematic approach for keeping track of documents.  Although being well-organized and a strong communicator are essential, a teacher leader also has to have the humanistic approach and ability to be passionate and caring.  A teacher leader has to be passionate about the topics they are leading but also show a caring for kids as well as the other stakeholders in the community.  A well-rounded teacher leader is the only way to effectively help bring about change within a school. 

I believe a teacher leader needs to be an advocate for the profession.  It is very easy in our profession to go to work every day and become complacent in the issues and in the work.  In learning more about the political framework of a school organization, teachers need to become even more of an advocate for their profession.  Teacher leaders not only have to be advocates for themselves but also for students as they have a huge impact on what is best for kids.  Since this is my belief, I am an advocate for the profession by being the school’s local representative for the Alberta Teacher’s Association.  

I am actually sharing two assumptions I use to hold of teacher leaders that I have now re-evaluated. 

Old Assumption: Teacher leaders hold an evaluative role. 

New Assumption: Teacher leaders hold a mentoring/coaching role.

After learning more about teacher leadership and seeing effective teacher leaders, teacher leadership is a non-evaluative role.  Teacher leadership is about building capacity within a school.  It is about valuing collaboration and working together.  It is collegial and an opportunity for the both teacher leader and teacher to grow together.  It is about coaching as well as modelling effective teaching methods to improve the teaching and learning to best meet the needs of all students.

Old Assumption: Teacher leaders need to be veteran teachers with many years of experience.

New Assumption: Teacher leaders share a specific skill set with other teachers for the betterment of a school.

One of the basic assumptions I use to make about teacher leaders is the teacher leader needed to be a veteran teacher.   Although, I value experience I have also seen many new teachers coming out of university who have been able to guide and provide leadership with regards to technology and about current research.

 

I was able to rethink this assumption when my school began the process of becoming a Leader In Me school.  The idea of leadership is not only with teachers but also with students.  As a school we realized each child has their own strengths and we just have to tap into them.  The same holds true with staff, all teachers are able to be a teacher leader in some capacity.  We all have the power to lead our school towards school improvement, we just have to find a way to tap into those strengths and share them with others.  Developing teacher leaders “is about mobilizing the still largely untapped attributes of teachers to strengthen student performance and work toward real collaboration” (Kurtz, p. 38, 2009).

The values, beliefs and assumptions I have as a teacher leader I hope are reflected in this poster that is proudly displayed in my classroom for all stakeholders to see.  

References

Kurtz, S. (2009). Teacher leadership. Leadership, 39(1), 12-14,38. Retrieved from                               http://search.proquest.com/docview/204317962?accountid=458