March 2013 Meetup Discussion Notes: Supporting students and teachers using Scratch

At the March 2013 Scratch educator meetup at MIT, attendees participated in a group discussion to share lesson plan ideas, strategies, and approaches for supporting students using Scratch as well as for introducing Scratch to colleagues and other teachers in professional development settings.

For supporting students...

• harlem shake!
• start small and test often!
• encourage project sharing and remixing
• what would a book report look like in Scratch?
• independent, personal instruction: creating short videos describing key elements of Scratch that can be embedded or available to students
• when there are Scratch questions, utilize the resource available (ie: Google your Scratch question)
• letting students capture themselves in pictures or videos to share their personal interests, skills, goals
• get started with sensors using the microphone (ie: the loudness/loud? block)
• animate the students' concert song
• for using Scratch + WeDo,  start small: 1 sprite, 1 sensor
• assessment ideas: badges, rubrics, interviews
• incorporate classroom assignments (ie: create a maze of the digestive system)

For supporting teachers...

• make it practical: engage educators in lesson planning, make Scratch relevant for their classes
• have a beginner's mind
• hijack the class, but let the teacher stay in the room and have them participate along with their students
• leverage students as teachers/mentors

What other suggestions do you have?