Short term Scratch "Professional Learning Community" project volunteers?
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Karen Randall
Member
March 27, 2010
Want to connect more directly with other educators over the context/concepts/integration of Scratch in your teaching?
I am looking for five or so teachers who would be willing to help me with an assignment for a unversity staff development class. We are asked to facilitate a group of teachers learning collaboratively in at least four meetings. I'm interested in trying out an on-line version of the assignment and it would be fun to play more with Scratch at the same time.
The project needs to be completed by March. The learning focus and mode of communication depends on the interests of the group.
My direct contact is karensrandall@gmail.com, or post a reply....
Karen R.
Project update:
Our learning community is underway, with others still welcome to join in. One activity will be an on-line chat about how people design their Scratch lessons. Do you directly guide kids through projects, use a "discovery workshop" method, or a combination? What do you notice about the learning?
If this interests you, send me an e-mail with your direct e-mail address. It is fun to be talking with people from around the world!
Karen Randall
karensrandall@gmail.com
We've scheduled the conversation about lesson design for 14:00 GMT on Sunday, Jan. 24.
This sounds like a great discussion. Is it possible to share the conversation with the broader ScratchEd community? (E.g. bringing questions back to the community or sharing transcripts of the online chats)
Thanks!
K
We're taking notes, and can post a version on Scratch-Ed.
That's great! Thanks!
If you have some room in your porject, I am very interested. I have many years working with this kind of enviroment and Scratch is really great for reasoning skills development:. I am sure than Scratch could be learned using it.
Miguel Angel
Happy New year!!
Saludos desde Mexico
Hello Miguel,
You are welcome to join in. There are currently nine people in the group, located from New Mexico to Singapore. We are trying to get a conversation going live on-line for the weekend of January 9 and 10. Send me an e-mail contact address if this is still interesting to you, through the Scratch-Ed contact tab in my member page or directly to the address in the original posting.
Karen R.
Hi Karen,
I would love to join you in your project but I don't have a computer programming background. I learnt Scratch from scratch. I have been working with Scratch to discover how to use it as an educational tool and I simply love it. I am focusing on two age groups, K2 to P2 which is 6 to 8 years and the senior citizens as the learning tasks can be the same but the method of teaching may differ.
Do let me know if you think I qualify. My email is ai.boon.ng@gmail.com
Thanks and Merry Christmas to you.
Best regards,
Ai Boon
Hi, I would be willing to participate, I have two years experience teaching w/Scratch, have done a Scratch webinar, etc. I am working on a 9 week unit for my students.
Carl
I would be interested in participating. I have been working with Scratch at my school for the last year. My students (k-8) absolutely love the program. I have students as young as 7 who have begun programming in Scratch. I also taught a summer program for high school students, so I can say with confidence that Scratch works for students of all ages.
Patrice
The Fraser-Woods School/ Newtown, CT
Project update...
I am still looking for a couple more teachers interested in joining this professional learning community. It will be about sharing ideas for using Scratch, learning more Scratch ourselves, and anything else that people in the group are interested in. We'll communicate via Skype, e-mail, and a wiki between January and mid March, with a flexible time commitment. Folks in the group so far have a range of experience and are located in different countries, so it should be fun!
Hi Karen,
I have also mailed you but just to confirm I would be a willing volunteer!
Regards
Katherine
Hi Karen,
I am a doctoral student in Elementary Education and Instructional Technology at the University at Buffalo. I just conducted a field study with third graders and Scratch. I am interested in how children in elementary education can learn Scratch without an adult teacher. This study was modeled after a HiWel study Learning through teaching: Peer-mediated instruction in minimally invasive education by Ritu Dangwal and Preeti Kapurand [http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/docs/Paper12.pdf ] I am in the process of writing my paper.
I am very interested in working with you and also completed a pilot study with Scratch and urban fifth and sixth graders in Buffalo last summer.
And lastly, prior to my becoming an elementary teacher I was a computer programmer, so I have a lot of experience in programming. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks for joining in. I'll send you an e-mail with more about the project. Your research fits with some of the classroom work I've done, where kids were the primary Scratch teachers, and also taught sessions for adults. I'll be curious to hear more about your results.
Hi Karen,
Thank you very much for your prompt response. Basically I am a teacher and also researcher. I teach Programming Languages to undergraduate and volunteerly I teach 11+ year old students as well. I find Scratch very usefull in teaching to the beginners. At the moment I am working for Pervasive Technology Systems, Cambridge, UK as an IT consultant. But on 16th December 2009 I am joining Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering as an Assistant Prof. in the Hail University, Saudi Arabia. My area of research interest is Web accessibility. If you need any further information to know about me, Please do not hasitate to contact me.
Many thanks
Dr. Mukhtar Masood Rana
Hi Karen,
I will be interested to participate online in this activity/project.
thanks
Masood
Thanks for your reply about a Scratch learning group--the first volunteer. I'm hoping for a few more, and then we'll be able to determine a goal together.
From your member description, it sounds like you are a programmer of experience! Can you tell me more about your connection with Scratch and your interest in this project?
My university assignment is to facilitate a group of educators collaborating on professional learning. I'm curious to try this in an on-line environment and also to think more about Scratch with other educators. I've been working with Scratch in elementary schools in the US for almost four years--my students helped with the beta testing before the program was released.
Looking forward to further contact,
Karen R.