Reflections on Scratch Educator Meetup @ MIT: Saturday, June 18, 2011

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us on Saturday for our last Scratch educator meetup of the school year, despite the Bruins parade! Here are some notes, reflections, and next steps...

1. Creating

After some initial networking and getting-to-know-you, we got started with some hands-on experiences with Scratch -- with a focus on the physical world through WeDo and PicoBoard. Here are some of the resources we used to get started

WeDo

WeDo kits are available for purchase online from LEGO education.

• One-pagers introducing the WeDo components and Scratch - http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/wedo-project-ideas
• Getting Started with WeDo - http://info.scratch.mit.edu/WeDo/Tutorial
• WeDo building instructions - http://mas714.media.mit.edu/node/65

PicoBoard

PicoBoards are available for purchase online from SparkFun.

• Getting Started with the PicoBoard - http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/picoboard

For no-hardware Scratch:

• Getting started guide - How to make a first Scratch project.
• Design studio activities - 16 suggestions for design activities, such as making a project that includes the "random" block or making a project that has an orange square and purple circle.
• Games ideas - http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/lets-play
• Story ideas - http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/story-time
• Art ideas - http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/got-art

2. Discussing

After some building time, we gathered for lunch and discussion. People talked about what they had been working on and the discussions they had.

• People shared what they did in the "creating" portion of the meetup. Algot shared his car project -- and later posted a blog entry and video about it!  http://mosssig.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/scratched-meetup/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6LB8TDDyTc

• Now that the meetups are going on hiatus, I talked a bit about the ScratchEd team's plans for the summer. I also talked about a workshop I hosted in Wisconsin earlier that week. If you have any suggestions for the page I put together for that workshop (in particular, the six strategies for getting started), please share! http://web.media.mit.edu/~kbrennan/gls/

• Vicki Gold gave an update about the advocacy work that she and Patrice Gans are undertaking.

3. Planning

Although the meetups won't be back until September, we look forward to staying in touch. So, please...

• Ask questions and find resources here on ScratchEd
• Attend the monthly webinars - check out our Eventbrite page
• Come to the August curriculum guide seminar - check out our Eventbrite page
• Come to the monthly meetups at MIT when they start again in September

Thanks again for attending the meetup. We look forward to seeing you on ScratchEd!

Karen, Michelle, Ricarose, & Linda